Sunday, January 28, 2007
Gai jin 改进
Upgrade.
A cheap excuse to make a quick post. After more than one year, I finally got around to making the most remedial of gai jin to the look of this blog. Over there on the left
<- <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <-
you will now notice 3 brand spankin new links:
- how to download Chinese character sets in case you haven't been able to view them this whole time
- my Flickr page, a perpetual work in progress with lots of pretty pictures
- the requisite RSS feed link
The rest is the same boring template. Suggestions for other links/improvements? Leave them as a comment.
A cheap excuse to make a quick post. After more than one year, I finally got around to making the most remedial of gai jin to the look of this blog. Over there on the left
<- <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <-
you will now notice 3 brand spankin new links:
- how to download Chinese character sets in case you haven't been able to view them this whole time
- my Flickr page, a perpetual work in progress with lots of pretty pictures
- the requisite RSS feed link
The rest is the same boring template. Suggestions for other links/improvements? Leave them as a comment.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Hunli 婚礼
Wedding.
Last night, Tim and I attended our first Chinese hunli. The groom was my boss's driver, Shen Jun (affectionately named "James" - he is, after all, a driver :-) The Chinese wedding is one interesting time. Since we came with my boss, and he is also James' boss, we got to sit at the 2nd to head table. We were strategically placed with the only two English speakers in the family. However, after all the huangjiu (yellow wine) toasts, Chinese was just fine.
Here are some of the interesting wedding traditions we got to witness and take part in:
- Hongbao, what better gift than cash in a red envelope?
- MC with the TV-commercial voice
- Camera-man constantly smoking, holding a cigarette near the lens. Makes for a foggy wedding video.
- Fireworks, indoors
- Huangjiu toasts, every 5 minutes for 3 hours
- Unending food, the dishes kept coming...
- The bride cigarette lighting ceremony. This one could probably use some explanation. In Shanghainese, 'light a cigarette' sounds very similar to 'have a baby soon'. Very interesting. And really disgusting.
- Bride Costume change. She had 3 outfits: the white wedding dress, a prom-like dress, and a qipao (traditional Chinese)
- And finally, being escorted out by the happy couple. We were the first to leave. Party poopers.
- We missed out on the next step - following the bride and groom back to their bedroom! Apparently, when they get there the family gets to tell them to do anything and they have to do it. Get your mind out of the gutter, its all good clean fun.
It was a lot of fun, I hope we get to attend more!
Last night, Tim and I attended our first Chinese hunli. The groom was my boss's driver, Shen Jun (affectionately named "James" - he is, after all, a driver :-) The Chinese wedding is one interesting time. Since we came with my boss, and he is also James' boss, we got to sit at the 2nd to head table. We were strategically placed with the only two English speakers in the family. However, after all the huangjiu (yellow wine) toasts, Chinese was just fine.
Here are some of the interesting wedding traditions we got to witness and take part in:
- Hongbao, what better gift than cash in a red envelope?
- MC with the TV-commercial voice
- Camera-man constantly smoking, holding a cigarette near the lens. Makes for a foggy wedding video.
- Fireworks, indoors
- Huangjiu toasts, every 5 minutes for 3 hours
- Unending food, the dishes kept coming...
- The bride cigarette lighting ceremony. This one could probably use some explanation. In Shanghainese, 'light a cigarette' sounds very similar to 'have a baby soon'. Very interesting. And really disgusting.
- Bride Costume change. She had 3 outfits: the white wedding dress, a prom-like dress, and a qipao (traditional Chinese)
- And finally, being escorted out by the happy couple. We were the first to leave. Party poopers.
- We missed out on the next step - following the bride and groom back to their bedroom! Apparently, when they get there the family gets to tell them to do anything and they have to do it. Get your mind out of the gutter, its all good clean fun.
It was a lot of fun, I hope we get to attend more!
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Deep Thought of the Day
Sometimes the contrast between the super convenience and unbelievable inefficiency of this country is mind boggling.
How is it that the IT guy at work can order me an SD card, USB hard drive and wireless router at 11:00am and have them all delivered before lunch that day (this seriously happened to me last week) but it takes us more than a month for us to find the right BNC cable, import them and clear customs?
How is it that the IT guy at work can order me an SD card, USB hard drive and wireless router at 11:00am and have them all delivered before lunch that day (this seriously happened to me last week) but it takes us more than a month for us to find the right BNC cable, import them and clear customs?
Friday, January 05, 2007
Huang niu 黄牛
Scalper (literally "yellow cow" ... no idea why).
As opposed to scalpers in the US, huang niu in China actually sell tickets at far below face value. This begs the obvious question: how do they profit from the transaction?
Returning to Shanghai on New Year's eve, some friends invited us out to a countdown party. Apparently some big Mandopop star was performing a concert in the park near Xintiandi. I had never heard of him, but it was New Year's eve and a good excuse to stay up late and fight the impending jet lag for a few more hours.
My friend bought us 8 tickets total from 2 different huang niu at 30RMB a piece. It was definitely a hot ticket given the swarms of people climbing on the walls outside the park to catch a glimpse of the show.
At the entrance gate there was already some signs of trouble. Another concert goer was in a heated exchange with the security guards who were in the process of aggressively throwing him out. Fighting past him, we made it to the ticket check and discovered the answer to the question posed above: Chinese huang niu make money by selling fake tickets. 8 tickets, 2 different sellers, all frauds and we were out the door too.
I was able to keep my ticket while the others we being confiscated. I gotta give them credit for making pretty convincing replicas, complete with the raised RFID embedded in the right side. Good enough to take my friend, a local Shanghainese nonetheless.
Welcome back to Shanghai. Time to put the guard back up.
As opposed to scalpers in the US, huang niu in China actually sell tickets at far below face value. This begs the obvious question: how do they profit from the transaction?
Returning to Shanghai on New Year's eve, some friends invited us out to a countdown party. Apparently some big Mandopop star was performing a concert in the park near Xintiandi. I had never heard of him, but it was New Year's eve and a good excuse to stay up late and fight the impending jet lag for a few more hours.
My friend bought us 8 tickets total from 2 different huang niu at 30RMB a piece. It was definitely a hot ticket given the swarms of people climbing on the walls outside the park to catch a glimpse of the show.
At the entrance gate there was already some signs of trouble. Another concert goer was in a heated exchange with the security guards who were in the process of aggressively throwing him out. Fighting past him, we made it to the ticket check and discovered the answer to the question posed above: Chinese huang niu make money by selling fake tickets. 8 tickets, 2 different sellers, all frauds and we were out the door too.
I was able to keep my ticket while the others we being confiscated. I gotta give them credit for making pretty convincing replicas, complete with the raised RFID embedded in the right side. Good enough to take my friend, a local Shanghainese nonetheless.
Welcome back to Shanghai. Time to put the guard back up.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Xin nian kuai le 新年快乐
Happy New Year.
Laurel and I would like to wish everyone reading a xin nian kuai le. That's a happy (solar) new year, not to be confused with the much more celebrated Chinese (lunar) new year, which won't happen until February.
We had a great 2006 and are looking forward to more adventures in 2007.
Laurel and I would like to wish everyone reading a xin nian kuai le. That's a happy (solar) new year, not to be confused with the much more celebrated Chinese (lunar) new year, which won't happen until February.
We had a great 2006 and are looking forward to more adventures in 2007.
Labels: new year
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