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Sunday, March 22, 2015

A Drop of World Water Day From Zhongshan, China

Yesterday at a blt supermarket in Zhongshan, China, I was reminded that today, March 22, is World Water Day.

"12% off" sale for a selection of bottled water at BLT in Zhongshan

Like a recent promotion in Zhongshan on International Women's Day, I question whether it appropriately reflects the day's spirit. A sale of relatively expensive waters from around the world on a day partly focused on finding ways more people can have access to any sort of safe water doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. But I guess I shouldn't complain. I visited this particular supermarket specifically due to its unusual-for-Zhongshan selection of carbonated water and saved a few RMB.

Although carbonated water is a treat for me here, in Zhongshan I always drink bottled water. I wouldn't feel safe regularly drinking tap water in China.

Finding clear and reliable numbers on China's water safety can be challenging. For example, although a 2014 report by the World Health Organization and Unicef indicates China has made notable strides in the number of people with access to improved drinking sources, this is largely based on the assumption that having piped water on premises is better. The report doesn't address whether the tap water in China is actually safe. Even by China's own standards, though, much of its water is bad. Incidents of severe water contamination are obviously not positive signs and some experts are highly suspicious of tap water. Other experts argue that China's approach to improving water access and water quality largely through a "infrastructure-focused approach" is misguided and should instead "focus on cleaning water sources and recycling water".

When I wonder about the reliability of the bottled water I drink and the amount of tap water I have ingested indirectly through prepared foods, I am not sure how much I have accomplished. One of the things I enjoy during my trips to the U.S. is drinking and using water straight from the tap without worry. This is one respect where I would say most Americans don't appreciate how good they have it.

For more about something that is so important yet easy for some to take for granted, see Tariq Khokhar's "5 reasons why water is key to sustainable development" and David Sim's "World Water Day 2015: Photos to make you think twice about wasting this precious resource". The latter includes a number of striking images from China and elsewhere providing more reason to appreciate regular access to safe water, especially if it as close as the kitchen sink.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Spring in Zhongshan

For many in the northern hemisphere in the West, March 20th marks the first day of spring. For those in China who also associate spring with the March equinox, the same astronomical moment occurs early in the morning on March 21st.

So here is a scene from a park next to the Shiqi River on what could be called the last day of winter in Zhongshan:

man with a young girl riding a motorbike through a riverside park

But Zhongshan is far south, roughly similar in latitude to Havana, Cuba (which matches up even better with Zhongshan's neighbor to the north, Guangzhou). So it really doesn't experience much of what I would call winter. Combined with the fact that in China spring would be traditionally said to have begun on the arrival last month of the new Year of the Yang, there is plenty of reason to say spring was already here.

An Ice Cream Walk in Zhongshan

young man and young woman walking on a Sunwen West Road Pedestrian Street while eating ice cream
Walking on Sunwen West Road Pedestrian Street in Zhongshan and eating ice cream not from Ice Stone Creamery

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Mixing It Up In China: The Ice Stone Creamery Sells Ice Cream With a Familiar Look

U.S.-based Cold Stone Creamery opened its first mainland China ice cream store near People's Square in Shanghai in 2007. Many more Cold Stone stores have since opened elsewhere in Shanghai and also Beijing, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Tianjin, and Wuxi.

Recently during a walk, I was surprised to see their reach had spread to Zhongshan, Guangdong province, as well. The first time I briefly saw the store, though, something seemed off. When I passed by another time, it hit me. Despite the outside resemblance, the store wasn't actually a Cold Stone Creamery.

Ice Stone Creamery shop (酷石客冰淇淋料理专家 ) in Zhongshan, China


The name of the Ice Stone Creamery store isn't all that seems to have been inspired by the Cold Stone Creamery. Here is the logo for the Cold Stone Creamery in China:

Cold Stone Creamery China logo


The ice cream logos for Cold Stone and Ice Stone aren't exactly the same, but, like the names, the resemblance is rather remarkable. I could recognize the difference only after a direct comparison.

Ice Stone Creamery appears to have an account on Sina Weibo — a Chinese online service roughly equivalent to Facebook and Twitter.

中山Leonidas酷石客 Sina Weibo account page


Curiously, "Leonidas" takes the place of "Ice Stone Creamery" in its name, although "Ice Stone" can be seen in some posted photos. The most recent post, which is from September, 2013, shows a photo of the store I saw before it opened at the Central Power Plaza shopping mall. The account also mentions other locations in Zhongshan.

After recognizing the store for what it was, I felt compelled to give it a try to see how it compared.

inside the Ice Stone Creamery (酷石客冰淇淋料理专家 ) shop at Central Power Plaza shopping mall


In response to my questioning, the server proudly told me they were a local Zhongshan store. They offered a variety of flavors such as cantaloupe, chocolate, coconut, cookie, cranberry, durian, and green tea. For 18 RMB (about U.S. $2.88) I ordered a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Unlike the Cold Stone Creamery, the chocolate chips were already in the ice cream and other toppings were offered only after the ice cream was in a cup.

a cup of Ice Stone Creamery's mint chip ice cream


As I sat down with my ice cream (sans additional toppings), the remarkable placement of a trademark symbol next to the Ice Stone Creamery logo on the cup reminded me of a 7-Eleven lookalike store in Guizhou. But what I was most interested in was the taste of the ice cream, so I quickly dug in. And the taste truly puzzled me. It was difficult to notice any mint flavor and identify what I could taste. A few more not-especially-creamy spoonfuls left me rather disappointed, so I tossed the rest — something I rarely do with ice cream in China (or anywhere).

Last year, an American visited an Ice Stone store at another location in Zhongshan and had a different experience:
The ice cream was great though! It came with toppings, a waffle cone and all! We will DEFINITELY be going back there again.
So perhaps I would have better luck with another flavor or Ice Stone store. Or perhaps Ice Stone hasn't maintained the quality of its ice cream. Or perhaps the person has a very different perspective on ice cream. I don't know. Whatever the case, like with the McDonald's Year of Fortune Burgers, I don't feel especially motivated to give Ice Stone's ice cream a second try.

I don't know whether Cold Stone is aware of Ice Stone and whether there is much it has done or can do from a legal perspective. But I do know that I will later have more to share from China about other imitators and, thankfully, better ice cream.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

A Cool Dog Just Standing Around in Zhongshan

I have seen a number of pet dogs in China. Today in Zhongshan, Guangdong, I met perhaps the coolest of them all.

man sitting next to a small dog wearing sunglassess while standing on a stool

Thursday, March 12, 2015

A Dream on a Wall in Zhongshan

A mural about achieving the dream of the Chinese people's "rejuvenation":

patriotic mural depicting some of China's recent achievements with the Chinese "实现中华民族伟大复兴,就是中华民族近代来最伟大的梦想。"
Alongside Zhongshan 1st Road in Zhongshan, Guangdong

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Monitoring a No-Photography Zone

A sign I saw today at a store in Zhongshan, Guangdong, seemed symbolic of a common theme in both China and the U.S.: an expectation to monitor but not be monitored.

sign with words "Here Are Monitoring" and a "No Photography"

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Fang Tang's Caricature World at the Zhongshan Cartoon Museum

The Zhongshan Cartoon Museum (中山漫画馆)
The Zhongshan Cartoon Museum (中山漫画馆)

The Zhongshan Cartoon Museum (website in Chinese) opened just over two years ago at scenic Yixian Lake Park in Zhongshan, Guangdong. The Chinese characters "漫画" (mànhuà) in the museum's name are translated into English as "cartoon". But in a different context on a sign introducing a collection of pieces by Fang Tang (方唐), the characters are translated as "caricature", which captures the spirit of his work displayed there.

Fang Tang, formerly known as Chen Shubin, was born in Zhongshan in 1938 and has achieved national recognition (source in Chinese). According to the Zhongshan Daily Overseas Edition, Fang donated a number of his pieces to the museum because he felt it was a better option than them becoming "rubbish" after he dies. As a whole, I considered Fang's works to be the most striking examples in the museum, in large part due to the topics they covered.

Below are photographs of six examples of his work along with their titles. I would typically take a pass on translating artwork titles, especially without consulting the artist. However, for the sake of providing some context, I gave it a shot, erring on the simplistic side. Titles in the original Chinese are included as well, and dates are listed when possible.

With the exception of "Henpecked Disease", I would not have been surprised to see the below examples as editorial cartoons in an American publication, although a slightly different meaning could have been intended or interpreted in some cases. The pieces provide a taste not only of what Fang wanted to creatively express but also of what he has been allowed to express in China.

Sign introducing the collection of pieces by Fang Tang
Sign introducing the collection


Security (安全) by Fang Tang (方唐) depicting the Statue of Liberty waving a metal detector over people
Security — 安全 (2003)


Give Some Oil (给点油吧) by Fang Tang (方唐) depicting apparent religious/spiritual figures and the Statue of Liberty al in line to receive oil
Give a Bit of Oil — 给点油吧 (1981)


Recollecting (回想) by Fang Tang (方唐) depicting men looking at a caged bird in a deforested area left only with tree stumps
Recollecting — 回想 (1986)


Henpecked Disease (惧内症) by Fang Tang (方唐) depicting crowd of men running away after an angry-looking woman is revealed on a pedestal
Henpecked Disease — 惧内症 (1985)


Worship (崇拜) by Fang Tang (方唐) depicting a man walking by a pointing man standing atop a pyramid of people bowing
Worship — 崇拜


Conviction (信仰) by Fang Tang (方唐) depicting a man impaled by a arrow sign and holding an arrow point in the other direction while also holding a book
Conviction — 信仰

Monday, March 9, 2015

Mr. Beauty

man riding a tricycle-cart past a store named Mr. Beauty
Minzu Road in Zhongshan, Guangdong

Not Letting It Happen: International Women's Day in China

This year's International Women's Day theme is "Make It Happen". As reported in The New York Times, China didn't want too much to happen though:
China detained at least 10 women’s rights activists over the weekend to forestall a nationwide campaign against sexual harassment on public transportation that would overlap with International Women’s Day, according to human rights advocates and associates of the detained activists. . . .

On Friday evening, police officers in Beijing detained Li Tingting, who works under the pseudonym of Li Maizi. Ms. Li has been known in advocacy circles since she started a campaign in 2012 to push officials to build more public toilets for women. She was then a 22-year-old student. Also on Friday, an activist in Guangzhou, Zheng Churan, was detained by the police. The homes of Ms. Li and Ms. Zheng were both searched.
China's number one online search service Baidu also chose a curious way to "Make It Happen":


During the special day in Zhongshan, Guangdong province, I saw a promotion located in front of a shopping mall. I didn't notice any specific mention of International Women's Day, but a display was regularly restocked with flowers which were offered to women:

young man place flowers into the back of a display


The promotion highlighted hair removal services offered by the AIST "beauty hospital". The stems of the flowers helped create the illusion of hair around a woman's lips:

promotion for hair removal service with stems of flowers forming hair around the image of a woman's lips

The promotion suggested that hair removal could lead to increased kisses or could improve one chances of finding a boyfriend. I guess that was their suggestion for how to "Make It Happen".

I didn't notice much else, except that in front of the mall and around the nearby popular pedestrian street, there was an unusually large police presence keeping a close eye on things.

As far as I know, nothing happened.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

A Looney Tunes Sighting in Zhongshan

Who is not a fan of Looney Tunes?

man wearing a Looney Tunes jacket riding a tricycle cart

More tomorrow on the topic of cartoons in Zhongshan, China, though these cartoons will have a far more political aim than Looney Tunes.

Friday, March 6, 2015

Spider-Man and an Ewok: Watched From Above

I have recently noticed a peculiar pattern — characters from popular fantasy and science fiction movies suspiciously watching me from high vantage points as I walk outside in China. Here are just two examples:

a large Spider-Man figure peeking over the top of the Sunshine Mall
Spider-Man watching me in Chongqing

A dog resembling an Ewok looking down from a porch
An Ewok watching me in Zhongshan

Coincidence? You decide. But I am going to keep looking up.