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Not to mention, there is no set date, and “won’t be until the last minute”, filming at the whim of a bunch of tech doofi down in the least accessible area of the city?
No pay for that? Ladies, big time caveat here. The exploitations of lao wai are becoming more brazen than ever before!
The “launch your acting career” line is the funniest part. Monkey around in startup promo video + youku = regular on CCTV. Haw haw.
Is it possible to just submit articles for publication? I can’t really write on a weekly basis, but I wouldn’t mind laying out some features about the city (province, country, region) from time to time.
What is this game of thrones? Can someone supply a premise in a short paragraph which explains the draw? Sounds like a medieval political power game or something. What is the necessity of all this GoT business?
I play bass from time to time. Is there an electric bass in house? I might have to buy one soon.
American, 35, singer/songwriter. The usual.
wechat: mastersandwich
I don’t see too many beggars. Certainly not on the scale of Austin or Seattle. But I usually give the old guys something. Except once in Gansu there was a muslim guy with his little hat and robe hanging around a sparkling disneyland-castle mosque bothering people for money while they ate their noodles. Of course he may have been faking it, but that really pisses me off, considering how filthy rich organized religions are. What’s he gonna do? Take my money and put it into the mohammad fund? Go ask your Imam for a handout, buddy. Besides, bothering me while I’m eating will never turn out well 😉
C’mon guys. “The second album”, so they say, is the hardest album of the career. Especially when you’re coming off something like MAAD city.
Give it a few months, I think it will “reveal stage tricks like Jimi Hendrix” heyhey – just heard that line today. Bonus points to who nails the singer…
Sounds like you’re much more initiated with the rap world than myself. Though when you mentioned 2Pac I did hear some resemblance. I’ve never heard NAS, maybe I should start listening.
There’s a bar at JiuYanQiao that has some kind of open mic for rap, etc. I stumbled into it once. Some pretty interesting guys on stage. Seems that the chinese languages naturally lend themselves to rap/spoken word. Chinese pop, on the other hand, nearly unbearable!
Thanks Ryan, I’ll stop in when I’m over on your side of town. Mexican food truly is out of this world.
Thanks for the in-depth response, Charlie. All around great points.
I don’t think that the legal atmosphere in China can be fairly called equivalent to the United States for many reasons.
Very much agreed. At least the US system has independent press with the authority to investigate whatever they see fit. Though I am admittedly behind/lazy on following precedents of law and order in both countries.
A few weeks ago I was in Golden Gate Park and realized that nothing like that could ever exist in China, nor could Central Park in Manhattan. It would have long been made into condos by a property developer with guanxi.
I find myself thinking this on a constant basis – particularly in Chengdu. They just don’t have parks here. They have paved walkways through hideously landscaped nooks of the city – most of which are just leftovers from 60+ years ago. Any indigenous vegetation was bulldozed long ago and replaced with randomness. All hills have been and still are being flattened. This being the Sichuan basin, you’d think Chengdu would be a city of bamboo forests. Fat chance there.
Now consider those parks which you’d mentioned; massive, gorgeous swaths of indigenous greenery occupying the most prime acres of real estate in the world. Big-time respect to Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux. Those guys were centuries before their time.
Hi Charlie,
I don’t think the creator cited any laws broken, I think that he was just more upset about the practices in effect (venting, as you said). He apparently found that doing business in such a way was disingenuous or crude, so-to-speak.
But I think it’s good that you challenged my comment to the context of the current century. We can’t be bothered with what the forefathers did in their time/zeitgeist.
The laws in this case really don’t matter. First of all, corporations are the primary lobbyists for laws written. It’s easy for them to follow their own rules. Secondly, US corporations don’t have to follow US laws when they hand off responsibility to a local/regional firm. Foxconn, for example. In other industries, sweatshops have existed for a reason. Look at P&G or Coca-Cola, who have been wreaking havoc over rainforests across the globe for decades. There may be laws, but who’s gonna enforce them? And against a foreign intermediary?
There’s no law that can teach human decency. Laws are designed for punitive purposes, not preventative. By the time you punish someone, the damage has already been done. I think the creator of the thread is right to criticize what he sees as poor behavior. What we can accomplish as citizens overseeing the next guy/gal, no law will ever achieve. Law enforcement in America has made too much of a farce of itself to ever be taken seriously. I don’t need to tell you that the USA has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Most of which is the result of individuals who were holding bags of grass, something which grows naturally upon the earth.
Anyways, it has been an interesting thread to read. Who knows the real story with this guy, but he brought up some interesting issues that are worth talking about.
Pretty interesting thread. It surprises me how much trust and faith people around the world have in US gov/corporations. Be reminded that the powers that exist in the USA are descendant of our forefathers, who were all slave-owning bigots who wanted a nation of “freedom” for all (not including blacks, natives or women ). Trust in the virtues of American people – or people of the world for that matter – all you want. But a government or corporation rarely ever gives a flying —- about you.
