The Family That Works Together…

Here is a shot of a villager and her child collecting trash for money. China has labor laws, but they all sorts of laws, some of which even get obeyed. Many think that underage labor does not happen in China, but the place is rife with it. Especially for these ‘villagers’. They are poor people from small villages who come to Beijing for opportunity. They are scorned by the locals and treated as outcasts, as you can see, they also are forced to work at a young age. Actually in Beijing many of he migrant workers are from 13 to 17 years old, which may just run afoul of Chinese laws.

China Fact- Chinese Smoke, A Lot…

Chinese make up about 22% of the world’s population but have about 30% of the world’s smokers. I guess they figure with pollution being so bad, whats a little tar and nicotine.

Chinese Smog is Killing Me

Here is a smog hot of Beijing, the economy must be growing because there has been a ton of pollution lately. Which brings me to my next topic, suffocating in Chinese smog… Yesterday I worked on the outskirts of Bejing in a very secretive tech type company. The area is wooded, but thre is a distinct chemical smell. Its not like a Lysol smell, bu that type of chemical that when you inhale it your instinct says, ‘watch out, this is bad shit’. i ahve no idea what is in the air, and most assuredly the people in charge will never tell us, but it seems bad, and annoys my lungs. So, last night in the middle of my sleep it felt as if I were suffocating and I woke up. This has happened to me here in China quite a few times, so I thought I could get through it. For instance, my neighbors have some toxic substances on their walls which has given me problems, and I assumed it may be that. Then, it struck me that it may be the air by my place of employ. While working there my lungs feel full or saturated, and my breathing is less efficient. So, while I lie in bed, almost struggling to breathe, it hit me… This is China, this is the China life. Sure there is opportunity and money galore, but there is also this part of it, the untold darker side. Makes me wonder just how far I can go…

Judges in China Dont Know Squat….

In the west judges are lawyers, scholarly and have done their time in the court room, but this is China, the opposite is true. Read the following… excerpt from chinaheresay: “I just got done spending most of Spring 2009 teaching at a Judicial Education Program at National Judges College in Tongzhou on the outskirts of Beijing. As an American lawyer, when I think of the term “judge,” I envision an experienced attorney who eventually works his or her way to the bench. Procedurally, that is not how it works in China. The title “judge” is assigned to entry level graduates and is in no way a mirror image of the US or UK. Westerners reading the article have a different expectation when they hear the word “judge.” It would be like calling traffic police and those who issue parking tickets “police officers.” Sure, they work for the department, but they aren’t cops. I started teaching Chinese judges and lawyers a year ago. It was a shock to me when I arrived at my first lecture. I expected to see “judges” – instead, my classroom was predominately people in their 20’s. Every term at least one students ask me, “why are US judges always so old?” There is a mutual misunderstanding because the judges play different roles in the respective systems. Judicial independence is not an integral part of this system. The judges express this openly and I don’t think I am disparaging my students or betraying a confidence by repeating this. Judges often take direction from the prosecutors (procuratorates). They are not “conductors” in the courtroom as in western courts. You cannot be an independent judge and oversee the criminal prosecution of someone accused of being a member of a banned “cult;” I think you know the names.”

Chinese Resort

I will blog about this later, but for now enjoy the photos….

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Hard at Work in China- Chinese Snoozing at work

Many Chinese consider westerners lazy, they think we dont work hard, and basically enjoy life too much. Between the east and west, there is a huge misunderstanding. In China, if you look miserable and constantly complain of all the work you must do, and how little time you have to yourself, then you are a valuable and valued employee. By emotionally prostrating yourself to the company, you are showing that you are worthy of the pittance of a wage that you receive and you may return for another day. Westerners, on the other hand, seem to be able to mix business with pleasure, which means to not hate every waking hour at work. We can take coffee breaks and even occasionally smile, a thing most Chinese employees would not dream of. To us, work is a necessary evil, but not usually an all-encompassing one, yes we work hard, but we work efficiently. We attack the job, accomplish it and then go and engorge ourselves with fat and cholesterol filled goodies. The Chinese cannot understand this. They see us happy and assume that something must be wrong. For instance, if they are so miserable then why aren’t we the westerners? The answer to them is that we must be lazy or doing something wrong. The funny thing is that for all their complaints of hard work and no time for themselves, then why is it that in every company I have seen in China, you have workers snoozing on the job. For instance, today in my company of 100, I will catch at least 15 people taking a nap at any given time. I guess I would call that lazy, but they would merely say they work too hard and must rest. Maybe this great riddle will never be solved.

Chinese Recyclers

These are the utensils of Chinese recyclers. These bikes house items to be resold and re used. I have heard that for their 12 hours of hard work they make about 7 US dollars.

Half of Apartments in Shanghai and Beijing Empty? Credibility Crisis in China

This is an odd excerpt from Bloomberg. it is odd in a few ways, vz it speaks to China’s credibility cirsis and China’s wasting of resources as the world fights for them. Firstly, the survey seemed to be flawed to say the least, it is China and this is typical. They have no idea as to the proper measures, standards and ways to perform a survey and this one definitely foots the bill. Thus, one has to wonder if the survey numbers are right. As a citizen of Beijing, I would say that yes, we do have many buildings which are unoccupied or less than optimally occupied, and to that extent I am not surprised, I can see the Chinese real estate bubble crashing and burning. Secondly, the Chinese will do anything for a buck, and this includes putting up shoddy buildings and selling them at a premium, kickbacks are paid all along he way and everyone is happy. Due to the construction China’s GDP continues to grow, and is now the second largest in the world, but it seems to be smoke and mirrors. For instance, if the statistic is true then not only is China wasting precious resource by building apartments that are not currently used, and may never be used, but they are also over inflating their GDP or economic power by building and tearing down edifices which have served no purpose. I do not know which is true, but either way it is a sad thing to see in China. excerpt: At least half of the apartments in Shanghai and Beijing are empty, the China Daily reported today, citing an online investigation by volunteers conducted in 100 Chinese cities. “Investors and speculators are the owners of the vacant houses” as they wait to sell their properties at an appropriate time, said Lu Qilin, a Shanghai-based researcher at Uwin. “It’s important for the government to introduce more measures to curb speculation.”

Chinese Road Warriors

The wheels of progress churn in China, and this his how they do so. These are local buyers and sellers of goods on their way to the market in China.