Layers, Movies, Sea-Buckthorn, and Purcell

The extensive recovery effort for my earlier mishap continue, but the end is in sight. Since I do not have time for a proper post today and want to hold off commenting on what I have learned from my recent experiences until later, I will share just a few unrelated items.

1. Thursday at 7pm China time (7am US EST time; 1pm Berlin time) I will be joining a discussion on Hangouts led by the president of the China Speakers Bureau, Fons Tuinstra, and also including Thomas Morffew & Alicia Noel. The topic will be "the current wave of anti-foreigner press in China - where it comes from, what it means to foreigners living in China, and employment implications for non-Chinese living in China." I look forward to discussing a topic that I believe has many layers. If you want to join or watch you can find more details here.

2. The article "Hollywood gripped by pressure system from China" on the Los Angeles Times describes how despite Hollywood sometimes being seen as a part of America's soft power, the desire to appease Chinese viewers and censors is influencing the nature of the movies Hollywood now produces:

In fact, references to the Middle Kingdom are popping up with remarkable frequency in movies these days. Some are conspicuously flattering or gratuitous additions designed to satisfy Chinese business partners and court audiences in the largest moviegoing market outside the U.S. Others, filmmakers say, are simply organic reflections of the fact that China is a rising political, economic and cultural power.

Meanwhile, Chinese bad guys are vanishing — literally. Western studios are increasingly inclined to excise potentially negative references to China in the hope that the films can pass muster with Chinese censors and land one of several dozen coveted annual revenue-sharing import quota slots in Chinese cinemas.

Read the article, but I must point out an important fact first -- Kung Fu Panda has bad guys.

3. The other day in Xining, Qinghai I found this:

I had never heard of sea buckthorn juice so I figured I would give it try when I noticed it in a small convenience store. I must say it had a rather unique taste, and I am at a lost to describe it. I will give it another try when I have the opportunity.

4. And for today's baroque culture, I will share a video of a one minute long song with music by English composer Henry Purcell (it takes about 20 seconds for the music to start). The piece has the title "Man is for the woman made". Lyrics and music are displayed making it easier to follow. I found it a catchy tune and the title brought me amusement. Soon you may find yourself singing this song on the street as others look on in bewilderment. Anyways, I simply share it as a quick taste of music from long ago.

Picasa Photo Problem

[UPDATE: I have updated the photo links for the most recent and visited posts. Still more to go. Unless you visit a certain range of posts you will not now notice the problem.]

Apparently my interpretation of certain aspects of Picasa's functionality and terminology was disastrously incorrect. Due to this disconnect, a great number of images are now not appearing on my blog. At the moment it appears a major amount of effort and time will be required to resolve this issue. I apologize for the problem.

In the spirit of helping others to avoid my mistake (and possibly getting a quick genius solution from someone), I will briefly share what I can piece together. The album containing photos for this blog was listed as "Limited, anyone with the link".  In short, I did not want people to be able to view all of my blog's photos at once in a single glance on Picasa. Some reasons for this include that I sometimes want/need to keep photos private until a post is ready for publishing and I want to encourage people to view photos through the blog where more context is provided.  My understanding was that the "Limited" setting enabled me to embed the necessary links to photos on my blog for readers to view individually, but without a special link the album would not be viewable as a whole. For a time this all seemed to be true.

But recently I noticed curious numbers in Picasa that suggested people might be able to view the album despite me having no awareness of ever sending the album link to anyone. A friend of mine checked this out and indeed she was able to "follow" my Picasa account and see the "limited" albums, despite them being clearly marked (to me) as limited. She did not have the link though. This baffled me.

On the limited album's page in my account I discovered a "Reset secret link" option. I figured resetting it might resolve the issue I was experiencing. After clicking it I received this warning:

Are you sure you want to reset the secret link to this album? This will remove access for everyone who has the current secret link.

Since I had no awareness of sending the "secret link to this album" and had no awareness of using it myself I had no worries. I was not worried about the individual photos since my understanding was that they each had their own secret link. This belief was supported by the fact that when I embed the images in my blog Picasa provides an option to "Hide album link" which I always chose. I only embedded the individual photo's link.

Needless to say, after reseting the album link it appears all the embedded links for images in my blog from that folder are now nonfunctional. That certainly was not my expectation.

*sigh*

Again, if any readers know of any quick solutions I would appreciate it. You can email me -- isidorsfugue at gmail. Otherwise, I will likely need to replace over 400 photos one by one. Again, that will take some time.

Fortunately, I have a post that will likely serve as useful for when I complete this task. More on that later.

Kumbum Monastery in Qinghai, China

Despite Tibet now being closed to foreigners, there remain other Tibetan regions in China that remain open such as Amdo -- now assimilated into the Chinese province of Qinghai. One clear sign of Tibetan culture can be found not far from Xining, the capital of Qinghai. In the town of Huangzhong, the Kumbum Monastery (Tǎ'ěr Sì) serves as a major religious site for the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It is an immense complex and somewhat reminded me of the famous Ganden Sumtseling Monastery (Sōngzànlín Sì), also belonging to the Gelugpa sect, in Zhongdian, Yunnan province.

Although rich with Tibetan culture and worth a visit if one is the area, the touristy nature of the monastery can provide a somewhat surreal feeling as local Tibetans are prostrating in prayer while affluent-looking Chinese tourists mill about with cameras. During my vist this past weekend, I was sometimes able to capture scenes like this:

But more often it was like this:

Of course, I was also one of those tourists. In some respects the mix of tourists and a holy site was reminiscent of many churches I have visited in Europe. And at times there seemed to be a certain charm in the mixture. For example, here is a Tibetan monk and several tourists spinning the prayer wheels:

However, it was not too difficult to get away from the many tour groups. During my wanderings higher up along a hill I found this path lined with prayer flags:

and prayer wheels:

I also came across some "off-limit" areas due to construction:

But in most cases they did not seem to care if I looked about and in one case a worker gave me a brief personal tour (not the first time I was provided a tour in construction area at a religious site).

Out of respect to limits on photography, it is not possible to share some of the more religious and beautiful scenes, particularly those inside the halls and temples. So I will share some some other scenes that help capture a small part of the spirit one can find at Kumbum Monastery.

Insights and Headaches for Apple: The iPncne in China

As I mentioned before, unauthorized Apple stores are common in many regions of China. At the moment it appears that Apple will only respond to "fake Apple Stores" that take extreme measures to imitate a genuine Apple Store. A related area of concern for companies such as Apple is protecting not how their trademarks are used in stores but on products being sold.

I previously shared an example of a Chinese mobile phone that appeared to inappropriately use some of Apple's trademarks. I will call it the "Think Different Phone". It certainly is not alone in China. For another example, here is a phone I saw for sale in Yinchuan, Ningxia:

It would be hard to believe that the resemblance of the apple logo and the iPncne name to Apple's trademarks is accidental. In the post about the Think Different Phone I discussed how despite their possible trademark infringements such phones can provide insights about features possibly desired in the local market. As an example, similar to the Think Different Phone the iPncne has a dedicated button for QQ -- a popular social networking service in China:

But what I believe can be an even more important feature is found inside the phone:

The capability of this iPncne to hold dual SIM cards would matter to many Chinese mobile phone users. For an example of why, see my post from last year "Mobile Phones in China: Local Rates, Fashion, and Fakes".

Even for the many Chinese-designed phones not noticeably violating any trademarks, "localizations" such as the above can indicate features desired not only in China but elsewhere as well. But regardless of any insights the iPncne may provide, Apple is probably still concerned about protecting its trademarks. Even if the apple logo and iPncne name do not cross the line for Apple, I think there is something on the back of the phone that would be hard for them to accept:

In small print below the iPncne name is written:

Designed by Apple in California Assembled in China

At least the second half of the line seems true. I have not contacted Apple for comment about the first half. I suspect their private comments would be much more interesting.

Scenes of China: Buildings in Xining, Qinghai

A week ago, I shared some scenes from the regions around Qinghai Lake in Northwest China. For a contrast, today I will share a few scenes including larger buildings in the capital of Qinghai province -- Xining. They are are all from Xining's urban districts and provide a taste of the development Xining has experienced, which is more than I had expected. Most of the buildings do not stand out in any way from buildings I have seen in many other cities in China. Even if urban development is not your thing, Xinghai is still special in that beautiful natural scenery is never too far away.

Lake at People's Park

Concrete sports field

Huangshui River

Intersection of Huayuan Street and Dongguan Street

Nanchuan River

State Grid building

Umbrellas are for people enjoying tea, beer, and snacks next to the Nanchuan River

Culture Park

Shengli Road

Demolition

Dell Store (and Uniforms) in Yinchuan, China

Yesterday, I shared some examples of unauthorized Apple resellers in Yinchuan, Ningxia. Although I have posted several times about Apple, it is not my intent to express any particular favoritism for the brand.

Partly in that spirit, I will share a few photos of a store selling Dell products that I also saw in Yinchuan:

Although it is very common to see Dell computers for sale in China, this store caught my eye because it is not so common to see an independent store dedicated to only Dell products. In my experience, Dell resellers in China are typically located in computer shopping centers with numerous other resellers nearby.

The store also caught my attention because of its outdoor display where two employees were showcasing computers:

I spoke to the owner and she told me the store has been open for 8 years. Furthermore, it had recently undergone renovations, and they had just reopened.

Similar to Apple, Dell provides an online list of authorized retailers in China. However, Dell has many more stores listed. For example, Apple currently lists 1 reseller in Yinchuan. Dell lists 30. At first glance, the above store does not appear to be on the list. But several of the provided addresses are vague, so I am not entirely sure whether it is not included. And I am not familiar with Dell's policies regarding how stores can use the Dell symbols and name, so I have no comment as to whether anything may be amiss.

Finally, I must say there was another detail in the store that caught my attention -- the uniforms for some of the female employees:

I have no idea if those uniforms are Dell standard issue inside or outside of China. If not, do you think they could someday become an example of creative design in China influencing global practices?

More "Fake" Apple Stores In China: Does Apple Care?

[UPDATE at end]

According to recent reports, new genuine Apple Stores will open in the Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Chengdu. These will be the first Apple Stores outside of Beijing and Shanghai in mainland China. Shenzhen is an intriguing location for a new store since its border has been a significant entry point for Apple products smuggled into mainland China from Hong Kong due to differences in prices and availability.

In addition to several Apple Stores in China, there are numerous authorized resellers of Apple products. But there are many more unauthorized resellers, examples of which I shared here and here. I also shared an example here of an unauthorized reseller with a website nearly identical to Apple's. All of those examples came from Southeast China, so I will now share examples of unauthorized stores in the northwestern city of Yinchuan in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (Ningxia is similar in stature to a Chinese province). In addition to serving as evidence that unauthorized resellers are not limited to a specific region of China, they provide an opportunity to discuss some of the concerns Apple may have about such stores.

Like before, I did not deliberately seek out any of these stores. I opportunistically took the photographs on several occasions while I walked around Yinchuan's central Xingqing District. Here are just a few of the stores I saw selling Apple products:

In all of the examples above an Apple logo is prominently displayed in the location above the main entrance where one could expect a store's name, even in China.

Apple's online list of authorized resellers as of today shows only one authorized reseller in all of Yinchuan or anywhere else in Ningxia (note: an employee at the Apple Store in Hong Kong insisted to me that this list is regularly refreshed and reliable). Based on the store's address it is not any of the stores displayed above or later in this post. However, these stores not being listed as authorized is in itself not a problem since it is reportedly not illegal to resell genuine Apple merchandise in China.

Regardless, in a country with so many fake products some consumers may be especially motivated to buy Apple products from stores reviewed and authorized by Apple. That is what makes these other unauthorized stores in Yinchuan even more intriguing:

Although Apple likely does not want stores stating they are authorized resellers when they are not, Apple is likely more concerned about protecting the Apple Store identity. The famous fake Apple Store store in Kunming received attention from Apple not because it was unauthorized, but because of the extreme measures it took to appear as a genuine Apple Store. In short, whether Apple pursues any action against a store in China is probably related to the likelihood a consumer will incorrectly believe they are shopping at a store operated by Apple. A quick estimation based on what I have seen suggests there are thousands of unauthorized Apple resellers in China, many of which may be misusing Apple's trademarks to a variety of degrees. If Apple wished to pursue every potential case it could have a huge challenge ahead of itself. But at the moment I see no indications that Apple will take any significant action unless a store goes to more extreme lengths to imitate a real Apple Store. In that case, Apple has taken a more pragmatic approach and the situation is far more manageable.

The famous store in Kunming crossed several significant lines which made it worthy of Apple's attention. For example, the staff believed they worked for Apple and wore shirts identical to those worn by Apple Store employees. The second factor is why these two stores in Yinchuan particularly caught my attention:

In both stores, employees were wearing shirts that appeared to be similar, if not identical, to the Apple Store shirts.

When I spoke with two of the employees in the second store, I asked them if the store was an "Apple Store". One quickly said it was. Then the second jumped in and said it was not. She explained that their products were genuine and from an official Apple Store in Beijing. She did not believe she worked for Apple. At no point did the employee appear to evade any of my questions, and I never had the impression she was concerned anything might be amiss.

So, are any of the above stores enough to get Apple's attention? All I can say is that in most ways they are not highly unusual in comparison to many other unauthorized stores I have seen. They also did not go to the same extremes as the store in Kunming. Nonetheless, I suspect those Apple Store shirts could cause some feathers to be ruffled at Apple.

I could now go on and on and share examples of stores in other cities in China that to varying degrees may be infringing on the identity of genuine Apple Stores.

Unauthorized store in Lanzhou, Gansu province

Unauthorized store in Xining, Qinghai province

But I shall refrain. I think I have already sufficiently made my point. Again, there are many unauthorized stores across China and it does not appear that Kunming or Southeast China is special in this regards. But based on my experiences, the famous store in Kunming remains a special example.

Finally, I want to give credit where credit is due in Yinchuan, namely this business:

Despite the English mispelling, this Apple Authorized Service Provider is indeed listed in Apple's online locator. Consistent with my observations of what was for sale in Yinchuan's unauthorized stores, it only offers services for iPads, iPhones, and iPods -- no service for Macs. So, Yichuanese can rest assured they have a convenient and authorized option for servicing some of the Apple products they may buy, whether at Yinchuan's single authorized reseller, Yichuan's unauthorized resellers, or elsewhere.


UPDATE: Now tired of seeing "fake" stores? Then maybe the Chinese mobile phone with an apple logo in this post will interest you: "Insights and Headaches for Apple: The iPncne in China".

A Man Wearing a Hat in Xining, Qinghai

I am in the middle of writing three different posts but none are yet ready. So I will try something I had been pondering for such days and share a single photo that caught my eye.

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The above scene is from an area in Xining with a set of immense shopping centers that I hope to describe in a later post. On the side, I have recently noticed a number of places selling hats similar to what the man is wearing. In several cases, I noticed that the black band has "I Love Italy" printed on it.

I have no explanation, but maybe it can bring some joy to any Italian readers.

That is all. More soon.