和谐 4ever!

A few days ago, Yves Smith of naked capitalism responded to some logical leaps of faith that were made in the wake of China's unemployment crisis. One point is well taken. Anger is directed toward local governments, not the central authority. The State Council may be highly political and unaccountable, but most doubt it's corrupt. That's something I cannot say for regional governments.

From a historical perspective, this isn't exactly news. Early Chinese merchants in Southeast Asia had a hard time in China due its immense size. In Southeast Asia, one could speak directly with the local king or chief. In China, one needed to go through the local officials, who invariably needed bribes. The People's Communes also functioned this way. The commune leaders needed to bribe local officials in order to get what they wanted. This has not changed. And no revolution is forthcoming.

Plenty of countries have experienced a good deal of internal dissent. Look at the US in the 60s, with riots, fire bombings, and large scale demonstrations, in a country with no tradition of radical action by the middle class, and a much less highly developed police/surveillance apparatus than we have now. Did anyone think the government here would be overthrown? Perhaps a hopeful few on the radical left, but they'd have little company. Yet that level of violence was still unsettling and did put pressure on the government.

Although China has had violent revolution, it has no organized anti-government movement at present, a very large army, and little tolerance of opposition. The discontent now is directed first against the corporations that shuttered their operations, second against provincial governments (this is more a simmering problem of long-standing corruption that may find a new hook with increasing demands for services, such as they are, driven by the migration back to the countryside).

The level of discontent and disruption in China is significant in two ways: as an indicator of economic conditions (it isn't clear how reliable some of the Chinese economic reports are) and as a fever chart of the pressures on the central government to increase its stimulus efforts (Premier Wen in a Financial Times interview signaled that China was considering additional stimulus measures).

To the sighting du jour: a Chinese official, citing Agricultural Ministry data, pegged the number of rural migrants to coastal factories who are returning home at 20 million. This figure is far higher than any to date (readers may have other sources that are more in line with this tally, but the biggest estimate I have seen so far is 10 million, although Wen fessed up to 12 million yesterday, so the new data is a stunner). And that is only the level of reverse migration. The figure does not include those who remained in cities and are still looking for work.

This would in turn suggest that the falloff of economic activity is as severe as some of the less watched proxies suggest (electrical output, which some contend is a good measure of economic activity, fell 9.6% in November, a dramatic one-month change) and that the government will increase its stimulus efforts sooner rather than later.

Also Quebec cartoonist/graphic novellist Guy Delisle is blogging from Jerusalem. He blogged on Jan. 20 about how MSF (Doctors Without Borders) tried to enter Gaza. FrenchPod recently informed me that comics are referred to as bande dessinée.

Please tell me how this is like, because it's blocked here. Plus it's in French.

Academia, Stock Markets and Me

I’m currently working on my 400-word research proposal for the Chinese Government Scholarship of the China Scholarship Council. The following pseudo-academic nonsense is one of my drafts. In fact, I know nothing of “identity politics” and how it “informs art” and have little interest in writing about it, but I figure my chances would be better if I make some attempt at scholarly pretension. Also, I have no thesis, that was a lie. Please let me know what you think. I shall be providing a Chinese translation in the future.

While Shanghai and Hong Kong are now recognized global centres of commerce and fashion in China, few realize that Beijing is next in line as a new cultural capital, both musically and artistically. The megalopolis is a fiery crucible of growing artistic and musical talent, drawing young artists and musicians from every province and city of the nation. While many in the community can’t say for sure whether Beijing will develop into a permanent cultural hub such as Paris, London and New York, they know that these young artistic voices must be heard, and through an international network of media, new and old, sent to places far and wide.

With a background in music, arts and culture journalism, I want to continue my research and ongoing thesis on the current state of youth music and art in Beijing. The results of my research will hopefully build on a richer international appreciation of the new culture and its community that will make the world sit up and take notice. As I am Canadian and have written in Canada for several years, many of the publications in which my writing will likely appear will be based in Canada.

My report will examine how the two leading worlds of Beijing, music and art, interact with one and another, in comparison and contrast with similar scenes in other parts of Asia. I will also look into how the collective identity of these artists and musicians affects their output and informs how they strive for a separate and unique space in a local and global setting. Focusing on the above two points, I will work on a journal series that reflects a new and exciting scene and highlights a positive aspect of Beijing’s new spirit that has hitherto been left out of the spotlight. With more opportunities, a deeper understand and mastery of the language and a better acquaintance with local music and art, I hope to write a better story of the city and its ethos, going beyond the brief representations made so far on this subject.

Aurgasm on Gaida Hinnawi:

"... her first full album, Levantine Indulgence, [is] a spooky mix of traditional Arabic and Syrian sounds, plus her own, jazz-like vocals, and the occasional hip hop beat for good measure."

Gaida Hinnawi - Bint Hirabiya
Gaida Hinnawi - Almaya

How sad is it that I think my bank account this past year resembles Warner Music’s stock chart the most:

Looking out of windows at hyperspeed

Glowing Cities Under a Nighttime Sky
Originally uploaded by Ettubrute

I'm watching an old TVB show on YouTube with Francis Yip called Triumph in the Skies (冲上云霄). The plot is inane, but it concerns flight cadets, airplane pilots, flight attendants and ground crew, and I've suddenly developed an interest in airplanes.

Like any kid, I liked looking out of windows, so I always asked for the window seat up till I was 25. Lately, I've been asking for aisle seats instead. I figure though if technology ever reached the stage where planes flew a thousand times faster while being set to Bloc Party, I'd move back to the window.

My First Blog (Kind of)

Now that it has fallen out of style I have decided to take up blogging.

I went to Sanlitun to meet Bernice at a Cha Chaan Teng-type restaurant called Herbal Cafe. Those familiar with such cheap Hong Kong-style tea restaurants must be wondering why this one would choose such a pretentious name for itself, but this is in fact, no normal Hong Kong restaurant. Actually, I can assure you that Beijing does not have any proper Cantonese restaurants serving Cantonese food in normal dishes. And any Cantonese food you find here will definitely not be at Beijing prices.

I was to go to a station called 团结湖 at which point it would be just a five-minute walk to Sanlitun Village, where the alleged cafe was. This turned out well for me because I did not know until this point that there was even a station this close to Sanlitun.

I left Exit A of the station but then had no idea which direction to turn. With my keen racial profiling instincts, I decided to follow some white girls, but after a few minutes of this, I figured I should rather ask for directions.

How does one say "Sanlitun Village" in Chinese, however? 三里屯村？ Sanlitun Cun? That sounded ridiculous. Since I was not one to be ridiculous, I just stood there and kept trying Bernice's line until she picked up. During those 10 minutes, it dawned on me that Sanlitun Village wasn't actually a village at all, but was a mere mall. Sanlitun itself was called the Village, which in itself is rather silly, since it's a bar district full of embassies, not to mention that the 屯 （tun） in Sanlitun also meant village. So the mall's name translated completely into English would have meant "Three-0.5-Kilometre-Village Village" or "1.5-kilometre Village Village."

And the restaurant ended up serving me yang chow fried rice in a bowl.