(no subject)

So, saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 2 nights ago. We got the cheap 9:40pm tickets that were 40rmb instead of 80.

Overall, I liked it. It was a surprisingly lean HP movie. As in, they really trimmed the story down to only its requisite parts, plus a few restrained fan nods here and there. (Is that Blaise being totally hot?) Of course, only having a vague memory of book 6 from 4 years ago helped me to enjoy the movie on its own merits.

The other thing I was impressed by was how far the teenage actors/actresses have advanced in their acting ability. Harry, Draco, and Hermione were able to carry off some really subtle expressions. It made for a better film. And watching the movie reminded me how much of the series was about the awkwardness of growing up.

I'm somewhat appalled by the need to make the next film 2 films, but on the other hand, this might mean we have more awkward camping moments, which I really liked in the "hah hah saving the world ain't so easy, potter!" sort of way.

Of course, all this HP-ness also reminded me of things I *didn't* like -- the failure of Draco to make anything of himself, the rather pointless Half-blood-prince red herring reveal, the utter lack of character development in terms of tonks/lupin (maybe it's cause I never bought into tonks as a 3 dimensional character). And of course, all the Deathly Hallows business, especially the Elder Wand hand-waving.

The Onion -- China edition

When all the China stuff started showing up on my Onion feed last night, I had to double-check that it wasn't April Fool's. But I guess every day is April Fool's at the Onion, eh?

Quick rundown from my (limited) perspective

Things that are hilarious:

- Nothing at all happens to 28 Protesters...
Funny because there is a lot of denial of violence and government actions. It's always "look at how good they have it!" "Look at how peaceful we've made everything!"

- Yu Wan Mei and the Government
I really like the blend of commercialism and state media -- the "Yay China!" "Buy Stuff!" combo is very appropriate. Of course, it probably wouldn't be a sole sponsor like Yu Wan Mei. But I especially like the subtle ones in the American Voices section. :)

- "Clear American Sky a constant reminder of industrial inferiority"
There is definitely a pride in China's industrial might. Environment is important, but Industry is more so. Especially as China tries to move out of the cheap toys market and into the cool technologies market.
I also just like the different reading of that image.

- Yao Ming! Table Tennis!
Haha. Yeah. Pretty much.

- Positive messages about Chinese people as strong, self-sacrificial people
Hey, that's how propaganda works here. China pride and all that. Setting forth the moral example.

- "Productive, Obedient Woman"
This one is complicated. On the one hand, Communism says that women and men are completely equal. On the other hand, traditional culture looks for chaste, productive mothers. (No spaghetti straps here). But yeah, a lot of 贤妻良母 stuff here.

- Pristine shipment contaminated by Americans
During much of the poisonous toys scandal the government/media was like, "well actually we just made it to the specifications of the buyer. It's the FDA that changed the code and the buyer who didn't tell us."


Things that are off the mark:

- "Following approved article..."
Hah. News media in China is not that blatant. The censorship and self-censorship is never explicitly stated. Just like an American ad won't say: "following ad has socially approved levels of nudity and violence."

- "Tibetan Protestors"
This singular focus on Tibet annoyed me. What about Uighurs? I think that's my most serious beef about the Free Tibet movement -- most of them don't know a thing about Xinjiang and the Uighurs*.

- All the air pollution stuff
I've seen so many signs and ads about saving the environment here -- especially ones not tied to commercial products, but just, "Hey, we have one earth and we need to do good by it." stuff. Or "Cut down on white pollution, bring a basket/cloth bag when you go shopping." Stores are required to charge you for plastic bags.

- Negative messages about the weakness of Americans
No, no, the way to do it is to only show cases of American failure (and how it adversely affects China). Given that English is a required subject on par with Chinese and Math, there is no dissing of primitive 26-character alphabets here.


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* I had dinner with a Shanghai Uighur friend and asked him if he's heard from his relatives in Xinjiang, and he very cautiously said that:
(a) His dad told him not to call/contact because the phone lines were probably bugged
(b) He knows some info about what's going on in there but that speaking out about it is futile "because who do I talk to who has the power and who will believe me?"
(c) 2 examples he was willing to share: Most Uighurs are banned from government jobs. (Han people count for 40% of the population and 95% of the government posts). Uighurs are also banned from internet cafes for fear that they'd spread news online.

Things I learned from Taxi Drivers pt.3*

Last blomit for today. My uncle says that Beijing Taxi Drivers are a sight unto themselves, because they can talk your ear off about anything.

About the business
- There are about 200 taxi companies in Beijing. They are mostly the same, with slightly different fees. To be a driver, you basically call around until you find a company that has a fleet taxi that needs a driver
- You have to sign a 5 year contract with the company. The fine for breaking the contract is 20,000 rmb.
- The cost of all the expenses comes out to 400rmb each day, so a driver needs to work 16 hours a day to make a profit of 200 rmb. The average income for cab drivers is 300 rmb.
- There's not that much more money to be made in the unlicensed taxi business, because you've gotta keep a low profile, so you just drive around the neighborhood for 10rmb rides, and only a few hours a day.
- They have monthly training sessions where they talk about new policies, strategies for dealing with lawsuits, etc.
- For the year before the Olympics, there was an additional monthly session that talked about various foreign customs. These sessions took out 3 hours driving time from the drivers.
- The fare machine on each car needs to be checked-in every 10 days, wherein you go to the company headquarters, it downloads all the data, and is licensed out to you for another 10 days.
- People sue you for no reason.
- There are special cars where if you pay a special rate, they'll take off all the taxi stuff and make it look like a private car

From Driver A: (to the forbidden city)
- He doesn't trust the government and the media anymore because he was there during the 6/4 Tiananmen stuff "People were falling down next to me and I was trying to carry them to the hospital and then the news said that no one died"
- He thinks the government has pushed out all the native Beijing people to the outskirts of the city and replaced them with non-Beijing 外地人 as a punishment for 6/4 and to prevent further unrest
- He misses the 70s when people were actually moral and good, and laws were enforced. Now Beijing is run amok with 外地人 who don't follow the rules, and there's no one to catch them on it due to corruption, etc.
- "Beijing Olympics have not benefitted any of the ordinary folks"
- He hates the recent policies that only benefit the wealthy/powerful -- houses are too expensive, doctors get kickbacks from medicine companies, etc.
- "Which is why I don't care about these things anymore. I just make enough money for my family."

From Driver B: (from the forbidden city)
- Tickets to Forbidden City used to cost only 0.50 rmb (now it's 60).
- There wasn't that much travel in the 70s because of the regionality of ration tickets. In order to travel to Beijing from Shanghai, you needed to go through the proper authorities to get your Shanghai ration tickets exchanged for nationwide ration tickets.

From Driver C: (to siheyuan)
- Taxi Drivers are hesitant about picking up foreigners due to communication issues, and from fear of lawsuits. Also, a lot of the drivers are from the surrounding countryside.
- Shanghai Longtangs are weird because you have all the underwear just hanging out there. Hutong are much more private. They'd hang the clothes in the courtyards, and even then cover a bra with a shirt
- He has a friend who's married/divorced 3 times, and is totally skeezy, and only cares about getting women into bed.

From Driver D: (to yuanmingyuan)
- People here don't really like KFC, they just worship Western stuff.
- Chinese food tastes way better than all the other nations' foods because there's way more artistry and fewer recipes involved.
- Pizza is just 饼 and Spaghetti is just 炒面.

From Driver E: (from Yuanmingyuan)
- He's 3 months new to the job
- He used to drive an unlicensed taxi
- He grew up in the countryside, and then joined the army for 5 years, and then worked in a factory.
- No state secrets were divulged
- He's proud of all the civil service type stuff that the military does, especially disaster relief.
- He believes that military action in other countries is okay if it's in service one's own country and if it brings peace to the other country.
(Things got a little awkward here, so I commented on presence of all the foreigners in Beijing)
- Beijing is being corrupted by foreigners -- especially their casual attitude about dress -- the flip-flops (拖鞋), the scanty coverings...
(I pointed out that Chinese people seem to have no problem with MEN walking around in the summer with their shirt tucked into their armpits, revealing their belly, or walking around in wifebeaters. But WOMEN with short shorts and bare shoulders are scandalous. It's vice versa in America. What up with that? He had no response, except to say that people are going to the department store in their PJs now, and that's the foreign influence, too.)


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* pt 1 would refer to last year's beijing taxi rides, and pt 2 would refer to US taxi rides. Yes, totally pulling a George Lucas here.