Book Reviews: "Wild Swans" and "Factory Girls"

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang was a good book comparing and contrasting the lives of her grandmother, a woman of Imperial China, her mother, a daughter of the Communist Revolution, and herself, an expatriate and anti-Maoist. The story is very good, although I think her editor failed her in jumping around in time too much. Chang has been accused of severe anti-Maoist distortions, but I have no way to prove or disprove this. I just know that this book is a very interesting look at China from the early 1900's to today and I would recommend it to any fan of China or history.

Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China by Leslie Chang is a fascinating look at the culture of the factory girls who come from rural China and work the factories of industrial urban China. Over the years things have changed and this has changed the power structure and traditions of China for these girls and their families. This book is a very good introspective of these girls. However, seemingly out of nowhere Chang starts putting her family history in the book. Rather than adding to the book, it distracts from it. Her family history is still very interesting, and not unlike that of "Wild Swans", but I feel that part should have been left for its own book and "Factory girls" should have been left to focused on just the factory girls, which Chang never was.

While both books have serious flaws, I would still recommend them to anyone interested in the sociology of modern and recent China.

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Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers: Tomorrow People

I always thought he was singing, "Where is your best?" I think there was a more powerful message in my misunderstanding!

Oh Lord, oh no!

Tomorrow people, where is your past?
Tomorrow people, how long will you last?
Tomorrow people, where is your past?
Tomorrow people, how long will you last?

Today you say you deyah. Deyah be.
Tomorrow you say you're gone,
but you're gone so long.
If there is no love in your heart - so sorry -
Then there is no hope for you - true, true.

Tomorrow people, where is your past?
Tomorrow people, how long will you last? Come on!
Tomorrow people, where is your past? Where is your past?
Tomorrow people, how long will you last? 10 years!

So you're in the air,
But you still don't have a t'ing to spare.
You're flying high,
While we're on the low, o-o-oh

Tomorrow people, where is your past?
Tomorrow people, how long will you last? Tell me now.
Tomorrow people, where is your past? Nowhere!
Tomorrow people, how long will you last? Ten years!

Stop tellin' me the same story.
Today you say you deyah. Deyah be.
Tomorrow you say you're gone, and you're not comin' back.
If there is no love in your heart, oh now,
There will never be hope for you. No hope for you.

Tomorrow people, where is your past?
Tomorrow people, how long will you last? Ten years!
Tomorrow people, where is your past?
Tomorrow, tomorrow people, come on.

If you don't know your past, you don't know your future, everyone!
Don't know the past, you won't know the future, everyman!
Don't know your past, don't know your future, come on!
You don't know your past, you don't know your future, hey!

How many people did that one catch?
How many nations did that one catch, yeah-yeah?
Don't know the past, Don't know the future.
Don't say, don't know your past, don't know your future

How many people did that one catch?
How many nations did that one catch, c'mon, c'mon!
Tomorrow, tomorrow people...

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Sinotized: It's Not Like We Were Taught

I agree with these thoughts about China after having been an often visitor to this land as well: Sinotized: It's Not Like We Were Taught

Chinese Number Taboos are Often Local

This is from my friend LI Wan, who translated this in to English for a friend of hers.

Taboo, belonging to the category of folk culture, is a cultural phenomenon. China is a multi-ethnic country, and different nations have different totems and taboos. Taboo is the source of moral and civilization. All the Chinese people have regarded long as a totem and worshiped long all the time. When Spring Festival or other Festivals come, people in almost all areas of china will give an performance of dragon dance. In Dragon Boat Festival people will have a dragon-boat race, which reflects the nation's positive and never-give-up spirit.

1. There are many taboos in Changsha where mainly inhabit Han nationality Just as westerners view the number of 13 as a taboo, we think of the goods priced at 33, 36, 7, 94, 250, etc. as taboos.


2. Buying a house on the 18th floor is a taboo, because according to Buddhism, there is a saying like driving into the 18 floors of hell, so the land agent usually set a lower price at the 18th floor.


3. We like 8, 9 to be a number’s ending, and do not prefer the ending is 3, 4, because in china the pronunciation of 8 is the same as “Facai” which refers to making a pile,and 9 means everlasting, but 3 sounds like “Sanhuo” which means separating, and 4 sounds the same as “Si” which is an equivalent of death. In Changsha it is a taboo for 7 persons to be at table together, it is more preferable for 8 , 10 or 12 persons to have dinner together.


4. Azaleas (Rhododendron),the city flower of Changsha City, is a taboo to be used as a gift as well as chrysanthemum. Now it is the golden autumn of chrysanthemums blooming, but we'd better not send chrysanthemum to other people. Otherwise,you will find your well-intentioned behavior only arouses anger, because Chrysanthemum is always used to mourn the dead.


5. It is a taboo to present an umbrella or a fan as a gift to friends, because the pronunciations of fan and umbrella are similar to “Sanhuo”. There are also some taboos for young people when they fall in love. It is not necessarily for men to send rose to express their love. Sending some willow branches or a handkerchief may be more effective in some places. Because in China there is a wonderful legend about sending willow branches, as for the handkerchief, it means that it is made of the horizontal and vertical silk threads and silk sounds like “Sinian” which refers to missing.

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Voting by mail and choosing a POTUS and VEEP from 14 Parties

I just received my mail-in ballot and am surprised at the number of third parties on the ballot. Pleasantly surprised! But I wonder how they decide the order to list them. I think it should be alphabetical order, but I think it is in the numerical vote order for that party in the last election, hence the Republican Party is listed, followed by the Democrat Party, Constitution Party, Libertarian Party, Green Party, and so on.. I find it interesting that my new county of residence uses the retarded "complete the arrow system" and does not allow a write in candidate for POTUS or Congressman, but does for Senator. For the record, I am actually voting one of the 2 big parties for POTUS but 3rd party for Senate. I have to vote big 2 for Congressman, as no other party has a candidate running. Of course, not knowing the judges here, I am not voting for or against any of them.

While the POTUS race seems to be tightening up between the 2 major parties, it was interesting to hear on NPR last night that Sarah Palin is going rogue and standing up for conservative ideals and no longer staying on McCain's talking points, looking out for herself, supposedly due to her knowing that McCain will lose.

Here are the people on the Colorado ballot for POTUS & VEEP:

• Republican: McCain/Palin
• Democrat: Obama/Biden
• Constitution: Baldwin/Castle
• Libertarian: Barr/Root
• Green: McKinney/Clemente
• HeartQuake '08: Allen/Stath (Never heard of this horribly short-sightedly named party before!)
• Prohibition: Amondson/Pletten
• Socialist Workers: Harris/Kennedy
• Boston Tea: Jay/Sallis
• America's Independent: Keyes/Rohrbough
• Socialism and Liberation: LaRiva/Moses
• US Pacifist: Lyttle/Bassford
• Socialist USA: Moore/Alexander
• Objectivist: Stevens/Link
• Unaffiliated: McEnulty/Mangan
• Unaffiliated: Nader/Gonzalez

I think a couple of these parties could use come consolidation, like the 3 Socialist parties; The Green and Pacifist parties; and the Constitution, Boston Tea, and Independent parties; etc. Interesting to see that neither the Independence nor Reform parties are running any candidates this year!

Imagine how much better the Presidential Candidate Debates, currently monopolized by the big two parties, would be if they allowed at least the Constitution, Libertarian, and Green parties have their candidates debate too!

Of note, for ID, I had to enclose a copy of a utility bill with my address since I am a new residence of this county!

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My Wedding Announcement in the Pueblo Chieftain!

See http://picasaweb.google.com/feisnik/WeddingPhotos#5259043951354999650 for a better resolution camera phone shot of the article from today's LIVING section of the PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN here in Colorado, USA.

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HOW-TO: Replace your temporary U.S. passport with a new 10-year passport

Check out this interesting answer on Yedda

Temporary passport replacement
You just need to fill out the online form at https://pptform.state.gov/FraudAbuseNotice.aspx?form=DS5504 then print of the document, sign it, and mail it in to:

National Passport
Processing Center
Post Office Box 90107
Philadelphia, PA 19190-0107
Topics: bermuda, lost, stolen, passport, i already paid the fee for 10 years.....

Answered by feisnik on October 18, 2008

View the entire discussion on Yedda

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XKCD so has me pegged!

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Books of Interest on China

If you are interested in going to China, or just enjoy others' stories about going there to live, to find romance, and adventure, the following books, IMO, are must reads.


First is Peking Story: The Last Days of Old China, a book about a Western man who was teaching English in China at the beginning of the Communist Revolution. He finds love, marriage, and an ever changing political climate that is fascinating to read, especially for someone who knows modern China of 2008 and can compare it to the China David Kidd once knew.


Next is Iron & Silk, another great story of an English teacher and now filmmaker named Mark Salzman, who falls in love with China, almost finds romance, and ends up being taught Chinese martial arts from many masters. This story is from a city in HuNan Province that I love, ChangSha, and shows big changes since the 1980's.


Finally we have Matthew Polly's often hilarious American ShaoLin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China, which is an autobiographical book about a young man going to China to learn Kung Fu at the ShaoLin Temple before it became a tourist trap. He finds meaning, strength, romance, and enlightenment and will have you laughing for hours.

I actually read these books in the reverse order and having been to China many times, I found each entertaining and educational. China is ever more open than the most recent book, American ShaoLin, relates to the reader, but the 3 books show how China has changed over the past 60 years. "Iron & Silk" is now a movie and "American ShoLin" will soon be one too, but I think the books are still the way to go. I hope that one day "Peking Story" will be put on the big screen as well.

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Buy my wedding album!

Through the magic on the Interwebs and QOOP, everyone can buy our wedding album for the low, low price of only $49.99 here. You can also see the first 15 pages there as well. This is cheaper than purchasing one in China and shipping it over to America via FedEx.

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Wedding Photos!

My wedding photos are finally processed, scanned and uploaded to Facebook. Sorry about the delay. You can see them at http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=53206&l=80e1a&id=505257160. Unfortunately Asian photo taking and retouching tries to make the skin more pale, prings out the red-tones, and softens the jaw line. All three are things that do not help my appearance at all. So while my wife looks beautiful in these pictures (as she always does), I am not very fond of my looks in many of these photographs. Please feel free to comment about the pictures on Facebook, or if you are not a Facebook member and do not wish to join, you may comment here as well. I love comments! :-)

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Soulmates

I always liked the idea of soul mates, but I am not sure I believed in them thoroughly. That is, until I met my wife. As I have said before, she and I connect and are compatible on not only level I would want in a mate, but we connect on other levels I never expected or realized it was able to connect on. We are a perfect fit, like 2 puzzle pieces that were made to be together. And it is not just me who notices. Her family and my family have noticed how happy we make one another and others have even seen it in pictures. I have to wonder how rare it is that someone would not only have but meet and actually marry their soulmate? I do not know, but I consider myself the luckiest man int he world to have someone who loves me unlike I have ever been loved and someone who I love unlike I have ever loved anyone before. I truly am happy and satisfied with life when she is with me. If she were to die before me, I am sure that like many truly in-love elderly couples who experience this, I would die of a lonely heart and my prime desire to be with her,

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Superficial Thoughts on BeiJing, P.R.C.

I think I like ChangSha and even YuanJiang, in HuNan Province better than BeiJing. Do not get me wrong. BeiJing has some wonderful sights, a wonderful airport, excellent subway and bus system, and some great people like Winser Zhao and family (pictured to the left), but it is just not my kind of city. (Fei says I only feel this way because I was pick-pocketed, sold a fake memory card, and got sick in BeiJing!) Plus they are all taller up north and I no longer feel tall. LOL! It did not help that so many super-tall northern Europeans were in BeiJing when I was there either! In South China, people are shorter (like my perfect sized wife who is 158cm/5'2") and me being 175cm/5'9", I feel tall, which I like, as 5'9" is not tall in America or BeiJing! :-D

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Evil Twins

Usually twins will not only look the same, but also have the same interests, aspirations, and desires in life. Sometimes this is not so. Though there may be moral disparity between actual biological twins, the term is more often a misnomer. In many cases, the two look-alikes are not actually twins. In others, the so-called "evil" twin is more precisely a dual opposite to their "good" counterpart, possessing at least some commonality with the value system of the protagonist.

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The Wedding Video!

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China

So I am still in China (which is a story within itself for a later blog entry) but I wanted to let everyone know that my time in HuNan Province from 1-12 August was great! I will detail the wedding at http://feisnik.blogspot.com and I am uploading pictures as I get them on my Facebook page at http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=505257160. I finally met Fei's twin sister, YanHong; and it was good to see the two MeiMeis who I like and get along with really well, YanZi and YanFan. YanZi's husband and I of course drank many beers over those 2 weeks and it is always good to see DiDi. As I said before, I will blog about the wedding on the marriage blog and then return here to blog more about being stuck in BeiJing, which is also being covered somewhat at the new Facebook.

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QiXi: Chinese Valentine's Day and Olympic Love

In 2008, Beijing is undoubtedly the focus of the world, because the 29th Olympic Games will be held here. It is not only a grand affair of the mankind, but also a great honor of Chinese people. We are solicitous of the advent of the Olympics and as well, we warmly welcome you to come to Beijing to appreciate the infinite glamour of the oriental ancient civilizations.

On the occasion of worldwide celebration, the coming of traditional Chinese Valentine's Day adds more festivity to the atmosphere. Double Seventh Day, the Valentine's Day in China on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, which falls on August 7 this year, while Aug. 8 is the opening day of 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Quite mysteriously, it seems that the Olympics is destined to be connected with the Double Seventh Day, QiXi.

The indissoluble bond between the Olympics and love was tied since the first Olympic Games. In the old Greek legend, Pelops was the grandson of the Olympian Zeus, the ruler of the Olympus. He fell in love with Hippodameia, the daughter of King Oenomaus of the Elis City. A god once predicted that Oenomaus would die if his daughter had got married. Therefore, he came up with an idea that anyone who wanted to marry his daughter had to race carriages with him. Only the winner could have his dream come true. 12 warriors lost the race and also their lives. Finally, Nelops resorted to Poseidon and won the game with the magic carriage and flying horse borrowed from him. Nelops had his wish fulfilled and also became the king of the Elis City. To celebrate his victory, he launched the world famous Olympic Games.

As well, the will of perseverance lying behind the beautiful love story of Double Seventh Day happens to be similar to the Olympic spirit. The legend goes like this: Zhi Nu was the youngest of the seven daughters of the Queen Mother, while, Niu Lang was a poor orphan cowherd, driven out of his home by his sister-in-law. His only companion was an old magical cow.

Under the direction of the cow, Niu Lang successfully married the youngest fairy, Zhi Nu. They lived happily together and had two children before the Queen Mother discovered Zhi Nu's absence. Queen Mother was so annoyed that she had Zhi Nu brought back to heaven. Again, with the help of the magical cow, Niu Lang was able to follow Zhi Nu into heaven. He was about to reach his wife when the Queen showed up and pulled off her hairpin to draw a line between the two. The line became the Silver River (also called Milky Way ) in heaven.

Zhi Nu went back to the heavenly workshop, going on weaving the clouds. But she missed her husband and children across the Silver River so much that the clouds she weaved seemed sad. Their loyalty to love touched magpies, so tens of thousands magpies came to build a bridge for the Cowhand and Weaver Maid to meet each other. Finally, the Queen showed a little mercy, allowing the couple to meet each year on the 7th of the 7th lunar month on the Silver River. Then for lovers who can not be together temporarily, this day became an important festival.

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HOW-TO: Announce the International Wedding Online

So the bride has her parents pick an auspicious day and everything is ready to go. But how do you let your friends in many countries know what you need? Well as for us, we used Facebook and specifically the application, "WeddingBook" by WedSnap. With it we were able to announce the date and place of the wedding, our online Wedding Registries at Amazon, Cutco, and Target, and also able to invite people — all electronically!

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I won! I won! I won!

I received an envelope from China today, which is not unusual in itself. But what was inside was. I won third prize in the 2008 Olympics Global Contest sponsored by China Radio International! I received a nice certificate suitable for framing and one of the Games of the 29th Olympiad International Pre-Stamped Postcard in an awesome Fuwa stand-up frame. The prize may be small, but I am very excited to have won this international essay contest that over 300,000 people entered!

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My Slide.com Nik+Fei Slide Show!

Hand Painted and Metal Greek, Russian, and Ukrainian Orthodox Icons for sale CHEAP! Moving Sale!

I am getting ready to move due to a new job, and besides needing cash, I found that I have a BUNCH of duplicate icons that I had put away and forgotten about! I am even selling some hand painted icons from Russia! These are some very beautiful icons, but with close of my mission and with my hundreds of icons that I own, I have no space to display them. My loss is your gain! All icon auctions are starting at only 99 cents American. See all my auctions on eBay at http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZfeisnik