China - o noua putere mondiala

[ablium]

From the contract held by the factory director, it indicates that the recruiter (middleman) company is from the Xiamen City (a very developed city in the province where I was born). The company makes lucrative commission of 20% of the workers' salaries.
http://www.gandul.info/pictures/conf...caufemeich.gif

However, from the accent of the girls, they are not from my province, but more likely from less developed inland provinces. I guess that the girls were expecting of higher pay, as indicated by this article
http://www.gandul.info/articol_27969...rainatate.html

Translation in this video is not accurate.
http://www.protv.ro/filme/chinezoaic...le=10796#10796

[bogdan george]

Originally Posted by ablium

Translation in this video is not accurate.
http://www.protv.ro/filme/chinezoaic...le=10796#10796

Mi se pare suspecta referirea la norma de lucru ce nu putea fi indeplinita de muncitoare. E posibil ca aceasta norma sa fi fost in mod intentionat fixata la o valoare prea mare, pentru ca patronul sa dea salarii mai mici.

[ablium]

http://www.protv.ro/filme/povestea-c...file=7579#7579

The workers in this video said they once worked in Japan. So they probably were expecting the same pay as in Japan.

[SF]

China official vows to 'purify' Web
According to the China Internet Network Information Center, 10.5% of China's population is on the Internet. The vast majority of those users have no access to overseas Chinese Web sites offering uncensored opinion and news critical of the ruling party. News of official misdeeds and dissident opinion has, however, been leaking through online bulletin boards and blogs. Hu Jinatao strongly emphasized that this is unacceptable.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/interne...?eref=rss_tech

[Aquashark]

CHINA'S military is harvesting organs from unwilling live prison inmates, mostly Falungong practitioners, for transplants on a large scale - including to foreign recipients- according to a study.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599...1-1702,00.html

hooray for Chinese democracy!

[ablium]

China debuts several high-speed train lines.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=435817

[gerchin]

Originally Posted by ablium

China debuts several high-speed train lines.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=435817

Really good China sub-forum.
I lived many years in China, so this perspective is pretty interesting to me.

high-speed trains ....
There is also a good forum about rail/maglev in China/Asia on the Maglev-board:
http://magnetbahnforum.de/phpBB2/vie...17bea34a288eb2

[danezia]

Yes... maglev in China could be a big hit. A nation wide network of high-speed rail links could provide an alternative to the need for domestic flights... expecialy in the densely populated S-E.

China cannot develop using the American model... I don't see much space for large airports... and for sure the skies cannot cope with the huge number of aircraft that are required.

My fascination with China continues... and my book will be ready soon.

[ablium]

Danezia,
You are absolutely correct that China can not follow American way of transportation.

In US, people usually drive car if the traveling distance is shorter than 500 km and take airplane if the traveling distance is longer than 500km. American way of short-term long distance travel is typically accomplished with following steps 1) Drive car from home to airport and park the car in the airport parking lot; 2) take the airplane to the destination airport; 3) Rent a car in the destination airport and drive to the final destination. Hence, American airports generally have huge parking lots for cars of travelers and rental companies besides runways and terminals.

When I was young, traveling by train from Shanghai to Beijing took me about 24 hours. Right now, it takes about nine hours by non-stop train. The high speed train will need only five to six hours. The maglev train will further reduce to two to three hours, which will be more convenient than air travel because airports typically are located 40-80 km away from the city center and airport security check also takes some time.

When I was in Europe, I traveled with Orient Express train (starting from Turkey to London) from Bucuresti to the West European countries. Actually Orient Express was pretty slow and it also had to stop in every country border. I think EU should consider building a high-speed train across the whole Europe so that Romanians working in the West can easily come home for weekend.

[ablium]

Watch this video of funny German art student in China
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztm4XFKLngk

[gerchin]

Originally Posted by ablium

Danezia,You are absolutely correct that China can not follow American way of transportation.

Yes, I agree, though we should not underestimate the unique Chinese imitating skills at all
What Chinese find (subjective!) perfect, that they must copy, whatever it costs, and, they do it subconsciously because it simply lies in their 2500 years old Confucian tradition ("Who copies great masters is paying respect to them").
Different than elsewhere, imitating is still a big virtue in China. Following Chinese often think: "what works perfectly in US or in Germany, must work also in China" - McDonald's, huge shopping malls, Western sports, Shanghai's music scene, as examples.
Also transportation, trains, planes, cars - including pollution, are good examples here, so I'm really very curious where it will end.


Just from Xinhua:
China to test 500kph homegrown maglev trains
Updated: 2007-02-11

China will develop its own magnetically levitated (maglev) trains that can travel at speeds of up to 500 kilometers per hour, according to a government report.

A 30-kilometer-long test line will be built before 2010, said a report from the Ministry of Science and Technology.


http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchin...ent_806522.htm

[ablium]

Originally Posted by gerchin

Different than elsewhere, imitating is still a big virtue in China.

I don't think that Chinese consider imitation as virtue. I think that they consider imitation as shortcut. Duplicating something proven successful elsewhere has less chance to fail than trying something completely new. Acutally this mentality can also be found in American business practice. For example, if Americans find a successful business model, they will quickly try to duplicate it. You have seen how fast Americans ramp up the franchise or chain stores worldwide, such as McDonald's, Starbucks, Walmart, etc. In technology field, American often try reverse-engineering of competitor's products too. For example, Intel and AMD often analyze and reverse-engineer each other's microprocessor products. I know it because I was involved in this kind of work.

[gerchin]

Originally Posted by ablium

I don't think that Chinese consider imitation as virtue. I think that they consider imitation as shortcut.

Chinese and Western values still differ very much, and that's the main reason why our people don't understand each other, and never will.
Chinese will never understand the spirit of European Christmas, as example, nevertheless so many must try to copy and "celebrate" it in China. The same with the V-day, and it isn't the same issue when ABC is trying to copy a NBC show, or Wal-Mart is trying to overtake a strategy of 7eleven.

Calligraphy, the most important Chinese art, is based on imitation not only since the era of Wang Xizhi (born 330, who's only copies and no original works exist), and every "creative" writer would be despised in China for his "artistic" interpretation today.

BTW, there is an interesting book by Ralph Karchow, unfortunately in German, "Das Chinesische Urheberrecht", about the differences between Western (German) and Chinese "copyrights", with ancient historical backgrounds as main reasons for misunderstandings and mistakes in today's Chinese-German co-op.

Chinese want to make exact copies of Western products first, then, giving them some own attributes including Chinese specific ones, they want to improve "their products". These were also my experiences I made in China, but I don't think it's a bad strategy at all.
What the former German chancellor Schmidt said? "We have no right to criticize China".

[danezia]

Originally Posted by ablium

Intel and AMD often analyze and reverse-engineer each other's microprocessor products. I know it because I was involved in this kind of work.

nicee....

by the way... There is a little bit of political hustle, between France and Germany on how to create a network of pan-european high-speed rail. Of course the French want an TGV style network and not the German MagLev.

In the end, romanians will fly low-cost to Spain and Italy... and we will have no problem in achieving our Kyoto Protocol targets... we basically don't have any heavy industry .

[ablium]

Originally Posted by gerchin

Chinese and Western values still differ very much, and that's the main reason why our people don't understand each other, and never will.
Chinese will never understand the spirit of European Christmas, as example, nevertheless so many must try to copy and "celebrate" it in China. The same with the V-day, and it isn't the same issue when ABC is trying to copy a NBC show, or Wal-Mart is trying to overtake a strategy of 7eleven.

Chinese Confucius culture does have the problem of yearning too much for the past, which is probably one of the reasons that hindered the innovative spirit in Chinese society. Confucius (lived about 400BC) himself thought that social order in Zhou dynasty (about 1000 BC) was better and tried hard to resume the social order of the past. However, I think that the celebration of Christmas and Valentine Day in current China is not driven by Confucius culture but the commercial interest. They don’t need to understand Christian tradition and spirit because they just want to use Christmas or Valentine day as opportunity to promote sales.

Originally Posted by gerchin

Calligraphy, the most important Chinese art, is based on imitation not only since the era of Wang Xizhi (born 330, who's only copies and no original works exist), and every "creative" writer would be despised in China for his "artistic" interpretation today.

To a lesser degree, imitation of masters’ works also happens in the western culture. In the western museums, you can often see some art students imitating the masters' paitings as training practice.

Originally Posted by danezia

Of course the French want an TGV style network and not the German MagLev.

I can fully understand this. In China, there is also a heavy debate on whether to introduce French TGV, German Maglev, or Japanese Shinkansen technology or develop indigenous technology. In the end, China probably will have all of these technologies. China has German Maglev in Shanghai since 2003. The recently debuted high speed trains adopted some Japanese Shinkansen technology. Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail might use French TGV. All French, German, and Japanese leaders are using their influence to convince Chinese decision makers to use their technologies because it is going to be multi-billion dollar business for their countries.

[gerchin]

Originally Posted by ablium

the celebration of Christmas and Valentine Day in current China is not driven by Confucius culture but the commercial interest.

Businessmen in China just take advantage of loving "copies" Chinese people, and without these characteristics they all would drive bankrupt. The conditions for it are, as mentioned before, deeply rooted in the Chinese society, and that's the key.

Originally Posted by ablium

To a lesser degree, imitation of masters’ works also happens in the western culture. In the western museums, you can often see some art students imitating the masters' paitings as training practice.

There is a huge difference between young Western art "copists" and Chinese calligraphy students. The first want to improve their many-sided styles and skills (every lesson a new practice), Chinese calligraphers to learn the techniques of Huai Su or Wang Xizhi to imitate them, as good as possible.

Western art styles changed many times in the past 1000 years (middle ages, renaissance, baroque, romanticism, impressionism, and so on)
while Chinese styles of calligraphy or paintings very few only. Look at the painting of Guo Xi from the Song Dynasty:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:E..._by_Guo_Xi.jpg
This style remained topical in China till today, but no Western artist would try to paint mediaeval-style now.

[bogdan george]

Cat s-a schimbat pictura bizantina/ortodoxa in ultima mie de ani?

[ablium]

Originally Posted by gerchin

Businessmen in China just take advantage of loving "copies" Chinese people, and without these characteristics they all would drive bankrupt. The conditions for it are, as mentioned before, deeply rooted in the Chinese society, and that's the key.


There is a huge difference between young Western art "copists" and Chinese calligraphy students. The first want to improve their many-sided styles and skills (every lesson a new practice), Chinese calligraphers to learn the techniques of Huai Su or Wang Xizhi to imitate them, as good as possible.

Western art styles changed many times in the past 1000 years (middle ages, renaissance, baroque, romanticism, impressionism, and so on)
while Chinese styles of calligraphy or paintings very few only. Look at the painting of Guo Xi from the Song Dynasty:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:E..._by_Guo_Xi.jpg
This style remained topical in China till today, but no Western artist would try to paint mediaeval-style now.

The statement that Chinese has unique imitating culture is an exaggeration. It is common that less advanced societies copy technologies and imitate culture from more advanced society. Japanese used to copy British textile machine in 19th century, Italian motorcycles before World War II, German optical instruments in 1950s, American microelectronics in 1960s and 1970s. Japanese like to imitate western culture too. Europeans nowadays also wear blue jeans and listen to American pop music. GM and Ford often dissemble Toyota cars to learn the Japanese auto technologies.

Saying that Chinese adore old things is also an exaggeration, at least in today’s China. In my view, Chinese love new things more than any other nations now. German developed maglev technology, but it was the Chinese who built the first commercial maglev line. So many futuristic skyscrapers that China are building now make many European cities look antique.

Celebration of Christmas and Valentine Day in China is a consequence of globalization and culture exchange. Of course, commercial interest is also a key drive. Many Americans can use chopsticks very well in Chinese restaurants and love to eat Japanese Sushi. We even have an Americanized Japanese Sushi called “California Roll". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_roll Many American kids practice Karate and Kong Fu. These are also culture imitation and they are the consequence of glabalization.

[Zarzavat]

Tensiunile comerciale globale care s-au facut simtite pe parcursul ultimilor ani sunt reflectate in cifrele macro pentru anul 2006 prezentate de marile puteri economice saptamanile trecute. In timp ce SUA, Franta si Marea Britanie anunta un deficit comercial fara precedent, China se ridica la nivelul acestor „performante“, dar printr-un excedent-record.

http://sfin.ro/articol_7870/produsel...rnational.html

[low_level_superhero]

Asa se duce economia mondiala dracului: acumulare.

Au rezerve de 10 ori mai mari decat ale US, cu un GDP de 6 ori mai mic...