It’s been almost three weeks since I’ve returned from Taiwan, and I still have no appetite! I don’t want to eat anything, except for a shaobing youtiao or lo bo gao or dan bing or o-ah jian. Or anything made in Taiwan.
It’s so depressing and well, unappetizing, in Beijing. Why do they eat such nasty food? Can’t they just make good food for cheap?
A few things that surprised me about Tokyo, besides how different it is from China and how much more similar it felt to the West.
I’ve made my way from the North ‘jing to the East ‘jing, which is in a whole other country, so that probably explains most of the differences. It’s the battle of the two giant Asian capitals: Beijing versus Tokyo. Which is better?
Cleanliness: The Japanese may have borrowed a lot from the Chinese, but they stopped short of the Chinese’s public hygiene habits. The sidewalks and streets were clean. Shops were neat. Even grubby ramen and sushi restaurants managed to keep their tables, floors and wares clean. Advantage: Tokyo.
Class: In Tokyo, no one made disgusting hacking noises, no one spat, no one spat 2 centimeters from where my next step would be. People dressed nicely to work. They didn’t stare. On the trains, talking on mobiles was forbidden, so nobody was shouting (grunting) into their phones. (For some reason, the Chinese only have two voice volumes when talking on their cells: loud or even louder.) That being said, in the evenings, just about every person in Tokyo is stumbling around drunk. Advantage: Tokyo.
Taking a surprise trip to Shanghai this weekend. It’s a surprise because I didn’t really plan on it.
Evan Osnos over at the New Yorker also got a surprise. Hongqiao’s giant new terminal opened Tuesday, which somehow — despite being grand and extraordinary and (presumably) for the Expo — escaped the major news of the day.
I’m off to Israel for the next 12 days.
Coincidentally, there is a huge issue tying all three countries — the U.S., China and Israel — together: Iran’s nuclear program.
Israel will be sending a delegation to China later this month to persuade China to sanction Iran so that Iran might decide it’s against their interests to keep trying to make nukes.
China, of course, prefers to just negotiate with Iran. Though Israel has gotten Russia on board somewhat, China is a stubborn little child and is unlikely to back down because of a) their ties to Iran, but mostly b) pressure from the West, which it hates.
Ye Hailin, the international relations professor quoted in the article, showed a keen understanding of how Iran works and China’s position: Iran’s desire to develop “nuclear power” cannot be measured with money, and ties in deeply with their dignity and honor. In the same vein, China will lose face (OH HELL NO) if it bows to Western pressure and get very little appreciation in return. Naturally, articles like this one won’t entice China to come around any more.
China is still a developing country from more than just an economic standpoint. Psychologically, Beijing has developed about as much as a 5-year-old. Note to Beijing: The world will never take you seriously, no matter how fast you develop or how big your economy is, until you start being responsible for goodness’ sake without needing recognition for it.
Spring Festival is still three days away and there is an official week-long holiday for it, but people are already starting to celebrate. The city is clearing out. Every morning, there has been fewer and fewer people on the streets and bus to work. I like it!
Someone somewhere is setting off fireworks right now. I’ve heard a few these past few days; I’ve seen smoke so far, but not yet a show.
I’ll be off to Tianjin for a few days Saturday. The smart foreigners have fled the country, but I’m looking forward to the temple fairs — if I can find any. My first real Chinese New Year!
I wasn’t planning on writing anything for work about my mini-holidays, but I had such an adventure in Datong that I thought it’d be a pity to leave it all out. It turned out to be a little info guide for would-be visitors to Hengshan and the Hanging Monastery.
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