Back in London, greeted by gloomy weather, rainy and wet, then today it turned sunny in the morning- beautiful blue sky, and gusty, it doesn't feel like spring. Walking around in the neighborhood of Hammersmith, Kensignton and Baron's court, some of the residentials are quite nice.
Hitting my emotional low point last night, feeling a bit stranded in a strange foreign land. But then again, this is my choice to get out of the "comfort zone", so I can't really complain. Tough start, but it will only get better.
And yes, we only grow when we have to overcome challenges! London, a place I will call it home soon....
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
The real socialism
Back in Sweden again - 6 months since my last trip here. It was actually snowing yesterday here, something very rarely happen in Beijing in late Feb. And today it feels colder with the wind chill. Working in this half Swedish company for three years, I have come to much better understanding of this Nordic country. It is a socialist country in reality, even it never claim itself as a socialist country.
It is a fairly balanced society, you still find poor people, but overall people have a good life and their welfare are taken care of by the government. It is actually a smart system in a way that people are motivated to work for 10 years before they decided to have kids because by doing that they will be able to fully enjoy the benefits of the social welfare - the government make sure you can raise your family in a fairly decent way. It makes sense to me, people work hard and pay tax for ten years, then they are entitled to receive those benefits as the payback. You contribute, you will be helped out. Simple logic but has proved to work well.
Then of course, this kind of system has to have certain foundations - well educated population supported by well established infrastructure. We don't have either of those elements in China. But the Nordic socialism has its drawbacks too, people are fairly laidback. lacking of the sense of crisis which sometimes leads to losing competitive edge. And certainly lazy people find their wam bed under the procetion of the welfare system, but it is not always fair for hard working people who have to pay heavy tax to feed them.
It is a fairly balanced society, you still find poor people, but overall people have a good life and their welfare are taken care of by the government. It is actually a smart system in a way that people are motivated to work for 10 years before they decided to have kids because by doing that they will be able to fully enjoy the benefits of the social welfare - the government make sure you can raise your family in a fairly decent way. It makes sense to me, people work hard and pay tax for ten years, then they are entitled to receive those benefits as the payback. You contribute, you will be helped out. Simple logic but has proved to work well.
Then of course, this kind of system has to have certain foundations - well educated population supported by well established infrastructure. We don't have either of those elements in China. But the Nordic socialism has its drawbacks too, people are fairly laidback. lacking of the sense of crisis which sometimes leads to losing competitive edge. And certainly lazy people find their wam bed under the procetion of the welfare system, but it is not always fair for hard working people who have to pay heavy tax to feed them.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Farewell Beijing and Welcome to London!
In a mad rush yesterday - left Beijing around noon on Saturday, 10 hours later, I arrived in London. A bit misty today in London, have ventured out and checked out the neighbourhood near Novotel hotel in Hammersmith. Looks like a convenient location. Feeling a bit mixed being a foreigner again in a country!
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Lantern Festival
Last Sunday is the traditonal lantern festival in China, it is the 15th day of the new year (according to lunar calendar) and marks the end of the new year celebrations (fireworks and firecrackers). I remember we used to have a lot of lantern displays in the parks around town in the late 80s and early 90s during the festival, but it seems to lose its popularity in the past few years and there are many lantern displays anymore in Beijing. This year, Chaoyang park decided to bring this old tradition back to town, so I went yesterday to check out how it would look like after not having seen it for many years.
Overall it was similar designs and styles and same material as they used to be, and the crowd seemed to enjoy the walk in the park with lighted lanterns on display. And I was just happy to see something rooted in our culture before I head off to London for two years.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Snow in Beijing!!!
According to Lunar calendar, today is the second day of spring. And we are embracing the first heavy snow this year in Beijing. Yes, snow has become rather rare now in Beijing. This is the landscape in the high-tech park where I work. Very nice and much needed snow for the dusty and dry weather in Beijing!
Note: The coconut trees in the pictures are fake trees as you might have guessed based on you knowledge of the weather in Beijing :) But you have to admit they look pretty nice in the pictures!
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Understanding, Respect and Tolerance on Diversity
It always strikes me when incidents like the recent shooting in a gay bar in the USA, it makes me realize that even in a racially diversified modern society built on immigrants there are still people who couldn't appreciate liberty (a main characteristic of a civilized society) and have no tolerance on diversity.
The people who conducted those hate crimes, often argue they did it out of their religious belief. I am not into any religions but I often doubt that god really tells them so. Compassion and drive for harmony are actually encouraged as the solutions for a lot of conflict issues and different opinions. So the way I see it is that the extremists often use religion as a disguise for the cruelty of their conduct.
But more understanding about each others' culture, especially between east and west, which will naturally turn into certain respect for others' religious or social norms, can definitely minimze the clashes and make the world a more harmonious and peaceful place to live. The ongoing Islamic uproar against the Danish cartoons unveiling Islamic prophesy is a typical unease that could have been avoided. Freedom of speech and expession is important, but the question is when this kind of publication could only do harm rather than drive progress in a extremely sensitive religious community, it is probably not a wise act. We should stick to our values and principles, but sometimes for complex issues, we need to approach it in a smarter and progressive manner.
The people who conducted those hate crimes, often argue they did it out of their religious belief. I am not into any religions but I often doubt that god really tells them so. Compassion and drive for harmony are actually encouraged as the solutions for a lot of conflict issues and different opinions. So the way I see it is that the extremists often use religion as a disguise for the cruelty of their conduct.
But more understanding about each others' culture, especially between east and west, which will naturally turn into certain respect for others' religious or social norms, can definitely minimze the clashes and make the world a more harmonious and peaceful place to live. The ongoing Islamic uproar against the Danish cartoons unveiling Islamic prophesy is a typical unease that could have been avoided. Freedom of speech and expession is important, but the question is when this kind of publication could only do harm rather than drive progress in a extremely sensitive religious community, it is probably not a wise act. We should stick to our values and principles, but sometimes for complex issues, we need to approach it in a smarter and progressive manner.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Temple Fair - the Chinese way to celebrate the Lunar New Year
Went to the temple fair this morning, in the wind chill of -8 degree. This is a popular outdoor event in Beijing during Chinese New Year, featuring folk dance, music, street vendors selling artcrafts, gifts and traditional food. It is good to see the old traditons still alive and people are out enjoying the holiday time. And my last visit to temple fair was 18 years ago!
Thursday, February 02, 2006
The Promise, failed to deliver its promise
The movie "Promise" directed by Chen Kaige, nominated by Golden Globe for best drama, is a disappointment. Despite the nice photography, exotic costumes and impressive display of war scenes, the movie as a whole, failed to delivery a story that would touch its audience. I watched it on DVD last night, to be honest, halfway through the movie, I felt it was so boring and I switched to some TV channels to check out what is on TV.
It is more or less the same type of movie as "Hero" by Zhang Yimou, which was made five years ago. It is almost a shame to realize that the Chinese movie directors (at least those well-known ones) have been using same tricks, techniques and same package of visually rich but yet mentally poor content. I always to make a successful movie, you have to be able to tell a good story in which your characters speak for themselves, and the audience feel there is something they can relate to. It is Ok to tell a folkstory, something a bit surreal compared with real life, but you still have to put them in a context of circumstances that audience can relate to.
I think it is not wise to think the western audience will just fall for a Chinese movie because it is someting exotic. This wishful thinking might succeed once in a while, when the west want to just see something different and new, but it seems some Chinese directors have been trying to imitate the success of "crouching tiger, hidden dragon", and this should not be encouraged. And the truth is, even in China, without the heavy promotion and marketing campaign on this movie, I doubt there will be many people going to the theotre for this movie. Word of mouth on this movie, as far as I know, hasn't been positive. There will be a day even Chinese audience will not buy into this type of movies anymore, and that would be truly sad.
Time for these directors to think about making movies that truly reflect the history, culture, social and ecomonic circumstance, life style, the ongoing struggle, and the complex relationships
in life. And after all, we human beings, whether in China or else where, have more similarities that differences, the question is whether the movie makers in China can really present them and resonate in the west.
It is more or less the same type of movie as "Hero" by Zhang Yimou, which was made five years ago. It is almost a shame to realize that the Chinese movie directors (at least those well-known ones) have been using same tricks, techniques and same package of visually rich but yet mentally poor content. I always to make a successful movie, you have to be able to tell a good story in which your characters speak for themselves, and the audience feel there is something they can relate to. It is Ok to tell a folkstory, something a bit surreal compared with real life, but you still have to put them in a context of circumstances that audience can relate to.
I think it is not wise to think the western audience will just fall for a Chinese movie because it is someting exotic. This wishful thinking might succeed once in a while, when the west want to just see something different and new, but it seems some Chinese directors have been trying to imitate the success of "crouching tiger, hidden dragon", and this should not be encouraged. And the truth is, even in China, without the heavy promotion and marketing campaign on this movie, I doubt there will be many people going to the theotre for this movie. Word of mouth on this movie, as far as I know, hasn't been positive. There will be a day even Chinese audience will not buy into this type of movies anymore, and that would be truly sad.
Time for these directors to think about making movies that truly reflect the history, culture, social and ecomonic circumstance, life style, the ongoing struggle, and the complex relationships
in life. And after all, we human beings, whether in China or else where, have more similarities that differences, the question is whether the movie makers in China can really present them and resonate in the west.
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