iChina Magazine 2009 March Issue

iChina

March 2009 www.ichinamag.com

Eyeing China with My Angle

Published by iChina Media Group & KF Publishing Company Group, U.S.A Witness to 30 Years of China-US Relations 7 Chinese Symbols in 30 years’ of American Movie Fear Is the Reason the Chinese Save so Much On China's China Yunnan: Beautiful Clouds in the South (1) Liu Sanjie and March 3rd Speakeasies: A SurpriseJust For You Cover Story:

Tom Carter’s CHINA: Portrait of a People

The Letter from the editor

A

t the beginning of the Chinese New Year in 2009, I got a chance to join iChina Media Group, and thus started a new career. I was so excited because I believed that I had been given the opportunity to do something not only interesting, but also meaningful, surrounded by passionate and brilliant colleagues.

China is an oriental country with a long history.

She has one of the world's oldest recorded histories and continuous civilizations, consisting of states and cultures dating back more than six millennia. In the last thirty years, the social metamorphosis that has occurred in China can only be called remarkable. And now it is tangible that China’s growing influence is spreading throughout the world. As a Chinese who is living in North America, I understand that China is still a mysterious land to most Western people. Many of them are very interested in the old country, which is changing rapidly and playing a more and more significant role in the world. That’s where iChina Magazine comes in. It is a monthly English-language magazine published by iChina Media Group and KF Publishing Company Group (KFPCG), with a mission of promoting Chinese culture and building a two-way bridge between the Chinese and Western people.

During the past few months, we have seen some prejudices of China in the Western press regarding issues like Tibet, Xinjiang, the Olympics, and freedom of the press. If you want to know the real China instead of viewing her through tinted glasses, iChina Magazine is for you. You don’t have to wear a suit and tie or sit behind an executive desk to learn about this country with its vast territory, multiple resources, and rich natural and culture heritage. We see this country in every story from various angles, from the political to the economical and technological, from the people to the culture, from

art to travel, and from entertainment to food. We have assembled a constellation of stellar writers eager to bring you interesting stories and thought-provoking analysis. We have joined them with excellent graphic designers and photographers to tell those stories in a visual, vibrant, and unique way. We chose a monthly frequency for iChina Magazine in order to offer you deep investigations into compelling subjects, in an effort to provide you with the most important – and the most useful – information. We also have developed the magazine in conjunction with our regularly updated website, ichinamag.com, so we can offer you electronic and web editions of our magazine, as well as live readings and discussions, any time, and in the format that suits you best. The result, we hope, will inform, delight, and enchant as well.

As a Chinese who loves her country deeply, as an oriental woman who has studied communications in North America and who knows the many differences between the two continents, I have always dreamed of becoming an ambassador who promotes communication and collaboration between China and the Western countries. Now I am in the unique position of approaching my dream by acting as an executive editor for iChina Magazine. Propelled by great passion, I have been staying up at nights, “busting-a-gut” over the work. So do my colleagues. Our copy editor, Rebecca Stout, an American woman, has said to me that “as always, I’m really looking forward to reading the material. I think you are putting together a very interesting and creative project, and I’m excited to be a part of it!” We hope that you, too, will see our passion in these pages, and share her excitement about what we have to say. We’d love to hear your comments, questions and stories. Enjoy the magazine, and feel free to email us at: ichina@ichinamag.com Executive Editor, Huijie Feng March, 2009

iChina is published monthly by iChina Media Group and KF Publishing Company Group.

Editor in Chief: April Zhang Executive Editor: Huijie Feng

Managing Editor: May Ouyang

Art Director: Jiangling Wu

Associate Editor: Mingwu Gao, Zhao Zhao, Yu Chen, Hua Cheng, Angie Zhong, Sharon Wilson, Elizabeth Steiner Assistant Editor: Stacy Liu, Qinqin Schoser, Michael Smith Copy Editor: Rebecca Stout

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For advertisement or subscription information, contact: Phone: 312-233-2087 Email: marketing@ichinamag.com

Circulation Director Sicheng Liao: sliao@ichinamag.com

INDEX

March

2009

FOCUS 03. Witness to 30 Years of China-US Relations 06. Milestones in Three Decades of China-US ties 07. 7 Chinese Symbols in 30 years of American Movie

ECONOMY 11. Fear Is the Reason the Chinese Save so Much 13. Are You Feeling Stimulated?

14. China and the US - Lands of Enormous Human Resources Opportunities”

PEOPLE 17. China Needs More Innovations - Interview with Dr. Y.H. Michael Pao, One of 100 Important Innovators of the Past Forty Years

ARTS 20. On China's China

TRAVEL 24. Yunnan: Beautiful Clouds in the South (1) 28. Falls on the Border -- The Detian Waterfalls

CULTURE 31. The March 3rd Festival 32. What is the Chinese Lunar Calendar?

32. Liu Sanjie and March 3rd

FOOD 34. Alternative Waffle & Pancake 36. Speakeasies: A Surprise Just For You

LEISURE 40. Tom Carter’s CHINA: Portrait of a People - A Book Review by Lloyd Lofthouse 42. The Essentials 44. Monkey King Journey to the West 47. Reader's Feedback 48. Survey and Subscription

Note: If you believe that your work has been reprinted in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please contact iChina’s Copyright Agent: copyright@ichinamag.com for more information.

Cover Story

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0 years ago, in the Joint CommuniquĂŠ on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, the United States transferred diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.

Th e U S re i te rate d t h e Shanghai CommuniquĂŠ's

FOCUS acknowledgment of the C h i n e s e p o s i t i o n t h at there is only one China, and that Taiwan is a part of that China; Beijing acknowledged that the American people would continue to carry on commercial, cultural, and other unofficial contacts

with the people of Taiwan.

The Taiwan Relations Act (text) made the necessary changes to US domestic law to allow such unofficial re l a t i o n s w i t h Ta i w a n to flourish. Since then, relations between China and the United States have become normalized.

As both countries celebrate the 30th anniversary of the normalization of China-US diplomatic relations, Jan Carol Berris, Vice President of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, spoke to the Beijing Review about her special experiences in that particular period of history.

Jan Carol Berris witnessed a series of events that made history for China-US relations, including ping-pong diplomacy, the exchange of pingpong players in the 1970s that eased the way to higher levels of contact. She has overseen hundreds of American delegations to China and has met many delegations sent to the US from China. She has traveled to China approximately 100 different times with groups and individuals so diverse as to range from a tennis team to a Supreme Court Justice. She is popular among different groups of people in China, who better recognize her by her Chinese name, Bai Lijuan.

When the first Chinese delegation, mostly consisting of ping-pong players, visited the United States in 1972, what were the reactions of the Americans?

Jan Berris: Americans were all very warm and very friendly. If you asked the Chinese delegation members what impressed them most about their visit to the United States, they all said it was the warmth and friendship that Americans showed them while they were here. I too was enormously impressed with how warm and friendly the Americans were upon meeting the Chinese.

Our two countries had not had relations [with one another] for a very long time. There had been a lot of propaganda in China about the evils of the United States and in the United States about the evils of the Chinese. So I did not actually think that the reception would be as warm, open and welcoming as it was. It was the same for the American players. When they went to China, people were also very warm and very welcoming. So I think on both sides there was a real desire to get to know each other better, and that was certainly expressed in the friendly attitude and friendly http://www.ichinamag.com

3

FOCUS are other changes that have not been beneficial. For example, there is an enormous income disparity between different groups of people.

The Premier of China meeting the US ping-pong delegation in 1971

Based on your exper ience, do you think there are still some misunderstandings between people in the United States and people in China?

Unfortunately, there are still misunderstandings on both sides.

A lot of American people, whether government officials or ordinary

Members of the US ping-pong delegation revisiting China in 2009

reception that the Chinese players received.

That's not to say that there weren't problems. There were some organized protests from a variety of special interest groups in the United States.

Comparing your first trip to China to your most recent, what are the most significant changes you see in the country?

I've been to China about 100 times. My first trip to the Chinese mainland was in June of 1973, and the most recent visit was last summer.

Everything about China has changed enormously. There are m a ny g o o d t h i n g s a b o u t t h e changes that have been made over the past three decades. The opening up of China to the outside world has obviously made the lives of the majority of the Chinese people better. They are more open and freer to do what they want to do. There are a lot of economic opportunities, travel opportunities and education opportunities that didn't exist before.

So there are many changes that have been beneficial. But there 4

iChina Magzine • March 2009

of misunderstandings.

But on the other hand, the Americans and the Chinese have many similarities. I find that the two peoples have a sort of natural affinit y towards one another.

We t e n d t o l i k e o n e a n o t h e r and are able to easily establish a good relationship and longterm friendships. And that's very encouraging.

How do you think both sides can understand each other better?

Increase access and stay in contact; that's the only way it can happen.

You witnessed pingpong diplomacy and Dr. Henry Kissinger's secret Beijing trip, among other events that made history for China-US relations. Do you think these epochal events were based on the wisdom and vision of the two countries leaders, or was it just the right time for such a breakthrough?

I think it was a combination of both. The leaders of the two countries wanted to establish a relationship with one George W. Bush Sr. and his wife, while he was another for a variety of working in Beijing as ambassador of the United States geopolitical reasons, and I to China think, fortunately, the time was right. We had wise and people, need to understand very forward-thinking leaders in China better, and the Chinese both countries who were able to Government and Chinese people need to understand America better.

It's a never- ending process. It takes a long time and it has to go step by step. Sometimes it is very rewarding, but sometimes it is very frustrating.

Misunderstandings appear in various areas: trade, politics, culture, philosophy, etc. We come from very different backgrounds. We have very different attitudes towards On January 31, 1979, Temple University various things. I think in the long of Philadelphia held a ceremony in the Blair run, living in another country for an House in Washington to confer on Deng Xiaoping an Honorary Doctorate of Laws. extended period of time is probably the best way to lessen these types

FOCUS work well together and make progress. So I think it was very good timing but also thoughtful leadership.

What changes do you expect US President Barack Obama will bring to relations between China and the United States?

Yao Ming (Chinese basketball star) greeted with Kobe Bryant (American basketball star) in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

President Obama has a huge number of problems to face in terms of the economic situation in the United States. I think that at the moment, the US-China relationship is actually on quite good, stable ground. I don't think China will be one of the first issues for the president to address because he has so many other pressing and dangerous situations with which he must deal. As I said, the economy is an issue and the crisis in the Middle East could escalate to become very dangerous. There are many other areas that are going to demand his attention immediately. Fortunately, China is not among them.

The Bush administration, while I don't agree with many of

its policies, either domestic or foreign, has done a very good job in its relations with China. It was very fortunate that over the past eight years, the Bush administration had very positive policies towards China. President George W. Bush has done a good job in a variety of ways. There are now numerous relationships: government to government, people to people, people to government, government to people, NGOs to NGOs, etc. There is a strong web of relationships between China and the United States.

There are many Chinese students in this country, an increasing number of American students going to China to study, and an increasing number of Americans who are studying Chinese here in this country. So the relationship is inevitably going to

On April 29, 1984, President Reagan and his wife visited the Museum of Terracotta Warriors and Horses in Xi'an and expressed great interest.

grow. I really think that President Obama is not going to change much with regards to China, and certainly not during his first six months in office.

The relationship at this point is fine.

Regarding current bilateral relations, in your opinion, what are the most important principles that both countries should observe to continuously strengthen their relations?

To be open, curious and try to trust one another.

George W. Bush Sr. and his wife, while he was working in Beijing as ambassador of the United States to China

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FOCUS Milestones in Three Decades of China-US Ties April 1971 - "Ping Pong diplomacy" kicks off when a US table tennis team travels to China, thawing relationship streams that had been frozen since The People's Republic of China was founded in 1949.

February 1972 - US President Richard Nixon travels to China and meets Chairman Mao Zedong. The two countries issue the Shanghai Communique, laying out the "one-China" policy.

The communique puts an end to more than 20 years of mutual estrangement between China and the US. January 1, 1979 - Beijing and Washington establish diplomatic relations, and the United States ends 30 years of recognition of Chiang Kai-shek's government in Taipei. Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping visits the US later in the month.

October 1997 - Jiang Zemin becomes the first Chinese President to visit the United States in 12 years.

June 1998 - US President Bill Clinton visits China.

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iChina Magzine • March 2009

FOCUS November 1999 - US and China agree on terms for China's entry into the World Trade Organization -- a move finalized in 2001.

October 2001 - Chinese President Jiang Zemin meets US President George W. Bush at the Shanghai APEC summit and offers to help in the US-led "War on Terror."

May 2002 - Bush welcomes Hu Jintao, who was China's vicepresident at that time, to the White House for talks.

August 2003 - Beijing hosts the first round of the six-party talks, a multilateral negotiation over the nuclear issue emerging on the Korean Peninsula. The talks mark a new diplomatic role for China and the US. November 2005 - Bush visits Beijing.

September 2008 - China surpasses Japan as the largest holder of US treasuries.

December 2008 - China urges the US to do all it can to tame its financial crisis and avert global recession. The two countries pledge to continue high-level cooperation once President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January.

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FOCUS

7 Chinese Symbols in 30 years of M

otion pictures are a form of art and media well suited to demonstrating a nation’s sensibilities and culture. The globally popular Kung Fu Panda dazzled audiences with its depiction and rendition of Chinese kung fu. Motion pictures have been regarded as a type of nongovernmental ambassador between China and the United States. Perhaps only those American people who have personally visited China know that most people in China do not practice kung fu. Skyscrapers and neon billboards fill the nation’s cities. The Internet is accessible even in the most remote areas of the countryside. Luxury commodities like Louis Vuitton handbags sell just as well in China as in other developed countries. Chinese people speak more English than either the Japanese or the Koreans, and they enjoy an active nightlife. Even small children are skilled at communicating via SMS. It is true that some films are based on actual events, but most (such as this film) are fictional.

Even so, no one denies that motion pictures convey cultural inclinations. Here are seven Chinese symbols that frequently appear in American movies, offering a picture of what China looks like as seen through American eyes.

Kung Fu The 2008 animated movie Kung Fu Panda differs from prior martial arts ac tion movies in that the characters are not humans, but rather are animated animals including a crane, a tigress and a mantis.

The popularity of kung fu movies dates back to the 1970s. Back then, even Hollywood megastar Steve McQueen studied kung fu under Bruce Lee, an expert martial arts artist and actor from Hong Kong. Produced by the Shaw Brothers in 1973, the film King Boxer was a hit in America. Later, a film featuring Jackie Chan entitled Rumble in the Bronx hit a historical high at North American box offices. Then Jet Li stunned the world with his marvellous performances and powerful moves in Lethal Weapon 4. In The Matrix, the main character, Neo, displays the classic poses of Wong Feihung, a legendary Chinese hero and the subject of numerous TV dramas and films. Even the squirrel in Ice Age 2: The Meltdown cries out like Bruce Lee before clashing with the deadly piranha who is trying to snatch his pinecone.

Kung fu movies have become a sort of ambassador of Chinese culture to 8

iChina Magzine • March 2009

the United States, leading Americans to believe that kung fu is commonly practiced by people in China.

In the United States, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people practice kung fu – including various forms such as Qigong, free boxing, and tai chi chuan. Notably, some American colleges and universities offer educational programs involving Chinese kung fu.

The Panda Dubbed the national treasure of China, the panda is beloved around the world. In 1972, when then US president Richard Nixon and his wife visited China, two pandas, Lingling and Xingxing, were presented as gifts to the American people. Ever since, panda fever has swept the United States. Each year, more than three million tourists visit Lingling and Xingxing at their home in the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Numerous documentaries and TV series on the panda have been filmed in the United States, but before Kung Fu Panda, only a few movies cast the animal in the main role, and none had been a box office hit. The Amazing Panda Adventure (1995), about an American boy rescuing a panda cub, earned only $7.5 million. The global box-office earnings of IMAX’s movie China: The Panda Adventure (2001), portraying an American

FOCUS woman rescuing giant pandas from American poachers, grossed only $6.78 million. In 2008, the animated movie Kung Fu Panda, with voices provided by several major film stars and produced by DreamWorks Studios, evoked a new round of panda popularity.

Chinatown Urban Chinatowns have served as the setting for many films, especially crime thrillers. In the movie Year of the Dragon (1985), written by Oliver Stone, Chinatown is the home turf of a criminal gang. The stories depicted in The Replacement Killers (1998) and The Corruptor (1999), in which Chinese ac tor C h o w Yu n Fa t p l a y s a killer and a corrupt cop, respec tively, both take place in Chinatown. I n The Forbidden Kingdom, US teenager and kung fu fan Jason frequently visits Boston’s Chinatown to buy martial arts DVDs. Are Chinatowns really a home base for criminals, as depicted in many American movies? No. Along with the increasing levels of communication between China and the United States, Chinatowns continue to play an increasingly important role in Sino-US cultural exchange.

Chinese Cuisine Since 1850, when the first Chinese restaurant opened in the United States, more than 50,000 such eateries have been established across the country, more than twice the total number of McDonald’s outlets. Those Chinese restaurants employ more than 300,000 people and generate revenues exceeding $20 billion each year. S ome estimate that one out of every three restaurants in the world is a Chinese restaurant. Compared with kung fu, Chinese food “conquered” the Western world earlier and more completely. However, many dishes offered by Chinese restaurants in the United States have been adjusted to suit the palate of American customers.

Most American filmmakers neither understand the essence of Chinese cuisine, nor know the right time and way to enjoy Chinese food. For instance, the action movie Payback depicts Mel Gibson and his partner eating Chinese take-out as they cruise through Chinatown. In the movie Rush Hour, Chris Tucker complains to a senior Chinese chef that the stir-fried

shredded eel is too greasy, but after tasting it he praises the dish: “Wow, it’s great.”

The Chinese Dragon In a survey recently conducted by a US website, the Chinese dragon was listed among the “Ten most popular and favorite mystical monsters.” In fact, China boasts the world’s oldest and most developed culture of the dragon. In the United States, the dragon is a mystical creature primarily representing evil. As Chinese culture becomes more and more familiar to American people, however, the Chinese dragon has become more accepted in the United States as a symbol of good, representing a positive image of China. For this reason, American film distributors often use the Chinese dragon as a design on their posters and websites, when distributing Chinese martial arts movies. The website for the movie The Forbidden Kingdom is just one example.

And of course there is Mushu, the comically gluttonous dragon who stole the show in the animated film Mulan.

Shanghai A scene in the film M ission: I mpossible III depicts Tom Cruise’s superspy calling a friend at CIA headquarters for assistance. The friend asks, “What’re you doing in Shanghai?” But the scene was actually filmed in the ancient town of Xitang, in Jiashan County, Zhejiang Province. In the eyes of some Americans, Shanghai has become a symbol of China.

Throughout 2008, many film crews from Europe and the United States have gone to Shanghai to shoot their projects. In Mission: Impossible III, Tom Cruise’s agent dazzles the audience with a jump from the top of the Bank of China Tower, and with actionpacked fight scenes on the Shanghai streets.

Meanwhile, the movie depicts a prosperous and dreamlike Shanghai.

Traditional Chinese Clothing The 23 stylish and elegant cheongsams that actress Maggie Cheung wore in the movie In the Mood for Love brought traditional Chinese fashion to the attention of the West. Later, in the movie Spider-Man 2, Kirsten Dunst, in the main female role, also wore a red cheongsam. To compliment the costume, the designer even employed a pair of chopsticks as a hairpin.

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9

ECONOMY

Under the current circumstances in which the global economy is sinking rapidly, China, whose economy is highly dependent upon exports, needs to find an alternative to maintain its growth speed. Expanding the domestic demand to absorb the exceeded production capacity has emerged as the only viable approach. Reform of the domestic consumption structure will also make China's economy more healthy and resilient. In November of 2008, the State Council of China announced a plan to provide approximately 586 billion US dollars to stimulate domestic demand. The funds will be spent in 10 major areas, such as low-income housing, rural infrastructure, transportation, the environment, increases in worker wages, and rebuilding from the recent earthquake. Will it work or not? What's the motivation behind the high saving ratio so prevalent in China? In this section, we selected two articles which analyze the motivation of Chinese people who tend to save rather than spend, and comment on the Chinese domestic demand stimulus plan.

10

iChina Magzine â&#x20AC;˘ March 2009

Fear Is the Reason the Chinese Save so Much

By Hung Huang

Hung Huang is a Beijing-based entrepreneur who is often called "the Oprah of China."

Ms. Hung was born in China, where her mother was Mao Zedong's English teacher and translator. During the Cultural Revolution, Ms. Hung was sent to the Little Red School House in New York City. She later attended Vassar University.

After college, Ms. Hung returned to Beijing to work as an investment consultant, and is now CEO of China Interactive Media Group, a publishing company that prints iLook, a lifestyle magazine targeting China's middle and upper classes. Her company previously published the Chinese editions of Seventeen and Time Out Beijing. iLook is a local fashion magazine that has been published for the past 10 years. As a completely original publication, iLook has experienced a tortuous process of development. At first it insisted on originality, but later diverted from this tactic to follow trends set by foreign publications.

Two years ago, it returned to its strategy of complete originality.

e Chinese are the biggest savers in the world.

We had a personal savings rate of 25% and a national savings rate (which includes corporate savings) of 47% in 2005, as compared with a personal rate of 0.5% and a national rate of 12% in the United States for that same year. (Last month, the United

States personal savings rate was 2.4%).

This year, to make sure that the economy continues to grow at its current rate of 8%, the government is attempting to stimulate domestic consumption. So far, their efforts are not working; no one is out there on a shopping spree. Most Chinese, even if their monthly income is less than 100 USD, still manage to save quite a bit of money. Why? If you ask me, it is because of fear - fear that our parents will get old and no one will take care of them; fear that if we get sick, no one will take care of us; fear that when our children go to school, we will not be able to afford the best education for them.

Unfortunately for us, we have a highly inadequate social welfare system.

Things that are supposed to be free are actually often loaded with hidden costs.

My mother passed away at the beginning of this year. She had worked for the government for 40 years, and the government was supposed to cover her health care expenses. However, we found out that when it came to prescribing drug treatments for her, all imported medicines were not covered by the government health plan. One antibiotic injection cost 1,500 USD a day. There was certainly no chance that the state-run hospital who cared http://www.ichinamag.com

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ECONOMY

W

ECONOMY

for her would take an IOU; we had to provide the c a s h b e fo r e s h e could receive the treatment.

What was worse was that the doc tors also needed to be paid, unofficially, in order to provide services.

A friend of mine paid 10,000 USD to a surgeon so that he would operate on her ailing father.

Things like that are very common in China. I have another friend who works for a Western pharmaceutical company. Her job is to take the doctors on fancy vacations so that they continue to prescribe h e r c o m p a n y ’s medicines to their patients.

China is also supposed to have a free education system – but never mind the quality of the education.

Let’s just tally up the cost. If I want to send my daughter, who is 3, to one of the top preschools in Beijing, it will cost me about $1000 a month. I live on a small street with a famous primary school very nearby. As a rule, I have the right to send my child to that school since I live in the neighborhood. If I did not live there, I would need to pay a $10,000 to $30,000 sponsorship fee to the school. However, I was told the “free zone” of the school for the neighborhood was getting smaller and smaller. It is likely that by the time my daughter is old enough for primary school, we will not qualify as living in the “free zone,” although our house is only about 100 meters from the school.

As for myself and my husband, we have to save for our old age. We are not sure whether the government will have any social welfare money available to care for the elderly by the time we retire. In addition, whatever social welfare might be available, it is unlikely that it 12

iChina Magzine • March 2009

will be enough to live on.

My mother’s experience provides another excellent example. She was a government official, and the widow of a foreign minister. At the time of her death she was receiving about $230 a month. She certainly could not live on that amount, so it was critical to her survival that she had also written some best-selling books, and the royalties could help augment her expenses.

Aside from all the above reasons, the Chinese must also save for their children and their grandchildren.

When my mother passed away, I discovered that she had saved a great deal of money — about 300,000 USD. She has put it into an education fund for my daughter. “When Ping Ping gets into Harvard,” she said in her will, “I want you to use this money to pay for her tuition. It is my last gift to her.”

Comments: In spite of those factors which influence a family's financial plan, such as medical expenses and education fees, another big problem is the high price of houses. Most people, especially those born in the

70s and 80s, are currently struggling to save money to buy an apartment, the cost of which may represent more than 10 years salary for them. This is another reason why the government plans to use one piece of that half trillion dollar stimulus cake to build cheaper housing for people.

Are You Feeling Stimulated?

From China Business Services ith companies and economies alike feeling t h e c r u n c h , m a ny h a ve b e e n looking to China as a source of economic growth – but China has also been feeling the impact of the global slowdown, and anecdotal evidence suggests that some sectors are suffering.

The Chinese government has been tr ying to curb excessive g ro w t h o ve r t h e p a s t c o u p l e of years, and in that effort has implemented a number of measures to cool the economy’s rapid growth. Now the pendulum is swinging the other way, as they are now tr ying to ensure that there is enough growth to provide e m p l oy m e nt to t h e ava i l a b l e workers. Talk of growth falling below 8% (in the more pessimistic projections) worries them a great deal (AFP reports one government analyst still hoping for 10%). The BBC has reported from President Hu himself: “External demand has obviously weakened and China’s traditional competitive advantage is being gradually weakened,” Mr Hu said, according to the official People’s Daily newspaper.

“Whether the pressures can be

turned into a driving force and the challenges turned to opportunities … is a test of our ability to control a complex situation, and also a test of our party’s governing ability,” he added.

Toy factory riots and taxi driver strikes could be a sign of things to come.

Enter the Stimulus Package.

According to China Daily: “ The State Council, China’s cabinet, recently hammered out the most courageous economic stimulus pack age, involving a huge investment of up to 4 trillion yuan, or $586 billion by the end of 2010, in a bid to boost the waning domestic demands and halt the slowing economic growth form slipping further to its ebb.

The package, with 10 concrete m e a s u re s h i g h l i g h te d, i s n o t only intended to ensure a steady economic growth, but also weigh in preference to investing in the improvement of people’s living standards, like solidifying Chinese people’s social security guarantees.

But the problems that could pop up with the emergence of the ambitious fiscal spending plan may include: How to make the immense cake of 4 trillion yuan? And make

it efficiently to both arrest the sagging economy from worsening, a n d i m p r o v e t h e p e o p l e ’s livelihood?

Some analysts say that the 4-trillion-yuan package will come f r o m t h r e e s o u r c e s , n a m e l y, coffer revenues of the central a n d p rov i n c i a l g ove r n m e n t s, and contributions from the s o c i e t y at l a rg e. Th e Fi n a n ce Ministry disclosed that the central government’s input in 2007 had already amounted to 2.78 trillion yuan, up 35.6 percent over the previous year. Investments from the central government, dubbed as the most reliable financial supplies, have long acted as a strong impetus to China’s robust economic growth for the past three decades when the country adopted reform and opening-up policies.”

The package has been generally well received and, as the Wall Street Journal points out, it could help to generate domestic consumption, providing long-term opportunities for international business: “ The real potential for fiscal spending to have an impact on consumption, though, is through social spending. One element of the policy package focuses on http://www.ichinamag.com

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health and education spending; another captures social security, pensions and income support. Spending in these areas not only supports public consumption directly, it stimulates private consumption as well by relieving households of the need to save to finance retirement or self-insure against mishap… …China’s stimulus package is good news for the world at large. More Chinese consumption means more demand for foreign goods and less export competition for producers abroad. As China’s growth is driven more

by absorbing domestic resources into the provision of social services, not only are incomes generated, but human capital formation takes place, contributing to productivity gains and income growth into the future.

That means a growing consumer market to be tapped in the years ahead.”

Stimulating times indeed – but the risks remain, and businesses cannot afford to hunker down and hope for the best. Strategy reviews (and big decisions) will have to be ongoing as the crisis – and the package – unfold.

“China and the US - Lands of Enormous Human Resources Opportunities”

ECONOMY

By Janice Newman, SPHR, MHRM,CELS

T

o say that China is undergoing change would be...…well.....a huge understatement!

Now, thir ty years after the cultural reform was first started, the country and its people have experienced a dizzying array of cultural, societal, educational, economic and financial changes.

Th e C h i ne s e eco n omy h a s been doubling about every seven years, and its GDP (gross domestic product) is second only to that of the US. Annual growth through 2007 has been in the double digits, personal standards of living have improved, and college enrollment has increased over 200%.

A huge emphasis has been placed on exposure to a n d a b s o r p t i o n o f We s te r n m a n a g e m e nt a n d l e a d e r s h i p styles, as well as proficiency in the English language. After all, one can only stand among and effectively compete with another if one understands how the other works.

China’s exponential growth has served as a springboard for the debut of Human Resources as a true profession. HR really didn’t exist in China before 1994.

There was no such department in Chinese firms and there were cer tainly no oppor tunities to study Human Resources at the 14

iChina Magzine • March 2009

university level. Prior to Human Resources being recognized as a profession, it was a common belief that anyone could do Human Resources work. That old view of HR is changing quickly in China, perhaps even more quick ly than in the United States where the job categor y of Personnel changed to Human Resources, in a similar upgrading and professionalizing of the occupational responsibility.

China has been moving steadily from a central-planning economy towards a rapidly expanding market-oriented economy. To equip themselves to fulfill their role as a business facilitator, the HR professional in China has needed to school themselves in Western ways of doing business. However, they have also needed to be mindful of Chinese history, which is steeped in the traditions of collectivism, Confucianism and Soviet-like socialism, views all very disparate to Western capitalism.

The rapidly expanding economy and promise of better jobs have lured millions from central and western China to China’s areas of industrial growth.

This army of migrant workers h a s f u e l e d C h i n a ’s d o u b l e -

digit growth, but this new and seemingly endless supply of cheap labor offers its own monumental challenges to HR professionals.

These migrant workers previously only knew agrarian life, so jobs and simply life in first tier cities can seem extraordinarily foreign.

HR professionals must help those employees overcome the significant “culture shock,” and educate them on basic work expec tations, deal with homesickness, and provide for their other emotional and

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like “colliding cultures.” As if adjustments over the last 15 years didn’t provide enough of a challenge for HR professionals, the intricate interdependency which China has built with the West has now hurled the country into an ever-deepening global recession and financial crisis.

Chinese HR professionals who have had to adjust to and cope with startlingly different Western ways of leadership and management styles, helping to position their companies for exponential growth, are now being required to take swift and substantive action to meet the needs of their employees, while simultaneously helping their companies to survive.

In 2008, the annual growth rate in China fell to just under 9%. Tens of thousands of companies have closed in China in the past 6 months. Millions of migrant workers are now unemployed, with little choice but to go back to agrarian life. Another 1.5 million college graduates cannot find jobs. MNCs (multi-national companies) that were at one time magnets for college graduates are seeing thousands of positions eliminated, as these and other companies retrench in light of the deepening world financial crisis.

HR professionals in China and in the United States now both find themselves playing pivotal roles. Now, more than ever, HR professionals in China are realizing that the challenges they face are not dissimilar from the challenges faced by their counterparts in the United States. Actually, in many ways, they have more in common with each other than ever before!

Chinese and US professional workers tend to be very open and eager to learn. Professionals in the US

ECONOMY

intellectual needs before being able to engage them as fully productive employees.

HR professionals have had to prepare themselves and their employees for Western ways of setting goals and driving accountability. They have wrestled with how to support and align their departments with Western management styles, while simultaneously dealing with and respecting the presiding culture of the collective good reigning over individual gain.

For instance, in the US, performance management is based on a demand for individual contributions and the achievement of personal goals, which are often rewarded with individualized compensation bonuses.

At times, performance management in the US can be confrontational, and it is not uncommon for poor or sub-standard performers to suffer some kind of disciplinary action, or even termination of employment.

However, in China, harmony and the saving of face, along with the curbing of individualistic traits, are valued, which runs counter to what HR professionals have learned about US management styles.

HR professionals in China, coping with ways that seem so different and foreign, often feel like they are each “reinventing the wheel” when faced with their dayto-day business issues, especially since there is little opportunity for networking with their HR peers. There is no HR association or organization to speak of, although SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) does have a tiny office in Beijing. Indeed, Chinese HR professionals, out of sheer necessity, have created their own loosely knit, ad hoc networking body to help deal with a set of workplace dynamics that sometimes feel

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and in China are both objective and goal driven. And younger generations in the US and in China both value a work-life balance. Another commonality is that most HR professionals in the United States argue that â&#x20AC;&#x153;talent managementâ&#x20AC;? is by far their greatest priority.

Talent management is not only a top priority for HR professionals in China, but the components of talent management are some of the most frequently studied and sought-after courses at the university. And both the US and Chinese governments, fearing instability and further unraveling of their respective economies, are launching a number of initiatives to draw in business and create jobs.

In both China and the US, truly strategic HR professionals will stay current regarding the best HR practices, will participate actively in global HR networks, and will continue to be aware of macroeconomic changes and how they affect their respective organizations. They will also continually stay in touch with their employees on a micro-level, serving as a vital communications and development link to help their companies survive, as well as position them to thrive!

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iChina Magzine â&#x20AC;˘ March 2009

The global economic crisis is real and the effects are crushing. But the opportunity for Human Resources professionals in both China and the US to make a significant strategic impact are indeed enormous and exciting!

About the author: Janice Newman, SPHR, MRHM, CELS is the Owner/Principal of HR Focus Consulting in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, USA. She first traveled to Asia over 40 years ago when her family began their first ex-pat assignment in the Philippines, and is passionate about the business of Human Resources Management in Asia. She has 20 years of executive-level experience in Human Resources, serving multi-national companies in service industries ranging in size from 750 to over 18,000 employees. HR Focus Consulting specializes in employee relations, employment law compliance, organizational development, and supervisory and management training, as well as due diligence and acquisition integration. For more information, please view her website at www.hrfocusco.com.

PEOPLE

China Needs More Innovations -Interview with Dr. Y.H. Michael Pao, One of 100 Important Innovators of the Past Forty Years

By Janet Chen and Wei Yuan

He has been received awards in a diverse variety of fields;

He was elected a Member of the National Academy of Engineering USA in 2000;

He created three new industries: the waterjet machining industry, the trenchless industry, and the waterjet surface treatment industry;

In 1998 he was named by a leading French industrial technology journal as one of the most important 100 innovators in the past 40 years;

He is considered to be a successful entrepreneur and industrialist.

He is Dr. Y.H. Michael Pao.

Dr. Pao in His office

As a Scientist at BSRL Dr. Pao was born in Nanjing, grew up in the Sichuan province, and went to Taiwan for his high school education. After that, he came to the US to pursue further education. In the early 1960s, Dr. Pao graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a doctorate degree, and went to Seattle, WA to join the Boeing Scientific Research Lab (BSRL) as a research scientist. At Boeing, he not only conducted worldclass research investigations on internal waves and turbulence in stratified media, later applying these technologies to commercial applications, but he also further developed his already impressive interpersonal and management skills. According to Dr. Pao, the eight years he spent in BSRL provided him with the foundation for the accumulation of skills he possesses now. He said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;that was a golden time for research, with fulfilling opportunities. We got a good amount of funding, developed advanced technology, and put our ideas into applications.â&#x20AC;? Years after his time at BSRL, Dr. Pao still expresses appreciation for his time at Boeing.

Unfortunately, in 1969 Boeing cut their research funding for basic sciences, and Dr. Pao left BSRL to star t his new occupational role, that of an entrepreneur.

One of the California Windfarms in the Early 1980s

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PEOPLE As an Innovative Entrepreneur Flow Industries, Inc., was the first company Dr. Pao formed, located in the garage of his own house, with an initial capital investment of $2,000. From there, he eventually developed six technology-based companies, and served as CEO for each of them. The six companies addressed totally different areas, and have done innovative and creative work in all six of their own respective fields.

The companies involved academic and commercial areas ranging from ultrahigh pressure waterjets for industrial cutting, drilling and milling, to surface treatments such as rust removal, to forms of costeffective generation of ‘green’ electricity.

By looking into these six companies, readers can’t help but notice what a diversity of interests and areas of expertise Dr. Pao possesses.

Among his many other c o n t r i b u t i o n s, D r. Pa o i s considered an early pioneer in the development of large wind turbines. One of his companies, FloWind Corporation, developed vertical axis wind turbines to serve as low-cost tools for converting wind to electricity without any resulting pollution or air contamination. In the early 1980s, FloWind developed and installed over 500 vertical axis wind turbines on two wind farms in California.

Many of them have operated in California for more than 20 years.

Although Dr. Pao’s life seems to be full of fortune and good luck, he has also faced significant personal challenges in his life. In 1999, at the age of 65, he was diagnosed with asthma and cardiopathy.

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iChina Magzine • March 2009

could provide electric power of up to 3,000 MW. Dr. Pao also obtained from the London Bank, financial suppor t of up to $400 million in equity and debt to suppor t this project, subject to certain conditions.

From that point for ward, everything seemed to progress in a promising direction. Unfortunately, in September of 2005, Dr. Pao discovered that the policy inside the contract would not allow for a ny p o s s i b i l i t y of profits because of the extraordinarily low price of electricity. The project was eventually cancelled, and regretfully, all the preparations m a d e beforehand were totally in vain.

Looking back, Dr. Pao told iChina: “In China the power industry is held in one hand, that of the Chinese A Conceptual Picture of a Floating Windfarm at Sea government. The governors set the price of electricity according to national policy, instead of market needs. Although the Renewal “Tuition Fee” in China Energy Law was passed and made effective, at that time there was During his recovery period, a gap between the law and its Dr. Pao seriously considered any execution in the real world.” and all possible opportunities Years later, Dr. Pao was able to contribute to his hometown, to consider this experience an Dongtai, in the Jiangsu province, in “inevitable tuition fee.” He realized any way that his specialized areas that “there is a big difference of expertise might allow him. between China and America.

To In June of 2004, Dr. Pao formed make a commercial success in EcoPower in Houston, Texas, and China, one needs to learn a lot. ” explored windpower opportunities The differences come from in China. On February 28, 2005, various aspects including culture, China’s National People’s Congress society and politics. Take culture passed the Renewable Energy Law, as an example.

Dr. Pao said that his which took effect on January 1, favorite part of American culture 2006. Shortly after that, EcoPower is that the “US is a new country; its signed an agreement with the culture is open and it welcomes Municipal Government of Dongtai, innovations.

This makes it a lot China, to develop windfarms that easier to create new technology in On his worst days, he was sent to the hospital unconscious, only to wake up lying helpless in an intensive therapy unit. This was a very difficult time for Dr. Pao, and he has said that at the time he felt like “dying.” Doctors were not optimistic towards his condition, either. But then there was a miracle: i n 2 0 0 1 , D r. Pa o m a n a g e d t o change his diet and life style, and he has enjoyed a full recovery since then.

PEOPLE

Floating Windfarms at Sea

America. China, on the other hand, has bigger obstacles.

People love traditional things. The older, the better.” Dr. Pao has six marketable technical innovations, and all of them have been industrialized in America. He feels that it would be much harder to do the same in China because of “the current level of development, and also the cultural obstacles embedded in the mind. of many Chinese people” During the interview, Dr. Pao humbly denied that the word “successful” should be used as a description of his career. He told iChina that he thought of his life in a very simple way.

“The further development of human beings as a race depend heavily on the ongoing innovation of new tools. For example, the Industrial Revolution originated from the invention of the steam engine; it inaugurated a new era. From then on, hand power gave way to machines; factories, trains, and steamships were the result. Transportation, industry and manufacturing flourished and made life more convenient. We are living in a different time, but the same rules apply now.”

place a large number of medium-sized, low-cost, vertical axis wind turbines on submerged floating platforms in regions with strong winds. Learning from his previous experiences, this time he looked for a bigger frame to execute. In 2008, his project of the 450 MW Caofeidian Offshore Windfarm was selected to be one element of the “China-US Ten Year Energy and Environment Cooperation Framework.” On December 4, 2008, an official signing ceremony of the “ChinaUS EcoPartnerships” was held in Beijing, China, and was witnessed by the 5th SED Delegations of both nations. The Chinese delegation was led by Vice Premier Wang Qishan, accompanied by 21 Ministers and Deputy Ministers, and the US delegation was led

by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, accompanied by 15 Cabinet Members and Agency Heads. Dr. Pao signed the 3rd China-US EcoPartnership along with the Chinese Caofeidian Representative during the signing ceremony.

The Caofeidian Offshore Windfarm project will start in 2009. Although Dr. Pao has high expectations for the project, he told iChina that “it will take 10 years to tell whether the project is successful. If it is, the project will be a big advantage in energy technology, and may even be revolutionary. It depends upon how much support we can get from the technology, finance and policy sectors.”

Living in Houston, Dr. Pao is a big fan of Yao Ming.

He also enjoys reading Chinese ancient poems. After spending more than 40 years in America, he has started to focus more of his attention on China, and the various changes it is now undergoing. He said: “every time I go to Beijing, I see new skyscrapers and fancy buildings, which make Beijing appear to be a highly modern city. Even the people are changing; they start thinking in different ways, which is very important because with the heavy burdens the city faces like the large population and the relatively low development level, China has to make itself be more open to innovations.”

A New Promising Project in China The “now” Dr. Pao mentioned refers to the concept of floating windfarms at sea, a notion which would

Dr. Pao at the official signing ceremony of the “China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue” (SED) in Beijing.

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By Valerie Sartor

P

orcelain is a type of ceramic ware that Western people call “china” or “chinaware,” because potters first created it for the emperor in south central China, an area where a special type of clay is found. Beautiful but strong, Chinese porcelain products can be constructed with thin, elegant walls able to reflect light. Yet because it is extremely durable, porcelain products today are used to make electrical insulators and various types of laboratory equipment. Moreover, if you tap a porcelain object, it gives off a very clear, bell-like tone.

For many centuries, China held the secret to making the world's finest porcelain -- white, translucent ceramic ware of such high quality that it sounded a musical tone when struck. The envy of potters and collectors in Europe and the Middle East, Chinese blue-and-white porcelain owed its excellence to the fine clay available to the Chinese, as well as to their high-temperature kilns and the cobalt pigment they used to produce the pieces' brilliant hues.

What makes Chinese porcelain so special? First of all, it is very, very old. Historically, ceramic art in China is the longest, continuously evolving art form among all humans; it dates back to 7,000BC. Porcelain can be counted as one of China's most significant contributions to world culture and art. And like silk and gunpowder, China kept the porcelain-making technique secret for over a thousand years.

While other cultures were still making earthenware and simple clay pots, the Chinese potters of the Song Dynasty, in the 12th century AD, had perfected their porcelain techniques. Moreover, after the Mongolians conquered China, along with the Eurasian continent, in the 13th century, Chinese porcelain became 20

iChina Magzine • March 2009

well known and greatly coveted by foreigners. The Mongolians founded the Yuan dynasty, and along with their centralized organization, they also established efficient trade routes that spread products such as porcelain and silk across the continents. Significantly, Mongolian traders brought the Chinese potters the now-celebrated cobalt material [the blue pigment] from Iraq and Iran.

Blue-and-white porcelain still remains a Chinese trademark (although the Dutch somewhat feebly copied the patterns centuries later). The astute Mongolians then took the colourful porcelain to the Near East, selling it for magnificent prices.

Everyone outside of China wanted to copy the porcelain technique after they saw the beautiful wares the technique produced; yet no one was successful for a very long time. The Chinese had two secret advantages: they knew how to fire the pottery at extremely high temperatures, and they had the special kind of kaolin clay that possessed a very low iron content, which was a quality of the clay endemic to their territory. After further refinement, this clay became very pure and white in color, producing ceramics that were unique throughout the world.

Chinese porcelain is matchless because it is both delicate and lovely. And, from the beginning, Chinese porcelain was stronger and more durable than anything the Western world could mimic. Two factors contributed to this: first, the chemical composition of kaolin clay found in Jingdezhen, in south-central China, has what is known as a tense physical structure.

Not only beautiful in color, this clay’s structure allows for the clay and feldspar, the other ingredient necessary for this type of porcelain, to combine and fuse together with a translucent, alkaline glaze, utilizing a high temperature firing process.

The end product is a very hard, crystallized piece of pottery.

Historically, scholars believe that the first true porcelain was made during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) in China. Later, during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), royal factories were set up to make porcelain house wares and other decorative pieces for the imperial family.

Porcelain was coveted because, at least at first, it was meant to be used only by members of the royal entourage. Additionally, it

ARTS was made in limited quantities and, subsequently, dispensed as gifts that signified the bestowal of great honor. As initially only the royal family was allowed to use these elegant dishes and decorations, the pottery was originally called Imperial porcelain.” Each piece had a special stamp called a reign mark. Later, over time, wealthy Chinese were able to purchase this type of porcelain. Some pieces, though, were still given out as gifts in exchange for tribute offered to the court by foreigners and highly respected Chinese.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, factories started making porcelain for export; the quality could be mixed, especially it was designed for daily usage rather than for display purposes.

The neighbouring Japanese preferred tea sets with asymmetrical designs, baffling the Chinese artists.

Strange European tastes were also catered to as well, and Chinese in Southeast Asian customers continued to show a great appetite for the classically beautiful pottery. This exported porcelain often had stamps and marks, mimicking the reign marks, in order to increase the value of the exported pieces.

Contemporar y collectors have noted that, significantly, the quality and intensity of the blue pigment used in the porcelain designs has changed over time.

During the Yuan Dynasty (12791368AD) the era when the Mongolians ruled China, the empire had ex tensive ties with the Middle East. Hardy Mongolian traders brought back from the Middle East a type of cobalt that included in the mix, arsenic impurities; when fired, the mixture intensified the deep blue color.

In fact, the Chinese still call cobalt blue “Mohammedan,” or Huihuiqing blue.

Interestingly, in the 17th century the Chinese independently discovered

cobalt deposits that were mixed with manganese.

When these were applied, the artisans found that the blue hues became lighter than those produced by the cobalt brought back from the Middle East. After much experimentation, potters mixed both blues into their patterns, creating vivid, beautiful designs that fetched great prices in the past, and continue to do so in the present.

Before porcelain was developed, potters made two common types of ceramics: earthenware and stoneware. Both are made from one ingredient, clay, which is baked (or fired). Earthenware is fired at low temperatures and stoneware is fired at high temperatures. Often, for aesthetic reasons, a piece of pottery is covered with a glaze, a glassy like substance that colors and adds shine, and also serves to make the object waterproof. Stoneware, as its name implies, is very hard and naturally waterproof without glazing.

In contrast, porcelain is made with two ingredients: kaolin clay and petuntse, a type of feldspar found only in China. The ancient Chinese learned to grind this substance into powder and mix it with the clay, greatly enhancing the strength and translucence of the finished ceramic product. The proportions between the two ingredients may vary according to the artist or the factory.

When the Chinese fire their ceramics at high temperatures: at 1250° Centigrade (2280° Fahrenheit) the petuntse literally melts and forms a kind of natural, waterproof glass. At the same time, the kaolin clay retains its shape, fusing with the petuntse. The result is true porcelain, technically called “hard paste” porcelain: something that is translucent and delicate but incredibly strong. If you break a piece of porcelain, it is impossible to distinguish between the glaze and the body of the clay because everything fuses together perfectly.

Making a Piece of Porcelain To m a k e p o rce l a i n , a potter’s wheel or a mould is the preferred tool; hand building is almost never done. After shaping the piece, the craftsman can decorate it by applying sur face modifications, painting it, or using a transfer print.

Sur face modifications include carving the unfired ceramic piece, poking holes in it, or even embossing – applying a raised design. Often potters like to apply a “slip” http://www.ichinamag.com

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ARTS – a mixture of water and clay – to the piece, painting it on with a brush. Sometimes three dimensional relief designs are made separately and then pasted onto the piece.

A diversity of methods exists for painting porcelain.

Coloured glazes – especially the famous grey-green celadon glaze – can be painted on the surface of the object. The artist could then decide to paint designs directly onto the pot before it is glazed over; this is called “underglazing.” The Chinese traditionally have preferred to use their cobalt blue in this manner, but contemporary potters all over the world now use a variety of patterns and colors.

Today, the pattern of China’s porcelain has been used on many products to evoke images of Chinese traditional culture.

Pictures in this page (clockwise from the top): Porcelain patterned ATM machine Porcelain patterned street lamp Porcelain patterned subway Porcelain patterned car Porcelain patterned piano

When paint is applied on top of a glaze it is called “enamelling.” Ancient Chinese used many bright enamel colors that were made from metallic oxides, including copper, iron and manganese. The enamelling process requires the piece to be fired clearly. European and Chinese aesthetic patterns are not the same. Traditionally, the Chinese liked to outline designs and colors with a darker color. Europeans, in the past, liked to blend and merge their colors. Even more significant differences can be found in the design itself; the Chinese have many symbols and place them for specific reasons 22

iChina Magzine • March 2009

on their manufactured goods, clothing, homes and in other places around their environment; ceramics are no exception. Europeans, on the other hand, used decorations mostly to enhance the aesthetic value.

In the mid-1700s, transfer printing was created.

A design could be etched onto a copper plate, inked with color, and transferred onto tissue paper. Then, while the ink was still wet, the design would be pressed upon the clay object(s), thus transferring the design both consistently and quickly. Both Europe and China adopted this technique, improving upon it over time.

European Attempts at Porcelain Eu ro p e a n s i nve n t e d two other kinds of china over time, primarily in the 16th and 17th centuries, in their eagerness to create something as magnificent as Chinese porcelain, as well as to produce ever yday wares for the ever-expanding ceramics market in the West. “Softpaste” porcelain and “bone china” are two examples

of such creations, both containing different ingredients from traditional “hard paste” Chinese porcelain.

Soft paste porcelain directly imitated Chinese porcelain.

Europeans wanted something strong, white and translucent, and were finally able to create it by using glass-like substances, but the creation was fired at lower temperatures. This meant that it was not as durable as true porcelain, because the when firing at lower temperatures, the fusion process is not complete.

If you break a piece of soft paste porcelain, the glaze is an apparent shell, with a grainy clay body inside. This type of porcelain is also not as white, with more of a

ARTS creamy hue, and the glazed colors tend to merge. The first good European soft-paste porcelain was produced in Florence, Italy, in about 1575. Later, in the 1700s, France took the lead in producing soft-paste porcelain, with the first factories being built in Rouen, St. Cloud, Lille, and Chantilly.

But the most celebrated French soft-paste porcelain is perhaps Sevres (1756) porcelain, first produced in Vi n c e n n e s ( 1 7 3 8 ) .

L i m o g e s fo l l o we d (1771) and became one of the largest European porcelain production centers.

In 1842, the American David Haviland opened a factory there. His floral patterns, along with products from the other factories named above, are still collector’s items today.

The Germans were not to be outdone by the French. A German chemist named Bottger discovered the secrets of making hard paste porcelain in 1709. A factory was set up in Meissen; this celebrated porcelain also is called Dresden porcelain, because that was the city in which Bottger worked. This German porcelain led the European market for nearly a century; the artists decorating the wares in his factories were outstandingly skilled. The designs were unusual, mixing Japanese and Chinese aesthetics with exquisite depictions of local people and animals. Unfortunately, politics caused the German wares to fall into decline.

After 1750, the British somehow learned to grind up animal bones and mix them with kaolin and petuntse, thus creating their own porcelain that we now know as “bone china.” Bone ash makes these ceramics fabulously translucent. The best-known bone china comes from Worcester; this factory produced both soft paste china and bone china in a wide variety of designs, patterns and colors.

The chemist Josiah Spode is credited with perfecting the techniques for creating this type of bone china in the late 1700s.

Porcelain's Popularity For hundreds of years the very best porcelain came from China. Collectors today almost universally recognize Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) vases and bowls as priceless artistic treasures. It was at this time that the famous blue and white under-glazed porcelain was perfected, and the above-discussed enamelling technique became quite

common.

During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), a significant amount of porcelain was exported to Europe; Korea and Japan had already discovered the secret of manufacturing such porcelain in the 1100’s, but they too prized the beautiful Chinese wares.

Interestingly, porcelain became extremely popular in Europe in the 16th centur y because the habit of drinking tea, coffee and hot chocolate had recently appeared on the continent. Previously, from the M iddle Ages until porcelain arrived on the continent, Europeans had mostly consumed ale, mead or beer out of crudely carved wooden or pewter cups, and eaten their meals using either wooden trenchers (plates) or trenchers made of bread.

The Portuguese are credited with first bringing Chinese porcelain directly to Europe during the sixteenth century. They first found China in 1498 by following the great Chinese Admiral Zheng He’s routes, using his maps to enter Asia via the sea route around the Cape of Good Hope. The first Portuguese ship arrived in Canton, China, in 1513. By the seventeenth century, the Dutch had vociferously entered the trade.

They captured a Portuguese vessel called the Catherina, which carried over 100,000 pieces of porcelain.

Everything went on public auction in Holland. Buyers came from all over Europe, including cour tiers representing the courts of both France and England.

Some historians believe that it was this auction that triggered the European porcelain craze. In any case, between 1604 and 1657, over three million pieces of Chinese porcelain arrived in Europe.

Thus, drinking habits and product availability gave rise to an insatiable demand for porcelain outside of China.

And even though the Europeans eventually perfected their own porcelain craftsmanship, the demand for Chinese porcelain remained high because the product was exotic, beautiful and rare.

Today Chinese porcelain is still greatly revered and actively collected, with certain pieces from particular dynastic periods fetching millions of dollars.

Porcelain is only one of the many gifts China has bequeathed to the Western world. Porcelain, like silk and gunpowder, remains valuable today all around the world.

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Yunnan:

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Beautiful Clouds in the South (1)

Shangri-La: Sun and Moon in My Heart

S

Article and Photograph by Carrie Fang

peaking of Shangri-La, Westerners may be familiar with James Hilton’s utopian paradise in his novel Lost Horizon. In China, Shangri-La is a real place. It is located in Zhongdian County in the Yunnan Province, officially renamed “Shangri-La” in 2001 by the local government to promote tourism. Many people believe that it is the last truly virgin piece of land where one can observe cultures whose layers go back into the past for thousands of years.

Our trip to Shangri-La began on a cloudy summer afternoon, leaving from Lijiang City, 200 kilometers (about 125 miles) and traveling to the town of Zhongdian. Local people in the Yunnan Province refer to the weather there with phrases like: “the sky changes every five kilometers.” We found this to be true as we experienced frequently changing climates along the road we traveled as the elevation rose. We reached the town of Zhongdian, now named Shangri-La, at a sunny time near dusk. The new town of Zhongdian surprised me at first, since it was not like

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iChina Magzine • March 2009

Editor's Note: In Chinese, Yunnan refers to beautiful clouds in the south. The Yunnan Province is not only the most southwest region of China but also the most culturally diverse province in China. With a diverse topography that ranges from alpine mountain ranges and glaciers that are snow-capped all year round to tropical rainforests, lakes and hot springs, and offering a multiplicity of cultures and a rich heritage, Yunnan is a place that celebrates life. In the following issues, please take the opportunity to visit this endlessly fascinating place with us â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and be prepared to be enchanted!

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any poor rural place I had originally envisioned in my mind. It resembled many other typical small towns in other parts of China. If not for some scattered Tibetan architecture, it would be easy for visitors to think they had arrived at any common town in the western part of China.

Our guide arranged for a visit with a Tibetan family and a traditional dinner par ty the evening we arrived. It was my first visit to a Tibetan residence. The warm Tibetan people greeted us with white silk Kada (a Tibetan tradition for welcoming visitors and friends) and a cup of barley wine (Qing Ke wine), a drink with about a 20% alcohol content. In order to show respect for the Tibetan culture, I had to drink the wine in one sip. Bottoms up! It was quite

a challenge for me since I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t usually drink alcohol, but I did it anyway.

We took a short tour of the big front yard of the family home, and saw many Tibetan frescoes. Then we entered the main lobby of the house, where the dinner party was to be hosted. It was a great surprise to see two portraits hanging in the middle of the wall: one was the portrait of the Panchen Lama, another high ranking Lama beside the Dalai Lama in Tibetan Buddhism, and the other was a portrait of Mao Zedong, the first Chairman of the Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Republic of China. During the following three days in Shangri-la, we saw the custom of hanging the two portraits recur frequently in various Tibetan residences and became accustomed to the sight of them.

The host family immediately provided each visitor with Tibetan butter tea, a slight salty tasting tea, along with some other appetizers. In Tibetan

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tradition, when t wo thirds of the butter tea is finished, one may add a couple of teaspoons of Tibetan highland barley flour to the cup to mix with the remaining tea, using the middle, ring and little fingers. Tibetan people mix the flour and the tea until they form a dough ball, which they then eat. We also tried Tibetan butter, which tasted completely different from butter in the West. It was tougher to chew. I thought I was chewing on something made out of ox skin. Our last but best dish was a roasted whole lamb. It was crispy and surprisingly good tasting. The host family performed traditional Tibetan dances and sang to us while we were eating. The host spoke both perfect mandarin and the Tibetan language. I always envy Tibetan people for their talents in dance and their superior singing voices. They are truly gifts of nature.

The next morning we left the seat of Zhongdian County and continued on our trip into the greater Shangri-la area. Yila Prairie is the largest and most beautiful prairie in Shangri-la and the best place to

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experience the authentic life of Tibetan herdsmen in Yunnan. Its Napahai Nature Reserve is both a grazing field for herdsmen and a paradise for local birds.

In the summer, melting snow from surrounding mountains forms a vast lake. In the dry season, Napahai becomes a huge grassland, joining the adjacent Yila Prairie and providing a grazing ground for sheep and cattle. During the winter months, the rare black-neck crane makes the nature preserve its home. We were told by our guide that July was not the best season to see the prairie, but if we came around in May or June, all kinds of flowers would be blooming, and Yila Prairie would become Heaven on earth. I was a little disappointed at hearing what he said, and at learning about what we would miss.

He continued on with the tour, telling us that the word “Shangri-la” in the Tibetan language derives from words meaning “sun and moon in one’s heart.” Even though we didn’t see the blooming grasslands, we did see a beautiful summer scene. We should always see the world with appreciation and gratitude; hence, Shangri-La is always in our hearts (and the beauty of nature is always there too).

After passing mountain after mountain, we finally reached our destination – Meili Snow Mountain.

Legend says that Meili Snow Mountain ranks first in the “Eight Most Sacred Mountains in Tibet.” Human beings have never been able to set foot on its highest

changes in weather at this snowy mountain range.

Many disappointed travelers have come and gone over the years, unable to see the sunrise, and unfortunately I was one of them. However, I was lucky enough to see a little bit of golden sunlight before the clouds completely covered the mountains. I was so intrigued by the pictures of the famous sunrise hanging in many places in Fei Lai Si, regarded as the best place to view the mountain and the sunrise, that I swore to myself that one day in the future, I would be back!

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peak, Mount Kawagebo, despite the several attempts that were made in the 80s and 90s. In 1996, the Chinese government officially banned any climbing activities on Meili Snow Mountain, making it the first mountain range to be protected from human intervention in order to preserve its cultural heritage.

Meili Snow Mountain is famous for its spectacular view of the sunrise. Travelers cannot take this view for granted, though. The sunrise at Meili can only be seen 30 days out of the whole year because of frequent

FALLS ON THE BORDER -The Detian Waterfalls

By Wendi Chen

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I

These waterfalls are surrounded by thick woods. Water spouts out of shrubs and rocks, spraying and shaping a broad cascade.

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iChina Magzine • March 2009

Photograph by Kano

n a subtropical area along the Sino-Vietnam border, lies the Detian Waterfalls, the second largest transnational waterfall in the world, and the largest waterfall in Asia.

The Detian Waterfalls is also considered “one of the top six most beautiful waterfalls i n C h i n a ,” a c c o r d i n g t o China National Geography magazine. If you are a fan of waterfalls, you can’t miss this one on your next trip to the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Main entrance of the Detian Waterfallls Region. A trip to this wonderland will leave you with an indelible life-long memory.

Just like the Niagara Falls on the US-Canada border, the Detian Waterfalls is situated on an international border between Daxin County in Guangxi, China, and Chongqing County in CaoBanf, Vietnam. The Guichun River, which runs into Vietnam for 22 miles before heading back into China, serves as the natural national boundary.

As a fascinating destination known by many as a “sculpture made by nature,” the Detian Waterfalls is awe inspiring in both its momentum and the surrounding scenery.

Connected with the Ban Gioc Waterfalls of Vietnam, the whole set of waterfalls is 656 feet in width, and has a drop of more than 230 feet. The turbulent Guichun River gushes down the three-tiered cliff with a tremendous force (an average flow of 50 cubic meters per second). Geologically, the site is comprised of stratified dolomite, a relatively soft rock that is prone to collapse during the flood season. As a result, the natural scenery around the waterfalls changes from season to season. In the spring, the waterfalls are surrounded by the flame-red blossoms of the kapok trees, which act as a signal of a prosperous year to come. During the rainy season (primarily in June and July) when the

Guichun River is at peak flow, the waterfalls are powerful and inspiring, and the mountains are covered in green.

Throughout the fall, the area around the waterfalls turns golden-yellow, creating a harvest-like scene. During the winter when there is a smaller level of flow, the falls become more gentle and even-tempered.

The scenic spot is not only as beautiful as landscape paintings, but it is also a great place for various types of outdoor fun. During the summertime, visitors are able to swim in the pools beneath the falls. One might also rent a bamboo raft to take a closer look at the waterfalls, and to take the opportunity to enter another country. But don't

A Tiny Temple in the Park

Travel Tips: How to Get There: Visitors from other parts of the country can travel by air, train, or long-distance bus to Nanning, the capital city of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. From Nanning, travelers can take scheduled buses dispatched every 20 minutes to the county seat of Daxin. From there, there are tourist buses to every scenic spot in the county.

Best Time to Go: From May to November, especially in June and July.

Temperature: 69-72°F on average.

Ticket: RMB 80 per person.

Local Snacks and Specialties: Chongzuo aniseed, Chongzuo Kuding tea, and Soybean cakes.

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So-called “duty free” store on a raft.

accidentally go too far! The raft is not as luxurious as the Maid of the Mist boat cruise, the oldest and best known tourist attraction at Niagara Falls, but it offers you an authentic feel of the local water transport.

The beauty of the Detian Scenic Area can be found beyond the Detian Waterfalls. Whether you are visiting the idyllic Mingshi countryside, the graceful Hershuihe River, the terraced Shatun Waterfalls, or the mysterious No. 53 SinoVietnamese boundary tablet, you will be deeply impressed by the poetic and picturesque landscapes that are typical to this part of southern China.

Detian Falls

Niagara Falls

(photo from detian.com)

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Rainbow over the falls during summer

Bamboo rafts in the Detian Falls vs. the Maid of the Mist in the Niagara Falls

Unlike the Niagara Falls, the Detian Falls stays nice and warm during the winter.

However, the winter mean water flow is greatly reduced, as is the case with the Niagara Falls.

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iChina Magzine â&#x20AC;˘ March 2009

The March 3rd Festival March 3rd on the lunar calendar is also called shàngsìjié (上巳节), a traditional Chinese festival still celebrated around China by both the Han and various other ethnic minority groups, in their own respective ways, to express their aspirations for love, their eagerness to have babies, to be healthy, their passion for life, and so on.

F

river while improvising poems, has become an often-cited anecdote by later generations.

Gathering in Lan Gloriette by Wen Zhengming. This painting reflects the scene described in the Preface to the Poems Composed at the Gloriette Pavilion by Wang Xizhi in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

In addition to areas populated by the Han people, the March 3rd Festival is also celebrated in the south by various ethnic minority groups. For the Zhuang people, March 3rd is a time for attending folk music fairs. The tradition is said to commemorate Liu Sanjie, the Zhuang singing fairy. Therefore, the festival is also known as the "Singing Fairy Festival." The Dong people traditionally hold activities like "grabbing firecrackers," so the festival there is locally called the "Firecrackers Festival." The Yao people go hunting or fishing together and share the feeling of success that comes from a fruitful trip. For them, the festival is called the "Ganba Festival." Other ethnic minority groups like the Buyi, She, Li, Miao, etc., all have their own ways of celebrating March 3rd of the lunar calendar.

Gathering in Lan Gloriette

by Wen Zhengming.

This painting reflects the scene described in the Preface to the Poems Composed at the Gloriette Pavilion by Wang Xizhi in the Eastern Jin Dynasty

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CULTURE

activities engaged in included sacrificial rituals in honor of the Goddess Gao Mei, "Fu Xi" (a bathing ritual), get-togethers attended by young men and woman, etc.

Gao Mei is the Goddess of Marriage and Childbearing.

People would pray to her for Gathering in Lanting (part) by Baoshi Fu (Picture fer tilit y through sacrificial from scart.com.cn), describes the science of rituals. Meanwhile, "Fu Xi" was the ancient Chinese celebration of the Shang Si carried out to get rid of ailments Festival through a ritual of bathing. ormerly known as the Such bathing was also believed to "Shangsi Festival," the March cure women's infertility. And get3rd Festival is a traditional festival togethers such as spring outings observed by the Han people and provided a chance for young men a number of other ethnic minority and women to get to know each gro u p s. I n a n c i e nt t i m e s, t h e other and seek future significant first Si day (according to the year others. Such gatherings were also numbering system established by aimed at establishing relationships the Heavenly Stems and the Earthly that might lead to marriage and Branches) was called "Shangsi," and childbearing. In addition, activities was celebrated as a festival. Most like floating eggs, dates and wine of the time, March 3rd of the lunar cups on the river were also enjoyed. calendar also happened to be a Si In March of the lunar calendar day. Therefore, after the Wei and during the ninth year of Emperor Jin Dynasties, the Shangsi Festival Yonghe’s reign (353 AD), the was set on the third day of lunar well know calligrapher of the Jin March and renamed "the March 3rd Dynasty, Wang Xizhi, invited 42 of Festival." Originally, March 3rd was his friends and relatives to hold a more focused on religious activities celebration at the Orchid Pavilion. designed to ward off disaster and to The celebration, which centered keep evil spirits at bay, as well as a around drinking wine from wine day to pray for having children. The cups that floated along a winding

What is the Chinese Lunar Calendar?

The Chinese Lunar Calendar is based upon the positions of the sun and the moon. The solar term is used to determine the seasons and hence, the year, while the moon’s term is used to calculate days and months.

In Chinese calendar terminology: Great Year = 12 years Cycle = 5 Great Years = 60 years Epoch = 60 Cycles = 60 x 60 years = 3,600 years Year 2009 is now in the Second Epoch of the 18th Cycle in the 26th Year.

2009 OX year calendar created by Han Meiling, the designer of Fuwa, the 2008 Beijing Olympic mascot

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Liu Sanjie and March 3rd

the Statue of Liu Sanjie

L

iu Sanjie (the third sister in the Liu family) is a beautiful Zhuang ethnic minority girl gifted in singing. There are several versions of folk stories about her that have come down from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China. The legend of Liu Sanjie was first adapted into a movie entitled Liu Sanjie in 1961. I was still touched by the beautiful songs used in this old movie when I watched it again, many years later. Nowadays, Liu Sanjie is still worshipped as the “mother of the Zhuang folk song” in many places in Guangxi, on lunar March 3rd. On that day, local people gather along the riverside of the Liujiang River and have a folk song competition to mourn the loss of Liu

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iChina Magzine • March 2009

Sanjie.

Liu Sanjie is a legendary figure in Zhuang's folk stories. The earliest story about her can be found in Volume 98 San Mei Shan of Yu Di Ji Sheng by Wang Xiangzhi, in the southern Song Dynasty. Many legends and folk songs about her have come into being since the Ming and Qing dynasties. More can be found in the Zhuang people's oral folk tales and ballads.

In one version, Liu Sanjie is said to be a Zhuang peasant's daughter living in the Dang Dynasty. She showed herself to be a genius in her childhood, and was looked upon as a fairy. She was familiar with the canons at the age of twelve, and skilled at improvising songs. Her songs are melodious and touching, and as a result she is often called the Song Fairy. At the age of fifteen, she was engaged to Lin. In 722, she objected to marrying her fiance Lin, and eloped with her lover, Zhang Wei. No one knew her whereabouts after that.

She is said to have become a celestial being, together with Zhang Wei. According to a folk tale popular in the Yishan Zhuang nationality in Guangxi, Liu Sanjie was born in 703. She was extraordinarily bright and sang well when she was a small child. She improvised beautiful songs by the age of twelve, and became wellknown in Zhuang communities. Later she competed in singing in the neighboring areas. Numerous people came to compete with her in singing, but within five days at the most, they were always defeated and left in shame. However, her talent aroused envy from some of the less generous-minded locals, who brought about her early death in Liu Zhou. She was said to have gone to heaven, riding a carp. In another version of the story,

The March 3rd Songfest

seizing of fireworks, the throwing of embroidered balls, touching colored eggs, performing Zhuang operas, colorful dragon dances, poetry contests, films, martial arts performances, and acrobatic shows. In addition, various commercial activities have gradually begun to appear, such as business trade talks, investment negotiations, and so on. A new custom of "promoting economic development via the cultural stage" is in the early stages of formation. On that day, people from home and abroad get together in the Zhuang region to present a grand, lively, prosperous scene. Ceaseless music expresses the people's nostalgia for Liu Sanjie, as well as their wish for a successful harvest, true love and happiness.

If you travel to Yangshuo, a tourist attraction in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, do not miss the wonderful performance, Impression Liu Sanjie. It is directed by famous movie director Yimou Zhang, and performed by local villagers and fishermen, particularly members of minority groups such as the Zhuang and Yao.

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she turned into a stone after seven days and nights of antiphonal singing, accompanied by a young man riding a white crane in the West Mountain in Gui Xian. It has also been said that the evil landowner Mo Huairen intended to make Liu Sanjie his concubine, yet met only strong resistance on her part. Mo bribed the local officials to persecute her. In the end, Liu Sanjie left on a boat.

In spite of the different versions of the tales of Liu Sanjie, the Zhuang people have retained their admiration for her for hundreds of years. At present, her statues and temples can be found in many places in Guangxi. Currently, when a new Zhuang song collection is published, it is presented in front of her statue. During the songfests, in some places, the first ritual is to hold a parade with someone carrying her statue. Zhuang people respectfully worship her as their Song Fairy. There is a common saying--- the prosperity of the songs in Guangxi is attributable to Liu Sanjie.

March 3rd is the biggest songfest date in the Zhuang region, also named the Song Fairy Festival (Ge Xian Jie), a folk festival in memory of Liu Sanjie. In 1984, the People's Government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region formally declared this date to be a regional festival date for the Zhuang people â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the March 3rd songfest.

On March 3rd of every year, the capital city of the Autonomous Region, Nanning City, and other places in the area hold magnificent songfests. During the festival, besides the traditional songfest activities, there are various forms of entertainment programs, such as the

FOOD

ALTERNATIVE WAFFLE & PANCAKE

By Tna Ye

Photograph by Chris Lee @

O

ne of my sweetest memories about Chinese snacks is their Song Bing (waffle & pancake). Well, they don’t look exactly the same as the waffles or pancakes we have here in the States, but they are made almost the same way from eggmixture batter. I haven’t been able to check out all kinds of Chinese waffles and pancakes, but I still can’t wait to share with you the ones I tried. The mini bites are great alternative waffles, and can serve for breakfast, lunch, 3 o’clock treat or even dinner.

Gei Dan Jai (mini egg waffles) is an extremely popular street snack originated in Hong Kong and has spread to Mainland China, Taiwan, and North America.

They are usually made and sold by street hawkers and eaten warm on the street. They are crisp on the outside with a little layer of doughy-creamy texture on the inside, but the bubbles are hollow.

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iChina Magzine • March 2009

Traditional Gei Dan Jai is made of eggs, sugar, and evaporated milk; but nowadays, they have grown into various flavors and colors, such as chocolate, strawberry and honeydew. They can be eaten as is, or can go with syrup, cream, fruits, or whatever you like with your waffles.

Traditionally, Gai Dan Jai is

made in an egg waffle iron, which is a two-piece mold, on a charcoal stove. Even though nowadays charcoal stoves have been greatly replaced by gas or electric ones, you may find the street cart at Tung Lo Wan Road, Tin Hau in Hong Kong.

FOOD Dan Hong Gao (mini filled pancake) is some specialty street food in Chengdu, Sichuan province â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the hometown of Giant Panda. The shell is made of egg-mixture batter, and the fillings come in sweet or savory flavors, ranging from plain sugar, chocolates, peanut butter, fruits, zha cai (some kind of preserved vegetable), pickles, to ground meat. Or you may choose to mix the fillings as you want.

Dan Hong Gao is always freshly made. When you are picking the filling, the vendor will start pouring the batter into the pan to make the shell. And once

the shell is ready, it will be folded and stuffed with the filling you pick. Since Dan Hong Gao is already stuffed with fillings, there is no need to add anything else on top of it. But you can always think out of the box, and eat it your way.

Some chain restaurants in Chengdu that specializes in local traditional food usually serve Dan Hong Gao. If you happen to be in Chengdu sometime, do not forget to check it out!

Dan Hong Gao DIY - Filling: create your own favorite fillings - Shell Ingredient: 2 eggs, 4 oz flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 4 oz granulated sugar, 2 oz evaporated milk, 4 oz water.

Steps: 1. Mix the flour, eggs, and sugar.

Then gradually add the evaporated milk and water. Add the baking soda after 30

minutes.

2. Keep stir r ing until the batter becomes thick.

3. Put a small pan on the burner, sprinkle with non-stick spray, and preheat to 155°F (after about 2 minutes). Pour some batter into the pan. Turn down the burner and put the lid on the pan. Make sure the pan is evenly heated. Move the pan around if

necessary.

4. When the batter starts bubbling (about after 2-3 minutes), place some filling in the middle, and fold the shell. Bake both sides 1 minute.

(Photograph by Breath)

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Speakeasies: A Surprise Just For You

By Di Shen & Too Much Food

Photograph by Roland Lim

W

hat is a speakeasy? According to Wikipedia, a “Speakeasy, also termed private kitchen in Hong Kong (Chinese: 私房菜), is a term in modern Hong Kong referring to an unlicensed, restaurantlike establishment for eating. Some of the perceived problems with running a restaurant in Hong Kong-high rents and the common practice of landlords extracting profits from restaurants through clauses in tenancy agreements-have led to the establishment of this type of eatery.”

Typically, a speakeasy is set up in the sitting room, dining room, or backyard of the chef ’s home, and serves a fixed-price, multi-course menu of distinctive, home-style dishes. The experience is like dining in your 36

iChina Magzine • March 2009

own dining room – an intimate eating experience. No strangers. No fixed menu. No crowd. No hurry. Instead, a surprise is prepared each night, just for you and your company.

Speakeasies first sprung up in Hong Kong, and have spread to Taiwan, Mainland China, Singapore, and other South Asian countries. They have been all the rage for the past few years, and some have proven to be some of the best eateries available. Most speakeasies don’t advertise, but rely solely on word of mouth. Nor do these institutions display prominent signs outside.

So you’d better have some avid “foodie” friends who can take you to the insider-type places.

FOOD Hong Kong: Xi Yan Culinary Art（喜宴） Xi Yan, together with its owner Jacky Yu, is regarded as one of the pioneers of speakeasies in Hong Kong, and redefines what contemporary Chinese cuisine is all about. Beginning as a humble experiment in 2000, Xi Yan has not only become one of the hottest eateries in Hong Kong, but has also spread franchises to Beijing, Singapore, and more. Jacky Yu has been a celebrity chef ever since. Starting out as a humble experiment in 2000, not only has Xi Yan become one of the hottest eateries in Hong Kong, Jacky Yu has become quite a celebrity chef!

Xi Yan, or “a banquet of joy” in English, cer tainly does the job for the diners.

When you walk through the door, you are greeted in a small red room decorated with designer-chic art pieces and contemporary Chinese paintings – just like a stylish dining room at your Asian friend’s home. Xi Yan serves up multi-provincial Chinese food infused with Thai and other Southeast Asian flavors, always surprising the diners with his creations.

Even though Xi Yan has expanded, this speakeasy still has the longest waiting list in town. So if you really want a taste of this joyful culinary art, you’d better get your hands on his[?] private phone number and get on the waiting list…three months in advance!

Address: 3rd Fl, 231-233 Queens Road East Wanchai, Hong Kong Telephone: 852-9020-9196

Photograph by Roland Lim

Taiwan: Ajiao’s Studio（阿娇的店）

Ajiao’s Studio is well known for its authentic Taiwanese dishes and quiet, homey atmosphere. As with most speakeasies, this small restaurant only has three or four tables, and a fixed menu. When you enter the room, you will always be greeted in person by the chef, and provided with a cup of Ajiao’s signature herb tea while waiting for your starter.

Steaming, boiling, and stewing are the primary cooking technologies used by Ajiao’s Studio, and all of the materials and ingredients are organic, so the dishes are always healthy and flavorful. Take, for example, the mushroom chicken soup. It takes three days to prepare this chicken soup, and then the fresh mushrooms are added. The soup has a strong, deep chicken flavor (from the organic chicken), and the chicken meat is moist and succulent, with a twist of mushroom aroma.

You certainly won’t miss out with the Taiwanese cooking specialty of braised pork served over steamed rice. Mix the flavorful, juicy minced pork with organic, aromatic rice, and you can’t help but keep eating, long after you’re full.

Address: Room # 304, 4th Fl. 220 Guangming Road Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan Telephone: 02-2892-3613

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FOOD Beijing: Private Kitchen 44 （细管胡同44 号） An attractively converted courtyard residence, Private Kitchen 44 serves great Guizhou signature dishes. Private Kitchen is hidden in the middle of a long hutong, adding to the romance and mystique of the experience. The inside is uniquely decorated, with several separate rooms provided for dining, each room having its own individual style. When you enter you will feel as if you are having dinner in a traditional Beijing courtyard, with birds chirping, a gentle breeze, and surrounded by plants.

One of the signature dishes at Private Kitchen 44 is their sour fish soup, which is probably is the most famous dish from Guizhou. If you are love Thai hot and sour soup, you must try this soup. In my opinion, Guizhou soup is headier and tastier than even the traditional Thai soup. The soup at Private Kitchen 44 is not as sour as it is in some other Guizhou

restaurants, but it strikes a balance between the chili peppers and wild tomatoes. Fresh mullets are usually used in this soup, with tofu and other vegetables added.

Another standout at Private Kitchen is the rice wine with osmanthus flower. Marinated with osmanthus flowers, the rice wine is sweet and aromatic. But don’t indulge too much in the rice wine, as it may have a higher alcohol content than you’d expect!

Address: 44 Xiguan Hutong, BeixinqiaoDongcheng District, Beijing Telephone: 8610-6400-1280

Photograph by Sanduo@bbker.com

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iChina Magzine • March 2009

FOOD Shanghai: Chun Restaurant（春）

Chun is a per fect, secret hole -in-the -wall…but everyone knows about it! If you want to try some authentic homemade Shanghai dishes, Chun is the place to go. Here you will not only enjoy delicious, traditional food, but also feel the friendliness of the Shanghainese.

There are only three dining tables at Chun. The owner is a charming, 50-something Shanghai lady, who always makes you feel as relaxed and comfortable as if you were at your own home. There is no menu available, so dinner there is always a surprise. The owner will ask you what you do not [or cannot] eat, and she will take control from there. From the appetizer, to the main entrée, to the dessert, everything is home-style and Shanghai-style.

Regardless of if you are traveling in Shanghai and missing home, or simply craving some home-style dishes, you can always try Chun Restaurant, but don’t forget to make a reservation in advance!

Address: 124 Jinxian Road near Maoming South Road Luwan District, Shanghai Telephone: 8621-6256-0301 Photograph by Suu

New York: Red Cook Private Chinese Kitchen Well, thanks to this flat world we live in, the food industry has been globalized as well. Now you can try out Chinese-style private kitchens in New York City! Chef Kian, a Chinese cuisine expert, has created Red Cook Private Chinese Kitchen, which serves a tencourse Chinese banquet, providing you with a unique Chinese culinary and cultural experience that will leave you feeling like you’ve just been to China, but without the passports and the jet lag.

Chef Kian chooses local and imported ingredients in the States to make authentic Chinese home-style dishes, and Red Cook’s menu changes seasonally according to what’s available at the market. Chef Kian is enthusiastic about cooking, and always shares his cooking techniques and food-related stories on his personal blog. His Red Cook banquet is just like a Chinese house party, where you can enjoy an intimate dinner with your family members or close friends.

Chinese banquets at Red Cook are served at tables of ten to twelve, and dining normally lasts about three hours. Groups of 20 or more can reserve the entire evening and Chef Kian will work with you to create the perfect menu for your group. Moreover, Chef Kian also offers private catering utilizing the same Chinese banquet concept so that you can have an authentic Chinese dinner party in your own home!

Contact: banquet@redcook.net

Photograph from Red Cook

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Tom Carter’s CHINA: Portrait of a People - A Book Review by Lloyd Lofthouse

P

LEISURE

hotographer To m C a r t e r ’s 640-page tribute to the Chinese, CHINA: Portrait of a People, became a book by accident. Tom neither came to China to become a photojournalist, nor an author.

Enticed by online ads that read "Teach English in China—No Experience Necessary," he simply packed his bags and left San Francisco for the far East.

When Tom arrived in China in 2004, the “school” that accepted his application turned out to be a nickel-anddime operation run out of a Beijing apartment by, as Tom puts it, “a guy in his bathrobe.”

He had traveled across the Pacific for a job, and found himself out of work before he even began his employment.

But Tom Carter isn't the type to give up easily. In short order, he found a position and salary more attractive than that which he had originally accepted.

However, the work load offered no small challenge. He found himself in Shandong province, teaching thirty classes a week and spending most of his free time planning his lessons.

After several years of teaching English to Chinese s t u d e n t s , To m decided to take his hard- earned RMB savings and become a tourist. He wanted 40

iChina Magzine • March 2009

Tom Carter in Tibet Photograph by Eelco Florijn

to see all of China firsthand.

Most tourists travel by jet or bus and spend a few nights in four or five star hotels sleeping on plush beds and enjoying deluxe ammenities. They of ten eat at the best restaurants. Only a few, like Sir Richard Francis Bur ton, the famous nineteenth-century adventurer, are willing to “rough it.” Tom Carter is one of those few.

Imagine backpacking for two years and traveling over 35,000 miles to capture the heart and soul of a nation. That's what Tom did. The result became CHINA: Portrait of a People.

The consensus among global 'backpackers' is that China is An Inner Mongolia Girl - Photograph by Tom Carter

http://www.ichinamag.com

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LEISURE

A Xinjiang Girl (top) & A Tibet Girl (below) - Photograph by Tom Carter

probably the single most challenging country in the world to explore on foot. That, by itself, should say a lot. There are more than 1.3 billion people in China, and Tom arguably saw them all, from a Chengdu teenage girl dressed like an American punk rocker to a soot-covered coal miner in Southern Shanxi. As you read his book, you will surely chuckle when you see his photo of two boys playing in a river in their birthday suits, or of an eight-year-old student acrobat at Wuqiao bending herself into complicated shapes, like a folded sheet of paper.

Tom Carter's metamorphosis from an English teacher into a guerrilla photojournalist, his weapon a camera instead of a grenade launcher, evolved through the course of his travels. To take the up-close and personal pictures that can be found in CHINA: Portrait of a People, Tom risked jail; he almost froze on his way to Tibet; he faced exhaustion and hunger; he was beaten by drunks and plagued by viral infections; and he even risked being shot by North Korean border guards. From innerMongolian nomads to newlyweds in Hong Kong, Tom saw it all. The photos in Portrait are priceless. I doubt if there will ever be another book about China like this one.

There is an old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. In CHINA: Portrait of a People, each picture is worth TEN thousand words.

Tom Carter's portraits of China stand alone in their genre, for his book focuses expressly on Chinese people. Tom backpacked to remote areas to visit China's ethnic minorities, like the inhabitants of the thousand-yearold Phoenix Village perched over the Tuo Jiang River, or the seventy-five year old Pai Yao, a minority farmer pictured in Tom’s book wearing a red turban.

To reach some locations, Tom had to travel on foot over rugged terrain.

To get an idea of what I'm talking about, consider that China, a country almost the size of the United States, uses only sixteen percent of its land for agriculture. The rest is either mountain or desert.

Inside Portrait, readers will see what happens when a modern-day Sir Richard Francis Burton spends two years backpacking through China's thirty-three provinces and autonomous regions - not once, but TWICE! During this double odyssey, Tom discovered a friendly, open-hearted people.

There is no way that this review can do justice to a massive, groundbreaking book like CHINA: Portrait of a People. To even try would

LEISURE

A Heilongjiang Man - Photograph by Tom Carter

require millions of words. If you plan to visit China, absolutely buy this book before you go, or if you are an armchair tourist who never strays far from home, Carter's Rembrandt-esque Portrait will also not disappoint.

Between the covers of CHINA: Portrait of a People, you will travel 35,000 miles without having to leave your house, and complete a vicarious journey across

A Shanxi Man - Photograph by Tom Carter

China like few have ever been done.

Lloyd Lofthouse is the author of My Splendid Concubine (www.MySplendidConcubine.com), and the upcoming sequel Our Hart, based on the true story of Sir Robert Hart of Shanghai.

Tom Carter’s CHINA: Portrait of a People (2008, Blacksmith Books) is sold online via the publisher (www.

BlacksmithBooks.com).

SARAH BRIGHTMAN WORLD TOUR Internationally renowned soprano Sarah Brightman, who sang the Olympic theme song "You and Me" at the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, will thrill Chinese fans again by presenting a series of live concerts in China. The China tour is part of Brightman’s ongoing Symphony world tour, and will have shows in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, and Guangzhou. Continuing her tradition of breathtaking stage productions, the tour features new and groundbreaking technology, with virtual and holographic stage sets that have never before been seen in any touring concert production. “It’s a 3-D moving world onstage,” says Brightman of the visual and theatrical treat about which the reviewers have raved. This innovative stage technology is highly sophisticated and dramatic, creating an otherworldly, ethereal experience, and the perfect backdrop for Sarah’s glorious voice. True to form, “Ms. Brightman remains a mesmerizing presence able to communicate not only with her soaring voice but also with hand movements, body gestures and eye-popping costumes” (Dallas Morning News).

Date: 2009.3.22 - 2009.3.30 Ticket Price (RMB): 200, 400, 600, 800, 1200, 1600.

Tickets are on sale now at: http://www.emma.cn/event_en_1755.html 42

iChina Magzine • March 2009

BRAVO! CHINESE BALLET

by the National Ballet of China.

To learn more about the programs, you can check out the official website of the NCPA at: http:// www.chncpa.org/n457779/bravoballet/web/index. htm Tickets are on sale now at: http://www.piao.com. cn/en_piao/allticket.asp#38

FOUR SQUARE – CONTEMPORARY INK EXHIBITION This exhibition clearly and objectively presents the succession and developmental context of contemporary ink art based on acquisitions accumulated over the past several years. The exhibition will be divided into two parts. 50 works by four important artists, including Tian Liming, Li Jin, Liu Qinghe and Wu Yi will be exhibited initially. These four influential artists have explored the various possibilities offered by ink in their own respective artistic areas for many years, and have successfully developed their own unique and distinctive personal styles. The second part of the exhibition will focus on about 100 works by 20 new and rising artists who have inherited the traditional ink form of expression from their artistic mentors, but have chosen to direct their subjects toward contemporary life.

Duration: March 6th –14th.

Venue: 1st, 2nd floor exhibition hall of building 2 Today Art Museum Building4, 32 Baiziwan Rd Chaoyang District , 10022 Beijing

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LEISURE

The Hong Kong Ballet, the Liaoning Ballet Troupe, the National Ballet of China, the Shanghai Ballet, and the Guangzhou Ballet line up together to present a ballet feast entitled Bravo! Chinese Ballet at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA). These seven notable performances run from January through March, and showcase the majesty of Chinese ballet to the world. If you missed the previous five pieces, you still have the chance to catch the last two – Mei Langfang, performed by the Guangzhou Ballet, and Raise the Red Lantern,

LEISURE 44

iChina Magzine â&#x20AC;˘ March 2009

LEISURE

http://www.ichinamag.com

45

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iChina Magzine â&#x20AC;˘ March 2009

The January and February issues raised many memories about the Chinese New Year Gala, the New Year’s Eve Dinner, fireworks, and more. I moved to the States with my parents when I was twelve years old, and I haven’t spent a Chinese New Year back in China ever since. I miss the old-fashioned way we celebrated the New Year with the whole big family (and most of the time, extended family).

Your articles brought back something so distant yet familiar to this season.

- Mia Chen, Newark, NJ

I am a big fan of Chinese food, and I loved the Chinese breakfast series. All the food – no matter whether it was sweet or not - looked yummy, and I really hope I’ll have a chance to try it all out someday. Is it possible for you to share the recipes? That would be even sweeter!

- Charles Beck, Irvine, CA

I was attracted to the magazine by the cover photo of the January issue. The lady with the colorful outfit, pretty hairdo, fabulous accessories, and beautiful smile kind of broke the stereotype of a typical Chinese in my eyes. The image was so original and refreshing that I can’t wait to read more about her story. It was a pleasure learning about a culture that is different from mine, as it opened a window into a bigger world for me.

- Faye Tips, Palatine, IL

The article “Zero Salary for Chinese Graduates” in the January issue really caught my eye, and I believe a larger Chinese population than ever before can afford a college education. But I can’t help but ask what’s wrong with the educational system? As a higher education administrator myself, I have met a lot of Chinese students in both China and the States, and I always feel impressed by their passion. I think we need to reflect on the current situation in China and keep improving college education.

- Tommy Golden, Philadelphia, PA

Correction: Because of an editing error, the article “More Than A Stuffed Bun” in the January issue about Guo Kui, misidentified the photographer of those photos. They should be credited to Ms. Su Shan. We sincerely apologize to Ms. Su Shan. http://www.ichinamag.com

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