Haven't yet found time to do justice to my stay in Beijing, so I'll take the shortcut of dangling just a few

China Odds 'n' Ends

...to remind me how much more there is to say. Come back for more someday. Tons of stories, of course. Also see travel pictures for something a bit more general...

Signs of the times

spit smocking A few of the many amusing signs we captured... the first two are fairly self-explanatory.

centcemea This one's slightly more puzzling, unless you know that it's the sign for the men's restroom, and opposite was a sign for "LADIES". It may also help to assume there was some kind of shortage of the appropriate red plastic letters.

This must be the on-ramp...

I taught English for a few weeks Spring 1996 in Beijing, and one afternoon I was cycling to class ready to teach the article shown here. The billboard below had already whizzed past by the time I realized that it was the same one mentioned in the lead of the article! (It says: "How far are the Chinese people from the information highway?")

internet

Incidentally, try teaching the phrases (highlighted in the article) below sometime:

  • "the Communist Party is loosening its once total control over the flow of information in China"
  • "caught the online bug ... and has picked up a few high-caffeine marketing techniques"
  • "where both the wired and the wannabes gather to exchange E-mail and breathe the Internet's libertarian air"
  • "weed overtly political speech"
article

Trademark law? Hmm...

nexpress This picture was taken in Shanghai on one of the main shopping streets not far from the Bund. Look carefully behind me -- that's a Golden Arch and a half! And it's called ... yes, it's "Nancy's Express"!!! My Beijing sources tell me of candies advertised as melting in your mouth... (you fill in the rest -- I don't want any trademark problems!) and whose packaging sports little candies with n's etched on them. Hmm...

Note also this excerpt from the Copyright Law of the PRC: This Law is enacted, in accordance with the Constitution for the purposes of protecting the copyrights of authors in their literary, artistic and scientific works and rights and interests related to copyright, of encouraging the creation and dissemniation of works which would contribute to the building of an advanced socialist culture and ideology and to socialist material development, and of promoting the development and flourishing of socialist culture and sciences.


ice A picture of the annual Ice Festival. All the structures in this cavernous hall were carved out of ice!! The neon lights give it an almost Disney-esque flavor (but it was much colder). Note on scale: the pagoda in the middle is truly five stories high!

To my main page / To my personal page

Nancy Chang - nchang @ icsi.berkeley.edu
Last real update: 26 August, 1997