A Chinese Porcelain Car in Zhanjiang

In many parts of China, I have seen cars with added designs, sometimes elaborate, on their exterior. For example, in a post several years ago I shared a photo of a "Counter-Strike car". I have also seen a number of cars fully covered in a Hello Kitty design.

Typically the designs reflect current popular culture. However, today in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, I saw a car with a more traditional design.

I don't recall seeing a car which reminded me of Chinese porcelain before. I wonder if the owner has considered putting on matching wheel covers.

What a Restaurant Chain's Absence from Beijing and Shanghai Can Say

The Greenery Cafe (绿茵阁) is a restaurant chain in China which opened its first location in Guangzhou in 1989. They bill themselves as a western-style restaurant, though their menu also offers other styles of food such as Chinese and Thai. I have seen the restaurant in numerous Chinese cities, and yesterday I ate at their location in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province.

While there I listened to a waitress's story about why she had come to Zhanjiang from her hometown in Guizhou province and how I was her only foreign customer during her three weeks of working at the restaurant.

And I puzzled over why the club sandwich I ordered not only contained some typical ingredients but also had an unusual (including for China) layer of peanut butter.

But what most caught my attention that afternoon was the menu's map of the Greenery Cafe's locations in China.

Their 100+ stores cover a broad range of the country, though I am curious about their absence from provinces such as Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangsu. However, as an online store locator confirms, most interesting to me was the identity of two cities that don't have a single Greenery Cafe--Beijing and Shanghai.

Notably, those are the cities in China where many foreign companies focus their efforts, especially when first entering the Chinese market. While this can make a great deal of sense for some companies, this seemingly "obvious" choice is not necessarily the right choice for other companies. Even when pragmatism demands focusing on a single city, somewhere like Changsha could be a better place to start than Beijing. An understanding of why a Chinese business such as the Greenery Cafe can't be found in Beijing and Shanghai could provide insights about a) which parts of China a foreign company should target and b) how some products or services may meet the needs of or be better tailored for particular markets in China, whether Zhanjiang or Shanghai.

I could go on and on about this topic, and there are great questions to ask specifically about the Greenery Cafe. But for now, I will just add that China is a huge place full of opportunities and potential competitors. Although Beijing and Shanghai are big markets, the rest of China is much larger. The Greenery Cafe was yet another reminder of that.

Mannequins and Life on Yangjiang's Beimen Jie

Beimen Jie (北门街) in Yangjiang's Jiangcheng District is a narrow street (usually) devoid of cars but sees plenty of traffic from smaller vehicles and pedestrians. It includes a number of small clothing stores, many with mannequins outside dressed in various fashions. Over the course of several days, I photographed the mannequins as people passed by.

None the photographs I share below include the same set of mannequins on the same day. Some mannequins appear in multiple photos dressed in different clothes. There is even one pair of photos with the same mannequins without a change of clothing, but a closer look will reveal clues of the photos having been taken on different days. The scenes not only capture some of the day to day life commonly found in Yangjiang but individually and as a set they also raise a host of fascinating issues.

An Escape From Four Boys With Guns In China

Before moving to China, I lived in one of the more dangerous cities in the U.S., Baltimore, for about 10 years. During those years, I walked through some of Baltimore's most crime-ridden neighborhoods and had experiences that left even police amazed. Yet never in a country where some people complain there are too many guns did I have an experience like I recently did in Maoming, China.

Four boys. Four loaded guns. One obvious target.

I could only wish I was safely back in Baltimore.

It would come as no shock to some that the boys spared my life because they were too busy with their studies and training to have any fun. Instead, they just wanted to practice their English--clearly looking forward to a day when they will march across American cities such as Baltimore. They are an example of the threat the U.S. faces from a country determined to prosper at all costs. I have already covered these issues in detail, so for more see the post "Will Amy Chua's 'Tiger Mother' Methods Create a New World Order?" I wrote while guest blogging for James Fallows and the even more spine-chilling post "Existential Threat Posed to U.S. by Chinese Tiger Mothers' Continued Relentless Training of Children".

I feel fortunate I made it out of Maoming physically unharmed. I might not be so lucky next time. And as the boys let me know as I walked away, time is not on my side.

Spirits Want More Than Just Chinese Bottled Water

Today I was reminded that there are worse things than spirits wanting your bottled water when I saw an advertisement in a Zhanjiang mall today:

The movie poster promotes the Chinese horror film released earlier month "Death is Here 3" ("笔仙惊魂3"). Here's a trailer in Chinese (on YouTube here and Mtime here):

I haven't seen "Death is Here 3" or the earlier movies in the series. But it seems safe to say that in addition to giving thirsty ghosts your bottled water, it is also advisable to avoid giant possessed pencils.

Supernaturally Good Bottled Water in Zhanjiang

Va Kin spring water, which uses the name 画景  in Chinese, is from the county-level city of Leizhou in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province. Earlier today in Zhanjiang's Xiashan District, I noticed a large outdoor advertisement for Va Kin in a central shopping district:

I'm not sure why the ghost coming out of the television screen is so interested in bottled water, but the text helpfully recommends giving her the water and points out you can simply buy another at a store. That may seem reasonable, but, personally, if a specific brand of bottled water attracted this type of attention, I would consider buying something else next time. I also know something else I would do.

Freedom of Expression Does Not Equal Freedom from Criticism

In Talking Points Memo Caitlin MacNeal wrote about a counter-event in the U.S.:

After a Minneapolis, Minn. restaurant hosted a Nazi-themed party on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January, an unofficial group has organized a counter-event to protest the original dinner, according to Minneapolis City Pages.

Margie Newman and Susan Schwaidelson Siegfried organized an unofficial group to meet outside of Gasthof Zur Gemütlichkeit on Wednesday evening to honor Holocaust victims.

One of the restaurant owner's earlier comments caught my eye:

... he told the Star Tribune that he'll no longer hold the event.

“We live in a free country...but from the comments I see, a lot of people they don’t see what freedom is. If I break the law, punish me.

I am not familiar with the comments he references, though at least one appears to be about someone wanting to burn down his building. If someone claimed that hosting a Nazi-themed party in the U.S. is illegal, they are wrong. I would not be surprised if nobody said this to him though. In that case, I'm not sure of his meaning when he says "they don't see what freedom is."

Still, the owner's statement reminds me of a surprising number of others I've heard or read regarding topics ranging from politics to a missing Malaysian plane. They boil down to something like this:

Person A: 2+2=5!

Person B: Hmm, I'm pretty sure that's wrong. Here's a rather compelling explanation for why the answer is 4 and not 5 ... Does that make sense to you?

Person A: Look, we could go on and on. I still believe 2+2=5. Don't trample on my free speech!

It amazes when a person in the U.S. claims that someone criticizing their actions or words represents an attack on their freedoms. Freedom of expression does not equal freedom from criticism. In fact, criticism is one of the strongest signs free speech exists. And one can desire to convince a person they should stop doing or saying something while still believing that person has a legally protected right to do or say it.

Freedom of expression is one of the most valuable and powerful rights enjoyed by Americans. But crying "free speech" is one of the weakest ways to defend one's actions or statements, and it's especially a shame when it is done in an attempt to evade constructive, rational debate.

A Toast to Breathing Better Air in China

Last night I met two young men, both in their mid-twenties, at a bar / restaurant in Maoming's Maonan District in southeastern China.

After asking them where they had traveled, one said he had been to Beijing. I asked him for his thoughts, and his first and only comment was that Beijing's air was very bad. Later, he explained he didn't think Maoming had perfect air, but it was OK and much better than Beijing's.

About 2 hours away by bus today, I enjoyed the pleasant weather at a waterside park in Zhanjiang's Xiashan District.

I spoke to a man I met there who told me he had once visited California.

While describing his travels, he suddenly exclaimed "The sky is very blue there!" He then pointed at the sky above us, which was not a strong blue but still bluer than many others I've seen in China, and said that Zhanjiang's weather and air is much better than either Beijing's or Shanghai's. He felt fortunate to be living in Zhanjiang.

In both cases, I made no mention of air quality or any other related topics before the candid comments. These are not the only times I've heard people in Guangdong, a province with pollution problems of its own, mention air quality as an important factor for them. For example, I have met a number of Chinese in Zhuhai who said they moved there for its better air. They are people you won't regularly have the chance to meet in Beijing or even Shanghai, because they don't want to be there. And they are a sign that not only is pollution "driving top talent away" from China, but it's also on the minds of some Chinese when considering where they live inside of China.

Bonding Over Chickens

Late last night, not long after having finished the previous post "A Dinosaur in China and a Chicken from Hell in the U.S.", I showed someone I know in Maoming's Maonan District, about an hour from Gaozhou, the post's first photo:

I explained to her I especially liked how the chicken was directly facing me.

She then shared that I was not the only one to photograph such an event:

I was so overwhelmed by our mutual appreciation of attentive chickens, I forgot to check whether she knew she had photographed a dinosaur.

A Dinosaur in China and a Chicken from Hell in the U.S.

Across the Jianjiang River (鉴江) from the Baoguang Tower (宝光塔) in Gaozhou (高州), Guangdong province, a dinosaur spotted me last Monday.

The dinosaur was clearly indignant at having been tethered.

Despite it still being able to move around to some degree, it displayed much pluck by holding its ground when I came nearer.

Regarding any questions about labeling this fine animal as a dinosaur, I will share an informative comic from xkcd:

On that note, perhaps the formidable attitude of the dinosaur, more commonly called a chicken, I met was passed down for generations from the "chicken from hell", more formally known as the Anzu wyliei:

Mark Klingler/Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Details about the Anzu wyliei, "a 600-pound cross between an ostrich and a velociraptor", were recently published, Christopher Joyce for NPR explained the "chicken from hell" nickname:

For the past decade, dinosaur scientists have been puzzling over a set of fossil bones they variously describe as weird and bizarre. Now they've figured out what animal they belonged to: a bird-like creature they're calling "the chicken from hell."

There are two reasons for the name.

First: If you took a chicken, crossed it with an ostrich, bulked it up to 500 pounds, stretched it out to roughly 11 feet, put a bony crest on its head (like some ancient Greek helmet), added a dinosaur tail and a pair of forelimbs with five-inch claws, and then, finally, stuck some feathers on it ... you would have what paleontologist Matt Lamanna formally calls Anzu wyliei ...

Reason two for the nickname: The three new specimens Lamanna has now put together were dug up from the Hell Creek geological formation in Montana and the Dakotas.

Although the research did not address what it tasted like, Christine Dell'Amore for National Geographic explained how researchers deduced what the Anzu itself ate:

Physical features on the North American skeletons indicate Anzu dined on a variety of items from the Cretaceous smorgasbord, including vegetation, small animals, and possibly eggs.

Small prongs of bone found on the skulls' palates may have helped the dinosaurs swallow eggs; the same prongs are found today in egg-eating snakes.

The dinosaur also had big hands with large, curved claws, which are usually found on animals that grab small prey to shove down their throats.

And the Anzu's jaw shape suggested it could shear pieces off plants.

Fortunately, the dinosaur in Gaozhou did not possess large curved claws and did not eat me.

As far as its own fate, after noticing a change in its demeanor, I realized it was no longer tethered by the string. I'm not sure how this came about, and I decided it was best to avoid interfering with a proud relative of the Anzu. As I departed, it also walked away. I don't know where it went but ...

... there was a road nearby.

A Yangjiang Kiss

When I meet people, even if briefly, I often ask to take their photo. Sometimes, as with these teenagers in Yangjiang, there are unexpected results:

The OMG Bar in Yangjiang, China

One day while walking around Yangjiang in Guangdong province, I noticed a bar with an unusual name.

Later, without making any comment I showed the above photo to several young Yangjiangers of drinking age. They all recognized that "OMG" is an abbreviation for "Oh My God", and most thought it was a creative and good name for a bar.

I don't have anything deeper to add at the moment--just a "and now you know" post.