A Scene in Zhuhai: Fishbowls for Sale

One morning in Zhuhai I passed this girl who was helping place some fishbowls for sale in front of her family's store:

Like another little helper in Guangzhou, she seemed surprised to see me taking a photo of her. After I showed her the results, though, she smiled and did a little dance. As I walked away she happily returned her attention to the fishbowls.

Starbucks and its Customers Both Paying a Higher Price in China

At a Starbucks in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, I spoke with a number of employees during their team meeting a few days ago.



One of the items on the agenda was planning for the upcoming Halloween holiday. In some ways, the workers reminded me of a young woman I met in Nanning who enjoyed working at another American company--McDonald's.

Starbucks was especially on my mind because it recently had the honor of being the latest foreign company to receive the wrath of the China Central Television Network (CCTV). As Adam Minter wrote in Bloomberg's World View blog:

What did Starbucks Corp. ever do to the Chinese Communist Party?

That’s the question China’s latte-sipping set is asking in the wake of a now-notorious investigation, first aired on national television Sunday, that revealed -- among other examples of allegedly shameless profiteering -- that a tall latte costs about 45 cents more at a Starbucks in Beijing than it does at one in London, and that Starbucks’s profit margins in the Asia-Pacific region exceed those of any other in which the company operates.

The story has dominated China, with major international news media outlets subsequently picking up on it.

Read the rest of Minter's post here. The big issue here isn't Starbucks unfairly charging customers in China more than elsewhere. Instead, the CTTV's report is another example of the additional challenges non-Chinese companies can face in China, even if they are offering something strongly desired by many Chinese consumers and providing better-than-average opportunities for Chinese workers.

Nonetheless, I would welcome another CCTV report on Chinese paying more for a foreign brand's beverage. After all, "imported wines to China are subject to taxes that amount to about 48% of the declared value." That usually works out to costing to a bit more than 45 cents. Wine consumption in China is rapidly growing, so wouldn't many Chinese be happy for foreign wines to cost less? And the tax is entirely controlled by the Chinese government. How can you lose, CCTV?*



*Yes, reducing the tax wouldn't necessarily guarantee a drop in wine prices. But if prices didn't fall after a big change in taxes, CCTV could conduct another investigation!

Tchotchkes for Sale at Night in Zhuhai

At a popular area along the Pear River Estuary in Zhuhai, Guangdong, it is common to see people selling a variety of small items, many sea-related, which can be of interest to tourists. For most of the items, if I were to present them as gifts to my parents I'm sure they'd be fondly described as tchotchkes. Below are several photos I took earlier this evening of tchotchkes for sale.









The buildings visible on the other side of the water are in Macau--one of China's Special Administrative Regions. For some daytime photos from similar vantage points, see my earlier post about Macau's border with mainland China--something I can cross far more easily than most Chinese.

A Zhuhai Bar with a Giant Inflatable Rubber Duck

In an area of Zhuhai with a number of upscale clubs and bars, one of the establishments decided it needed a special piece of ornamentation outside.

A young man working there offered to take my photo with the duck. I politely declined.

If you're unfamiliar with the role giant inflatable rubber ducks have had in China this year, for a summary of the South China Morning Post's excitement over the original duck in Hong Kong see Shanghaiist here, for more general Hong Kong excitement over the duck see Hong Wrong here, for why China's Communist Party might not be thrilled about the above bar duck see an article from AFP here, and for an assortment of Beijing-related giant duck news see Beijing Cream here.

There's probably not much I could say that hasn't been said before. But if that's still not enough duck for you, email me for the approximate address of the Zhuhai bar. Last time I walked by the duck was still there.

More Dust Cloud Art in Zhuhai

I will touch on a topic I did not expect to revisit. Today as I approached a previously featured intersection in Zhuhai, China, I saw a familiar cloud of dust.

Yes, the gravelblower had returned. Many passersby on the nearby and not-so-nearby sidewalks covered their mouths and noses with their hands, shirts, or whatever else they had available. Here are a few scenes of people who especially immersed themselves in the experience:

While watching what could be a piece of performance art, I considered other solutions for removing the gravel and also wondered if I had missed the real purpose of the gravelblower. And then, as if someone had read my mind, other workers came to do their thing.

Some workers used brooms to sweep the gravel into piles, and others used shovels to remove the piles--all while the gravelblower continued making dust clouds. Notably, the workers were upwind from the gravelblower. Also, the sweepers were more efficient at moving the gravel than the gravelblower. I dared to wonder whether it was possible someone decided to use a leafblower so the sweepers and shovelers would breathe in less dust. If that was the goal, I suppose I should start calling the gravelblower a "dustblower". And there are several shortcomings to their process--at least one of which could be readily pointed out by the passersby walking though the dust cloud.

Somehow, the performance art idea seems more appealing.

Finally, as I pondered gravel clearing processes, I noticed I wasn't the only one who felt compelled to stop and watch for short amount of time.

Insights from those familiar with road construction and gravel removal are welcome. Otherwise, I think I'll bring this topic to a close.

Traditional Bakery Advertising in Macau

I need to keep it simple today, so I will share a colorful scene of a Koi Kei bakery delivery truck near a Koi Kei billboard advertisement in Macau's Taipa Village.



As suggested by the design of the advertisements, Koi Kei is a traditional-style Macanese store. It sells a variety of food products, including cakes, candies, and meat jerky. One great aspect of Koi Kei's stores, at least the ones I have seen, is the large variety of free samples available for tasting. They have a number of locations in Macau, several more in Hong Kong, and one in Singapore. One of their stores is down the narrow street next to the sign. The street is also the location for a favorite Portuguese restaurant of mine in Macau--O Santos. Needless to say, I rarely leave this area feeling hungry.

Crossing a Dust-Cloud-Free Intersection in Zhuhai

Today I crossed the intersection where yesterday I saw and heard a man using a leaf blower to move gravel and creating a large cloud of dust, so I thought I'd provide a brief update.

Men were still working in the road as vehicles and pedestrians moved around them, but there were no signs of the gravelblower or his dust clouds. Nothing seemed highly unusual.

Barring any exciting developments, this concludes the chapter on gravelblowing in China.

Small Scale Air Pollution: Blowing Gravel in Zhuhai

This afternoon as I approached a large street intersection, I came across a rather non-mellifluous sound and a scene somewhat like a miniature Beijing sandstorm.

I immediately thought of James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic. It wasn't because I am in Zhuhai, which Fallows has described as "a sprawling, not-universally-adored, tropical-coastal Chinese city that I have really come to appreciate on several visits" and possessing "surprising charms". Instead, I recalled that Fallows has a strong dislike (to put it mildly) of leafblowers. Today, blowing leaves would have been a welcomed alternative even though I, too, am not a fan of leafblowers.

That a man was working in the middle of an unblocked section of a busy street probably wouldn't get most people's attention here. But it seemed more notable to see the man using a "gravelblower" in an attempt to clean up gravel while seemingly creating more of a mess than there was to begin with and creating a nuisance for people trying to cross the intersection or use nearby sidewalks. The photos don't do justice to the cloud he created. Even standing on the other side of the intersection dust got in my eyes and on my camera lens.

Given that the blower appeared to be more effective at spreading a huge dust cloud than moving gravel, it's hard not to believe there wasn't a better way. I suspect many of the passersby I saw would agree.

Here are a few more scenes:

In places such as Shanghai, whenever the air is bad it is common to hear something like "at least I'm not in X", with X usually being Beijing. In today's case, I will say that it was easy enough to leave the Zhuhai gravelblower in the dust, and at least I was not in Harbin's nightmare.

Sales Promotions for Hongmi in Nanping, Zhuhai

At the same shopping district where I saw a variety of mobile phones for sale in Nanping, on Saturday evening at least three stores had outdoor sales promotions for Hongmi -- the new budget smartphone from the Chinese brand Xiaomi.

Does this mean there was plenty of loud noise? Yes. Does this mean Xiaomi is topping the sales at most mobile phone stores in Nanping? Based on what I heard and saw at several stores, it doesn't seem so.

In a later post I'll say more about mobile phone sales in Nanping and whether Xiaomi is a threat to Apple as some people have claimed.

A Very Late Night / Early Morning Fish in Zhuhai

My body decided it would be a great idea to be awake at 4:30 a.m. and hungry. So I went outside and planned to stop by a local convenience store to pick up a snack. However, I saw a nearby dining establishment was still open.

I felt right at home with the stools.

They had a few items left to grill, and I placed my order .

The view from my table

The veggies came first, and then the fish arrived.

Fish on sticks

The fish cost just 10 kuai, about US $1.60. It is a common fish in Zhuhai, but every place I've had it prepares it a slightly different way. This one was on the garlicky side.

The experience is nothing remarkable in China, but it's part of what I enjoy here. The "no frills" environment suited me just fine today. And most importantly, the fish was good.

The October Beer Street Festival in Zhuhai

During a visit to a shopping district in Zhuhai's Nanping Town yesterday, I felt a craving for potatoes, but none of the street food vendors had anything of interest to me. I then recalled unexpectedly stumbling upon a German restaurant a week or two ago. I thought it might do the trick, and it was only about a 10-15 minute walk away.

Upon reaching my destination, I discovered it was my lucky day as it was the location of Zhuhai's three day October Beer Street Festival--probably the closest thing to Octoberfest in Zhuhai. The St. Pauli Kommune German Restaurant & Bar was participating and had a special selection of food outside.

Several other tents sold non-German food. And one tent sold selections from Finsta--a German family-owned distillery based in Xinxing County several hours away from Zhuhai. After sampling the offerings, I left with my first bottle of red lychee brandy--good stuff and not too sweet. Lychees will never be the same for me.

My initial goal was food oriented, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that potatoes were included in the meal I ordered from the St. Pauli tent.

Given that the meal was a smaller portion and it passed muster (including the potatoes), I decide to sample another selection. This time, though, I accompanied it with some Hofbräu draft beer.

Of course, the festival included music and dancing appropriate for the "party" theme of the day.

The crowd steadily grew through the night, with the focus mostly on the stage.

Although sometimes the performers came out into the crowd.

Similar to experiencing a bit of China in Germany, it was fascinating to see the mix of very different cultures. And I'm glad I had an unusual craving for potatoes, or I probably would have missed it.

Zhuhai Night