Alone in a dumpling restaurant

Or ... "Down in the dumplings"

It's the last weekend in Jinan. My student has given me a map of an "excellent" dumpling restaurant. The taxi driver couldn't find it and charged me 50% more than he should have. I eventually found it myself. It was noisy, busy and brash. Maybe 50 staff. I was given a table near the door and two waitresses spoke Chinese and waited for my Chinese menu selection. "No Chinese! Only English." I pointed to a dumpling dish on another table. Giggles of embarassment. I produced a specially prepared paper with Chinese translation of my food likes and dislikes. More giggles. The submanager was summonsed. He spoke to me in Chinese. "No Chinese! Only English." He spoke louder Chinese. The girls giggled. The neighbouring tables were beginning to participate in this sport. An employee who allegedly could speak English was summonsed. No joy. More giggles. A more senior manager was summonsed. By this stage there were no less than ten curious staff hovering, plus four neighbouring tables eaves-dropping. I once again showed my Chinese translation sheet showing my likes and dislikes, and mimed that I only wanted one plate of dumplings, just like that one on the next table. He read the sheet gravely, then opened up the sheet to read about my likes and dislikes for hotel rooms, where I needed to get a taxi to return home, and my request for a foot massage. I snatched the sheet back and folded over to the relevant paragraph. But he immediately opened up the sheet again - he was more interested in my life story. I snatched it back and made to leave. "Sorry, sorry!", he muttered. And snapped a few orders at the inanely giggling waitresses. I was also able to order a beer, perhaps unwisely, as I received a whole jug of draught beer. An extraordinary thing: anybody and everybody on staff (I swear even the cleaner did once) would top up my glass after every sip. I was not allowed to lift the jug. Eventually I received the spinach/egg/chili dumplings specially chosen for me by the senior man. I called him back and graciously invited him to read everything else on the translation sheet. He then understood, and we forgave each other. Perhaps it was the beer.

I looked around - some men were only wearing singlets instead of shirts. I watched the groups and families feasting, sharing varieties of wonderful dishes on their table. Hubbub and happiness.

I'm sure that Confucious himself would agree that eating dumplings alone in a Chinese restaurant is not happiness.

(The dumplings were ... excellent.)

HIV in China

China has 200 million migrant (Chinese) workers, of which more than 120 million work in cities. The remainder work in towns. China is at a key stage in its fight against AIDS/HIV. A report from the International Labor Organization estimates that China could lose five million laborers by 2015 if it doesn't take effective measures to address the grave problem.
(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2007)

Not until 1998 did China have a national, long-term plan to combat HIV. The notion of condom ads was quickly shot down by the Chinese government after an ad played one time on the national television network in 1999. Condoms were viewed as illegal sexual tools by China’s State Administration of Industry and Commerce and were banned from the airwaves. That ban persisted until 2001 when the Chinese Ministry of Health reclassified condoms as “medical devices” instead of a sexual commodity. Still, condoms are not an acceptable part of mainstream China, they are in short supply and are of poor quality.
About.com

China is estimated to have about 700,000 HIV/AIDS cases, with tens of thousands of new infections each year, the government said Thursday, but activists warned the problem was far greater. "The result of estimates is that at the end of 2007, China will have about 700,000 HIV/AIDS cases, and 85,000 with AIDS," Health Minister Chen Zhu told a press conference in Beijing. Chen said there were an estimated 50,000 new HIV infections in 2007, when 20,000 people died from AIDS, figures he described as a slightly better than previous years. ... But independent AIDS activists have long warned that these figures underestimate the rampant spread of the disease. Read more at http://www.terradaily.com/reports/China_says_estimated_HIVAIDS_cases_rise_to_700000_999.html

Ming Music

I tripped over this delightful performance of classical musicians (performing for the tourists) in the ancient pavilions of the Summer Palace, Beijing. At the end, check out the man in the cool garb, walking over to gong the gong. I'd love to do that!

These oldies don't need the internet

These oldies don't need the internet. They can get their (not really free) news, for free!

Line Dancing Chinese Style

Seen in a pavilion in the Summer Palace, Beijing, a bunch of good friends strutting their stuff. Chinese style.

How many mobile phone subscribers in China?

574 million

The language barrier

I regret not learning Chinese in the months before I left Australia. From past travel experiences I had found that one could get by without necessarily learning the local language. But here in China, because the writing is not in Roman characters, and because so very few people speak or understand English, the language barrier is firmly set.

I am collecting some photos of shop-fronts, which I will post soon. The Chinese love signs, and the Chinese characters can be very descriptive. But for me they hold no clue as to what sort of shop it is, and if you cannot see through the window, you remain clueless. Rarely are pictures or logos used. One night I was coming home late from work and from the bus I was able to see the lighted interior of many shops - and was delighted to realise that there was an optometrist, there a baker, a dentist, a photocopy centre, an estate agent ... etc.

Here is a photo of one shop I could easily understand. They sell pears ....

What is annoying is that, although it is quickly obvious I am a foreigner with no Chinese, locals still expect me to understand them, as their voices get louder and shriller each time they repeat. Or (in the case of a group of women), start giggling inanely, and others crowd around to join the fun. I am a rarity, of course, and most locals seem never to have had the experience of trying to assist a foreigner. But neither do they seem to want to.

But some succeed, and very well. A taxi driver, when he realised I had no Chinese, uttered not another word for the rest of the journey, but mimed and pointed. He was able to successfully convey this somewhat complex message:

"Look over there, at that fat pig of a traffic policeman, chatting on his mobile phone, instead of doing his job and directing traffic, and helping me get through this terrible traffic jam! He should be sacked!" (Photo: Google Images)

The irony about not learning Chinese before I left is that where I used to live in Australia - directly opposite my house - was a regular Saturday morning Chinese language school.

Sunday afternoon in Quandeng Square

This enormous square, with a big blue two legged sculpture at the centre, and a shopping mall beneath, is in the middle of Jinan.

It was a warm, Spring, Sunday afternoon, with just enough breeze to lift the kites. People are entertained by the amazing fountains, and each other. Kite fliers, roller skaters, lovers, men spinning tops.

I've 25 photos on FlickR, so click here for a slide show!


And below is a short video of some top spinners, entertaining an appreciative crowd. Listen to the weird sound the tops produce.

English as it is pronounced

You've just got to smile when you hear on the normally excellent CCTV news, a story of the Olympic Torch being carried by "the Torch Burier" [berry-er].


Well, I guess that would have to be the end of that torch.

Daming Lake in the centre of Jinan

A chilly Spring overcast Sunday, and James and I went exploring one of the "must see" attractions early in the morning - Daming Lake, which is in the centre of Jinan. It was a photographer's paradise.

Quite a few photos can be seen by clicking here, and I reckon some are quite good, even if I do say so myself!

Here's a sample of my work:


But this is a photo from the official Daming Lake website.

"With an impervious rock bottom, the lake keeps a constant level the whole year through. The lake is recorded as early as in The Annotated Book of Waters by Li Daoyuan who was active about 1,500 years ago. With a waterly picture and quite a number of historical cites in the urban landscape, it has always been a tourist attraction through the centuries. The banks are overgrown with flowers and trees, dotted by picturesque buidings. On the water are birds playing and feeding on fish swimming in the wake of pleasure boats. Half the city is filled by mountain tints, the other half by the lake."

I've never seen the "mountain tints", let alone the mountains, due to the smog.

One child policy

When making conversation with Chinese, one question we might normally ask is not very polite. You will be met with an embarrassed silence.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Since 1979 the Government has dissuaded people from more having more than one child through hefty fines, pressure to abort, and denial of benefits. Even forced sterilisations. This has resulted in new generations of incredibly spoilt,(mainly) boys. Known as "Little Emperors" they have little opportunity to learn about sharing and co-operating.

The rule, recently extended to at least 2010, has been estimated to have reduced population growth in the country of 1.3 billion by as much as 300 million people over its first twenty years. Source.