Bad Manners in China

from factsanddetails.com
”
Chinese have a reputation for having bad manners: spitting in streets, making loud slurping noises when they eat, walking around in public without a shirt; cutting in line; urinating in public; jostling aggressively. This wasn’t always the case. In imperial times the Mandarin class in particular was known for its refined tastes and manners. Confucianism taught people to treat others with courtesy and respect.”

Communists and Movies

I recently read where Chinese producers are on a ‘whirlwind’ tour of Hollywood. The goal is to see what makes Hollywood ‘tick’ and how to emulate their success in movies. At first blush this seems reasonable, but then you have to understand the Chinese to see the problems in their quest.
Firstly, the problem lies within the Chinese culture The Chinese used to believe that they were the center of the universe and were surrounded by ignorant barbarians. they had, so they thought, developed apart from the rest of the world and that lead them to the remarkable state of purity in which Marco Polo found them. Nowadays, with their increased economic might, they are sure that this toxic land is truly the place that God has chosen for his favorite sons and daughters. Using this as the backdrop for the post we can see why the Chinese went to Hollywood. Firstly, it gave them a chance to leave this place and breathe real air, drink good milk etc. Secondly, the Chinese are great at working with foreigners , learning from them and kicking them out. Its been said that the subway tech in china was stolen from the Germans. The Chinese reason that because they invented chopsticks, the world owes them, and if they happen to steal some of our secrets , then so be it. Thus, in typical Chinese fashion, the Chinese assume that by talking with the leaders in the field, who are of course more advanced barbarians, but barbarians nonetheless, that they can uncover some secrets of movie making, and then do it better, after all they are the chosen people.
The other problem is that its not that China has the inability to make movies, but that they are hamstrung by the chicoms. The communist party is dictatorial in its mandates ie. will not allow anything that may harm its reputation and image. Thus, as i have been told, the reason for all of the foolhardy tv shows and movies set in the 1800s is due to the fact that those people are dead and there is no one to complain about how they are portrayed. Should you try to make a movie, like avatar- for instance, the government would see it as subverting state supremacy and legitimacy. Thus, the issue may not be that these producers go to Hollywood, but that the chicoms read a book printed in any other country and learn about how the world works today–right I can see that happening.
I guess not much will change here. So I look forward to more thrilling adventures of monkeys and villagers kicking savagely at their archenemies while flying effortlessly through the air.

Awesome

See! I can climb just as well!

Heartless in China- 83 Year Old Man Dies, Passersby Offer No Assistance

This is Chinese living. This poor guy lie dying in the streets and no one helped him (from chinahush.com). Some of you reading this will think this type of thing is an isolated event, or a product of the cultural revolution, or the fact that if they offered help, they may be held liable for his fate. The sad fact is that in the book I am reading about China in the 1880’s, the author tells the same story. He talks about seeing a man die in the streets and no one stopped to assist him, and that was 130 years ago. You really have to wonder about their sense of morals in China.

Dec 29, an 83-year-old man fell down on a sidewalk in Fuzhou City. 2 passers-by attempted to help but were held back by others for “their own good”. With the crowd watching, the old man laid on the icy ground till his last breath.

More Great Panda Photos

Hey! This is private business.

All Heart in China- Death in Auto Accident, Local Chinese Play Cards

from chinatoday.com

A road accident happened in October 3, 2008 in Luoyang, Henan Province, 3 killed and 7 wounded, a policeman is at the site for rescue …

The accident blocked traffic for more than two hours, passengers nearby left their cars and sat down around a little table for a game of cards … the scene is really a “death entertainment”

Working Things Out in China- Glasses, Fighter Planes, Blah Blah

In China things have a way of working themselves out. For instance as I sit at my desk, I notice that the building in which I work leans to the right a tiny bit. This manufacturing hiccup may effect others but does not generally pose a problem to me. The reason is that my my new Chinese glasses

Image from DesktopNexus.com

have cleverly been handcrafted to make vision from my left eye as clear as a hawk, while my right eye is practically useless. Thus as I sit here at work, everything looks nice and level.

You may be wondering however, how these poorly made eyeglasses effect my day to day life and my ability to move. I have found that in order to counteract the harmful effect of the Chinese eyeglasses, I must either wear an eye-patch or

walk sideways like a crab from place to place. I find that while I walk in the conventional sense of the word, when sporting my new Chinese specs, I look more like someone who is either constantly inspecting the nether regions of deep space or cracks in the sidewalk. Fed up with my inability to walk with the pride I was accustomed, I decided to march back to the optical shop from where I’d purchased the specs.

Upon returning to the high tech Chinese facility where I’d purchased my state of the art lenses,

I voiced my concerns to the saleswoman/cleaning lady/manager/optician/witchdoctor, who had sold me the specs . Upon glancing my way, the young woman consulted varoius tea leaves, threw chicken blood into my eyes, did a mysterious dance, held up an abacus, shook it like an etch a sketch, bashed at the little balls, then proclaimed that I was near sighted with a slight astigmatism. While demanding payment for her diagnosis.

Pointing at the document I’d filled out when I arrived, I claimed that I already knew this, but was wondering why it was impossible for me to make more forward then lateral headway as I ploughed along the Beijing streets. I told her I would not be prudent to pay her at this point, as she had not helped me in the least.

Shaking the abacus in my face, she proclaimed me a dunce, launched a sizable wad of phlegm the length of the room and summarily retreated, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

So I return to the reason for this post….Do you really think they can build a quality stealth jet plane in China?

How I feel in China

No one in the world cares for me! Humph!!!

Off Topic, Musical Group- The BlueFlowers- Give Them a Listen

I am no big music fan, I feel my time is much better served by researching about China and then printing each embarrassing/humiliating thing about them that I can. But I will take a moment to show my softer side.

I came across a group called The Blueflowers, they’re pretty good and play Americana/alt-country. I believe they are from the Detroit area, so give them a listen if you’re into the style.

Painting Your Daughter Nude in China

File this one under “keep that freaking pervert away from your kids”

From Chinasmack. Some ‘artist’ in China is painting nude photos of his daughter… Hmmmm, I wonder how old she was the first time he told her he wanted to “make a painting of her”. I love art and those guys may be different in many ways, but to me this just seems a little creepy.