Friday, March 26, 2010

How Much Is Philippe Chariol Ring?

article that appeared in a Chinese newspaper praises the Italian lifestyle

few days ago, 'I was delighted to see an article in China Daily, the only Chinese newspaper in English, inviting the Pekingese to learn from the quiet and relaxed lifestyle of the Italians.

The article is titled "Piano, Piano, Beijingers Stressed" (found here: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2010-03/24/content_9632333.htm ) and inspired the episode happened a few days ago 'to the Pantheon, where the lights were turned off the closing accurate despite the fact that a concert of Bach was still in progress.

The author, whose name was Chang Lu, apparently spent a summer as a student in Perugia a few years ago ', perhaps studying Italian. She claims not to be surprised and what 'happened at the Pantheon, and recalls an incident which 'happened to her during their stay Perugino.

It seems that the Chinese were doing an afternoon shopping on the main street of Perugia, in a shop window when he saw a skirt he wanted to buy for a friend. But when 'try' to enter the shop, commit the block ', saying that it was already' closing time, and she was closing the store. The Chinese girl insisted, saying she really wanted to buy a skirt, but to his surprise, the order was' adamant, asking her to come back the next day.

The Chinese think 'that the contract had to have something urgent to do, but un'po' more 'later saw the same person who calmly sipped an espresso with his friends. At that point, as the author says, "Heads 'for her money are not the only thing. That person would prefer to enjoy your coffee' and his free time rather than sell me something."

The author compares this incident with the situation in Beijing, where apparently no job or ever refuse to sell something to a customer at any time.

lodendo The article continues the slow pace of life and mentality 'relaxed in Perugia, where shops close for two to three hours in the day for lunch, and suggesting to take un'po Pekingese stressed' the mentality ' Italian, to make things more 'slowly, slowly "for the note. Compare

Beijing (at least 10 million inhabitants) and Perugia (166 000) seems to me un'po 'unfair. Perhaps Milan or Rome would most comparisons' require. Having said that 'is no doubt that the Chinese style of European life seems very relaxed and lazy. The Chinese who go on vacation in Europe, not only in Mediterranean countries but even in Germany or England, they always say that the inhabitants of those countries have a lot of free time. A Chinese who had visited Germany and Italy told me that they 'people make' a very relaxed life, always drinking beer in bars. A Chinese girl who had spent a summer in Denmark told me that one could never adapt to a style of life so 'lazy! If
even countries with the Germans seem so 'relaxed, you can see that the effect has to do Italy.

Sometimes I wonder if this is also a misunderstanding due to the fact that the Chinese have other ways to spend your free time compared to Europeans. Maybe in China and 'less common to see people take a coffee' or a beer on the street with friends, 'cause the Chinese have other hobbies less public. In Chinese cities, people always find time to gamble with the majiang, and throughout China places where you can 'rent a room with karaoke are always full.

Having said that, 'and' certainly true that Europeans on average work less hard than the Chinese, and are less willing to give up free time. But at least, there 'a Pekingese who decided to take life un'po 'more' to Perugia.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Howme Made Redemy For Bloating

Tiziano Terzani and the "forbidden door"

recently and I 'happened to read about how Tiziano Terzani, the great Italian traveler-journalist, was expelled from China in 1984. This story gave rise to a book of the same Terzani, "the forbidden door." History and 'interesting, if only because' demonstrates the enormous changes have taken place in China since 1984.

Terzani, a man who has known from several Asian countries, the study 'the Chinese in the sixties in the United States. Like so much of youth 'West became fascinated by the myth of Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution. However, just because of the closure of China to foreigners determined by Mao government, had to wait for the death of the "great helmsman" and the advent of Deng Xiaoping to try living in China. Terzani arrival 'in Beijing in 1980 with his family, building on its Chinese name, Deng Tiannuo. His goal was to live as a Chinese, to be able to understand this mysterious society 'from the inside. The company was not 'at all easy,' cause every time contact one of the few foreigners living in China and the Chinese was carefully regulated.

Terzani wanted to live in a normal house of China, but was' compelled to reside in the diplomatic quarter in which all foreigners were forced to live at the time. The doors of the neighborhood were constantly monitored by police, and every input and output was recorded.

Wanted 'to have dealings with the Chinese, but it proves to be' difficult, because of the suspicion and fear of the authorities'. An elderly Chinese who had met a few times a day Terzani let him know someone else who did not want to 'see,' cause the police had asked him to draw up a report every time I met him, and in these conditions the man preferred not to attend it.

short, his claim of wanting to learn from China was not easy, but gradually Terzani was able 'to break through this wall of suspicion and prohibitions that divided the foreigners by the Chinese, to enter the "forbidden door" for the 'indeed. Journey 'for all China, the most 'can only be, I send' their children to a Chinese school, ran a bicycle as the Chinese. Eventually he was 'arrested by the authorities' with the trumped-up charges of having stolen national treasures, and that maybe true of vilification against the government. The authorities 'the rehabilitation for a month as a Chinese, giving them the opportunity' to personally meet another side of China that was rarely seen by outsiders. At the end Terzani was' expelled from China. What more

'strikes me reading this story and' how far from reality 'of a foreigner living in China today. I personally think I'm one of those foreigners living in China who is interested in Chinese culture, and try not to stay always among foreigners, but to know the Chinese and their reality 'as much' as possible from the inside. Nowadays almost all the prohibitions against foreigners which she experienced Terzani disappeared. Foreigners in Beijing can reside wherever they want, where they like to travel alone (with the exception of Tibet, where you 'have to go in a group), and cultivate friendships with the Chinese (and marry with them) without attracting the suspicion of Authorities'. Foreigners in China who want it (and I am not at all want it) are free to try to penetrate into the reality 'of China as much' as possible. As long as 'no one is engaged in religious proselytizing, not to mention political activism, and is' free to do more 'or less what' you want.

Having said that, 'certain rules which somehow remain divided foreigners by the Chinese. Take for example the universities' Chinese, an environment I know well. Foreign students and Chinese live in separate dormitories, and those for foreign quality 'much higher than for the Chinese. In my campus, the students divide Chinese accommodations for six people (the students), four (for those who make a master) or double (for students). Many are forced to go to another building suitable for showering, and pay for hot water and if they do (for this reason, many do not go to shower every day). Their dorms are sprovisti kitchens, which forces them to eat in the canteen they like it or not. Foreign students living in rooms instead of double or single, have a bathroom in every room and a kitchen on each floor, television and air conditioning (of which the Chinese have to do without during the hot summer Pekingese). I realize that if you compel foreign students to live in the living conditions of the Chinese, few would be able to resist for long. Having said that, 'this discrimination in our favor, however, puts us in a reality' is very different from theirs.

Foreign students who do the degree course in China (and today there are some) should not participate in the political classes mandatory for all Chinese students in spite of their matter, which studies the doctrine of the Chinese government. It 'must participate in the kind of paramilitary training in involving all the Chinese students the summer before starting university', with a military uniform (to teach the Framework). In short, a foreign student at a university 'China will not make' never the same experience of a Chinese student, as far as we can prove.

Even today, a foreigner in China can not 'even feel real "mass", but still remains a foreigner, as seen and how he lives. Aquisito Chinese citizenship and then 'a mission impossible. I think it would be simplistic to give the responsibility 'to the system only Chinese politics. After all, in other Far Eastern countries the situation is not 'very different. Perhaps it is simply that the companies' in this part of the world are not companies' multicultural, and are historically more 'homogeneous and closed the Western (even though China has many different ethnic groups within it). Furthermore, the fact remains that the vast majority of Chinese have almost never had to deal with foreigners, and that is why in relationships with foreigners are showing a kind of naivete 'which is sometimes almost funny. I am 'still smiling when the Chinese are surprised to see that I'm able to eat with chopsticks, despite the fact that it is a very easy thing to Faulty all foreigners in China soon learn.

However I am pleased to see that usually foreigners in China are welcomed with sympathy and curiosity 'from the common people, but almost never with hostility' preconceptions. In fact, I usually find that the Chinese are much more 'polite and ready to lend a hand with foreigners than with other Chinese. The situation does not change in the countryside and small towns where a foreigner can 'cause still looks surprised and dismayed at the move, and where any foreigner will hear' the word "laowai" ("foreigner" in popular parlance) whispered to her to pass.

However, nowadays there is no 'more' that wall of prohibitions and hostility 'of government which he experienced Terzani, who prohibiting foreigners to experience Chinese life from the inside. Now the real wall to overcome and 'one of their own prejudices, cultural differences and misunderstandings that may make it more' complicated relations between Chinese and foreigners. For the few Westerners who have the desire, humility 'and the patience necessary fields to break this "forbidden door, and the reward' to be able to understand from within a society 'and a culture that really are different from ours in several ways. And maybe even a better understanding of their culture of origin, given that understanding others and 'the best way to understand themselves.

(Photo Tiziano Terzani eating with the Chinese)

Beading Wire For Pearls

Any thoughts on China's one child policy

E ' was recently reported that Chinese experts have suggested that the famous one-child policy in force in the country has changed. Experts believe that the country now suffers from a disproportion between the sexes and the population on average more and more 'old because of this policy.

The only son and 'one aspect of China that almost everyone has heard in the West, and usually is viewed unfavorably. Nevertheless, the majority of Chinese (at least those cities') would seem to have a very different view of this policy, ambivalent or even in favor. Of course the West the idea that the state could interfere in a decision so 'in the private lives of people is not acceptable. Nevertheless in China, because of historical and cultural differences, the idea that the state could impose similar restrictions on their citizens for the common good is not so 'weird.

The one-child policy is not put into practice so so 'strict as many believe. For starters, it applies only to the Han, the main ethnic group in China, and not to any of the 55 minority groups, because of a very strange policy of "positive discrimination" in favor of minorities. Couples composed of two only children are allowed to make two children. For more 'in many areas, rural couples are allowed to do a second child if the first and' female, to prevent the phenomenon of selective abortion and infanticide of baby girls of fetuses destined to become girls. Even for couples whose first child and 'handicapped or deceased is usually allowed to have a second child. If a couple does not respect the law and has a second child when it should not, usually found only have to pay a fine. In practice, many families are more 'of a child, especially in rural areas, and simply pay the fine. I myself have many Chinese friends of my age 'who have brothers and sisters. In urban areas the one-child rule seems to be much more 'respected and rural areas.


This one-child policy has certainly had its negative impact well-advertised, the largest of which are cases of female infanticide in rural areas. In rural China, children are still often considered more 'in value of daughters. Although there are certainly cultural reasons behind this, another reasonable explanation, and 'that in areas where the work of farmers still plays with traditional methods, the males are more' useful because of their superior physical strength. Although there have certainly been cases of female infanticide in rural areas, the actual extent of the phenomenon and 'debate. Nowadays, thanks to the ultrasound scan that revealed what sex and 'the fetus, and' can simply perform an abortion if the fetus turns out to be female. This practical and 'illegal, but there is still widespread.

China suffers when an imbalance between sexes enough: the proportion of males and females at birth 'in mainland China was 117 to 100 in 2000, and that' a number 'significantly more' natural high proportion (about 105 to 100). It is estimated that in 2020 in China there are 30 million males of "surplus" than females (but this should be seen in the context of a country of 1.3 billion). Other Asian countries also have a burst 'proportion of men than women, though perhaps not at the level of China. The Indian economist Amartya Sen has talked a lot about this phenomenon, especially with regard to its India, another country where the proportion and 'quite unbalanced. The causes of this imbalance obviously have to do with the fact that the preference for male carries the very poor parents to offer medical care and food quality 'more' low to the daughters, in addition to selective abortions practiced in India. Even places like Taiwan and South Korea are affected by this phenomenon, although recently the proportion between the sexes in South Korea and 'more balanced because of the improvement in living conditions and education. In China's case, however, ', statistics show that the disproportion between the sexes and' deteriorated ever since they introduced the one-child policy, which means they must be at least partly responsible.

Those who advocate the imposition of the one-child point out the need 'to reduce the number of births overcrowding in this country. When and 'introduced the one-child policy in the early eighties, the birth rate' and 'decreased from about three to about 1.8 children per woman in 2008. Others respond that the birth rate 'was already' down from the first because of the improvement in the average standard of living and education, and in all probability 'would continue to decline even without the imposition of a law so' extreme.

Personally, I can understand very well 'cause many Chinese believe that such a policy is necessary. One thing 'read a book that China and' overcrowding, but live here and live every day this phenomenon sullla own skin and 'a very different thing. Once you and 'traveled in third class absurdly crowded trains for China during the Chinese New Year holiday, with people sleeping on the ground everywhere, you can 'begin to get an idea of the problem. In my experience, the Chinese are well aware that they live in a country where there is', to put it bluntly, too many people. When you have a discussion with a Chinese connection to one of the social problems of his country, almost always going to start 'saying: "In China there is' too many people ..." Sometimes it seems that this becomes the explanation, or justification, of everything wrong 'with China. Even when they discussed the death penalty with a Chinese student, the guy told me that the laws are needed for extreme manterene the order in his country, "'cause there in China' too many people "

Statistics on density 'population of China hiding the scale of the problem,' cause obscure the fact that about 90% of China's population live on about 50% of the territory. The area that includes the North-Western Tibet , Xinjiang, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia e'enorme but sparsely populated because of the inhospitable terrain. The South-Eastern area, the heart of China, and 'the very densely populated region, and it' as much as the overcrowding India .

Although perhaps the birth rate 'of China was already' waning even before the one-child policy, this policy has clearly sped things up. There are certainly many couples in China have decided to do only one child because of this policy. I personally believe that any reduction in births can not 'that be good for China and the world. Regarding the concern about the aging of the population, and this' will face an issue that all developed countries, not just China. Although I understand that will create 'new problems, I also understand that the planet and' overcrowding, and then eventually fall if births it can not 'be positive. If this means that for a period there will be more 'old and young, well-being. It will not be 'the end of the world.

Can 'be that soon China will adopt a less extreme method to reduce the growth' of the population. E 'was definitely a good idea to allow rural couples to have a second child if the first and 'female. The problem of the imbalance between the sexes should be resolved through education, and creating the conditions for which people do not feel the need to have a child rather than a daughter. In sum, I can not think of a few efforts to continue to discourage the Chinese from having too many children would still be positive. Presence was probably But will the economy and the development 'of education to throw down' birth rates 'more' than anything else.
(Below, a manifesto urging the Chinese government to follow the one-child policy, strangely also in English as well as in Chinese)