When I was preparing to come to China for the 2nd time, I chatted on the internet with a girl I had a met during my first trip here, and asked if she wanted me to bring her anything from Israel. Her response was: “please bring me a dog”.
Chinese are often quite surprised that in many countries out of China, dogs can be obtained for free (or for a token fee to cover vaccinations). As it appears, some also do not realize the troubles of getting one through customs, not to mention backpacking with it for several months. A dog in China will typically cost several thousand RMB. In the past a special license was needed as well, which might go towards explaining why almost all dogs found in the cities are very small.
Coming at such a price, dogs tend to get much more attention than their countepart western mongrels. One of the ways this attention is expressed by is providing them with clothes. The motive is to protect the poor doggies from the cold; it is interesting to note, however, that this habit is most popular in the major cities of Guangdong province, where temperatures rarely reach below 10 degrees Celsius:
While many Chinese do eat dogs (dog meat is considered very good for your health), eating these city-dwellers is usually scorned upon. The reason for this is that dogs eaten in China are specific breeds which are bred and raised for these purposes in special “dog farms”. Some may consider this hypocrisy, but to me it makes some sense: I guess it is similar to how an American might watch the movie “Babe” jugar a la ruleta rusadownload casinocasinos espana portales webganancias casinos pagina webjugar seguro portales webpremio portalesslots comjuego instantaneo internetjugar seguro pagina internetganar dinero portales internettragaperra internetjuego interactivo portal internettragaperra paginas internetjuego interactivo internetcasinos laneajuego casino pagina web,juegos casino paginas web,juego casinojuegos seguros pagina webpromocion casino portalcasinos paginas internetapostar jugar portaljugar paginas internetonline gamesapuesta dinero pagina internetjugar video pokerplay video pokercasino online ruletajuegos instantaneos paginas webslot machines spielenroulette online spielenslotmaschine spielenonline kasinoscasino video pokerroulette gratis spielenwww roulette detop online kasinosslots gamecasino net pokervideo poker spielecasino spiele downloadkasino gamesjack black online spielenonline casino roulettekasinospiele,casino spiele,kostenlose casino spielegambling onlinegratis casino spieleonline casino forumbest online casinokostenloses kasinosfreeware spiele casinokasino on net and then go have a ham sandwich…
On Chinese New Year’s eve, I was invited to a Chinese colleague’s home for dinner. Not wanting to come empty-handed, I brought with me a bottle of good Cabernet Sauvignon. My hosts gladly accepted the wine, poured it and… added a good measure of Sprite to all the glasses.
This anecdote is not an isolated incident, but rather represents a country-wide phenomena in China. As part of the fast changes in China for the past few years, Chinese were quick to adopt western habits: among them culinary habits, such as wine and coffee. These habits, however, were adopted mostly because they were hip and stylish - indeed, most Chinese are completely unused to the flavors of these beverages, which are an acquired taste. [click here to read the rest of this post...]
“No pain, no gain”, or so the saying goes. And one of the pains you will have to endure for your health, at least according to traditional Chinese medicine, will be in your feet.
The basic idea behind acupuncture and pressure points is that stimulating specific locations in your body will, in turn, cause positive effects in other areas. One of the best areas for such stimulation is the foot. It is believed that different areas of the feet correspond with different parts of the body, and that together they map out the entire human body (check out this chart for an example). This is probably one of the reasons why foot massage (briefly described in this old post) is so popular in China. The better foot masseurs have actual knowledge in traditional Chinese medicine and know how to do a “proper” foot massage by stimulating appropriate parts of the foot. The lesser masseurs probably make it up as they go along, and rely on “foot lore” which is loosely based on the same principles; for example if you yelp in pain when they apply pressure on a certain point on your foot, they will say “this means there is a problem in your kidney”. I doubt that actual traditional Chinese medicine is as clear-cut as that, but the basic idea is similar.
All was well for a while, until some Chinese woke up in the middle of the night with a flash of inspiration: why pay someone money to massage your feet, when you can have gravity do it for you for free? And thus the pebble walkways were born: outdoor walkways made out of jutting, round pebbles:
These can be found in most parks, and are almost exclusively used by old people. They are walked back and forth, barefoot or wearing only socks. I tried walking one of them once, and it really hurt - I guess those masseurs would say my entire body is one big health problem… 
And finally, some Chinese wise guy took the thing one step further: why go all the way to the pebble walkways, when you can carry them with you? Which resulted in this contraption:
(keep reading for first-hand photos - press the “more” button)
Uncharacteristically cold weather has hit China at a fatal timing - just before Spring Festival and Chinese New Year. This time of year involves a mass migration, as countless Chinese head home to visit their families, and in normal conditions cause a very heavy load on the mass transit system. Recent weather in Southern China, reported as coldest in the last 50 years, resulted in a total systems collapse as railways were blocked by snow and trains were halted on the tracks.
The result - countless people stuck in railway stations, unable to board trains. The problem was most severe in Guangzhou, which serves as a transport hub for southern China: hundreds of thousands have been stranded there for the last week, waiting for trains. Massive amounts of police and army units are currently stationed there trying to maintain order, supplemented by conscripted civil-service workers and volunteers. Last Saturday I visited Guangzhou and decided to go and take a personal peek at this “sea of humanity”:
[click here to read the rest of this post...]
