Shanghai'd

Civilized. Part Two.

Wenming is probably my favorite Chinese words. Its meaning is literally "civilized" but what it sounds like and what it means to the Chinese are probably different things. [Note: At this point I need to continue with "wenming", pronounced like one-ming, since the translation is too far off the mark. Or just conjures up a different notion than is appropriate.]

Based on the amount of signage and propaganda, wenming is what all Chinese are striving for - or at least what the Chinese government is striving for for the people. Wenming Neighborhood, wenming driving, wenming eating, wenming standing in line, wenming use of urinals (see Wenming I for elaboration). A sign on the back of the bathroom door in the mall "Please be wenming, throw the paper in the bin and flush the toilet". Today my taxi scooted around the wenming construction (文明施工 - wenming shigong, which means beautifying work, but I'll save that word for another post :), although I could not see what was so civilized about piles of drying concrete on the paver sidewalk.

And the biggest wenming project of all - Beijing Olympics 2008. I hear almost daily stories of the effort. Wait in line day, no spitting day, no smoking day (I wish), no littering day, translation classes, no pushing...

How to measure it, I don't know, but i love the constant reminder to be more civilized.

Ahh, Sichuan (or Szechuan as we Wade-Gilest Americans like to say). Land of elusive pandas, 12 hour white-knuckle bus rides and mouth-numbingly spicy food. I could write more, but I know you'd rather just check out the pictures anyway. So here they are, from my May holiday trip with Will.



Here is the full Sichuan Flickr set.

Fake food.

Some light reading to peruse over your morning bowl of (hopefully melamine-free) Wheaties:

pets
poisons
pesticides
profits

It's actually surprising to me that this recent incident is the first major news story about the dangers of imported Chinese food safety. My Chinese colleagues have been keenly aware of the risks of jiade shiwu and drugs here for a while. Whenever they make a trip to the US, they come back with suitcases full of over-the-counter vitamins and drugs (mainly to give to their parents). They just don't trust the Chinese brand products, with good reason.

The irony is that those bottles of Centrum Silver probably contain ingredients that were exported to the US from China in the first place. And although the US is much better equipped to regulate and enforce safety than their Chinese counterparts, I don't exactly get a warm fuzzy feeling from our FDA either.

Needless to say, Laurel and I will be making a trip to our local organic farmer's market this weekend.

Stocks.

I have no idea how to say "irrational exuberance" in Chinese, but I can sure recognize it when I see it. Every day at lunch, my colleagues relate the latest story of the barber-cum-mutual fund account manager from Suzhou, or the day-trading street sweeper from ChongQing who tripled his money in a week trading gu piao.

It's really amazing to me how so many people with so little money to lose and so little knowledge about even basic economic theory - let alone investing - are getting caught up in it all. Sound familiar?

This recent exchange with a taxi driver in Shanghai pretty much sums up the situation:

Me: [seeing him intently watch the stock market news on the in-cab TV] So, are you playing the stock market too?

Taxi driver: Yeah.

Me: How are you doing?

Taxi driver: Up 100% so far.

Me: Aren't you scared of losing your money?

Taxi driver: Yeah, but I'm more scared of missing out.

It doesn't take a PhD in macroeconomics to realize things have gotten out of hand. A lot of people are going to get burned badly - it's just a matter of time. But at least it will be interesting to watch how it all plays out.

UPDATE:
This article from the Shanghai Daily sums things up pretty well.

Returned.

After 2.5 weeks in Austin (1.5 for Tim, tack on a week of Spicy Sichuan which I am sure he will update soon) we are back to the grind in Shanghai. Its always interesting how things appear upon return. Some things I forgot I loved and some that were forgotten for other reasons all together.

Love...
The couch. The shower. Our balcony. I LOVE our apartment!
The 菜场 (vegetable market) early Wednesday. More artfully arranged than Whole Foods, with a super low sticker price.
Imported Greek yogurt. It may be $12, but its thick like ice cream and worth every penny.
Its no Barton Springs, but the 3rd floor indoor pool with 20 ft windows in our rec center, also only about $1 to use.
Clothes washed, ironed and put away within 24 hours. That would never happen at home. It only happened here with the help of our ayi.
Today dawned crisp, clear, with fluffy white clouds. There is an enhanced sense of appreciation for those days. We rode bikes to work today.
My co-workers. They are great.
Speaking Chinese. It always shocks me when I can understand what people are saying in another language!

Better forgotten?
How LONG that flight is.
Traffic, and taxi drivers that always go the wrong way.
Jinbei trucks and buses that missed the "environmental controls" section during design.
Better not to fill up the Nalgene from the tap (good thing I caught myself soon after I made that mistake!). Actually maybe I better not forget that one...
How much I miss my friends and family :(

In all, its good to be back! Especially after a week without Tim. :) And mom and dad come tomorrow!