Street Food and KFC: New Orleans Roasted Chicken in Hunan

In Hengyang, Hunan province, I have frequently passed a street food vendor who sells roasted chicken.

A chicken leg costs 5 yuan (about U.S. $0.80). Most of a small chicken costs 15 yuan.

The sign below the rotating chickens advertises "新奥尔良烤鸡"--"New Orleans Roasted Chicken". It may come as a surprise to New Orleanians that their city has received this type of attention in Hengyang. But like roasted chicken vendors, "New Orleans style" chicken is not unique to Hengyang in China. For example, it is easy to find marinades for sale online. It is also offered at a popular fast food restaurant chain: KFC.

A KFC New Orleans Roasted Burger costs 16.5 yuan. (Image source)

Despite their names, after seeing or tasting them, neither the street vendor's roasted chicken nor KFC's roasted chicken sandwich would have made me think of New Orleans on their own. And I don't see anything very similar to them in lists of "New Orleans' most iconic sandwiches" or "great roasted chickens" in New Orleans. When I think of New Orleans, chicken, and fast food, another American fast food chain first comes to mind though--Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. The only Popeye's in all of China is at the Hong Kong International Airport.

The roasted chicken vendor and KFC are related in another way: one of KFC's over 4,000 restaurants in China is located directly behind the roasted chicken vendor's usual location.

Perfect location

I don't know what KFC thinks of this, but chengguan could be a bigger concern for the vendor. And even if nobody believes the food vendor is directly connected to KFC, I wonder if the vendor's location may cause KFC's brand to positively influence customers' perceptions, similar to the potential effects of imitating well-known brand names.

Whatever the case, perhaps the street vendor could further distinguish himself by diversifying his offerings based on the New Orleans theme. Personally, I would hope for muffulettas, but I suspect something from Popeyes menu with its spicy fried chicken would far better suit people's tastes in Hengyang and elsewhere in Hunan.

A Brief Kiss in the Sand

Whether you like the short film or not, "Bisou"--an informal French word meaning "kiss"--may leave you thinking for a longer period of time than the less than two minutes it lasts.

RoboCop in Hengyang

Unlike a similar screen at a shopping mall in Haikou, a giant outdoor screen at the Shin Pin Shopping Mall in Hengyang was not displaying a static Windows desktop when I passed by. Instead, it was displaying something else with a U.S. connection--the remake of the science fiction film RoboCop.

The audio was in English, and the subtitles were in Chinese. Based on the 暴风影音 logo, it looks like the movie was provided through the Chinese video streaming service Baofeng. And not surprisingly, the screen was receiving more attention from people than the screen I saw in Haikou.

Scorpion Bowls: A Great Drink to Pair With Chinese Food?

In a food-related post, a friend of mine in the U.S. yesterday mentioned having a scorpion bowl. I have eaten scorpions, but, knowing my friend, I guessed no actual scorpions were involved. The name sounded familiar, and I found a recipe online for what seems like a rather strong and fruity alcoholic drink. I read the accompanying description:

Routinely found at Chinese restaurants, this punch-like cocktail is absolutely mouthwatering. This goes great with Chinese and Polynesian food.

After a few moments of thought, I assumed the writer was specifically referencing American-style Chinese restaurants in the first sentence. I have never seen this drink served at a Chinese restaurant in China, which I feel safe saying has the largest number of Chinese restaurants in the world, and I am highly skeptical it is common here. Yet another site claims the cocktail is "now served in Tiki bars and seedy Chinese joints around the world". "Joints" is broader than "restaurants" and "seedy" could be an important qualification. Perhaps I would find something different if I frequented a certain category of KTVs, clubs, and bars in China. However, if I wanted to find a drink like this in China, some more upscale Western-style bars not found in most cities would first come to mind.

The second sentence in the description is what most caught my attention. I questioned how a single drink could "go great" with everything from tongue-numbing Sichuanese dishes to sweeter and less pain-inducing Shanghainese food. I would expect that such a versatile drink would pair well with much more than only Chinese and Polynesian food. Again, I quickly assumed the writer had typical American-style Chinese food in mind. The diversity of tastes would be narrower than the full range of Chinese cuisines. Still, a presumably strong-tasting drink that complements everything from moo goo gai pan to pepper steak? That is probably more likely if one is well into their scorpion bowl before eating.

More than any purely edacious or potatory influences, I wonder if the "goes great" simply reflects an association of this drink with a subset of American-style Chinese restaurants in the U.S. The drink reminds me of a Chinese restaurant which was near my alma mater in Baltimore, Maryland. I don't recall whether scorpion bowls were on the drink menu, but one could order similar cocktails with liquor and fruit juices, such as zombies. More important to some students under the age of 21 than the exact drinks offered, this particular restaurant rarely asked for ID when cocktails were ordered. The students probably wouldn't argue that the drinks went great with Chinese food.

Then and Now: Two Bridge Scenes in Hengyang

Now seems like a good time to share photos I took this month from locations similar to the locations of two photos in a set of scenes from Hengyang I posted over two years ago. I recently shared some scenes located under traditional style and more modern style bridges in Hengyang. The photos below were instead taken while I stood on a bridge.

View from the Hengxiang Bridge in December 2011

View from the Hengxiang Bridge in May 2014

Traffic on the Hengxiang Bridge in December 2011

Traffic on the Hengxiang Bridge in May 2014

Some of the differences can be attributed to the time of year. For instance, the red lanterns in the third photo likely reflect Chinese New Year being less than a month away. Other differences, such as the new buildings on the right side of the second photo, reflect more permanent changes. And what has not changed can be just as interesting.

What do you see?*



*As usual, click/tap the photos for larger versions.

Underneath the Shigu Academy Bridge

Dancing, walking, contemplation, and playing cards are all possible under-the-bridge activities. If none of those appeal, riding a kiddie train and shooting at balloons are other options.

Bridge at the historical Shigu Academy (石鼓书院) in Hengyang, Hunan

Underneath the Hengxiang Bridge

Dancing, walking, and contemplation are not the only things one can do underneath a bridge. Playing cards is another option.

Underneath the Hengxiang Bridge (衡湘大桥) in Hengyang, Hunan

Online Ads in China for Breaking Through the Great Firewall

In previous years, I have documented some of the impact of China's Great Firewall, which selectively blocks or interferes with websites and services on the Internet in China. When I typically connect to the Internet, though, I use a paid-for personal virtual private network (VPN). The VPN allows me to have an online experience as if I were outside of China and not directly affected by the Great Firewall. China has at times taken efforts to block personal VPNs, but the companies providing them can offer new ways to connect. It can feel somewhat like a game of Whac-A-Mole.

Recently, I stopped by a cafe in Hengyang, Hunan province, and sat at a table which had a computer with Internet access. I took advantage of the opportunity to see whether what I saw on a "local" computer presumably not using a VPN differed from what I had seen while not using a VPN on my own computer. Most seemed the same. For example, my own blog was partially blocked, likely due to it having a non-blocked domain name but being hosted on Google's Blogger, which is blocked in China. To serve as a sort of baseline, part of my quick exploration included visiting several foreign websites that I would not expect to be blocked in China. One aspect of what I saw offers an opportunity to highlight some issues regarding VPN usage in China.

I checked ESPN's sports website first. After an initial pause, it loaded and based on just looking at it nothing was obviously amiss*.

But one portion of the screen jumped out at me: an advertisement for a "VPN for China" from GoTrusted with the selling point of unblocking websites such as Facebook and YouTube.

I clicked the ad and GoTrusted's website quickly loaded.

Next, I checked two blogs offering viewpoints from different sides of the American political spectrum. One, Balloon Juice, has a more liberal perspective and was not blocked.

It had an ad for another site offering VPNs, vpngfw.com. Facebook and China were again both specifically mentioned. I clicked the ad and the site loaded without any apparent problem.

The other blog I visited, Hot Air, offers a more conservative perspective and loaded without any obvious problems as well.

Not only did Hot Air include ads for both of the previously mentioned VPNs, but it also had other ads such as "Explore Topeka" and "Immigration Attorney".

China probably isn't too concerned about ESPN, Balloon Juice, Hot Air, or information on Topeka, but what about the VPN advertisements? Regarding foreign companies offering VPNs, in 2010 CNN reported:

Steve Dickinson, a China-based lawyer with Harris & Moure, an international business law firm, said that companies supplying VPN products in China are technically breaking Chinese law.

"China has no jurisdiction over such persons. As long as they do not physically enter China, there is no risk," he said in an email to CNN.

To which Dan Harris on the China Law Blog added:

... if I were the president of one of these VPN companies, I would at least think long and hard before going to China. And if I were super paranoid, I might even want to know which countries might or might not extradite me to China.

And last year The Wall Street Journal reported:

While companies use commercial VPN services routinely for secure data, foreigners, China's elite and other tech-savvy users can use personal VPNs to leap the Great Firewall to use services like Facebook.

But it is illegal for foreign companies to operate a VPN in China without a local partner, according to lawyers and state-run media ...

GoTrusted, the company I saw advertised on ESPN and Hot Air, lists a U.S. address in Stuart, Florida, on its "About" page and the registrant information for its domain name also has a Stuart, Florida, address. GoTrusted does not mention a Chinese partner.

Vpngfw.com, the company I saw advertised on Balloon Juice and Hot Air, is a different case. Its "About" page does not provide a location and only lists an email address. The registrant information for its domain name, though, shows an address in Shanghai, China, with a street I haven't been able to locate on an online map.

This raises a number of questions about the service. For example, is the "company" running vpngfw.com based in mainland China? If it is, has it registered its services with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as it reportedly should? If it isn't based in mainland China, where is it based and why is a Chinese address and phone number listed for the registrant of its domain name? Questions like these aren't only relevant for determining any potential legal jeopardy faced by the company. VPNs should also provide a degree of anonymity, privacy, and security through effective data encryption. I would need to know more about vpngfw.com before potentially having confidence I could trust it to meet my expectations in that regards.

Whatever the case may be with GoTrusted and vpngfw.com, one can ask whether it is technically illegal to use VPNs in China that are operated by foreign companies technically breaking Chinese law. The site VPN Instructions had this to say in commenting on the WSJ article:

It is not illegal to use a VPN in China if the Virtual Private Network’s nodes and servers are outside of mainland China. The Shanghai-based lawyer we conferred with, along with our deep understanding of China’s Internet landscape, shows us that there are no laws on the books in China that prohibit any user in China from connecting to a VPN outside of mainland China.

I don't know whether the relevant government authorities in China would agree. And I wouldn't tell someone they are 100% in the clear using a VPN from a company operating illegally in China. But I am personally not too worried unless signs appear that China believes it is illegal. I am not aware of anyone being arrested simply for using these VPNs. And China surely knows they are being used.

So some companies are technically breaking Chinese laws by offering VPN services in China, and the users of those VPNs appear to be in the clear, at least at the moment. What about sites with ads for VPNs?

If the VPN is operating legally in China, presumably there are no problems advertising it. If it isn't, I don't know, and I can think of several issues, such as the location of the servers placing the ads, which may be relevant. It would be great to hear from some lawyers and relevant authorities on this topic.

Finally, if ESPN, Balloon Juice, and Hot Air felt concerned about this issue, I suspect they would point out they are not choosing the specific ads to display. The URL for all of the VPN ads began with "www.googleadservices.com". This indicates the ads were placed through Google's advertising service AdSense. Yes, Google, a company with several services blocked in China, is placing VPN ads targeting people who want to be able to access blocked-in-China websites. In other words, it is being paid to do something that could lead to more users being able to fully access its services. There is a certain beauty in that, although I'm sure the money Google earns this way is nothing compared to the additional revenue Google could generate if the Great Firewall ceased to exist.

The above examples are from just three US-based English websites. There is much more to the story of how VPNs are promoted in China. But these ads highlight the current relative "freedom" in China to use VPNs, even if they are periodically blocked and the companies running them are afoul of Chinese law. And they are another sign of how in some ways China's censorship is not as clear cut as most walls, great or not.




*The Chinese words near the bottom of all of the screenshots are the lyrics to songs playing on the computer and not related to the displayed websites.

A Giant Desktop in Haikou

A post related to China's Great Firewall and VPNs I had hoped to finish today still needs some more work and should makes its appearance tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a photo of some other technology in China.

The Seaview International Plaza in Haikou, Hainan

I don't think the giant screen at the shopping mall was being put to use as intended, but seeing a giant Windows desktop made ponder some possible personal uses for a computer monitor of that size.

More later.

Confidence on a Shirt

Seen in Hengyang, Hunan

A Mother's Day Promotion in China with WeChat and QR Codes

Unlike a Mother's Day several years ago in Zigong, Sichuan province, I didn't see any fashion shows yesterday in Hengyang, Hunan province. However, I saw some signs of Mother's Day at a few shopping centers and stores. One especially caught my eye because of its use of technology and flowers.

Outside of a shopping center with small clothing stores primarily targeting younger women, there was a Mother's Day promotion. In return for a flower and other possible gifts to give one's mother, people were asked to do two things.

One, people captured an image of a QR code through the mobile phone app for WeChat--called "Weixin" in China.




After the code was read, people found that they were now following the shopping center's WeChat account.




Two, people were also asked to write their name and phone number on a pad of paper.



During the time I was around, there was a constant stream of people going taking the two steps for receiving a free gift (sometimes receiving it in the middle if they signed their names first)--a possible sign of many things, including the popularity of smartphones and WeChat in China. It's definitely not the first instance of using QR codes and WeChat as part of a marketing campaign in China though. The use of a pad of paper instead something more high-tech for collecting names and numbers also raises some interesting issues.

Finally, although I didn't follow their WeChat account or provided my name and number, one of the people working for the promotion gave me a flower and a mousepad.





Since my mother is nowhere near Hengyang, I was not able to give her the gifts as intended. Instead, I passed them on to people I later met. Perhaps they made their way to other mothers.

An Easy-to-Identify Knockoff Chanel Shirt in China

Knockoffs of well-known international clothing brands are a far more common sight in China than imitations of well-known international hotel brands. Just how common is not simple to pin down though. Depending on the degree and quality of the imitation, it can be challenging to identify knockoffs based purely on their appearance, especially if one is not familiar with the brands. For example, today in Hengyang, Hunan province, I saw someone wearing what appeared to be a Chanel shirt.

After a quick check of Chanel's website, I now see that the shape of the two interlocked letters in the logo seems less circular than the interlocked letters in Chanel's standard logo, but I am still not sure whether the shirt is a knockoff or not. I would not be surprised if Chanel could provide a very quick answer.

In contrast, there are other shirts I feel confident labeling as knockoffs even without checking a website or consulting a fashion expert. For example, also today in Hengyang, I saw someone wearing a shirt with what is clearly only an imitation of Chanel's brand.

As everyone knows, the interlocked letters in Chanel's logo don't have rounded ends. Sometimes it is so easy.