Nov 7, 2011

Gray Whale Caught near Fujian

Monday, November 07, 2011
0

Much of Fujian province is situated along China's southeast coast, including my current home city of Xiamen. Due to its location, many Chinese men and women earn a living by fishing. This past Saturday, while I was attending the Xiamen Boat Show, a fisherman in another part of Fujian province (Baiqing village in Pingtan) scored a really big catch. While out in the South China Sea, the fisherman netted a very large fish which turned out to be a gray whale. The whale turned out to be 13.9 metres (about 45 feet) long. Liu claimed that when he realized it might be a whale, he tried to release it, but it was already dead.


Sadly, gray whales are a protected species with an estimated population of about 20,000 left wordwide. They were hunted almost to extinction during the late 1800s and early 1900s. After being declared a protected species in 1947, their numbers grew substantially so they're no longer at imminent risk of extinction. According to this story, gray whales are not common in the waters near Fujian. However, catching them is still illegal in China and whether Mr. Liu's catch was accidental or not, it means there's one less big fish crusing Fujian's nearby waters.

Xiamen Boat Exhibition

Monday, November 07, 2011
0

This past Saturday, I went to the Xiamen Boat Show which is basically an opportunity for companies that make yachts and sailboats to show them off to potential buyers and even enthusiasts who aren't really in the market to purchase. I fall much more into the latter of these categories, but I still enjoyed walking around and getting a look at the many boats available to those in a higher income class. One of the largest yatchs that I got a tour of was made by an American company (but built in nearby Tiawan). It was a beautiful, luxury yacht that sells for a mere U.S. $4.7 million. If that seems a bit high, they also have a cheaper model in the $2-3 million range which didn't look bad either.

The show took place around the Xiamen Marina so I took the opportunity to take some photos of the boats as well as the surrounding view from the marina.

Click here to view these pictures larger

Nov 6, 2011

Texas in Xiamen

Sunday, November 06, 2011
0

Last night after going to a boat exhibition in Xiamen (I'll post some photos of the nice yachts I saw later), I visited the JJ Bar and Grill, JJ Bar and Grill is located in the popular Haiwan Park area which, in addition to a park with a nice view of the sea, has a variety of restaurants, bars and nightclubs. In the early evening, you almost feel like you're actually in Texas with the bar's decor, and the menu featuring mostly Western style food with an emphasis on Texas BBQ. I didn't really try the food (other than a small sampling of appetizers), but since I was in the bar area, I could see a lot of it coming out of the kitchen to the restaurant area and it looked quite good.


At night, the place livens up largely due to the band made up of Filipino musicians and singers as well as one Chinese singer. Some of the Texas atmosphere gets lost at this point since the band plays a variety of music, but mostly rock and dance-oriented songs rather than the country music played on the sound system in the earlier hours. The band plays mostly English-language songs (from AC-DC to Lady Gaga and much more), but the female Chinese singer adds some Chinese pop songs to their repertoire as well. They are quite good and keep the mix of Western expat and Chinese customers well entertained.

Texas-style decor on a wall at JJ Bar & Grill
One very unique element of JJ Bar and Grill for China is their mechanical bull, which daring (and/or drunk) customers can try. Last night, the only people adventurous to try the bull were a group of young Chinese men maybe trying to impress the young ladies they were with. Some of them did reasonably well, staying on the bull at least long enough to provide some entertainment for the audience of customers. A friendly Aussie I met did his best to persuade me to give it a try, but I wasn't quite daring or drunk enough.
Road sign for inebriated expats at JJ Bar & Grill


Nov 4, 2011

The China Conundrum

Friday, November 04, 2011
2

A November 3, 2011 New York Times article, The China Conundrum, discusses the growing trend of Chinese students attending American universities and some of the problems that have resulted. Having spent a bit over a year teaching at universities in China, I have no doubt that this trend will continue and that it will also continue to pose some serious challenges for both the Chinese students studying in America and American universities recruiting them. According to the article, "the number of Chinese undergraduates in the United States has tripled in just three years, to 40,000, making them the largest group of foreign students at American colleges."

I think there are two main reasons Chinese students are so eager to attend American universities. First, there seems to be a consensus among Chinese that the American higher education system is superior to China's and the best (or close to the best) in the world. Having taught at two universities in America for about 13 years before coming to China, I would have to agree that American universities, generally provide a considerably better education than Chinese universities. Of course, I'm sure there are exceptions to this general rule and there are some excellent universities in China as well as some less than excellent ones in the U.S. 

The second main reason so many Chinese students want to study at American universities is economic-oriented and is simply the result of numbers (which has a serious affect on almost everything in China). With its huge population and growing numbers of young people wanting to attend universities, the supply of students exceeds the opportunities and competition is stiff even for those who score reasonably well on the notoriously difficult gaokao 高考 (China's higher education entrance examination).

The article also mentions that the main reason American universities are becoming increasingly eager to attract and recruit Chinese students is also economic - universities want more students which equals more tuition dollars and there is a growing population of Chinese middle and upper class families that can now afford to pay for their children to receive an American university education. Having worked at an American university where the almighty dollar takes precedence over all other considerations, I don't find this hard to believe. Of course, there's nothing inherently wrong with making money (as long as educational quality isn't sacrificed in the process) and some universities are also trying to increase diversity among their students and promote international exchange, both of which are worthy goals.

The NY Times article mostly discusses some of the problems resulting from the increasing influx of Chinese students into American universities. The biggest obstacles for Chinese students are language and cultural differences. Although English language study is mandatory in China and Chinese students will have had about 6 years of English study before attending college, proficiency in English for most (especially speaking ability) is relatively poor. I've been teaching Chinese university students for over a year now and while some are able to speak and communicate in English quite well, a much larger percentage have very limited speaking ability (probably mostly due to limited experience or practice speaking as well as extreme hesitancy or shyness in speaking when they do have the opportunity). So far, the vast majority of Chinese students attending universities in the U.S. tend to be the very best China has to offer. For example, I've had the pleasure of knowing two Chinese students in recent years that are currently pursuing graduate degrees at American universities. Both are very intelligent, highly motivated and hard working individuals with well above average English proficiency. I have no doubt that these students and others like them, despite the inevitable challenges to living and studying in a foreign nation and culture, will be successful. However, if American universities merely want to admit more Chinese students to increase enrollment (and the money such enrollment brings with it), the quality of students they accept may decline.

Overall, I'm in favor of increasing opportunities for Chinese students (and other non-American students) to study at American universities and I hope this trend continues. But I can't help worry that American universities might simply follow the 1 billion market mentality focusing solely on the huge potential numbers (in terms of people and money) that China tends to induce in Western business minds. While higher education is certainly a big business and that isn't likely to change, its regrettable when the business motivation overwhelmingly outweighs the educational motivation. I've witnessed this trend both in China and in America and I hope it can somehow be reversed in the future. If not, I think the quality of education will inevitably decrease and everyone loses in the long run.

Nov 3, 2011

Xiamen: An Introduction

Thursday, November 03, 2011
3

For the past 3 months I've been living in the city of Xiamen 厦门 (teaching at a university in nearby Jimei 集美, but I'll be more specific about that in a future post). As China goes, Xiamen is one of the nicest cities to live in since its right on the coast and much less polluted than most of China's major cities. Its also a very conveniently located city, not too far from Hong Kong 香港 and Shenzhen 深圳 to the south or Hangzhou 杭州 and Shanghai 上海 to the north.


A view of the Xiamen skyline shot from a ferry to nearby Gulangyu Island


Xiamen, formerly known as Amoy, is located in Fujian province on the southeast coast of China. One thing Xiamen is noted for is being the closest PRC neighbor of Taiwan, which Chinese people adamantly insist is a province of China (although Taiwanese people tend to adamently disagree). Fortunately, relations between Taiwan and mainland China have been pretty good in recent years and Xiamen has certainly benefited from Taiwanese business and trade while Taiwan has benefited from a nearby entry point to the lucrative mainland market.


I've circled Xiamen in red on the map


Xiamen has an interesting history, much of which relates to China's contact with the outside (barbarian) world. As a coastal city, Xiamen has long been a trade center and was made one of the five treaty ports after the first Opium War in 1842. While forced to open to foreign trade in the mid 19th century, Xiamen was voluntarily designated as one of the first Special Economic Zones in the 1980s and again opened to foreign investment and trade. Since then, Xiamen has grown dramatically, but has managed to maintain a relatively clean environment and not to become too overpopulated (at least compared to other Chinese cities). I'll post more about Xiamen in the future as I live here a bit longer and learn more about my new Chinese home.




Oct 30, 2011

Joanna Wang

Sunday, October 30, 2011
0

While roaming around the ever-addictive Youtube, I came across an interesting Chinese-American singer - Joanna Wang (王若琳; Wáng Rùolín). Her music is an interesting combination of English and Chinese language jazz, pop, rock, and folk influences, somewhat in the Norah Jones vein. The 23 year old Taiwan-born, Los Angeles-bred songstress has a surprisingly mature voice. Her musical maturity may be partly the result of her family background - her father (Wang Bing) is a successful producer who, in addition to working with his daughter, has produced popular artists including girl group S.H.E and David Tao. 

Wang's first album, Start From Here, was released in early 2008 and is comprised of one CD of English songs and another of Chinese songs. Joanna reportedly wasn't thrilled with her first album, feeling that it doesn't represent her true musical influences. Her next album ("Joanna & 王若琳 - her English and Chinese names), released in January 2009, is another 2-CD collection of English and Chinese songs. Her latest album, The Things We Do For Love, was released in late 2011 and includes covers of the Carole King classic (made famous by James Taylor) You've Got a Friend, B.J. Thomas' Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head and my favorite band (that wasn't really a band) Steely Dan's Dirty Work.

Wang's English language cover songs feature a fairly eclectic mix, including songs by Billy Joel ("New York State of Mind"), The Carpenters ("We've Only Just Begun"), Don Mclean, Paul Simon ("50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"), Bread ("Aubrey"), Paul Anka ("Times of Your Life") and Spandau Ballet ("True").

You can check out some of Joanna Wang's music and find out more about her at:

Oct 27, 2011

Fake DVDs in China

Thursday, October 27, 2011
0

China is a country full of fakes - not necessarily fake people although those can be found in China as well as just about every country. Instead, I'm talking about fake goods of almost any kind imaginable. From trademark counterfeiting of famous brands to copyright piracy of music, movies and computer software, fakes are ubiquitous in China. Sometimes you can't help wondering if anything is really authentic. 


An article from eChinacities entitled Pirate Pictures: China’s Fake DVD Pandemic discusses the prevalence of fake DVDs all over China. The article mentions an estimate that 93% of all movies sold in China are pirated copies which seems like an underestimate to me. Anyone who has visited China is almost sure to have experienced this as the fake DVD vendors are usually out in the open, especially in crowded shopping areas. For example, last year when I worked at a university in Zhengzhou 郑县, there were several stores that sold nothing but fake DVDs within a block of the campus.

Fake DVD Store

Somewhat to my surprise, I found that here in Xiamen 厦门, fake DVD stores are a bit hidden. Generally, they seem to be in the backroom or upstairs in some other type of store. For example, there are several conveniently located, but not outwardly visible, in the popular Zhongshan Road shopping area. My guess is that there must have been some enforcement in the recent past that forced vendors to be less conspicious.

Fake DVDs are so common in China that most Chinese people probably don't even know they are illegal since they have probably never seen the legal variety. Actually, most Chinese college students don't bother buying even the fake DVDs. They tend to think its ridiculous to pay anything for movies (not to mention music) and download it illegally from the Internet instead.

The major movie companies have tried to develop a legitimate market by reducing their prices in China, but there's no way they can compete with the DVD pirates, who commonly sell DVDs of popular movies for around 10 RMB (about U.S. $1.50). 

The article says there's not much that can be done about the fake problem in China, quoting Shaun Rein of Forbes, who states that "China's piracy problem is not a matter of morality," he says "More than anything, it is a matter of poverty." I agree partly, but also disagree in part and believe this is an oversimplification. While its true that much of China's population can't afford to buy legitimate DVDs, the very poor also can't afford the fakes ones (not to mention DVD players to play them on). On the other hand, there's a large and growing percentage of the Chinese population that spend significant amounts of money on much more expensive goods than DVDs and certainly could afford to buy legal copies. 

I do agree with the article's assertion that China might pay dearly in the longer term for its inability or unwillingness to deal with intellectual property infringement. If China's economy is to continue the high rate of growth its experienced over the past few decades, it will have to start relying much more on creation and innovation rather than mere copying of Western products and technology. China may be able to successfully innovate, but figuring out how to effectively incentivize and protect such innovation could be a much more challenging problem.

Oct 25, 2011

Tuesday, October 25, 2011
0

A recent NY Times article Korean Pop Machine: Running on Innocence and Hair Gel discusses the teen pop phenomenon that's been going in South Korea for at least a decade. While the general concepts are largely copied from American teen pop (The Jackson 5 to New Edition, New Kids on the Block, The Backstreet Boys, etc.), the Korean music industry has created a manufacturing empire, cranking out an endless stream of  boy and girl groups as well as solo artists. 


The popularity of Korean pop music (K-Pop) goes extends well beyond Korea, with many artists also achieving popularity in Japan, China and throughout much of Southeast Asia. Some of the most K-popular groups include SHINee, Girl's Generation, 13-member group Super Junior, 2NE1, etc., etc., etc. With the Wonder Girls international hit Nobody, K-Pop has even started to have some success in the West. It may be tough for much of the highly produced K-Pop to become popular in the U.S., but then again if Justin Beiber can do it, anything is possible.
K-Pop boy group SHINee
Here in China, K-pop takes a backseat to Chinese pop (which generally tends to be blander than the Korean variety) although its a very large backseat. This may be largely due to the ingrained nationalism programmed into young Chinese. Despite this, quite of few the most popular Korean pop stars have very large fan bases in China. 

I recently tried to get an idea of what music is most popular among Chinese college students by asking in some of my classes. Although this was by no means a comprehensive or scientifically conducted poll, my general conclusion is that China is still about at least a decade or two behind the rest of the world in terms of its pop music tastes. When asked who their favorite non-Chinese singers or bands are, other than Lady Gaga and Justin Beiber, the most common responses are Michael Jackson and the Backstreet Boys (and MJ and the BBBs seem to be even more popular than the Bieb). Sadly, no students in my classes were familiar with John Lennon although a few had vaguely heard of The Beatles. Maybe this shouldn't be too surprising since popular music development was severely stunted during the Chairman Mao years (especially during the Cultural Revolution). During the decades when rock, R&B and their pop offshoots were developing and thriving in England and the U.S., Western music was virtually non-existent in China. 

  • Categories:
  • Author: David Moser

Oct 24, 2011

Dialectic Confusion

Monday, October 24, 2011
0

I happened upon a traditional Chinese puppet show yesterday at a senior citizens activity center in Jimei 集美. I couldn't understand it at all, but neither could my Chinese friends since it was in the local Mǐnnánhuà 閩南話 dialect. 

Mǐnnánhuà is sometimes also referred to as the Hokkien dialect and originated in the southern Fujian province. The version of the Min dialect spoken here in Xiamen is also sometimes called the Amoy dialect (Amoy was the name given by Westerners to Xiamen). A version of this dialect is also spoken by some people in nearby Taiwan. Fortunately, most Chinese people of my generation and younger from Xiamen speak Mandarin Chinese or Pǔtōnghuà  普通话 (which I'm trying to learn) rather than any of the local dialects. Even more fortunately for me, most of the younger generation of Chinese have also grown up learning English in school and, although often shy about using it, can speak at least a bit. 

However, many older Xiamen residents only speak Mǐnnánhuà which is basically incomprehensible to Mandarin speakers (not to mention English speakers like myself). Last week, an elderly lady approached me while I was waiting for a bus and seemed very curious about me. She tried to talk to me in Mǐnnánhuà so I politely responded in Mandarin that I couldn't understand, but she couldn't understand that I was trying to tell her I couldn't understand. She then started talking to a Chinese student nearby that I had been talking with, hoping a Chinese person could translate for us. However, the Chinese girl couldn't understand  Mǐnnánhuà much better than I could so the nice, inquisitive old lady's questions for me unfortunately had to go unanswered.

Oct 22, 2011

"Don't Eat Basket"

Saturday, October 22, 2011
0

I recently ate at a fast food restaurant in Xiamen called Mos Burger (a Japanese chain) and saw this sign. I think what it means to say is don't throw the basket (that the food comes in) into the trash, but one never knows. The burger wasn't bad although nothing special and I was full enough that I didn't feel tempted to eat the basket it came in.


  • Author: David Moser
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)