tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39118952011-04-22T08:07:20.505+08:00China HandA description of daily life plus thoughts on greater issues in China from Suzhou, China by a long term China Hand.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1611100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-64867924266735825292009-05-07T18:48:00.003+08:002009-05-07T18:58:56.595+08:00Paradigm ShiftA new era for the Suzhou Crouchers. We not only live in a new apartment overlooking the spectacular Jinji Lake, but we have migrated from MS to Mac. iMac to be precise. Yes we are coming to you from the latest iMac and so far it has been an enlightening experience.The promised experienced of plug in and turn on was exactly that. Downloading Skype for OSX a snap. We fervently hope Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-54011323452343840752008-07-24T12:13:00.002+08:002008-07-24T12:36:32.936+08:00Christ vs Buddha - Equal TreatmentChina Hand has given a few sprays recently on the subject of run-down Christian cathedrals and luxury, gold plated Buddhist temples. Mention might have been made of a brand new 'renovated' Buddhist Temple in Suzhou recently out on the Yangcheng Lakes area. He may have contrasted this opulent temple, which features China's tallest indoor Guanyin figure with the 'Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-62984841332268247352008-06-26T15:35:00.003+08:002008-07-14T12:08:23.210+08:00China Watching- Old StyleChina Hand was trained in the old school of China watching, our sources were summaries of mainland magazines, newspapers and radio, interviews with refugees, documents which came out via Taiwan, and glimpses of China from occasional, and highly controlled, visitors.We would bend over photos from the People's Daily noting the positioning to check the very strict hierarchy,Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-53047954247986060842008-04-09T12:01:00.002+08:002008-04-09T12:19:31.375+08:00More in Sorrow than in AngerChina Hand's stirring defence of China's rights in Tibet caused some consternation among his friends back in Australia. Indeed he was taken to task and heaped with obloquoy. His recent readings inspired the following mock-serious reply:QuoteAs the famous Opium Commissioner Lin Zexu said " My only duty is to live or die for my country".Commissioner Lin took matters Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-75411443340685292102008-04-05T13:06:00.002+08:002008-04-05T13:41:26.866+08:00Second Thoughts?My wife has had friends from Sydney visiting all this week. She has accompanied them by day and I have joined them at night for dinner. They are Australian Chinese of Malaysian and Singaporean origin aged between 72 and 85. They are retired of course and have enough money, sensibly invested, to allow a lot of travel.Susanna has taken them to all the usual tourist spots in Suzhou, Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-87854437205847389772008-03-19T09:45:00.002+08:002008-03-19T09:54:47.517+08:00Poor TibetThe poor people of Tibet are caught up in one of those historical binds from which there is no recourse. At issue is a claim that Tibet was one a nation which was recently invaded by China. To my knowledge Tibet has never been recognized as a sovereign nation by any other.If you look at various timelines put up even by the Tibetans themselves you will see several times when the Qing Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-40376837205725783262007-12-31T08:13:00.000+08:002007-12-31T13:40:05.747+08:00China Saves the World's Public Health SystemsHere in Suzhou there are at least 500 Indian and Pakistani students studying medicine. They study in English but learn a little survival Chinese as well. They are amongst 10,000 such students studying medicine in China.At first there was a guarante their credentials would be recognised in India but it appears the Indian government may have reneged on Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-55885572965286682942007-12-30T20:07:00.001+08:002007-12-31T13:44:24.902+08:00Taiwan RelationsViewers of a recent broadcast of CCTV 9's Dialogue current affairs program might have been left with the impression that the US is now so supportive of China, and opposed to Taiwan President Chen Shuibian's referendum on re-entry to the UN, that it might not support Taiwan if the referendum went ahead and China was 'provoked' into military action as a result.Even a reporter Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-49266113970968559642007-12-19T17:22:00.000+08:002007-12-31T13:46:01.254+08:00Christmas in SuzhouChristmas music has been playing incessently at the shops and the restaurants - almost without exception the staff don Father Christmas red hats with white trimming. Christmas trees are set up all over the city, the latest one being in the commercial area near the school dormitaries which is managed by the Suzhou Industial Park authorities. Childen in Chinese cities demand Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-76599741979385740312007-12-14T14:09:00.000+08:002007-12-31T13:53:30.363+08:00Insecurity in China: The End of an EraA small incident in our development last week led to a revelation which may result in increasing insecurity in the future for us residents 'gated communities' with uniformed guards controlling the entry of all unregistered people.Australians, and some Americans, still living in small friendly communities where they may go out without even closing the doors, Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-67167454041358629572007-12-06T07:57:00.000+08:002007-12-06T08:28:38.985+08:00Lament for the Past"Ay yah" she sighed as our school bus passed into Suzhou's industrial park. "You know there is a saying that when the Suzhou harvest is bountiful, all China can eat rice. But now look at Suzhou! Just factories. What will China eat now?".She was right of course - you only have to look at the old Chinese character for "Su" - The character for rice and the character for fish Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-53526542436721277532007-06-26T09:39:00.000+08:002007-06-26T10:21:41.084+08:00Suzhou Hong Kong Club Inaugural DinnerFour tables of Hong Kong 'expat' families got together at the Hong Kong Zen Restaurant last Saturday evening for the first get-together of Hong Kong Belongers. They decided to call it the Hong Kong Club (苏州香港同乡会) which is common overseas.The idea of overseas Chinese getting together by themselves is a very old one. They form belongers associations for each Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1521388134620412792007-06-26T09:26:00.000+08:002007-06-26T10:26:45.828+08:00Freedom of the BlogsphereSad to say the curtains have come down again on Blogspot.com in China. It is no longer available to China based readers so I am indebted again to my online mentor, Dr John Ray of Dissecting Leftism (his mirror here) for mirroring this site here.I don't think it is due to subversive activities online, I rather tend to believe it is the officials' reaction to the immature Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-74635745427909789632007-06-26T09:12:00.000+08:002007-06-26T09:25:04.943+08:00Six Powers UpdateWell North Korea has its paltry $25 million and has promised an immediate (i.e. within 60 days) close down of its nuclear plant. Cynics have suggested that as an old and out-of-date plant they lose nothing, they're probably setting up a new own somewhere else. Needless to day the cost of decommissioning an nuclear plant is probably well in excess of $25 million but the Koreans doUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-47538143564960775382007-06-03T10:47:00.000+08:002007-06-03T11:49:52.590+08:00When I came to China in September 1978, I had studied modern Chinese history fairly extensively and even written a dissertation on the Cultural Revolution and so knew roughly what to expect. Most of my fellow students at the Beijing Language Institute had mostly studied Chinese only and so knew the conventional wisdom that China was a totalitarian state in which people's lives were totally Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-87773363827358706592007-05-30T21:31:00.000+08:002007-05-30T22:22:21.767+08:00Loose Change Standing in the Way of World Peace?Christopher Hill, the indefatigable US negotiator on the Six Party Peace Talks dealing with North Korea's nuclear aspirations, has arrived again in Beijing to try and revive the stalled talks. The last round of talks ended suddenly when North Korea walked out saying that as the US had promised to release the $25 million held in the Delta Bank Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-92127086520490581052007-05-26T15:08:00.000+08:002008-12-12T01:20:12.809+08:00Growing Pains in ChinaSuzhou is really two cities. One, the old city, gathered within the old city mote, is largely preserved and such new buildings as do get built, e.g. the New Sofitel Hotel which just recently opened on Ganjiang East Road, are made to conform to the low-rise, white wall, black tile roof style of Suzhou. Even the New Suzhou Museum, designed by U.S. architect I.M.Pei,whose Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-86696598895057450932007-05-22T21:29:00.000+08:002007-05-22T22:09:11.968+08:00Third time lucky!Last Thursday I went to Shanghai to attend a conference of the China Supply Chain Council with my colleague, David Liu. The one-day 'Summit' on Supply Chain Risk was poorly attended with less than forty participants. A previous conference I had attended attracted over one hundred.It is a reflection of the attitudes of logistics professionals they they assume supply chain risk is Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-3275423669979099822007-05-15T11:25:00.000+08:002007-05-15T11:50:45.034+08:00Is Confucianism a religion?This question was asked of me by an old friend who opined that it was more of an ethical system than a religion. The following is my reply which I wrote quickly without any reflection. I have made some minor changes for clarity.Quote"Your instincts are correct H. Confucianism is actually an amalgam of all the best of Chinese ethical and political thinking as Chinese Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-57557281482593139682007-04-08T09:14:00.000+08:002008-12-12T01:20:13.364+08:00 Xitang - Water Town #5On Saturday we visited our fifth water town - Xitang, just across the border in Zhejiang Province. The Yangtze Delta has six famous water towns, three in Jiangsu: Tongli, Zhou Zhuang, Luzhi, and three in Zhejiang: Wuzhen, Xitang, and Nanxun.The delta is characterized by an intricate and extensive network of canals and often the housing butts straight onto, and even over theUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-81802578743206115182007-03-08T13:31:00.000+08:002008-12-12T01:20:14.938+08:00Luxury Holiday in Koh SamuiChina Hand, Mrs China Hand and another expat couple from China spent their Chinese New Year break in a luxury resort in Koh Samui, the popular holiday island in the Gulf of Thailand.Yes it was an expensive holiday but well worth it. As one friend reflected the view was worth a million dollars! We didn't pay anywhere near that but you'd have to pay more than double that Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-11506356139370362152007-01-30T20:16:00.000+08:002007-01-30T20:58:29.495+08:00New Freedom Mixed BlessingOnly months after the restoration of blogspot.com to the Chinese blogsphere, there has been a new extension of Internet freedom which for China Hand at least is a mixed blessing.Since I discovered audio-streaming of radio stations in China some five years ago it has been completely impossible to stream any radio station outside China which broadcasts in Chinese. Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1165370875889970832006-12-06T09:55:00.000+08:002006-12-06T10:07:55.903+08:00Two Cheers for the Chinese Internet CensorWell it seems Blogspot.com is back and all us naughty foreign bloggers who venture the occasional ill-tempered and ill-considered remark are able to vent our spleens again. Well let's hope none of us abuse the privilage and strive to be balanced and considered in all our observations.Speaking of ill-considered remarks China Hand was following the 2nd Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1161840376071843612006-10-26T13:06:00.000+08:002006-10-26T13:26:16.083+08:00Did I speak too soon?It would appear that with the departure of Dr Condoleza Rice that the blocking of blogging site blogspot.com has resumed. It would appear my celebrations were premature. There are times when the Chinese government acts like a naughty child, reverting to good behaviour only while his parents are around, and when they are not turning into a little tyrant again. The government Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1160897962456050692006-10-15T15:39:00.000+08:002006-10-15T16:40:29.170+08:00SCENIC CHINAOne of Huangshan's Spectacular pines.China Hand, exhausted, steps off the path for a rest.Huangshan's mighty bambo groves.Huangshan's misty peaksBlack Tiger PineMrs China Hand by the Source of the Dragon poolThe colours of HuangshanSunrise at HuangshanUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1160488191171853782006-10-10T20:11:00.000+08:002006-10-20T21:44:22.156+08:00We Finally visit China's Top Scenic SpotIn twenty eight years in China, my wife and I have seen quite a few places of note. Each one proudly proclaiming to be China's No 1 Tourist Spot. Indeed a feature of China, especially in more rural settings, is the air of hollow boastfulness that surrounds their claims to supremacy in one field or another. Well as we say in China, everyone says their home Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1160051019760615312006-10-05T18:32:00.000+08:002006-10-20T22:02:10.103+08:00Nanjing RevisitedAlthough I visited Nanjing several times in the 80's I haven't visited much since then. Oh, there was a visit in 1984 when I was taking my parents around China. As usual we did not go through agents but traveled just as I had always done in China as a business person - just by turning up. You might thnik that strange but in thosedays there were no travel agents. You could go to Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1160039860295179652006-10-05T17:10:00.000+08:002006-10-05T18:19:36.983+08:00Suzhou MannersI used to think that the people of Fuzhou were the least friendly of anywhere I'd been in China. I visited twice in the 80's and the reception there was far from the usual overwhelming friendliness Chinese businessmen extended to all foreigners. I may have been unfair to them however. I was visiting first on behalf of, and then with a delegation from an Austalian firm interested in Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1159188847786334532006-09-25T20:34:00.000+08:002006-09-25T20:54:07.806+08:00Time to Celebrate?After four years of blocking the blogspot.com site in China, it appears there has been a respite. I have been able to see my original site rather than the mirror site set up by John Ray of Dissecting Leftism fame since yesterday. Of course it could be an abberation. My local carrier may be falling down on the job. It might be a temporary lift of censorship due to the imminent Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1159095927967738652006-09-24T18:04:00.000+08:002006-10-05T18:32:02.666+08:00Language ReformLets make a new political rule. Lets call it China Hand's Rule on Political Policy. Here it is: Any policy, effectively implemented for long enough, will lead to a new policy which is effectively its negation. That doesn't sound very elegent. I once heard a better formation called the Paradox of Unintended Consequences: A policy, though effectively implemented, may lead to the Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1156679815195621792006-08-27T19:56:00.000+08:002006-09-27T09:37:45.013+08:00Recent activity in sweltering SuzhouToday, despite the 36 deg heat we got into an old intercity bus for the town of Shengze, just an hour away to the south of Suzhou. Shengze is the place where they make all the silk cloth. Otherwise it is just another small town, indistinguishable from all the others except by a large number of flash imported,cars. Many of them two door coupes.The bus was clean Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1139668050651788952006-02-11T21:48:00.000+08:002006-02-11T22:27:30.663+08:00We were in the #307 bus on the way to the Liu Yuan - The Lingering Garden, when a young girl gave up her seat for an old grannie with a toddler in tow. She needn't have bothered. The child was ushered to the seat and the old grannie stood! As the girl stood seething Mrs China Hand and I stood loudly talking about how children were being spoiled these days by the "4-2-1 project". Each child is an Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1138820585348429472006-02-02T03:02:00.000+08:002006-02-02T15:10:59.576+08:00PICTURES FROM OUR HAINAN HOLIDAYMrs China Hand on the sweeping Bo'ao beach.China Hand at last gets his much delayed second wife.Hainan version of white water rafting.A monkey's reaction to being told he descended from the same ancestor as man.Not quite Diamond Head - Yalong Wan - The Hawaii of the East.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1138758602583633462006-02-01T09:37:00.000+08:002006-02-01T09:50:02.596+08:00TributeWhile Blogger.com allows me to post in China, restrictions by the Chinese government do not allow me, or anyone in China to read the. They are blocked by all ISP's apparantly due to some extreme postings by foreigners living here. These appear mostly to be by immature young graduates who got a teaching job in China as a way of seeing the country at the locals cost.Not all fit in well of Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1138757764535685142006-02-01T09:20:00.000+08:002006-02-02T11:18:18.230+08:00Hainan TravelsWe had a two week break over the Chinese New Year (CNY) and being chilled to the bones in Suzhou decided at the last minute to go to tropical Hainan to defrost at the beaches. Well, too bad, it rained mostly and especially when we arrived at beaches. We got one afternoon relaxing on a beach - me in a hammock rereading a History of Britain and Mrs China Hand on a bench getting a footUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1136008741761569262005-12-31T13:47:00.001+08:002005-12-31T13:59:01.776+08:00New Year in SuzhouWell Santa brought China Hand a present this Christmas. Well sort of a present. He had to pay for it of course. Not many presents you don't! On Boxing Day China Hand turned on the good old ABC 2BL or 702AM as it's known these days, only to find that, contrary to the first test experience, they were no longer audio streaming the Cricket! As you can imagine he screamed with rage, Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1135305868208945262005-12-23T10:43:00.000+08:002005-12-23T10:44:28.216+08:00To all our friends & family - Alfred & Susanna wish everyone well for the holiday season and a bountiful and satisfying New Year.Photos - Logistics Students at the class Christmas Party. Yes that's Alfred leading them in a spirited rendition of Jingle Bells. Takes after his mum. Half of the students come from Malaysia and one from Taiwan.Rest are locals.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1135046547226996072005-12-20T10:35:00.000+08:002005-12-20T10:44:42.463+08:00Christmas in SuzhouThe politically correct brigade in Australia and elsewhere, and the (minority) Muslim/Jewish bandwagon riders might like to note that here in China where Christians are a tiny minority, Christmas is publicly celebrated with more enthusiasm than in Oz. My college, Suzhou HKU SPACE Global College, which is a Malaysian-HK-local university joint venture is decked out with ChristmasUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1132809366555562332005-11-24T13:01:00.000+08:002005-11-24T13:16:06.566+08:00Utilities ServiceComing from Australia, one is used to poor service from government utilities. However in recent years even there it has picked up as some of them are ported over to the private sector.In China too the very poor service from utilities was just typical of anywhere in the world. But the government has made intelligent use of the WTO membership to threaten that if services don't get Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1132492379863435112005-11-20T21:02:00.000+08:002005-11-20T21:12:59.873+08:00Bush in "Gloves-On" DiplomacyGiven his speech in Japan before he arrived in China, one might have expected Bush would be adopting a "gloves-off" approach once he got here and so as we watched (via CCTV9) him get off the plane last night we gasped with disbelief as Bush, rugged up against the cold weather, proceeded to shake hands with the reception committee wearing his leather gloves!Old BeijingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1131973822385778702005-11-14T21:04:00.000+08:002005-11-15T18:06:35.093+08:00Suzhou LifestyleSuzhou Industrial ParkOur apartment is located in the centre of the Suzhou Industrial Park, a large industrial development project initiated by the Singapore government in cooperation with the Suzhou government. It is located outside the old city to the east. It was touted as a model project and it was the Singapore government flagship project in China. They were going to show Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1131972129620313632005-11-14T20:05:00.000+08:002005-11-14T20:42:09.663+08:00Urban PlanningIn the early 80's Old China Hand Ted Rule used to complain about China's new romance with the ring-road as the be all and end all of urban modernization. Beijing, for example has a six ring roads. "Who needs to drive around a city?" he would argue. "We all want to get in and out of cities as quickly as possible, not circle around it". He blamed it on the fact that all China's urban Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1131687461795515892005-11-11T12:45:00.000+08:002005-11-11T14:21:24.963+08:00The Politics of LanguageRiding the N0.78 bus through the outskirts of Suzhou this morning I saw a big red banner urging on all the importance of speaking in putonghua, the so-called "common language" of China. You may know that in other parts of 'Greater China' the language of the Chinese is known by other names. In Singapore it is Huayu - the language of the Chinese people, in Taiwan it is GuoyuUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1131351112221184702005-11-07T16:02:00.000+08:002005-11-12T10:30:38.113+08:00Banking in SuzhouYou may remember me speaking about Chinese banking in the past after a few experiences in Huizhou, Guangdong Province. The fact that branches are open on the weekend until 2:30pm and that despite the usual bank tendency to bureaucracy, a wonderful willingness to make anything possible for customers they know. For example after having seen Susanna with me just once, the staff at Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1086843055134613692004-06-10T12:49:00.000+08:002004-06-10T12:50:55.133+08:00China Grand Prix Circus
China Hand decided last year when the China GP was finally confirmed he would make a pilgrimage to the first China GP in Shanghai. While I have been a life-long fan of Formula One - I have never been to a race since the first Australian Grand Prix in Surfers Paradise in the 60's.
Yes Ok I just watch it on TV - the coverage is much better and I am much more comfortable.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1085399957705904892004-05-24T19:36:00.000+08:002004-05-24T19:59:17.706+08:00The Taiwan Relations Act
A recent article in the South China Morning Post by columnist Frank China noted the difficult situation the US was in at present with Taiwan refusing dialogue with the mainland. He pointed out that while the act, which governs the US relations with both Taiwan and the mainland, calls for preservation of the status quo, each of the three sides have a different view of Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1084628806719835702004-05-15T21:18:00.000+08:002004-05-15T21:50:57.286+08:00Bergman in China?
China Hand is not by any means a rabid film buff. But a few directors in his youth were influential, not the least of which were Ingmar Bergman and Akira Kurusawa. Yes, Yes - you only get to seem them at film clubs run on university campuses apart from the occasional Art cinema. So I had a mis-spent youth!
I have bought DVD's of both via Amazon.com and have copies of Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1083925564238908862004-05-07T18:26:00.000+08:002004-05-07T18:30:24.856+08:00Western China Perambulations
NB Thanks to John Ray of Dissecting Leftism for the webspace to display the photos in this blog.
China Hand has been travelling again with his good wife. Well, you know how it is, age is catching up and we are conscious the day will dawn when strenuous travel will be a thing of the past. So we are making the best of the time. Over Christmas we went to Dali and Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1083250719208561252004-04-29T22:58:00.000+08:002004-04-29T23:02:49.780+08:00Four Wheel Mania
China Hand has got the bug for a car. Not one of the expensive boxes being made in joint venture factories all around China and selling for a King's ransom. No China Hand is nothing if not a sports car buff and he did the rounds on the weekend looking for a real sports car in Huizhou!
Actually the week before we did do the rounds of the new car yards looking at Nissan Sunny's, Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1082555736133506592004-04-21T21:55:00.000+08:002004-04-21T21:59:35.293+08:00Huizhou Bureaucracy
An acquaintance of Mrs China Hand runs a small business in the city. She met her today while shopping and she was invited in by a very disconsolate owner. She had set off the day before to get approvals for a business extension. She required nine in all. She spent the entire day fruitlessly searching for, and being turned away by unhelpful, uncaring officers who did nothing Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1079850408388779022004-03-21T14:26:00.000+08:002004-03-21T14:30:06.640+08:00Personal News
Well China Hand finally signed a contract with Raffles to remain a further two years in Huizhou. We will probably remain in the present apartment in City Gardens as we have spent money decorating it. Again we welcome visitors and as usual we will return to Sydney each year in September.
Raffles, a Singaporean design education specialist, is still expanding in China and recently Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1079485351113600652004-03-17T09:02:00.000+08:002004-03-17T09:05:44.013+08:00**Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1079448408081662432004-03-16T22:46:00.000+08:002004-03-16T22:49:59.840+08:00Backward China Catching Up? No! Now World Best!
It was my third visit to Yantian International Container Terminal in the west of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in the past two years. A joint venture between Hong Kong Hutchison Terminals and Yantian Port Group in 1994 it has become the busiest container port in south China outside the HKSAR. In 2003 it exceeded 5 million TEU movements for Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1077508220389293092004-02-23T11:50:00.000+08:002004-02-23T11:53:03.186+08:00The Medium is the Message
Of course all my students have a mobile phone - that goes with saying in China, especially at a private college like Raffles. But recently I noticed a new trend. Like all young consumers, Chinese students like to upgrade their phone. But they don't always throw the old one away. Here in Huizhou we have a new mobile system. It is very cheap. But it only works in Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1077026348819772472004-02-17T21:59:00.000+08:002004-02-17T22:01:43.373+08:00The Price of Progress
Those in the West who went through the post-war boom know well the phenomenon of road disruption. In Huizhou of course we have that in spades. Raffles HU is south of Huizhou on the road to Huiyang city centre, Danshui. It is an old, broken two lane tarmac road running through a a series of small villages generally called Mazhuang - Ma Village.
A few months, well before theUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1077020463757194942004-02-17T20:21:00.000+08:002004-02-17T20:23:38.733+08:00New Purchasing Law?
China Hand was discussing purchasing management with students from a local firm recently. He emphasized the importance of long term - high volume agreements locking suppliers into prices to insulate manufacturers from price inflation. Furrowed brows soon informed me I should ask if they had any questions. But no! They objecteded to my ridiculous purchasing strategy.
We buy Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1076076745728377502004-02-06T22:12:00.000+08:002004-02-06T22:14:46.263+08:00Guangzhou Again - China Hand returned to Guangzhou again recently for a flying visit. My second attempt to get a new passport. This time all went well as I had the required photos - specifications to permit face scanning technology - and all the required ID's - health cards, driver's license, old passport, same tired old face, blah blah. The look on the passport officer's face was one of plain Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1072583437871622592003-12-28T11:50:00.000+08:002003-12-28T11:52:04.560+08:00Recent Visits
Guangzhou - China Hand visited Guangzhou recently at the invitation of the newly formed Australian Alumni South China group. With the support of the consulate and several other local and Australian groups, they held a reception in the old Dong Fang Hotel. Like all the old China traders, China Hand stayed in the Dong Fang in the good old days when rats were more visible than staff, Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1072576587990428932003-12-28T09:56:00.000+08:002003-12-28T12:06:46.280+08:00China Hand's Christmas Newsletter 2003
Family Pic from October visit here.
Well here it is at that time of the year again where we are obliged to let your friends know what we have been up to during the year.
The Kirrawee Crouchers have been divided again all year except for the altogether too brief period over the Chinese National Day when Alfred can scrabble together two weeks off from his Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1068768611985521972003-11-14T08:10:00.000+08:002003-11-14T08:10:40.153+08:00Hong Kong & National Geographic
All traditional society is conservative as a matter of definition and Hong Kong is nothing if not a traditional Chinese society. In many cases Hong Kong preserves Chinese traditions wiped out in Chinese cities a generation ago. The break point is 1842 when Hong Kong became a colony of Great Britain. All teaching of Chinese history stopped at 1850. Only university Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1067953074157080712003-11-04T21:37:00.000+08:002003-11-04T21:38:09.640+08:00Hong Kong Trip Report and Reflections
China Hand visited Hong Kong for the first time since his return from Australia. It was a last minute decision so no friends were called and so there was no list of dinners and lunches as there often is. Still my wife's family turned up for lunch at the Kowloon City Plaza, a large mall built just below the site of the old Kowloon City - the so called Walled Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1067521648879902302003-10-30T21:47:00.000+08:002003-10-30T21:47:28.716+08:00Health Report
Well this is my first post since my return from Oz. I can't explain the lack of enthusiasm but as usual I blame it on the latest blood pressure medicine I am now on. Old vasco-dilators which have succeeded for the first time since I started taking blood pressure medicine in reducing my blood pressure to the normal range. Well for me around 135/90 is unexplored territory anyway. I Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1064920936001491562003-09-30T19:22:00.000+08:002003-09-30T19:26:59.996+08:00China Hand In Oz
Back in Australia for a two week break, China Hand is noticing all those things which make the Australian experience different from the Huizhou one. Not surprisingly some are positive and some are negative.
First of all I reserved a lot of medical and dental work for Australia due to the free medical system in Australia and some bad experiences with Chinese dentists. I can getUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1063260342336930042003-09-11T14:04:00.000+08:002003-09-11T14:05:42.340+08:00One the Censors missed
The headlines from the English People's Daily email news service this morning was:
"China Reigns in Brutal Police Tactices."
The article which followed pointed out that China was attempting to curb illegal excesses in torture, interrogration, and abuse of 'on-the-spot' fines.
One wonders if the original wording was 'reins-in' and a too clever sub-editor sought to 'sex Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1063258576770547462003-09-11T13:25:00.000+08:002003-09-11T13:36:16.703+08:00China Censors Itself!
Whenever local students ask me what they should do to improve their English I recommend they watch English channels on the TV. But for many locals there is no access to the two Hong Kong English channels carried by the Huizhou cable operator. So I suggest they watch CCTV 9 - the local 24 hour English News channel.
But CCTV 9 is not aired in Huizhou. Not by the cable Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1063119604574986212003-09-09T23:00:00.000+08:002003-09-09T23:00:20.963+08:00China Hand’s 25 years in China marked by a Typhoon.
Well we survived our first Typhoon in Huizhou this week. A big one was picked up on the Hong Kong news on Sunday night heading straight for Hong Kong. It was presently wreaking havoc in Taiwan. It started to blow on Tuesday afternoon and as I taught I heard this slamming sound behind me. A student ran to close the classroom door detecting Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1061215376892386192003-08-18T22:02:00.000+08:002003-08-19T22:42:02.076+08:00Comments? Email me here
Bold Media Reforms Planned for China
The People's Daily this week announced that planned media reforms first envisioned by the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) were being brought forward as a result of the experiece of SARS when the media became part of the problem instead of the solution by covering up the developing disaster.
The radical plan Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1061007976388727162003-08-16T12:26:00.000+08:002003-08-18T21:17:00.006+08:00Mrs China Hand Blossoms as Lu Laoshi
Mrs China Hand is enjoying a renaissance in Huizhou. She has become Lu Laoshi, Teacher Lu. She has been teaching English to two of the employees at the real estate agency who rents our apartment now for several months. Nothing remarkable in that. But recently she was approached by some Korean mothers whose daughters have been going to the local school but Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1060528519562288092003-08-10T23:15:00.000+08:002003-08-10T23:15:19.540+08:00China's Farmers are on the move!
China Hand's wife has just returned from a tour of Shunde, her grandfather's home town. She is very impressed with developments in this city which is famous in China as a furniture manufacturing centre and well as for domestic appliances. China Hand visited in the early 90's when modern development has just beginning. Even then there were some outstanding Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1060405945304420932003-08-09T13:12:00.000+08:002003-08-13T19:55:12.076+08:00RHU Commencement Ceremony
Yesterday was the 5th anniversary of Raffles HU International College(RHU) which is a joint venture between the Raffles LaSalle Group and the then Huizhou University.
The auspicious date (08/08) has been chosen as the date of the annual graduation ceremony which this year was labelled a 'Commencement' to indicate not a parting but the beginning of the long term Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1059403976639160152003-07-28T22:52:00.000+08:002003-07-29T05:06:42.213+08:00* Iraq Fallout.
China Hand's alter ego - Aussie Expat has posted a spray on the war in Iraq after watching a particularly provocative BBC documentary which proported to have everything right while the hapless Yanks got it all wrong yet again. The Brits have such a wonderful record in the ME I couldn't resist it. You can find it here or hereUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1059054692063063282003-07-24T21:51:00.000+08:002003-07-25T22:27:32.733+08:00Amaravati: Abode of Amritas
My good blogging friend Marc Miyake has quoted liberally from my bar crawl story below. Marc is one of those rare linguistics Professors who majors in Asian languages. His knowledge of Chinese characters is encyclopaedic going back several millenia. So is his knowledge of their use in in Japan, Korea and Vietnam.
He is one of my regular readers, John Ray being the Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1058959018683327192003-07-23T19:16:00.000+08:002003-07-23T19:16:58.650+08:00Bar Crawling in Huizhou
China Hand and his lovely wife were invited out to dinner and a bar last Thursday night by a colleague and his friend. The restaurant was in the east of Huizhou in an area called Shangpai and it specializes in wild birds. In fact they serve a large wok in which dozens of small birds have been stir fried. Wild game is a no-no these days in post-SARS China so the owner Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1058882855131715712003-07-22T22:07:00.000+08:002003-07-23T07:20:04.286+08:00The Road to Nowhere
Many times in China, as in many countries around the world, a good appearance is enough for political purposes. So it is with the accompanying pictures which show one side of a bridge where an excellent, high quality road has been built as part of a program to beautify the foreshores of the East River. Unfortunately there is a group of seven villages on the other side of the Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1058670649997297042003-07-20T11:10:00.000+08:002003-07-24T21:52:47.283+08:00Comments? Email me here
Shuibei Health Survey
China Hand spent a lot of time in the local medical outpatients clinic this weekend under treatment for a sore throat which the clinic regularly treats by a glucose drip allegedly including some Chinese medicine which is not an antibiotic. They said my blood pressure was too high (150/100) for antibiotics but I have doubts - the drips seems to be Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1058224651813462082003-07-15T07:17:00.000+08:002003-07-15T07:17:31.793+08:00Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1058224454532059792003-07-15T07:14:00.000+08:002003-07-15T07:34:02.110+08:00Hong Kongers Not that Motivated
Hong Kongers have long claimed that they were a lot smarter and hard working than anybody else hence the great economic success of Hong Kong in the 80's and 90's. However a study of Hong Kong student's materialistic motivation published in the The Journal of Social Psychology in 1983 carried out by Michael W Leung and Dissecting Leftism's Dr John J Ray finds that Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1057759314203567732003-07-09T22:01:00.000+08:002003-07-20T11:11:50.180+08:00Snippets
Abuse of Power
China Hand has been blogging on the subject of the Rule of Law vs the Rule of People in China. Well here's a tiny example of the thinking which permeates to the lowest levels of power. My wife tells me that recently when she takes the public bus outside our development (as distinct from the development's own shuttle bus), some of the drivers insist she not pay. She is Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1057225871285662842003-07-03T17:51:00.000+08:002003-07-04T06:39:24.870+08:00*
Manila Visit
Due to ridiculously low travel package prices in Hong Kong recently, China Hand found himself in Manila over the weekend in a flash luxury hotel for three nights for a little over US$200.
The trip did not start well. Mrs China Hand & I missed the bus from our luxury north shore development City Gardens -- and so caught a taxi in the pouring rain. The driver first tried to drop usUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1057225763700338102003-07-03T17:49:00.000+08:002003-07-03T17:49:23.580+08:00Manila Trip (Cont'd)
Another aspect of Cantonese tours is you go mainly to shop. Sites are not of any interest unless there is a local product attached that Chinese must have or the local guides can make a commission from! From the time you arrive you are lectured on local products of interest that can be bought for less than the price in HK and we are hauled around relentlessly and where the Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1057149473514865352003-07-02T20:37:00.000+08:002003-07-02T20:37:53.413+08:00Gibberish
My apologies to all who got gibberish on my website recently - the new ability of Blogger to deliver Chinese characters overwhelmed me and I re-configured my site to enable Chinese simplified characters. I immediately re-edited my post on the Kaiping visit - China Hand Crosses the Pearl River - so afficionados could catch up with the places names in Chinese. It looks like a dogs Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1056636222405396512003-06-26T22:03:00.000+08:002003-06-26T22:03:42.323+08:00Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1056635321906037402003-06-26T21:48:00.000+08:002003-06-26T21:48:41.770+08:00Huizhou's Digital City Record Challenged
China Hand is a lecturer in a private education college in Huizhou. I don't talk about it much as my employers are nervous, but mainly because I do not think it consistent with my role as an educator to be 'telling tales out of school'. Anyway that aside, I have a group of students who are doing business plans for businesses to be based around south Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-1056634461440553662003-06-26T21:34:00.000+08:002003-06-26T21:56:17.383+08:00Huizhou Sports Complex Pics
I have long promised pics of the new Huizhou Sports Complex where the annual Digital Fair was held in April, and more recently the Huizhou People's Conference and Party Conference have just closed. The complex is just opposite the massive government offices which I managed to catch as the dusk settled in. The architects have spent a lot of money lighting the project Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-959819802003-06-24T22:41:00.000+08:002003-06-27T15:57:58.230+08:00Huizhou's Industrial Safety Record Defended.
I recently received a copy of an article in the LA Times (see also here) which described workers in Huizhou suffering silicosis as a result of long exposure to dust from gems which they were grinding. The HK Chinese owner had refused to compensate them. My friend appeared to suggest this was a result of greedy HK capitalists and implied Huizhou must Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-959812692003-06-24T22:18:00.000+08:002003-06-27T16:39:56.350+08:00China Hand Crosses the Pearl River -中国通跨过了珠江三角洲
China Hand ventured out of his comfortable apartment on the far east bank of the Pearl River, well actually on the banks of Pearl tributary the East River, to visit a relative of my wife's.
We journeyed by bus to Shenzhen and then a bus for about 3 hours to Kaiping （开平）, a place I last visited some 12 years ago. Then my wife's cousin was running Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-959797892003-06-24T21:24:00.000+08:002003-06-25T20:15:03.000+08:00Foreign Tee-shirt Raises Hackles
The following is a story which appeared today in the English email service of the People's Daily. I originally saw the story at least a week ago in a local paper. It was quite negative and reported with some indignation the kerfuffle when the foreigner ventured out on the streets. He said that he bought the tee-shirt in Guilin and just wore it for a laugh. But Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-958639972003-06-20T22:50:00.000+08:002003-06-27T16:03:04.633+08:00.
Den Beste link Acknowledged
China Hand was sent and commented on a post by USS Clueless blogger Steven Den Beste. Although it dismissed Den Beste's proposed solution to the North Korean situation (allow the Chinese to take over and administer DPRK) rather summarily, it was linked to by Den Beste at the bottom of the article. China Hand accordingly acknowledges the link.
China Hand Mirror Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-956873672003-06-16T00:05:00.000+08:002003-06-16T00:05:58.000+08:00Hong Kong Odyssey
China Hand has returned from another visit to Hong Kong - just two weeks after his first visit there since Chinese New Year. The difference in the spirit of Hong Kong in just those two weeks was palpable. For a start we got off the Huizhou-Hong Kong direct bus at Shatin Central in the New Territories. When my wife visited Shatin as a school girl it was a group of country Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-955862382003-06-12T20:00:00.000+08:002003-06-12T21:20:39.000+08:00China Declares open Season on Thugs
Most Western police forces are so threatened by civilian anti-crime actions, so called vigilantes, that they are at least discouraged and at worst made illegal. But China, fed up with highway robbery by roadside thugs boarding and taking over buses that they have issued bus drivers with clubs and ropes and urged members of the public to kill anyone who Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-955040802003-06-10T21:20:00.000+08:002003-06-11T15:14:19.000+08:00Solutions to the Korean Peninsula Problem - Some Wild Talk
My good online friend Marc Miyake of Amaravati: Abode of Amritas passed on the following snippet from Steven Den Beste for my comment - I reproduce the repercussions for your amusement:
"... what if the Chinese were to occupy NK and administer it under some sort of UN mandate, supported by massive economic contributions from Japan, Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-954630782003-06-09T21:37:00.000+08:002003-06-09T21:37:42.930+08:00SARS Rumour Mill
China Hand's good wife returned from Hong Kong on the weekend with the 'complete story' of SARS in HK and why it spread so freely amongst hospital staff.
It is said the Index patient, a medical doctor from Guangzhou knew he had something highly infectious and got a visit to HK approved, ostensibly to attend a relative's wedding but with the real purpose of seeking expert Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-949884792003-05-28T21:52:00.000+08:002003-05-28T22:03:26.000+08:00Christianity in China
China Hand asked for and received a riposte from Fr Mike to my recent post on Christianity in China. Firstly I have to apologise to Fr Mike for my gratuitous comment that claims of persecution in China are for the purpose of fund raising. Fr Mike reminds me what I already knew and conveniently forgot - the Maryknoll internet site does not make one disparaging comment about Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-949396212003-05-27T21:54:00.000+08:002003-05-28T22:05:04.000+08:00Huizhou People's Congress Opens
The Huizhou People's Congress (Huizhou Renmin Daibiao Da Huiyi or Ren Da) opened on Thursday last week with out of town guests staying at the Huizhou Guesthouse located within the famous West Lake (and therefore easy to secure).
But the dramatic location for this once every five year celebration of democracy with Chinese characteristics is the new Huizhou Sports Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-947865882003-05-23T22:26:00.000+08:002003-05-23T22:26:11.963+08:00Christianity in China
China Hand ran into a new resident in Huizhou recently. He had moved over from the large industrial area of Dongguan to our west and is sourcing audio equipment for a Russian firm.
He is a devout Christian and asked me where the foreigners worshipped in Huizhou. As it turned out I was teaching an English hymn to the local 'patriotic protestants' during their weekday Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-946307482003-05-20T21:02:00.000+08:002003-05-22T23:22:43.000+08:00Domestic Comfort in Huizhou
With my wife finally settled down in Huizhou thanks partly to SARS, we were forced to move to a better oriented apartment and decorate it to a degree of comfort. Originally my wife planned to stay a few months but with the SARS scare and over-reactions in foreign country my wife was convinced the ever-vigilent Australian quarantine people would take the opportunity toUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-942656272003-05-13T22:21:00.000+08:002003-05-13T22:23:54.000+08:00What you see...?
Recently I told all who read this blog about the amazing adventures of Regina, our resident Lithuanian-Canadian who was born in Brazil. I had to do that as some recent readers had accused China Hand of being boring. Regina is certainly not that. This week she returned from another weekend at the beach badly burned. Of course everyone asks why she didn't wear sun cream. But she Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-941414272003-05-11T17:07:00.000+08:002003-05-12T07:53:26.000+08:00Huizhou SARS Update
Well Huizhou has been crying clean for long enough but it took a Taiwan owned Hong Kong television station (Phoenix Channel) to blow the lid off. Apparently in the initial outbreak of SARS last year in Foshan near Guangzhou, someone went back to nearby Heyuan and infect eight people. At the same time a small group in Huizhou may also have been infected - perhaps the initial Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-939981232003-05-09T00:27:00.000+08:002003-05-11T17:27:34.000+08:00Culture Clash in Huizhou
China Hand has a colleague who, while only a few years shy of him in years appears to maintain the lifestyle of a teenager. Regina, a Lithuanian Canadian, born in Brazil, has joined Raffles in Huizhou to give our students the benefit of her thirty odd years experience in the catering industry. Hotelier, restaurateur, educator, Regina has been around. While most of her Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911895.post-937991982003-05-05T21:45:00.000+08:002003-05-09T12:25:29.000+08:00Jiangbei Developments
In the north of Huizhou city, or Huicheng, and in a crook of the Dongjiang (East River) is the area now known as Jiangbei (River North). There is some evidence from old signs the place was once called Shuibei (Water north).
Jiangbei seems initially to have been designated an industrial area and to the north in the suburb of Yunshan (Cloud Mountain) there is a large Unknownnoreply@blogger.com