February 25, 2010
After cruising on the West Lake at Hangzhou with Bob Grant, you may want to see this government run tourist attraction in the city. Before the Communists claimed China, this mansion was owned by a family that made its money first in the silk industry and then banking.
rock art in garden with tunnels
There’s more to the mansion than this example of rock art in the garden. These rocks were not here when the mansion was built. There was a time in China during the Imperial era where rock art was popular.
Pond with carp at Hangzhou Mansion
For a few yuan, you will be able to tour most of the mansion and the gardens (yes there is more than one garden area beyond what you see in these two pictures). This mansion was in the city but once inside you have no sense of the crowded city surrounding the high walls. Once the owner was home and the gates locked at night, this home become another world apart.
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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse
February 25, 2010
This guest post from Bob Grant is a long piece with a lot of pictures. If you want to see more of Hangzhou and the Westlake, I recommend that after you read the first two paragraphs, you click on the link and visit “Speak Without Interruption.” My wife and I have visited this city and lake several times over the years and I enjoyed Bob’s piece about his visit and had a few good laughs.
Originally published at Speak Without Interruption on February 11, 2010 by Bob Grant — publisher/editor for Speak Without Interruption
Below is something that I sent to my family and they all said they liked it. However, they are family and what else could they say? I have a manager/partner in China whose name is David – we have associates named Eric and Uncle Wong. I live in Missouri and my relatives live in Wyoming. This sets the stage for the following recap of My Big Day Off – In China:
We found ourselves on a Saturday in a city I have visited before named Hangzhou (Han-Joe) with no appointments and time on our hands before our plane departed for Shenzhen (Sin-Gin). There is a lake in Hangzhou named West Lake. Not a very original name for the Chinese, but using Chinese logic, I am certain – somewhere – there is a North Lake, South Lake, Southeast Lake, Southwest Lake, South South Lake – you get the picture. The possibilities are endless.
David said, “Let’s take a boat ride.” Great – sounded like a good idea. Sitting quietly in a boat watching the countryside and relaxing – NOT. Think Progressive Dinner.
Leave a Comment » | China, Chinese Culture, tourism | Tagged: Bob Grant, Hangzhou, Lloyd Lofthouse, Shenzhen, Speak Without Interruption, West Lake | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse
February 24, 2010
It seems that Global Voices Online has a lot to say about the accusations made implicating China in cyber attacks against Google and others.
If you want to read the conversation, click here. Making Fun of Charges for Hacking Google
I’m sure that those in America that have already made up their minds that China’s government is guilty of everything they read and hear about them will claim this conversation was contrived by the “Communists” to mislead.
Anything is possible, but prove it. According to the conversation, this technical school trains students to repair cars like programs found at two-year community colleges in the United States.
If you haven’t read the original post on this incident, check out what I wrote about Google.
Hillary Clinton
If the facts in this conversation are correct, shame on the New York Times, shame on Google and shame on Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton for finding China guilty before the facts could be verified. The only thing China may be guilty of is calling their one political party (with seventy million members) “Communist”.
1 Comment | America, China, education, media, politics | Tagged: Communist, global voices online, hacking Google, Lloyd Lofthouse, New York Times, Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse
February 24, 2010
China’s hunger for oil is not equal to America’s gluttony but it is getting there. Meanwhile, America and its allies blame China for the stalemate over stopping Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
This is my confession. I’m seeking God’s forgiveness for my sins. Every American who drives a car is an accessory to a crime—9/11. The more oil, gas or diesel consumed, the more guilt.
There are two parts to this sin.
The first stage for this crime took place during America’s Cold War with Communism. If you haven’t seen Charlie Wilson’s War, rent it. Americans were the mad scientists who created the Frankenstein, the metamorphosis of the wolf men—the demons we call al-Qaida.
The Taliban, who supported al-Qaida’s goal to eliminate all Western Cultures and create a Caliphate—a throwback to another era, learned their Islamic Fundamentalism from Saudi Arabia’s dominant faith, Wahhabism. Oil money paid for the Wahabi schools that Saudi Arabia built around the world. These schools teach fundamentalist Islamic principles that grow future terrorists recruited by al-Qaida and the Taliban.
Saudi Oil Wells
And who feeds Saudi oil to their SUVs, cars, trucks, eighteen-wheelers and coast to coast freight trains and jet planes?
When China blocks action against Iran’s nuclear ambitions, because the Chinese people love American food and buy GM, Ford, Volkswagen and Toyota, isn’t their hunger the same?
See America Doing Business in China
1 Comment | America, business, China, economy, environment, government, media, politics | Tagged: al-Qaida, America, Caliphate, Charlie Wilson's War, China, diesel, Ford, freight trains, gasoline, GM, Iran's nuclear ambitions, Islamic Fundamentalism, jet planes, Lloyd Lofthouse, oil, Saudi Arabia, SUVs, Taliban, Toyota, Volkswagen, Wahhabism | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse
February 24, 2010
I wrote about China’s assault against pornography in an earlier post, and I liked the concept. Now, I’ve discovered a discussion on the topic. After I read the comments/complaints, I wondered whom these people were and what countries they lived in.
The site is called Global Voices Online—Maybe it should be Global Vices. Could this be a campaign by the pornographers to drum up support so they can stay in business without trouble? After all, if one of the Chinese mother’s blocks their smut, they will have to work harder to sneak past the censors. Some of this grumbling was funny, some of it made sense, and some made no sense. If you read the comments, tell me what you think?
1 Comment | China, Chinese Culture, government, parenting | Tagged: assault against pornography, complaints, global voices online, Lloyd Lofthouse, vices | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse
February 23, 2010
China is making bids on slices of the American pie. Beware, Americans love to take risks and business, banking and real estate bubbles are bursting in the United States like a GM assembly line.
The China Price is all about China buying up American companies like the IBM brand name or companies like Maytag, an American icon. The Asia Times reports that China’s ownership of US Treasuries is moving close to a trillion U.S. dollars while spending close to another thirty billion in merging and buying American Companies.
Will China suffer the same Wild West Blues that Japan suffered in the 1980s when the Japanese went nuts buying property in America before that bubble burst? From what I’ve read, Japan is still recovering from the losses and those that hung on are suffering even more from the recent real estate crash.
No one has tamed the Wild West yet, and I doubt China will succeed where so many have failed considering the American love affair with credit cards.
See Doing Business in China
Leave a Comment » | America, business, China, economy | Tagged: Asia Times, China buying IBM, China buying Maytag, China owning US Treasuries, GM assembly line, Japan 1980s, Lloyd Lofthouse, The China Pride | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse
February 23, 2010
“The police arrived, the guards apologized, and the reporter left without filing charges. Then the policeman told the reporter, ‘You’re free to do what you want, but this is Foxconn and they have a special status here. Please understand.’” So wrote Michael Grothaus for an RSS feed in a piece about “A Reuters employee who was investigating Apple’s legendary secrecy visited Foxconn’s walled city-like facility in Guanlan, China, and was reportedly roughed up by security.”
iPod
Well, yea. The competition is fierce in China for lucrative contracts. If Foxconn has a contract with Apple and that company loses the contract amounting to millions if not billions of American dollars, it makes sense that their security would be tough on any suspected industrial, high-tech spy. Their jobs even with low pay and long hours are better than no job and poverty. Why put up with a snoop?
If the Foxconn security didn’t take the job seriously, Apple might take their business to another country. How many people would have lost their jobs if that happened?
holding a cup of hot coffee
Consider that China has one lawyer for every 13,000 people compared to the United States, The Litigation Nation, with more lawyers than any other country—one for every two-hundred and sixty-five people and spilling hot coffee on yourself is grounds for going to court.
See Doing Business in China
_________________________
Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.
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1 Comment | America, American culture, business, China, Chinese Culture, economy, media | Tagged: America, Apple, Foxcoon, Guanlan China, iPod, lawyers, litigation nation, Lloyd Lofthouse, McDonald's, Michael Grothaus, spilled coffee | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse
February 23, 2010
I’ve learned that the Chinese don’t restrict gambling to lotteries, dice or cards. They also gamble on real estate along with any venture that might turn a profit.
Most Chinese are born entrepreneurs. I’ve read that the Chinese invented paper money and added credit to banking a thousand years ago during the Sung Dynasty. The Chinese are masters at doing business and that’s probably why my wife, who is Chinese, warned me not to do business in China. Do not misread my words—I don’t mean Westerners shouldn’t work with the Chinese. Read my piece on Doing Business in China or what Bob Grant has to say on the topic.
However, it was during a trip to the shores of the Westlake in Hangzhou where I learned how far Chinese drivers are willing to take risks to earn quick dollars.
Traffic in China. This is mild!
On a drizzly, cold evening, we hired a three-wheeled motorcycle to carry us to the lake where there is a paved walkway along the shore. It was raining but we had umbrellas. The driver decided traffic was too slow on the right side of the road so he drove onto the walkway where a police officer appeared from the shadows, blew a whistle and waved him off.
Then the driver drove down the wrong side of the street with a wall of traffic headed toward us. We were sitting on a seat behind the driver of a three-wheel motorcycle.
There was a bus in the lane we were in and the bus started to flash its lights. Our driver did not blink, and the bus swerved out of the way. All the cars behind the bus went around us too as if our driver were Moses parting the Red Sea.
We reached the lake alive, and the driver went in search of another paying customer.
Leave a Comment » | China, Chinese Culture, tourism | Tagged: Chinese entrepreneurs, Chinese gamble, Hangzhou, Lloyd Lofthouse, Sung Dynasty, Westlake | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse
February 22, 2010
Originally published at Speak Without Interruption on February 10, 2010
By Bob Grant — publisher/editor for Speak Without Interruption
When I first started going to China, I was warned not to fly on Chinese domestic airlines. I was told they were old, cast-off planes or old military planes, and that people were crammed into each plane with barnyard and other animals. Before I felt daring and took a domestic flight one day, I was under the influence of yet another case of Chinese stereotyping.
In all honesty, over the years, I have not had an uncomfortable or unpleasant flight anywhere inside China. To get to our meetings we had to fly quite a bit. We went, mainly, to cities up and down the eastern coast; however, we did fly occasionally to inland locations. Some flights were long—some were short—all were without mishap.
Chinese Stewardess Photo courtesy of Bob Grant
I found the service provided, once inside the plane, to be exceptional. I was always greeted in English even if I was the only non-Chinese on the flight, which occurred many times. I was even handed Chinese newspapers in English. The flight attendants were quite efficient. On most flights, we received drinks, a snack, more beverages, a hot Chinese meal (which was always good), and then a last set of beverages. I never paid extra for my checked luggage, the snacks, drinks, meals or great service.
I was also impressed with the screening, security, and overall terminal experience. There “are” many people in China—most seemed to be flying on the same days that I flew. However, in going through the document check (passport for me—identity cards for my Chinese associates) and then the security check which is similar to the security checks I have been through in other countries including the US, I found the process to be quite efficient. I am an “early get to the airport” type of guy—my Chinese associates are not. They gave me much concern on numerous occasions when we would arrive at the airport a half-hour before our plane departed. Fortunately, we never missed our flight and never really had to run to catch it. We went through all stations in such an efficient manner that I should not have bothered to worry (but I always did).
Again, as with my other posts regarding China, I can only speak to my own experiences. I am certain other travelers have horror stories about flying domestically within China. My main reason for offering this insight is, for me, another example of incorrect information when it came to China, its people, and its functioning.
If you would like to read other guest posts by Bob Grant, start with They All Look Alike.
Leave a Comment » | business, China, Chinese Culture, economy, education, environment, tourism | Tagged: Bob Grant, business in China, flying in China, Speak Without Interruption, stereotyping, traveling | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse
February 22, 2010
Unlike Mao’s time, today’s Chinese leaders must answer to the seventy-million party members scattered throughout China. These people listen to the 1.3 billion Chinese that do not belong to the party. The result: if an elected official is not doing his or her job, that person usually isn’t reelected.
Deng Xiaoping
Other changes took place after Mao. Under Deng Xiaoping, the People’s Republic announced a policy of “socialism with Chinese characteristics.” John Gittings in The Changing Face of China quoted Deng Xiaoping as saying, “Planning and market forces are not the essential difference between socialism and capitalism. A planned economy is not the definition of socialism, because there is planning under capitalism; the market economy happens under socialism, too. Planning and market forces are both ways of controlling economic activity.”
Soon after Mao died in 1976, Deng Xiaoping’s Beijing Spring was introduced. This was a brief period lasting from 1977 into 1978. During that time, the public was allowed greater freedom to criticize the government, which wasn’t allowed under Mao.
An example of this may be seen in “The Awakening” (Su-Xing), a movie produced during this period starring Joan Chen (Chen-Chung) and Gau Fei. [ISBN: 978-7-88611-603-2]. There are no English subtitles so it helps to have someone that reads or speaks Mandarin beside you while watching the movie that can point out the subtle criticisms of the Party that appear in the film, which was considered controversial at that time.
There was also a new Beijing Spring between 1997 to November 1998 where the Chinese government relaxed some control over political expression and organization. It was during this time that China signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Learn about China’s Modern Dynasty
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.
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5 Comments | China, government, politics | Tagged: Beijing Spring, Chen-Chung, China, Communist China, CulturalRevolution, Deng Xiaoping, economics, Fau Fei, Great Leap Forward, Joan Chen, John Gittings, Lloyd Lofthouse, Mao, Mao Zedong, socialism, Su-Xing, The Awakening | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse
