Apr 12
22
Guess The Capital
One complaint I’ve heard a lot lately is that modern cars all look the same. While I don’t really have an opinion about that matter, perhaps it’s true about cities around the world now that a large part of the world is developing fast. I decided to have a look at various cities along the Pacific rim. How many of these do you recognize? Click on any picture for a larger version.
Answers to follow soon!
Apr 12
8
Like The Peach Blossom…
… springtime in Beijing is fleeting, so we should enjoy it while we can.
As a former journalist for daily newspapers, I’ve learned that all you can hope for is that your story is an accurate reflection of what happens on a given day. It’s a snapshot, that’s all. By tomorrow, everything may have changed completely.
I live in Beijing, where change seems to occur at a faster rate than in other places. I’m constantly fascinated by both the everydayness, and the you-don’t-see-that-every-dayness of China. So I take pictures, and post them. One picture a day. No more, no less.
Please check out my blog: http://chinaenglish.wordpress.com/
Apr 12
7
USA: Exit Clov
This week is Taiwan’s annual Spring Scream festival, held in Kenting which is located in the very southern part of the island. Started in 1995, it’s become an annual rite of spring for Taiwanese youths, where they can catch the latest musical acts from a variety of styles. This year, making their first appearance at the festival and the island is the New York City based band, Exit Clov. So why would they want to go all the way to Taiwan for a performance? Let’s take a look at the band and find out.
The band is driven by Taiwanese American twin sisters Emily and Susan Hsu, who not only share vocal duties but also play violin. On top of that, Emily handles keyboard, Susan plays the guitar, and the rest of the band features Aaron Leeder on guitar, Brett Niederman on bass and John Thayer on drums. Taking their name from Samuel Beckett’s Endgame, Exit Clov has been active since 2003 but as yet unknown to Taiwan audiences. Here is their tour schedule:
Saturday, April 7th: *Spring Scream Festival* – Kenting
Wednesday, April 11th: *Sound Live House* – Taichung
Thursday, April 12: *The Wall* – Taipei
Friday, April 13: *Revolver Club* – Taipei
Saturday, April 14: *Underworld* – Taipei
I love this song
For a taste of their music, you can download their latest single It’s a Cult or simply listen to it as a streaming song. They’ve recently released an album called Island X that you can either stream to your computer or buy for a very reasonable price, either digitally or the physical version. One of the songs on the album was released earlier to raise money for the victims of Typhoon Morakot.
Per their Wiki entry, their sound is described as “kaleidoscopic pop noir”. I’m not sure what that actually means (noir? nothing dark here!) but it sounds catchy. For me, what’s really catchy is their sound which is more upbeat indie with great harmonies, well written songs and they know how to play their instruments. Having lived in Taiwan for a few years, I know how difficult it is to catch a concert that doesn’t feature cutesy musicians singing pop ballads. Well, here’s your chance. If you didn’t catch them at Spring Scream (and even if you did), try to catch one of their remaining four shows. Show good artists that it’s worth their time to tour Taiwan and play beautiful music on a beautiful island.
This is from 2010′s album Memento Mori, which you can purchase at amazon.com It’s called “The Hate”.
Let me know what you think. Comments on bands and musicians are always appreciated. And if you get a chance to catch them live, let us know your opinion of the show.
Zhu Rongji
The “two meetings” in Beijing tend to be fairly uneventful political gatherings. Every once in a while someone makes a definite statement about something that’s been in doubt, and the prime minister is given the opportunity to show his wit at the international press conference. It was during one of these meetings that Zhu Rongji uttered the famous words “不管前面是地雷阵还是万丈深渊,我将一往无前,义无反顾,鞠躬尽瘁,死而后已” (even if there’s a minefield or bottomless abyss in front [of me], I will keep going forward and do my utmost to my last breath). Wu Bangguo took the chance last year to say that China will not become a multi-party democracy of a Western kind [1]. The latter might sound like something Western media would choose to play up, but it made the headlines in Chinese newspapers as well. Finally, this year, Wen Jiabao reiterated, like he’s done on a couple of occasions through the years, that political reform is necessary. I will get into the details of this further down.
Bo Xilai
All of this was put in the shadow by a much more momentous event, the ouster of upcoming Bo Xilai. That this wasn’t just a temporary shuffle was obvious by what happened around it: while premier Wen Jiabao officially criticized the Chongqing authorities and told them to learn from the Wang Lijun case, Li Yuanchao, the head of the Organization Department, personally made his way to Chongqing to deliver the message and note that the Central Committee had made the decision after long deliberation. [2] I have to admit that I found Bo’s misfortune surprising even though some sort of reaction was expected.
Apart from the political program instituted by Bo, that has become known as the “Chongqing model,” his marks can be seen on the cities of Dalian and Chongqing, both of which he headed as mayor. Apart from the clean feel of Dalian and its gorgeous beachside road, it grew phenomenally under Bo’s rule and also became an important technological center in the region. In Chongqing, one of his greatest achievements was the major crackdown on the local mafia and its local supporters.
What struck most people, though, was the quirkiness of Bo’s “new left” politics. Apart from welfare programs, he sported an elaborate image of going back to the classics, sending quotes from Mao in SMS messages to city residents and encouraging people to sing political songs. Bo’s politics was summed up as 唱红打黑 (sing red and strike black – sing socialist songs and crack down on crime) and he quickly became the darling of groups like 乌有之乡 (“The Utopian village,” a website for the maoist and new left). He seemed to have the support of several major players, including Zhou Yongkang, and defied the standard procedures of Chinese politics by seemingly trying to get a popular base to nudge his way into the politburo. It was the latter that attracted a lot of attention abroad. In China, the main fascination with Bo was his revival of red imagery and his obviously populist stance.
Mar 12
17
China’s Dynastic Territories
Our intrepid Beijing photographer Jesse found this map on the net a few months ago and I thought it might be helpful to give everyone a visual aid of China’s geographic boundaries over the millennia. It’s fascinating to see how the borders waxed and waned over the centuries. Enjoy!
Posted in China by .
Mar 12
12
Here Today…
… drying your hair tomorrow.
It’s a tad disturbing to know that this hair salon’s hygiene system involves hanging its freshly washed towels on some power grid’s dusty fence in a parking lot.
As a former journalist for daily newspapers, I’ve learned that all you can hope for is that your story is an accurate reflection of what happens on a given day. It’s a snapshot, that’s all. By tomorrow, everything may have changed completely.
I live in Beijing, where change seems to occur at a faster rate than in other places. I’m constantly fascinated by both the everydayness, and the you-don’t-see-that-every-dayness of China. So I take pictures, and post them. One picture a day. No more, no less.
Please check out my blog: http://chinaenglish.wordpress.com/
Mar 12
11
Israel: Eatliz
What’s an Israeli band doing on Pacific Rim Shots? Aren’t we all about PacRim countries? So how does Eatliz get on here?
Easy, they’re about to tour China! The tour is planned around the JUE Festival (which this year headlines Death Cab For Cutie) but they’ll be hitting other cities to increase their exposure. Here are their upcoming tour dates:
3/17/12 Guangzhou @ 191space w/Turtle Giant (Macau)
3/18/12 Hong Kong @ Hidden agenda w/Turtle Giant (Macau)
3/19/12 Changsha @ Freedom House
3/20/12 Wuhan @ Vox
3/21/12 Nanjing @ 61 House
3/22/12 Hangzhou @ 9 Club
3/23/12 Shanghai @ Yuyintang (JUE | Hear + See) w/Yourboyfriendsucks! (Guangzhou), Battle Cattle (Shanghai)
3/24/12 Music Video and Animation Screening and Q&A with Eatliz @ The Hutong
3/25/12 Beijing @ Tango (JUE | Hear + See) w/Devil Music Ensemble(USA)
So who are Eatliz and why should you check them out? They’re Israel’s biggest art rock band and I’ll let them describe themselves as taken from their website:
Eatliz is a six piece female fronted art rock band, known as Tel Aviv’s most innovative band which is known for spectacular live shows all over the world, including major festivals (Primavera sound in Spain, Exit festival in Serbia, SXSW in Austin TX and more), outstanding genre crossing music, beautiful award winning animation music videos and mesmerizing front-woman Lee Triffon being the icing on the cake.
Since forming nine years ago, Eatliz has been building a strong cult following around the world. Playing what’s been termed as “complicated pop,” Eatliz features elements ranging from pop with a Middle Eastern edge and to four on the floor guitar stomps. Lee Triffon, the band’s lead singer, has been spotted as one of the vocal acrobatics in the contemporary alternative music scene. The result is a sound that calls to mind artists like Mr. Bungle, Björk and Portishead. This variety of styles the band combines in a single song, has helped them gain fans of many genres, crossing ages and countries.
You can check out their music on their website, which features streamed songs from all their albums.
(more songs after the jump)
I have to admit I was skeptical of this book when I first saw it and I probably wouldn’t have read it if I hadn’t received it as a gift. The top of the cover says “[t]he terrifying memoir of life in North Korea that our nation’s leaders want you to read.” Our nation’s leaders? Whose nation’s leaders? The preface didn’t exactly make it better; the author Kang Chol-hwan says he believes George W. Bush was a divine tool sent to bring justice to North Korea.
Despite these issues I decided to read on, and the book is interesting, even captivating at times. Kang Chol-hwan actually figures in a book earlier reviewed on this blog, “Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader,” and his story is not that extraordinary given the current state of North Korea, but he breathes life into it. When I’m new to a place I’m always most fascinated by little details like smells, styles of storefronts, unusual regulations and the like. Kang often goes into these details, sometimes inadvertently, and that alone makes this book worth reading, but it also touches on a larger historical context.
Like in many other parts of the world, political idealists emigrated to communist countries, filled with aspirations of helping build new states free from oppression and exploitation. Often they met their personal demise quickly and were sent to labor camps. Few lived to tell the tale and those who did didn’t always want to tell their stories since they still felt ideologically alienated from the capitalist world. In Kang’s case, his grandparents originally lived in Japan and had a successful business there, but decided they had had enough of xenophobia and were lured back by promises from the North Korean government. After some deliberation they decided to move.
Posted in Book Reviews North Korea Politics by .
Mar 12
7
Japan: Shugo Tokumaru トクマルシューゴ
Sometimes an artist comes along that who is so unique, so multi-talented, so artistic that my attention is immediately captured and I’m an instant fan. Shugo Tokumaru is that kind of artist. The guy does everything; singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, mixer and producer. Every instrument you hear (and you’ll hear a lot of them) features Tokumaru, who has used over 100 in his recordings. The guy is simply amazing.
Born and raised in Tokyo, after high school he took a two and a half year sabbatical, spending most of his time in Los Angeles, played in a jazz band and expanded his horizons. This is where he started dabbling in home recordings. After he returned to Japan, he put together a ten track demo album called Fragment which found its way to a US record label who wanted to release it, but Shugo insisted on recording another album he named Night Piece in its place, which was released in the US in 2004. Here is the song Paparazzi from that album.
(more songs after the jump)
Mar 12
3
Nothing Says Chinese Wedding…
…better than a white dress and a Christian church, apparently.
As a former journalist for daily newspapers, I’ve learned that all you can hope for is that your story is an accurate reflection of what happens on a given day. It’s a snapshot, that’s all. By tomorrow, everything may have changed completely.
I live in Beijing, where change seems to occur at a faster rate than in other places. I’m constantly fascinated by both the everydayness, and the you-don’t-see-that-every-dayness of China. So I take pictures, and post them. One picture a day. No more, no less.
Please check out my blog: http://chinaenglish.wordpress.com/
A picture is worth a thousand words, the Langer’s #19 with a chocolate malt… sandwich paradise! That’s pastrami on rye, swiss cheese, cole slaw and Russian dressing. This stuff just melts in your mouth and for my money, it’s even better than Katz’s in NYC. And the chocolate malt? It’s the real thing, unchanged since 1947 when Langer’s opened.
Langer’s Delicatessen is at 704 S. Alvarado near downtown LA. It’s also in a not so very nice neighborhood, just across from MacArthur Park. Remember the old Jimmy Webb song sung by Richard Harris? Yes, it’s THAT MacArthur Park. So it’s best to drive there and park one block away at 7th and West Lake Street where they have their own parking lot and will validate your ticket at the restaurant when you pay your bill. Follow the link and look over the menu, but on your first visit I’d still go with the classic #19 and try the other dishes on subsequent visits. And if you’re not in the mood for a chocolate malt? How about an egg cream? Or maybe a chocolate phosphate? There’s always a root beer float. The menu is HUGE so you’ll never run out of choices.
Feb 12
22
South Korea: Tablets Over Textbooks?
I’ve been meaning to write about this for a few months since this isn’t a new announcement, but I still feel it deserves to be heard. South Korea decided last summer to invest the equivalent of US $2.4 billion dollars in Samsung Galaxy Tabs for the classroom, switching from textbooks to tablets by the end of 2015.
This means the entire curriculum will be available via tablets, smart phones and computers. The question then becomes, can students learn as well on tablets as they could with textbooks? Will there be greater eye fatigue? Will the smaller tablet screen size inhibit reading speed? Some believe that to really replace textbooks, the screen size will need to be 4x greater than the current tablet size. which of course would no longer be tablets and with current technology, could not be stored in a small configuration. Once tablets can be rolled out and re-bundled after use, then it might make sense.
So South Korea is taking a giant step into the unknown. How will it play out? No one knows, but I suspect that younger generations raised on tablets and not textbooks will adapt relatively easily while older students who have spent all their lives using textbooks will have a difficult time making the adjustment. Let’s keep our eye on this and see if the results bear out.
What we do know is that as each year passes, more and more readers, both young and old, are switching from books to eBooks and this trend is not reversing. I know it sounds difficult to comprehend but I can see the day when physical books will be like music LPs, a collector’s item with very small runs of new works for book aficionados. It’s moving towards a niche field but is still a few years away. Will South Korea be at the forefront or too far ahead of the curve?
Posted in Culture South Korea by .
Feb 12
20
Taiwan: Joanna Wang 王若琳
From her second album, Joanna & 王若琳, Joanna Wang sings Don McLean’s Vincent.
The daughter of music producer Wang Chi-ping (王治平), Joanna was born in Taipei but raised in Los Angeles. At 20 she released her first album, Start From Here, which went #1 in Taiwan and was popular throughout east Asia. Singing in both English and Chinese, she has four albums to her credit including her latest, The Adventures of Bernie the Schoolboy.
The one thing that I find striking about her voice is her vocal pitch, very relaxed and a little lower than most Asian singers. She also reminds me of Astrud Gilberto, the famous Brazilian vocalist who sang The Girl From Ipanema, with that same flat tone and straightforward style.
(more songs after the jump)
Feb 12
18
Just Add Oil And Garlic…
… maybe a little soy sauce and oyster sauce, and stir fry.
As a former journalist for daily newspapers, I’ve learned that all you can hope for is that your story is an accurate reflection of what happens on a given day. It’s a snapshot, that’s all. By tomorrow, everything may have changed completely.
I live in Beijing, where change seems to occur at a faster rate than in other places. I’m constantly fascinated by both the everydayness, and the you-don’t-see-that-every-dayness of China. So I take pictures, and post them. One picture a day. No more, no less.
Please check out my blog: http://chinaenglish.wordpress.com/
Feb 12
16
Is Apple Getting A Bad Rap?
It’s in all the headlines. “Protesters Confront Apple Over Foxconn Conditions”, “Apple’s Foxconn Electronics Manufacturer Blamed for Chinese Child Slave Labor”, “Apple, Foxconn and the Human Cost of Electronics Manufacturing in China”, those are just a smattering of media reports that all say basically the same thing, that Apple is responsible for China’s labor laws, Foxconn’s working conditions and that it would be a cinch for them to relocate assembly to the United States or an enlightened assembly manufacturer not named Foxconn. So, is this true? Is Apple responsible for Foxconn’s working conditions? What alternatives does Apples have? Are they alone in their behavior? And what about those 30+% profit margins they’ve been generating? How can they justify such high profits while allowing ‘slave labor’ conditions?
As I’ve written in a previous article, let’s take a look at some other companies using Foxconn to assemble their products; Amazon’s Kindle, Sony’s Playstation 3, Nintendo’s Wii, Microsoft’s XBox 360, Acer, Asus, B&N’s Nook, Cisco, Dell, HP, Intel, IBM, Lenovo, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Panasonic, Sharp and Vizio. None of them seem to be taking heat for using this subcontractor except Apple. But why do any of them use Foxconn? Why not use another company in China or make the product domestically?
Feb 12
14
Taiwan: Samingad 紀曉君
It’s been over ten years since Samingad released her last album. What is probably safe to say is that she is Taiwan’s reigning diva, another in a long line of great aboriginal singers from the island whose voice is so pure that it even caused A-mei to break into tears upon hearing her perform. Of Puyuma (卑南) and Bunun (布農) ancestry, she grew up in a musical atmosphere where singing was a natural as breathing.
The good news is that she will soon have a new release, and with a completely different direction. This one will be an electronica album, no name yet, but it’ll contain her newest self-penned song, Son of the Dragon (龍之子). Truthfully, I’m damned curious to hear a vocal instrument of this quality perform in an electronica setting. As soon as songs are available, I’ll re-post so everyone can have a taste. Until then, I’ll leave you with an old tune, Song of Puyama (南王系之歌)
Feb 12
12
Crystal Springs and San Andreas
Crystal Springs, between the city and the valley
I haven’t had much spare time since I moved to the US, but during weekends and holidays we’ve occasionally been around some of the more scenic spots of the Bay Area. There’s no lack of beautiful nature in the vicinity; from Big Basin to Yosemite, there’s an abundance of national parks. Not as well-known, but as visually stunning, is the Crystal Springs area west of San Mateo.
We took Caltrain to the San Mateo station and biked westwards from there. The parts of San Mateo we saw, while not a very special neighborhood, were pleasant and somewhat sleepy. After a couple of blocks of garden-style township, the greenery quickly increased and we were out in the countryside. While the roads were winding, they were quite level and occasionally went uphill, but not too much to make it exhausting. The surroundings in the area are attractive and obviously a lot of affluent people live here, as we could see from some of the palatial (and sometimes bizarre) structures on the hilltops. As we were getting close to the reservoir we biked under the 280 freeway, which appeared majestically out of the hilly landscape, reminiscent of some bridges I’ve seen from pictures of Luxembourg.
This trip had its fair share of “eye-opening” scenery, where you would move around in secluded surroundings and suddenly come out into a panoramic vista of tens of miles of landscape. We had that experience while arriving at our first destination, the reservoirs at Crystal Springs, and the effect was mesmerizing. Instead of stopping to take in the scenery, both of us were so exhilarated that we biked around it in a few minutes.
After a while we got into thick forest again and headed northwards through dense and moist greenery. At certain points it almost reminded us of Scotland, but then an unusual tree or flower would remind us that we’re in a different area of the world. We weren’t the only people on this route, and given our leisurely pace we were often overtaken by more seasoned bikers.
The lake to the north of Crystal Springs, San Andreas, while not as gorgeous as the reservoir down south, was a nice backdrop and we stopped for quite a while to take in the place. After getting back on track, we decided to bike up north to the Millbrae station.
Passing under the 280 again, an enormous panorama opened up in front of us again and it was like we could see half of the Bay Area. Then we must have gone downhill for 15-20 minutes, and the road was so steep at times that it felt unpleasant, but it was also a relaxing experience somehow. I’m glad we chose not to go from the other direction. The steep uphill paths would probably have been too much for both of us.
Crystal Springs is a perfect area for a weekday hike or bicycle trip. It’s not very demanding and it has some extra fun if you like speed and bike down towards Millbrae.
Feb 12
10
Food Truck
What could be better than steamed buns on a cold day?
As a former journalist for daily newspapers, I’ve learned that all you can hope for is that your story is an accurate reflection of what happens on a given day. It’s a snapshot, that’s all. By tomorrow, everything may have changed completely.
I live in Beijing, where change seems to occur at a faster rate than in other places. I’m constantly fascinated by both the everydayness, and the you-don’t-see-that-every-dayness of China. So I take pictures, and post them. One picture a day. No more, no less.
Please check out my blog: http://chinaenglish.wordpress.com/
Feb 12
8
Lin-Sanity!!
Jeremy Shuhao Lin has taken the New York City sports world by storm these last few days. The Knicks’ third-string point guard, he has started the last two games and responded with a combined 53 points and 15 assists. Only 23, the 6’3″ (190.5 cm) point guard graduated from Harvard and has kicked around the league for over a year before getting his big chance and making the most of it.
Jeremy’s parents emigrated from Taiwan. His father’s family is from Beidou, Changhua while his mother’s family came to Taiwan from Zhejiang province in China. Both are 5’6″ (167.6 cm) tall but luckily he grew far beyond that.
From Palo Alto, California, Lin led Palo Alto High School to the State Championship, upsetting powerhouse Mater Dei. Though a virtually unanimous choice for California Player of the Year, the PAC-10 schools would only take him as a walk-on so he decided on Harvard, where they do not offer athletic scholarships. In his junior and senior years, he was First Team All-Ivy League and one of the best players in the country.
So did he get drafted? Jeremy Lin is one of those players that doesn’t stand out on the first look but the more you see of him, the more he impresses. The scheduled workouts weren’t his forte; he is the consummate team player that sees the entire floor and makes the right decisions to make all his teammates better. He finally signed with the Golden State Warriors, his home town team and the crowd loved him though his minutes were few. He ended up in the D-League and was disappointed in his rookie season where he averaged 2.6 points in 29 games.
Waived by the Warriors to free up money, he bounced from the Houston Rockets to the New York Knicks, when he was claimed shortly after Christmas, played a bit, was sent down to the D-League once more and finally called up as the third string point guard.
Then everything changed. Coach Mike D’Antoni, frustrated with his team’s poor guard play, decided to start Lin against the Nets on February 4th and all his did was score 25 points, snap up 5 rebounds and hand out 7 assists with only one turnover in a 99-92 victory. More importantly, he got his teammates involved, getting the ball to his scorers and creating movement in the offense. In his next game, he went for 28 points and 8 assists in a Knicks win over the Jazz.
Can he keep it up? The rest of the league will develop a book on him but what he does is spread the floor and run the pick and roll, something the Knicks have been lacking this year. He can take it to the rim and though his scoring will decrease once star Carmelo Anthony comes back from injury, that will only make the team better. No one knows if this is a shot in the dark or a coming of age, only time will tell but right now Knicks fans (including me) couldn’t be happier.
Feb 12
6
We Mock Your Racist Ad
James Fallows wrote about a local Michigan Super Bowl commercial on his blog in The Atlantic yesterday. Some hack politician named Pete Hoekstra is running for his old seat in Congress against a Democratic opponent named Debbie Stabenow. He not so cleverly renames her “Debbie Spend-it-now” and tries to blame her for lost Michigan manufacturing jobs with his horribly revolting ad, filmed in California and created by Fred Davis, the same guy who did the pathetic Christine O’Donnell’s “I’m Not a Witch” and Carly Fiorina’s bizarre “Demon Sheep” ads.
Not only is it racist, it’s fake. The girl obviously speaks English as her primary language and rather than having a Chinese accent, she sounds like a cartoon Chinese character from the ’40s. I’m married to a Chinese accent so I know what it sounds like, and this ain’t even close.
“Your economy get very weak, ours get very good. We take your job.”
Oh brother…
