Looking to visit Beijing? Be sure to check out this video collection of interesting places to visit, first.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30217776/#37722359
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
China's Identity Crisis?
From wsj.com
Caroline Swartz was hired as a project manager at a Chinese public-relations firm in Beijing in 2006. For the majority of the year she worked there, she was never asked to do anything except sit in meetings, quietly. She would be called in with no knowledge of what the meetings were about or even who the clients were. Afterwards, she would be told to go back to her desk.
"I was presented, always visible and on display. But I didn't have any responsibility," says Ms. Swartz, now a student in New York City. She got paid to do basically nothing because she's white, she says. The firm had both Chinese and Western clients so they wanted to look international. This business approach may not seem politically correct but it reflects a new dynamic between China and the West: Westerners, especially Caucasians are getting employment opportunities because some Chinese firms want to use them to portray an image of high status and sophistication.
The relationship between China and the West has been fraught with ambiguity since the two Opium Wars in the mid-1800s, which triggered both a nationalistic reaction against imperialism and feelings of national self-loathing and idolatry for anything Western. In the early 1900s, following the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, some Chinese literati argued that China's military, economic and spiritual weakness made it an easy prey for aggressive foreigners. In order to save the nation, they said, China needed "total Westernization," rejecting traditional ideals embodied in the Confucian system and adopting European systems and values—so-called Mr. Democracy and Mr. Science.
The Chinese superiority/inferiority complex is rooted in what is known as the "one-hundred years of national humiliation," and has never resolved itself, even after Chairman Mao announced in 1949, "The Chinese people have stood up." It exists even though China has transformed itself into an economic power in the past three decades. On the one hand, China demands more respect from the West in the international arena, but it treats Westerners as superior on a personal level.
Having said that, I think these attitudes are changing among the younger generation, especially in bigger cities.
Two to three decades ago, Westerners could go to hotels, restaurants and department stores that catered to them exclusively and paid in a special currency called "foreign exchange certificates." Now at restaurants and department stores Chinese are often the ones who splurge on champagne, designer clothes and luxury cars. But even in Beijing and Shanghai it's not uncommon for anybody who works or socializes with Westerners to suffer from less favorable treatment from the service people. Some restaurants give Westerners better tables and serve them first. A friend, married to a European, has had trouble getting into her Beijing apartment complex when she forgets her security pass while the guards have never bothered to ask her husband for his pass. The truth is my friend owns the place.
Some Chinese have gone to the extremes to take advantage of the notion of Western superiority. A top Chinese executive at a multinational manufacturer in China (one with a U.S. permanent resident card) has a "white guy" business strategy: when he travels to smaller cities: He always makes sure he brings along a Caucasian employee. "The locals always treat us better when there's a white guy around," he says. The guy is often an engineer who doesn't need to open his mouth at the meetings. But his presence somehow makes things go more smoothly or, at least, makes the atmosphere friendlier.
But there's a drawback in the "white guy" strategy: when locals meet the executive and his team for the first time, their initial reaction is always that the white guy is the boss and the executive his interpreter. The executive says he doesn't mind at all as long as they get the business done.
For some white people hired for this purpose, it's not an easy situation to deal with. Ms. Swartz felt she was treated like a child and even a "zoo animal" at the firm. But she needed the job to take care of her newborn baby. She didn't start taking on any real responsibility, such as overseeing clients, until a manager overheard her speaking Mandarin. "They didn't even read my résumé," says Ms. Swartz, who studied eight years of Mandarin before moving to China. But she also believes that it's good for white people to experience racism because most people on earth have to deal with it, and "it doesn't feel good."
The European husband of my friend provided a different perspective. When I asked him what he thinks of the way the guards treat him better than his wife, he says there's nothing wrong with that. He says the guards should treat everybody like him, but that won't change until Chinese learn to treat migrant workers and poor people with more respect. I think he has a good point.
Write to Li Yuan at li.yuan@wsj.com
Caroline Swartz was hired as a project manager at a Chinese public-relations firm in Beijing in 2006. For the majority of the year she worked there, she was never asked to do anything except sit in meetings, quietly. She would be called in with no knowledge of what the meetings were about or even who the clients were. Afterwards, she would be told to go back to her desk.
"I was presented, always visible and on display. But I didn't have any responsibility," says Ms. Swartz, now a student in New York City. She got paid to do basically nothing because she's white, she says. The firm had both Chinese and Western clients so they wanted to look international. This business approach may not seem politically correct but it reflects a new dynamic between China and the West: Westerners, especially Caucasians are getting employment opportunities because some Chinese firms want to use them to portray an image of high status and sophistication.
The relationship between China and the West has been fraught with ambiguity since the two Opium Wars in the mid-1800s, which triggered both a nationalistic reaction against imperialism and feelings of national self-loathing and idolatry for anything Western. In the early 1900s, following the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, some Chinese literati argued that China's military, economic and spiritual weakness made it an easy prey for aggressive foreigners. In order to save the nation, they said, China needed "total Westernization," rejecting traditional ideals embodied in the Confucian system and adopting European systems and values—so-called Mr. Democracy and Mr. Science.
The Chinese superiority/inferiority complex is rooted in what is known as the "one-hundred years of national humiliation," and has never resolved itself, even after Chairman Mao announced in 1949, "The Chinese people have stood up." It exists even though China has transformed itself into an economic power in the past three decades. On the one hand, China demands more respect from the West in the international arena, but it treats Westerners as superior on a personal level.
Having said that, I think these attitudes are changing among the younger generation, especially in bigger cities.
Two to three decades ago, Westerners could go to hotels, restaurants and department stores that catered to them exclusively and paid in a special currency called "foreign exchange certificates." Now at restaurants and department stores Chinese are often the ones who splurge on champagne, designer clothes and luxury cars. But even in Beijing and Shanghai it's not uncommon for anybody who works or socializes with Westerners to suffer from less favorable treatment from the service people. Some restaurants give Westerners better tables and serve them first. A friend, married to a European, has had trouble getting into her Beijing apartment complex when she forgets her security pass while the guards have never bothered to ask her husband for his pass. The truth is my friend owns the place.
Some Chinese have gone to the extremes to take advantage of the notion of Western superiority. A top Chinese executive at a multinational manufacturer in China (one with a U.S. permanent resident card) has a "white guy" business strategy: when he travels to smaller cities: He always makes sure he brings along a Caucasian employee. "The locals always treat us better when there's a white guy around," he says. The guy is often an engineer who doesn't need to open his mouth at the meetings. But his presence somehow makes things go more smoothly or, at least, makes the atmosphere friendlier.
But there's a drawback in the "white guy" strategy: when locals meet the executive and his team for the first time, their initial reaction is always that the white guy is the boss and the executive his interpreter. The executive says he doesn't mind at all as long as they get the business done.
For some white people hired for this purpose, it's not an easy situation to deal with. Ms. Swartz felt she was treated like a child and even a "zoo animal" at the firm. But she needed the job to take care of her newborn baby. She didn't start taking on any real responsibility, such as overseeing clients, until a manager overheard her speaking Mandarin. "They didn't even read my résumé," says Ms. Swartz, who studied eight years of Mandarin before moving to China. But she also believes that it's good for white people to experience racism because most people on earth have to deal with it, and "it doesn't feel good."
The European husband of my friend provided a different perspective. When I asked him what he thinks of the way the guards treat him better than his wife, he says there's nothing wrong with that. He says the guards should treat everybody like him, but that won't change until Chinese learn to treat migrant workers and poor people with more respect. I think he has a good point.
Write to Li Yuan at li.yuan@wsj.com
Sunset in the Scholar's Garden, Staten Island, NYC
History
Traditional Chinese gardens go back almost 2,000 years to the Han Dynasty though most Scholar's Gardens date back to the more recent Ming and Qing dynasties.
A Scholar's Garden would have been built by a scholar or an administrator retiring from the emperor's court. It would have been an enclosed private garden always associated with a house which, in turn without its garden, would not have been considered whole.
This garden, designed and built by LAC, is enclosed by walls, a series of pavilions (eight in all), and covered walkways. These are all organized in an irregular manner to create in addition to the two major courtyards a series of six others of varying sizes.
The art of the Chinese garden is closely related to Chinese landscape painting - it is not a literal imitation of a natural landscape, but the capturing of its essence and spirit.
The parallel could be drawn to a Chinese hand scroll painting which as it unrolls, reveals a journey full of surprises and meditative pauses.
The enjoyment of the garden is both contemplative and sensual. It comes from making the most out of the experiences of everyday life, as such, architectural elements are always a part of a Scholar's Garden.
The painter's eye must be used to lay out the main architectural elements - the wall becomes the paper the rockery and plant are painted on. The structures playfully rise and fall, twist and turn and even "leave" the garden to take advantage of and even create a great variety of beautiful scenes.
To paraphrase the 15th century garden designer Ji Ching: "The garden is created by the human hand, but should appear as if created by heaven."
SUNSET IN THE SCHOLAR'S GARDEN
Thursday, July 15, 2010
7pm - 9pm
New York Chinese Scholar's Garden, Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden
1000 Richmond Terrace
Staten Island, NY 10301
phone (+1) 718 448 2500
e-mail: info@snug-harbor.org
Enjoy a summer evening in the luxurious, unique, and intimate setting of the internationally-acclaimed New York Chinese Scholar's Garden in a way that few have ever experienced. After a long day, watch the sun set amidst the beautiful surroundings of the garden with a drink in hand as you listen to some light mood-setting live music!
$35 per person ($40 at the door)
Includes: beer, wine, Chinese finger foods, and live music.
Purchase tickets online at www.ShowTix4U.com or call 718-425-3516.
July 23 Free NYC Concert Little Angels of Canton
Thank you to Man-Li K Lin for this info; for details please email her at manlikuo@hotmail.com
The GuangZhou Children Symphony Orchestra will be performing at St. Paul the Apostle Church, Columbus Avenue & 60th St in Manhattan on Friday, July 23rd from 7pm-9pm.
Free Admission
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