:: CHINESE ENGLISH NAMES - PART II ::
Last week we talked about the English names that Chinese students choose here and I promised to get back to you on it.
For some reason, I am in a list-making mood tonight (read the following two posts) so here's a brief culling from my student database:
(Sorry about the CAPS, that's the formatting from my DB.)
Females:
ZERO
MUSIC
CARTOON
KOALA
EYRE (She liked Jane Eyre)
CARPENTER (She liked Karen Carpenter)
SWALLOW (It's a bird, I know, but I suggested she change her name)
FANNY (Ditto on suggesting she change her name)
CIPHER
PIKKI
CARROT
APPLE
ORANGE (These last two were classmates and seatmates. I called them the fruit cocktail.)
Males:
BERLIN
ZICO
GAUCHO
ADULT
LOOK
FLEX (He was into body-building)
HOLYFIELD (Named himself after the boxer. I never had a student named Tyson but most of my students liked that idiot.)
OWEN (Named himself after the soccer...oops, football player)
BECKHAM (Ditto)
JORDAN (#23)
JACKEL
CASH
BANANA
CAESAR
ABRAHAM LINCOLN (He admired the guy. I suggested he shorten it to Lincoln. I thought his meaning would be clearer than calling himself Abraham).
JEFFERSON (He admired Thomas Jefferson as do most students in China.)
And my all time favorite name..............
Yeah, he named himself after the cartoon character. I loved walking into class and calling role and shouting D U C K U L A!
BTW, Duckula is now an English teacher himself at my old school, Jinzhou Normal University. I wonder if he's changed his name (I doubt it) or if he tells his students now what his English name is (I doubt that, too).
Anyway, every foreign teacher in China has their own stories to tell about great English names their students have adopted. Feel free to add more through the Comments section below.
2002/11/05
:: SHOPPING LIST ::
In New York, there's Fifth Avenue; in L.A.- Rodeo Drive. In Chicago, there's Michigan Avenue's Magnificent Mile; in Cleveland, there's...well, never mind.
Here in China, the hoity toits shake it at Wangfujing in Beijing, Guan Qian Jie in Suzhou and Nanjing Lu in Shanghai.
And Hangzhou is no different. Here in Hangzhou, the upscale shopping area is Yan'nan Lu and it can compete with any of the above (save Cleveland, which it beats hands-down).
Tonight I was there trying out a recent addition to the Pizza scene in Hangzhou - La Pizzarie in the Everbright Bank Building. I'll review it another time but it's easily the best Italian food I have had in 4.5 years in China. Afterwards, I decided to stock up my dwindling western food supply at home, so I headed over to the best-stocked grocery store in Hangzhou if you are looking for real foreign food - the grocery store in the basement of the Hangzhou Da Sha (Hangzhou Mansion). It isn't all that great a selection, but it has the only constant supply of real block cheese (as opposed to processed slices). That's my main criteria in judging western food stores in China and, believe me, very few outside of Beijing, Suzhou and Hangzhou meet that litmus test.
So, my pockets bulging with cash (today was payday and I hadn't had time to hit the bank before they closed), I wandered the aisles and filled a small hand basket with western delicacies (or at least, they are delicasies in China). I decided to make a list for the Blog as I unpacked the bags when I got home. If you are reading this from the comfort of your western home, you can just yawn and move on to the next item. If you are a foreigner stranded in most cities in China and have been here for at least the one month it takes before you start jonesing for some western stuff, this list should make your mouth water, if not your wallet cry. So here it is, my shopping list from tonight's short trek to the Hangzhou Da Sha:
Gouda Cheese (from New Zealand)
Edam Cheese (from New Zealand)
Raguletto Tomato and Romano Cheese Pasta Sauce (great for making French Bread Pizzas with the above)
Kewpie Meat Suace (a Japanese canned tomato sauce with ground beef - heat it up and pour it over noodles and it tastes just like Cincinatti 3 way chili)
Chargrilled Vegetable Relish (from Australia-good on sandwiches)
Chicken of the Sea (not just your standard tuna, these are small cans of tuna pre-mixed Paad Thai style - spicy and great for making quick tuna sandwiches)-4 cans
Uncle Toby's Choco-Chip Meusili Bars (from Australia)
Hellema Country Mocca Chocolate Cookies (from Holland - the tastiest store-bought cookies I have ever had...anywhere....anytime)
Apple & Yogurt Curry Sauce w/ beef (from Japan-this stuff is great heated in the microwave and dumped over a bowl of rice)
Cadbury Black Forest Chocolate bars - the best candy bars found in China. 2 bars
Biftek-Teller - (a German product-a small beefsteak with onions, carrots and gravy in an aluminum container. just take it out, zap it in the microwave and you have a German TV dinner)
Whole Peppercorns WITH a disposable grinder
Yunfeng Baijiu (Chinese firewater - bought as a gift for some north China freinds who love the stuff. I chose this brand because the only English on the box said "Tipsy Spirit". I'm sure my north Chinese friends will agree)
Jack Daniels & Coke - (premixed in a 340 ml bottle. This one was for me)
Bacardi and Coke - (premixed - this is for my second round while the Chinese guys are still working on the Baijiu)
Pretz - (other than the baijiu, the only other Chinese product I bought. These are great little snacks-pretzel sticks but with various flavors. I prefer the Pizza flavor in the sky-blue box. Actually, this style of pretzel stick is big in Japan and the Chinese have simply copied it - and sell it at half the price. surprise, surprise).
The total bill for these western "luxury items" came to about 340 RMB - expensive by any standard but especially so in China. In fact I had five people standing around me at the checkout counter as the woman rang me up, checking to see what all this strange stuff was and then choking when they saw the total. But you know, sometimes you get a craving for western stuff here and when you see it, you just go crazy. In my own defense, I bypassed the huge dispaly of western breakfast cereals (about 15 different kinds including Post Toasties and Kellog's Corn Flakes) as well as the 10 different kinds of Whole-bean coffee. I mean, I didn't want to be conspicuous, you know?
In New York, there's Fifth Avenue; in L.A.- Rodeo Drive. In Chicago, there's Michigan Avenue's Magnificent Mile; in Cleveland, there's...well, never mind.
Here in China, the hoity toits shake it at Wangfujing in Beijing, Guan Qian Jie in Suzhou and Nanjing Lu in Shanghai.
And Hangzhou is no different. Here in Hangzhou, the upscale shopping area is Yan'nan Lu and it can compete with any of the above (save Cleveland, which it beats hands-down).
Tonight I was there trying out a recent addition to the Pizza scene in Hangzhou - La Pizzarie in the Everbright Bank Building. I'll review it another time but it's easily the best Italian food I have had in 4.5 years in China. Afterwards, I decided to stock up my dwindling western food supply at home, so I headed over to the best-stocked grocery store in Hangzhou if you are looking for real foreign food - the grocery store in the basement of the Hangzhou Da Sha (Hangzhou Mansion). It isn't all that great a selection, but it has the only constant supply of real block cheese (as opposed to processed slices). That's my main criteria in judging western food stores in China and, believe me, very few outside of Beijing, Suzhou and Hangzhou meet that litmus test.
So, my pockets bulging with cash (today was payday and I hadn't had time to hit the bank before they closed), I wandered the aisles and filled a small hand basket with western delicacies (or at least, they are delicasies in China). I decided to make a list for the Blog as I unpacked the bags when I got home. If you are reading this from the comfort of your western home, you can just yawn and move on to the next item. If you are a foreigner stranded in most cities in China and have been here for at least the one month it takes before you start jonesing for some western stuff, this list should make your mouth water, if not your wallet cry. So here it is, my shopping list from tonight's short trek to the Hangzhou Da Sha:
Gouda Cheese (from New Zealand)
Edam Cheese (from New Zealand)
Raguletto Tomato and Romano Cheese Pasta Sauce (great for making French Bread Pizzas with the above)
Kewpie Meat Suace (a Japanese canned tomato sauce with ground beef - heat it up and pour it over noodles and it tastes just like Cincinatti 3 way chili)
Chargrilled Vegetable Relish (from Australia-good on sandwiches)
Chicken of the Sea (not just your standard tuna, these are small cans of tuna pre-mixed Paad Thai style - spicy and great for making quick tuna sandwiches)-4 cans
Uncle Toby's Choco-Chip Meusili Bars (from Australia)
Hellema Country Mocca Chocolate Cookies (from Holland - the tastiest store-bought cookies I have ever had...anywhere....anytime)
Apple & Yogurt Curry Sauce w/ beef (from Japan-this stuff is great heated in the microwave and dumped over a bowl of rice)
Cadbury Black Forest Chocolate bars - the best candy bars found in China. 2 bars
Biftek-Teller - (a German product-a small beefsteak with onions, carrots and gravy in an aluminum container. just take it out, zap it in the microwave and you have a German TV dinner)
Whole Peppercorns WITH a disposable grinder
Yunfeng Baijiu (Chinese firewater - bought as a gift for some north China freinds who love the stuff. I chose this brand because the only English on the box said "Tipsy Spirit". I'm sure my north Chinese friends will agree)
Jack Daniels & Coke - (premixed in a 340 ml bottle. This one was for me)
Bacardi and Coke - (premixed - this is for my second round while the Chinese guys are still working on the Baijiu)
Pretz - (other than the baijiu, the only other Chinese product I bought. These are great little snacks-pretzel sticks but with various flavors. I prefer the Pizza flavor in the sky-blue box. Actually, this style of pretzel stick is big in Japan and the Chinese have simply copied it - and sell it at half the price. surprise, surprise).
The total bill for these western "luxury items" came to about 340 RMB - expensive by any standard but especially so in China. In fact I had five people standing around me at the checkout counter as the woman rang me up, checking to see what all this strange stuff was and then choking when they saw the total. But you know, sometimes you get a craving for western stuff here and when you see it, you just go crazy. In my own defense, I bypassed the huge dispaly of western breakfast cereals (about 15 different kinds including Post Toasties and Kellog's Corn Flakes) as well as the 10 different kinds of Whole-bean coffee. I mean, I didn't want to be conspicuous, you know?
:: SEARCH TERMS ::
As you know, I have a main website which I have been maintaining since 1998: Chuck@China
It gots hundreds of hits a day these days -- but many of them come just from people surfing the WWW. My hit counter records where everyone comes from and how they got there. Many are driven to my pages by Google and other search engines. Here's a sampling of some of the stranger search requests from the past week. I'm sure they didn't find what they were looking for at my website, but you can try it yourself. Type these words into Google and see if you don't find yourself at one of the hundreds of pages at Chuck@China:
naked golfers
female mud wrestling
kenny rogers roasters china
moustache > china
pictures christmas elves
english toastees
pictures of french's mustard
english school spanking thumbs
dynasty mud wrestling
images:shit
Indoor Skeet Shooting
"halloween 2001" "good witch"
cheap+regulation+size+basketballs
china weird photo
"taxi driver" +middle+finger
Re: that last one, by strange coincidence, I actually did that today -- to a taxi driver when he almost hit me as he was hanging a u-turn right into the path of my bike. Of course, he and his passengers were clueless. The only thing they use their middle finger for here is picking their nose. (N.B. That's no joke, either! read comment #11 here at the Lonely Planet Thorntree.)
As you know, I have a main website which I have been maintaining since 1998: Chuck@China
It gots hundreds of hits a day these days -- but many of them come just from people surfing the WWW. My hit counter records where everyone comes from and how they got there. Many are driven to my pages by Google and other search engines. Here's a sampling of some of the stranger search requests from the past week. I'm sure they didn't find what they were looking for at my website, but you can try it yourself. Type these words into Google and see if you don't find yourself at one of the hundreds of pages at Chuck@China:
naked golfers
female mud wrestling
kenny rogers roasters china
moustache > china
pictures christmas elves
english toastees
pictures of french's mustard
english school spanking thumbs
dynasty mud wrestling
images:shit
Indoor Skeet Shooting
"halloween 2001" "good witch"
cheap+regulation+size+basketballs
china weird photo
"taxi driver" +middle+finger
Re: that last one, by strange coincidence, I actually did that today -- to a taxi driver when he almost hit me as he was hanging a u-turn right into the path of my bike. Of course, he and his passengers were clueless. The only thing they use their middle finger for here is picking their nose. (N.B. That's no joke, either! read comment #11 here at the Lonely Planet Thorntree.)
:: WEST LAKE WEEKEND ::
The weather here in Hangzhou went from crap (4 days of wall-to-wall rain) to magnificent (sunny and crisp) over the weekend. So I spent Saturday AND Sunday down at the lake...thus, no blogs.
Most of the time was spent on the new "South Line" of the lake. The city spent all summer rebuilding Nan Shan (South Mountain) Road and connecting up all the parks on that end of the lake and, I have to tell you, they did a great job. It's a whole new area now and a great walk.
Other foreigners were out and about, too and although I didn't run into these guys, here's a link to Wilson Tai's website with his pictures from last weekend at Westlake. (N.B. If you're in China, that link won't work.)
Also, Nan Shan Road looks really spiff. They retained some of the grand old houses that used to be hidden behind walls. They are now opened up and have been taken over by art galleries, coffee houses, etc. Their are a dozen new coffee houses, at least (and not a Starbuck's among them...yet) and most have front patios. Very European feeling.
I'll catch up on my Blogging tomorrow.
The weather here in Hangzhou went from crap (4 days of wall-to-wall rain) to magnificent (sunny and crisp) over the weekend. So I spent Saturday AND Sunday down at the lake...thus, no blogs.
Most of the time was spent on the new "South Line" of the lake. The city spent all summer rebuilding Nan Shan (South Mountain) Road and connecting up all the parks on that end of the lake and, I have to tell you, they did a great job. It's a whole new area now and a great walk.
Other foreigners were out and about, too and although I didn't run into these guys, here's a link to Wilson Tai's website with his pictures from last weekend at Westlake. (N.B. If you're in China, that link won't work.)
Also, Nan Shan Road looks really spiff. They retained some of the grand old houses that used to be hidden behind walls. They are now opened up and have been taken over by art galleries, coffee houses, etc. Their are a dozen new coffee houses, at least (and not a Starbuck's among them...yet) and most have front patios. Very European feeling.
I'll catch up on my Blogging tomorrow.
2002/10/30
:: TECH NOTE ::
Although this Blog has been UNDERwhelmed by comments so far; neverthless, I have changed the Comments section to a different service. Enetation, the original service I used is always down and often results in making this Blog load slowly. The new system I'm trying, HaloScan, seems to work much quicker and infinitely more reliably. We'll see.
I moved the few previous comments (mostly about Angela and the Flower) by hand to this new system. As for the rest of you, get your thumbs out of your #$@ and leave some comments, OK?
Although this Blog has been UNDERwhelmed by comments so far; neverthless, I have changed the Comments section to a different service. Enetation, the original service I used is always down and often results in making this Blog load slowly. The new system I'm trying, HaloScan, seems to work much quicker and infinitely more reliably. We'll see.
I moved the few previous comments (mostly about Angela and the Flower) by hand to this new system. As for the rest of you, get your thumbs out of your #$@ and leave some comments, OK?
2002/10/29
:: CHINESE ENGLISH NAMES - I ::
Here's a funny AP article passed along by Matt Malowany, a Canadian journalist who used to work for the Shenzhen journal: As globalization sweeps through China, a crucial commodity emerges: the
English name
If you have never worked or taught in China, you have no idea how true this is. I have class in 45 minutes, but I'll try and follow up on the article later with some examples of the "great" English names my own students have come up with over the years.
Stay tuned.
Here's a funny AP article passed along by Matt Malowany, a Canadian journalist who used to work for the Shenzhen journal: As globalization sweeps through China, a crucial commodity emerges: the
English name
If you have never worked or taught in China, you have no idea how true this is. I have class in 45 minutes, but I'll try and follow up on the article later with some examples of the "great" English names my own students have come up with over the years.
Stay tuned.
2002/10/28
:: SITES ON THE NET ::
Just FYI, in addition to my main Chuck@China Website, I have a couple of other places on the web, too. They're nothing fancy and, really, I set them up originally just as a place to dump some of my photos for a few of my friends and students. But if you are looking for some more pictures in addition to the one's at Chuck@China then go take a look. They're here:
Yahoo Group
MSN Group
Just FYI, in addition to my main Chuck@China Website, I have a couple of other places on the web, too. They're nothing fancy and, really, I set them up originally just as a place to dump some of my photos for a few of my friends and students. But if you are looking for some more pictures in addition to the one's at Chuck@China then go take a look. They're here:
Yahoo Group
MSN Group
:: OF CLAMBAKES AND HAIRY CRABS ::
Back home in Cleveland, it's my favorite time of the year - the World Series, Notre Dame football and, of course, clambakes.
Well the first two are missing here in China but there's a great substitute for the third -
Here in the Suzhou-Shanghai-Hangzhou area, it's Hairy Crab time. And the best hairy crabs come from Yangcheng Lake near Suzhou. Having lived in Suzhou and now Hangzhou, I have grown to love hairy crabs. You will, too, if you ever get the chance.
Here's a story from CHina Daily about hairy crabs: As more and more Shanghainese become inflamed with a passion for hairy crabs, reporter Pan Haixia suggests that it may just be a fashionable affair...
Back home in Cleveland, it's my favorite time of the year - the World Series, Notre Dame football and, of course, clambakes.
Well the first two are missing here in China but there's a great substitute for the third -
Here in the Suzhou-Shanghai-Hangzhou area, it's Hairy Crab time. And the best hairy crabs come from Yangcheng Lake near Suzhou. Having lived in Suzhou and now Hangzhou, I have grown to love hairy crabs. You will, too, if you ever get the chance.
Here's a story from CHina Daily about hairy crabs: As more and more Shanghainese become inflamed with a passion for hairy crabs, reporter Pan Haixia suggests that it may just be a fashionable affair...
2002/10/27
:: MIAO MIAO ::
The biggest thrill that a college teacher gets is seeing his/her students through their college years and off into the real world.
I've been teaching college for 11 years, 4 of them in China. My students (both US and China) have always kept in touch. It warms a teacher's heart.
One of my first students, when I first came to Jinzhou, China in 1998, was Miao Miao (no jokes, please). She eventually graduated from Jinzhou Teachers College and she is now in the process of completing her Master's Degree in English Linguistics in Dalian. She is preparing her thesis on the subject of "Linguistic Pragmatic Failures". If you don't know what that means, don't worry.
She asked me for help in compiling some examples for her thesis and sent me a short survey consisting of 30 simple situations and asking how someone handles it in English. For example, "John asks to borrow his friend's bicycle". You are John. How do you ask?
So, I thought I would post her survey here. Click here to see the survey. Take a few minutes to answer it and then send it to me by email (make sure to attach the file) and I'll pass it along to her.
Remember, you're contributing to the education of one of China's best and brightest. Do it now!
(n.b. Please indicate your native country as, I believe, cultural norms may influence your reactions to each of the situations.)
The biggest thrill that a college teacher gets is seeing his/her students through their college years and off into the real world.
I've been teaching college for 11 years, 4 of them in China. My students (both US and China) have always kept in touch. It warms a teacher's heart.
One of my first students, when I first came to Jinzhou, China in 1998, was Miao Miao (no jokes, please). She eventually graduated from Jinzhou Teachers College and she is now in the process of completing her Master's Degree in English Linguistics in Dalian. She is preparing her thesis on the subject of "Linguistic Pragmatic Failures". If you don't know what that means, don't worry.
She asked me for help in compiling some examples for her thesis and sent me a short survey consisting of 30 simple situations and asking how someone handles it in English. For example, "John asks to borrow his friend's bicycle". You are John. How do you ask?
So, I thought I would post her survey here. Click here to see the survey. Take a few minutes to answer it and then send it to me by email (make sure to attach the file) and I'll pass it along to her.
Remember, you're contributing to the education of one of China's best and brightest. Do it now!
(n.b. Please indicate your native country as, I believe, cultural norms may influence your reactions to each of the situations.)
2002/10/26
2002/10/23
:: WHAT'S A "TORF"? ::
If you're wondering what it's like to teach in China on a daily basis, here's a taste of some of what we go through :
eScribe: TEFLChinaLife: Message: Re: (life) And I'd thought I'd heard it all
The guy who wrote it, George, was my teaching colleague and next door neighbor in Jinzhou in 2000. The story is a little long but well worth the read. In his spare time, George is the resident humorist at the TEFLChina mailing list, from which this post was gleaned. I have no doubt it is true, though, and none of it surprises me in the least.
TorF - leave your comments below!
If you're wondering what it's like to teach in China on a daily basis, here's a taste of some of what we go through :
eScribe: TEFLChinaLife: Message: Re: (life) And I'd thought I'd heard it all
The guy who wrote it, George, was my teaching colleague and next door neighbor in Jinzhou in 2000. The story is a little long but well worth the read. In his spare time, George is the resident humorist at the TEFLChina mailing list, from which this post was gleaned. I have no doubt it is true, though, and none of it surprises me in the least.
TorF - leave your comments below!
:: THOSE CRAZY FOREIGNERS! ::
Here's something you don't see everyday in Beijing: Yahoo! News - World Photos - AP
Here's something you don't see everyday in Beijing: Yahoo! News - World Photos - AP
2002/10/22
:: DOOLITTLE'S RAIDERS ::
Here's one for all the old-timers and history buffs out there: the Zhejiang provincial government (I live in Hangzhou capital of Zhejiang Province) is currently hosting an exhibition in Washington D.C. and Houston (to coincide with Jiang Zemin's trip to Little Bush's Texas ranch).
The exhibition commemorates the feats of Zhejiang farmers and fishermen in helping to rescue a number of Doolittle's Raiders who crashed in the province during World War II. In case you didn't know (and many Americans don't!) the U.S. and CHina were allies during that war.
I happen to know about this exhibition because a good friend of mine works in the Foreign Affairs office of the provincial government and I called him last week on his cell phone at about 5:00 p.m. Imagine my surprise when he told me I had woken him up in his Washington DC hotel room. Imagine my bigger surprise when I get my next cell phone bill.
Today, I found that they have set up a website commemorating the events. It's here. Take a look. It's a little glimpse into a part of the history of US-China relations.
Also pretty interesting is the video which you can access through the site. It's a video from earlier this year of the search for the remains of the crew members of a downed US plane during that war. Although the audio is in Chinese, the video is interesting and also high quality. Of course, I have broadband access here so I don't know how good it will be on a dial-up.
Anyway, I think it's worth taking a look at.
Here's one for all the old-timers and history buffs out there: the Zhejiang provincial government (I live in Hangzhou capital of Zhejiang Province) is currently hosting an exhibition in Washington D.C. and Houston (to coincide with Jiang Zemin's trip to Little Bush's Texas ranch).
The exhibition commemorates the feats of Zhejiang farmers and fishermen in helping to rescue a number of Doolittle's Raiders who crashed in the province during World War II. In case you didn't know (and many Americans don't!) the U.S. and CHina were allies during that war.
I happen to know about this exhibition because a good friend of mine works in the Foreign Affairs office of the provincial government and I called him last week on his cell phone at about 5:00 p.m. Imagine my surprise when he told me I had woken him up in his Washington DC hotel room. Imagine my bigger surprise when I get my next cell phone bill.
Today, I found that they have set up a website commemorating the events. It's here. Take a look. It's a little glimpse into a part of the history of US-China relations.
Also pretty interesting is the video which you can access through the site. It's a video from earlier this year of the search for the remains of the crew members of a downed US plane during that war. Although the audio is in Chinese, the video is interesting and also high quality. Of course, I have broadband access here so I don't know how good it will be on a dial-up.
Anyway, I think it's worth taking a look at.
:: WEST LAKE EXPO ::
The main attraction here in Hangzhou is West Lake - the most famous lake in China. Every year for the past few years, Hangzhou holds the West Lake Exposition in the fall. Weather-wise, it's the best time of the year here. This year's Expo began last Saturday with a giant concert in the Yellow Dragon Stadium.
The Expo runs from Octber 20th to November 20th and there are lots of events. Check out the West Lake Expo website for more details. The English version is here and the list of scheduled events is here. The West Lake Carnival listed there sounds really interesting:
Foreign artistic performance groups, local and provincial folk art groups, performing teams from 13 districts (countries) of Hangzhou city and the voluntary townspeople will be invited to participate in a street singing and dancing parade. Several stages along the roads are set up, performance and ring contests are arranged to promote the direct exchange between the performing teams and the audience. The date is from 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm on the evening of Oct. 26 . Performance stages will be made in Wushna Plaza, West Lake Avenue and "Orioles Singing in the Willows". Besides the performance of fine programs, there are also additional activities, such as the Torch Revelry, town art performances, mask party, and beer-drinking.
Angela invited me to go there with her on Saturday - but that was before my last post. We'll see if the invitation stands come Saturday.
The main attraction here in Hangzhou is West Lake - the most famous lake in China. Every year for the past few years, Hangzhou holds the West Lake Exposition in the fall. Weather-wise, it's the best time of the year here. This year's Expo began last Saturday with a giant concert in the Yellow Dragon Stadium.
The Expo runs from Octber 20th to November 20th and there are lots of events. Check out the West Lake Expo website for more details. The English version is here and the list of scheduled events is here. The West Lake Carnival listed there sounds really interesting:
Foreign artistic performance groups, local and provincial folk art groups, performing teams from 13 districts (countries) of Hangzhou city and the voluntary townspeople will be invited to participate in a street singing and dancing parade. Several stages along the roads are set up, performance and ring contests are arranged to promote the direct exchange between the performing teams and the audience. The date is from 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm on the evening of Oct. 26 . Performance stages will be made in Wushna Plaza, West Lake Avenue and "Orioles Singing in the Willows". Besides the performance of fine programs, there are also additional activities, such as the Torch Revelry, town art performances, mask party, and beer-drinking.
Angela invited me to go there with her on Saturday - but that was before my last post. We'll see if the invitation stands come Saturday.
2002/10/21
:: ANGELA'S FLOWERS ::
I was having dinner with my good friend Angela tonight and she BEGGED me to take down that picture I have of her on my website. You can find it here: hangzhou friends
It's the one where she's standing there with the flower in her hair and she HATES it. I told her I liked it. She said she looks stupid with a flower in her hair and that modern Chinese girls don't do such things. I told her that THAT idea was stupid...and I still liked the picture.
So I'll leave it up to my readers - click on the comment button below and let me know what you think. Should Angela's picture with the flower in her hair stay or go? Vote now.......
I was having dinner with my good friend Angela tonight and she BEGGED me to take down that picture I have of her on my website. You can find it here: hangzhou friends
It's the one where she's standing there with the flower in her hair and she HATES it. I told her I liked it. She said she looks stupid with a flower in her hair and that modern Chinese girls don't do such things. I told her that THAT idea was stupid...and I still liked the picture.
So I'll leave it up to my readers - click on the comment button below and let me know what you think. Should Angela's picture with the flower in her hair stay or go? Vote now.......
2002/10/20
:: OVER THE TOP? ::
When I was new to China in 1998, one of my first students in China once told me, "You know, we have the best of everything here...but we always overdo it." She was referring to Chinese restaurants (the best) with their excessive lighting and blaring music and noisy diners (the worst). "We never seem to get the mix just right."
Her comment came back to me when I saw this story on Yahoo tonight. I mean, the models are all that but the costumes and theme???? Over the top. "The Moving Forbidden City"??? Who thought that one up? The same guys who dubbed Wang Zhi Zhi, Yao Ming and Meng Whatshisname Basketball's "Great Wall" of China?
Get a load of these costumes...Yahoo! News - Entertainment Photos - Reuters
Pr¨ºt a Porter? I don't think so.
When I was new to China in 1998, one of my first students in China once told me, "You know, we have the best of everything here...but we always overdo it." She was referring to Chinese restaurants (the best) with their excessive lighting and blaring music and noisy diners (the worst). "We never seem to get the mix just right."
Her comment came back to me when I saw this story on Yahoo tonight. I mean, the models are all that but the costumes and theme???? Over the top. "The Moving Forbidden City"??? Who thought that one up? The same guys who dubbed Wang Zhi Zhi, Yao Ming and Meng Whatshisname Basketball's "Great Wall" of China?
Get a load of these costumes...Yahoo! News - Entertainment Photos - Reuters
Pr¨ºt a Porter? I don't think so.
:: INTRO ::
My original website, Chuck @ China began in March of 1998 shortly after I came to China. It pre-dates the heyday of weblogs. Through the years, I have purposely avoided turning that website into an online diary or a personal journal and so I disdained turning it into a weblog. I have fought the temptation successfully since 1999 when weblogs first appeared on my radar screen.
Weblogs do serve another more important purpose; however, and that is to filter vast quantities of information about a particular subject through a weblog so that people with similar interests can read, consider and comment about the subject. I have lived in China now for 4.5 years and have an abiding interest in all things having to do with living and working in China as the millenium turns. Others do too judging by the number of page hits my website gets each day.
I have toyed with the idea for more than a year and finally have come down on the side of setting up a weblog. There are a few reasons for this and you can read more about my reasons here.
SO, I have decided to implement a Chuck @ China Weblog in addition to my regular site. I'm calling this Blog ch-ch-ch-ch china (with apologies to David Bowie's "ch-ch-ch-ch- changes") because I hope it will be a vehicle whereby the incredible changes in China can be reflected in a more timely manner.
But please don't forget my main site. It's still my baby and a good vehicle for my photography, pictures of friends and students, and, of course, my longer pieces.
As my students would say, "Welcome You to ch-ch-ch-ch-china - the Chuck @ China Weblog".
--Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province
China
My original website, Chuck @ China began in March of 1998 shortly after I came to China. It pre-dates the heyday of weblogs. Through the years, I have purposely avoided turning that website into an online diary or a personal journal and so I disdained turning it into a weblog. I have fought the temptation successfully since 1999 when weblogs first appeared on my radar screen.
Weblogs do serve another more important purpose; however, and that is to filter vast quantities of information about a particular subject through a weblog so that people with similar interests can read, consider and comment about the subject. I have lived in China now for 4.5 years and have an abiding interest in all things having to do with living and working in China as the millenium turns. Others do too judging by the number of page hits my website gets each day.
I have toyed with the idea for more than a year and finally have come down on the side of setting up a weblog. There are a few reasons for this and you can read more about my reasons here.
SO, I have decided to implement a Chuck @ China Weblog in addition to my regular site. I'm calling this Blog ch-ch-ch-ch china (with apologies to David Bowie's "ch-ch-ch-ch- changes") because I hope it will be a vehicle whereby the incredible changes in China can be reflected in a more timely manner.
But please don't forget my main site. It's still my baby and a good vehicle for my photography, pictures of friends and students, and, of course, my longer pieces.
As my students would say, "Welcome You to ch-ch-ch-ch-china - the Chuck @ China Weblog".
--Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province
China
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