Category: China

Recent Chinese News

OK, here’s a quick list of China news stories I’ve come across in the last couple of days:

“Who wants a Hover Wingle?” – Could China have picked a better name for the first Chinese-made car? I think not. The cars are selling very well in Europe, not for their horrendous safety record, but because they’re so damn cheap.

“Beijing Censors Silence Influential Newsletter” – The headline should read, NPC doesn’t like idea of free media. With only CCTV, I don’t like the NPC.

“Billions of Rats Invade China” – This isn’t that new, but it’s gross. I can’t imagine what a billion rats would be like. It makes me want to leave the country.

“Cardboard Chinese Food” – Great, I heard about this eight hours after eating dumplings twice in one day.

“Chinese Internet Usage Rivals U.S.” – Yeah, and they only have a billion more people than us.

“China Executes Former Watchdog Chief” – So, this is what happens when you take bribes for food.

“A Virgin Mary-themed Urinal? Online in China” – Forget Summer Palace, forget Terracotta Warriors, forget Forbidden City – seeing stuff like this is what makes a trip to China worth while. However, I don’t think I’ll be down that way.

(This post makes me realize that I get most of my news – especially while traveling – from blogs. And it all seems credible. That’s kind of weird.)

Food Is Cheap In China

Today, we found the Muslim quarter in Xi’an, which is located just northwest of the Bell Tower. The Muslim quarter is several blocks long and lined with many street-food vendors and market-type shops hawking imitation terracotta warriors, tea sets, Chinese clothing, etc. We bought some Chinese sweets for 5RMB (less than $1US) and then had steamed lamb dumplings and spicy cold noodles. Lunch cost 18RMB (less than $3US for two people) and we were stuffed.

Depending on where you eat here, food is very very cheap from an American perspective. We’ve had Mexican food in Beijing and paid 193RMB. That was the most expensive meal to date, which is probably equal to a reasonably priced meal at a sit-down restaurant in the US. A large Pizza Hut pizza and two soft drinks cost 100RMB (about $15US). McDonald’s was not as cheap as I would have anticipated. For a cheeseburger meal and a McNugget meal, it cost about 47RMB (about $7US). Still not bad.

Today, we had Tall Iced Chocolate drinks at Starbucks after lunch, which cost 42RMB. This seemed shockingly expensive after only paying 18RMB for lunch. But… but… but… in the 95* heat and humidity and without a proper dessert in site for weeks, they were very good.

Dangerous Made-In-China Products

I’ve been trying to keep track of the China news in the U.S. while in China. Most of what I have read has been in the NYT and consisted of FDA warnings about food, toothpaste, dangerous toys, etc.

A blog titled, “Who Sucks,” put together a comprehensive list of all of the 2007 dangerous made-in-China products. Click here.

Recently dangerous items from the list include shoddy hammocks, lead jewelry, collapsing recliners, and shattering glassware.

Terracotta Warriors

We saw the Terra-cotta Warriors today. They were discovered in 1974 (I think) by a farmer who was digging a well. He first found a terra-cotta piece, then an entire head and more pieces. When showing his pieces to the village elders, they told him to keep it quiet so as not to upset the spirits. The farmer was brave and did show the pieces to the public. And what came of it?

He got 20 RMB, which amounts to about three U.S. dollars, 8,000 more terra-cotta warriors were unearthed, and his farm became a massive tourist destination.

I’ve been told that the farmer makes a good living signing autographs now, though the entire farmer story could be a tour guide ruse.

We also visited a tourist trap Terra-cotta Warriors factory and some Hot Springs used by an Emperor and his famous concubine.

Click here for pictures or click on the thumbnails to the right.

Xi’an Info From Our Bus Ride

After getting off the overnight train, we were greeted with a nice long walk on muddy pavement to the bus that would take us to the hotel. On the bus, Mary (a tour guide in training) gave us a rundown on what Xi’an is all about. Here’s was I can remember:

Translated, Xi’an means “West Peace.” It is known as the place in China that you go to study 3000 years of Chinese history, as it was once the capital city before Beijing. Beijing is where you go to study 1000 years of history, and Shanghai 400 years of history.

There are mountains on three sides of Xi’an, so it is often foggy here. This was both misleading and disappointing when we got off the train. After spending a week in Beijing, which seems to be the pollution capital of the world, I was looking forward to clear skies. Not yet, I guess. Maybe tomorrow. Xi’an is located in the center of China and is considered a very strategic location – or at least it was when people fought on horses.

The original city is surrounded by a large wall. Long ago, a drum would sound upon the opening and closing of the city’s walls to alert the warriors and other dwellers that they better get back or risk being stuck outside the wall all night. (Our hotel is outside the wall… hmmm.) Also, buildings inside the wall must be shorter than it so that you can see the clock-tower at all times. (I haven’t been over there yet, so don’t have a good idea of why this matters.)

Xi’an is known for its mix of traditional and modern ways – E.g. – inside the wall versus outside the wall. The people are very emotional, laid back, and enjoy their city. Mary also said they can be lazy, and cited their dining habits as evidence. Supposedly, if they’re feeling especially lazy, they’ll just put chili sauce on bread and eat it. (Sounds good to me.)

Xi’an is known for it’s dumplings and some kind of soup I didn’t catch the name of. The bordering provinces specialize, respectively, in spicy food and sour food. So, the Xi’an cuisine is spicy and sour. Believe it or not, rice isn’t terribly popular here. They’re in the “Wheat Belt,” and grow wheat from October to June; corn from June to October.

Mary claimed several firsts for Xi’an such as color TV, airplanes, and satellites. I’m a bit skeptical on this information, and assume she means Chinese firsts and not world firsts. I could be mistaken.

There is a large Muslim population here.

Squatting is popular. This was random. Overall, squatting seems more popular in China than in America. It’s somewhat awkward because when you see people squatting you can’t help but think of the toilets here, which require you to perform a difficult squat-n-hover maneuver (that I have yet to try). The origin of the squatting goes back to the soldiers. It was unsafe for them to remove their armor while on duty, so they would often squat to rest.

So, without really going outside that is what I’ve learned about Xi’an. More to come.