Zhongnanhai

It started off as a simple YouTube video, and now it's even on the front page of the Drudge Report, which has a link to it's frequently-used news service Breitbart.

The video has struck a chord with many people in China, and if you haven't watched the video yet you can do it here, or watch one with English subtitles here.

In brief, the video shows several students from Beijing's Haidian District Art Vocational School abusing their 70-year old teacher. Excellent summaries of what happened can be found on EastSouthWestNorth and in the Jiefang Daily (hat-tip to Shanghaiist). I would get into the details here, but the case is already fairly well-known in China. I also blogged about it a couple of days ago. But I thought I would post an interesting email from my Chinese girlfriend, who works for the Beijing Youth Daily and is a born-and-bred Beijinger:

I don't like the beijing boy title of the video. Not all Beijing boys are like that.

There are some updates about this story in beijing media.

There are lots of internet users are so pissed off after watching the video. Yesterday, a few people went to the school to show their anger. There is a culture thing. In china, we have a tradition that all the teachers should be respected, like fathers should be respected in a family. In  the old times, when there were no public schools, only rich people can afford to have a tutuor. The tutor is like the student's father. Students have to take care of the teacher for his whole life. The student has to pour the urina pot and wash feet for his teachers.

So such a thing caused a lots of discussion about the value systems of young people in china.

The teacher is 70 years old, when he interviewed by reporters, he said, "they are all young people, I think it is sort of my fault that I
didn't teach them well."

I really disappointed by what they did. I think the whole Chinese society went crazy, Chinese people's value system has been distorted.
Is this because of the reforming of the society? Now in China, the only thing that matters is money. Being a successful business man is
a dream for more and more young people. The media does contribute lots to it. See all the TV shows. Teachers, researchers are not any
more a respected profession. Because they are not rich! If this thought can not be changed, there will be more and more beijing boys!
When money and social stutas become the priority of all the things in a society, I can not see any hope in the country.

A hat-tip to the TIME China blog, which has a post linking to a couple of articles on the benefits of studying Mandarin.

As someone who poured nearly four years into studying Japanese, Japanese language, and Japanese culture and society, the thought of studying Putonghua never really occured to me.  Even back in the summer of 2004 when I was preparing to leave my cushy PR job for the thrills of Beijing, undertaking Mandarin study just seemed like way too much of a commitment.  I viewed it as only for people who were going to live in China forever, planned to marry a Chinese, or for diplomats or scholars.

Once I arrived though, I quickly realized I could work and gain experience and bolster the resume, but all of it would be practically useless if I don't learn Mandarin. Kaiser Kuo had an article in That's Beijing from a few years ago (I don't have the link -- my apologies) about how living in China is no longer a job qualification. China is flooded with foreigners now, and knowledge about the country is no longer a unique skill.  But learning Mandarin (which is also becoming much more common) is a barrier between those who are serious, and those who are not; those who are prepared to take the next step, and those who aren't.

For the last 2.5 years I've been in the latter category. And, as a 28 year old, taking valuable time out of the full-time work force to spend 18 months in full-time Mandarin study is a tough call. But if senior citizens living in Flushing have the determination to learn, than so can I. I have basic Mandarin already, and can read/write about 800 characters.  But it's time to take it to the next step.

Time also did an excellent article on the explosion of Mandarin study worldwide last year.

This video is the issue du jour among the Chinese at the moment.  It goes to show respect for authority is quickly declining in China. I have a good friend in Guangzhou who mentioned that northerners are considered laobi to the Guangdongren.  She sent me this video as proof.

(Despite constant fiddling with HTML code and YouTube, I couldn't seem to embed it here.  So check out the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFlMK2dcMwM) 

As an avid follower of American politics, I routinely get asked* about who will win the Presidency in 2008.  Perhaps, considering the election is over a year and a half away, it's too early to say. But I'm on a 2-election winning streak (called George W. Bush both times!), and I think this election is a lot more clear than most people think.

I've said for a few years now that the Republicans have much stronger candidates than the Democrats.  Unlike Canadian, British, or Australian politics, the United States Presidential election is far more focused on the individual personality rather than the party. There's no question that the electorate is tired of George W. Bush, and want his team and philosophy swept from the White House.  But that doesn't necessarily mean the Republicans are dead.

I remember covering a George Bush campaign stop in Bellevue, Washington back in 2000.  That night, as he did throughout his campaign, he called himself a "uniter, not a divider".  Seven years on, America is arguably more divided than at any time since the civil war. 

I think the electorate is tired of the Fox News vs. Michael Moore partisan politics.  The winner of the 2008 Presidency will not be the candidate that can "bring out the base", which George Bush was successful in doing.  The winning candidate will have strong cross-party appeal and a pragmatic streak. The winning candidate will not be an ideologue. The winning candidate will have a mix of foreign policy experience, will be trusted by the American people, and will have a strong track record in politics.  The winning candidate will be Rudolph Giuliani.

The media attention is currently focussed on the Democrats, primarily Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. I've warmed to Hillary Clinton in recent months, however she is still too polarizing a figure to win in a general election. And if Barack Obama wins the Democratic nomination, he will face a strong Republican party campaign machine that will attack him for his youth and inexperience.  I don't believe Americans, when the chips are down, will vote for a junior Senator with zero foreign policy experience in a time of war.

Unless Al Gore steps into the race (and he, too, may still be too polarizing) the door is open for a strong Republican candidate. John McCain has proved himself a maverick and used to have strong cross-party appeal. However his support for the Iraq war and the troop surge has hurt his credibility among middle-of-the-road Americans. His age is also a factor.  Many felt he was too old in 2000 for the Presidency, and he is now 70.

Mitt Romney, who is favored by my father, could be the dark-horse candidate.  He has good buzz at the moment, but his Mormon faith is bound to be an issue in the US media.

There's no doubt, to me, that at this stage, Rudy Giuliani is the man to beat.  Nobody sums up America's resolve in the "War on Terror" better than Giuliani, who defiantly marched through the streets on the morning of September 11th. For his efforts, he was selected as Time's Person of the Year, ahead of George Bush.  

Rudy Giuliani has a strong record as Mayor of New York. His most notable achievement was drastically reducing the city's crime rate and turning areas, like Times Square, into safe havens for tourists. I visited New York three years ago, and found many parts of Manhattan even safer than my native Vancouver. Giuliani is an excellent orator and, regardless of his most recent comments, is known as a pro-choice candidate, and is pro-gun control. This makes him a safe choice for Democrat and swing voters.

Giuliani's toughest challenge will be winning the Republican nomination, because of his well-known Liberal views.  But if he can succeed in doing that, and I believe he will, the Presidency will be his to lose. He is likeable, polls well, and has significant cross-party appeal.  I really believe the White House will be staying Republican in '08.

*And by that I mean, a friend once asked me what I think. :)

Here are a couple of links that I thought I'd pass along:

• One of the best, and funniest blogs on Japan is Japundit.  This post is a disturbing example of Japan's odd sex-crazed culture. (I've never been able to fathom the prim-and-proper, conservative nature of Japanese people, and how that meshes with nearly-naked photos of underage girls in public places, which I saw on Tokyo's confusing metro system the last time I was in town.) The site usually shows hilarious forms of Chinglish (is it still Chinglish if it's translated from Japanese?) and a collection of T-shirts with seemingly random English words strung together. I guess it's a Pan-Asian thing.
  
• Beijing-based corresondent Geoffrey York of the Globe and Mail has an interesting article on Rupert Hoogewerf's famous rich list.  Each year he gathers the names of China's richest people. In the past, when people were ashamed of their wealth, people would beg and bribe him to keep their names off the list. But times are changin', and China's rich and powerful feel much more comfortable letting others know about it.
  
• And you thought Memoirs of a Geisha was controversial.  The Washington Post is reporting that two films about the Nanjing Massacre are underway. This year is the 70th anniversary of the killing, and comes at a sensitive time as Japan and China begin to repair relations. I actually went to Nanjing a few weeks ago to visit the war museum there, but sadly it was closed for renovations. On a side note, I found it a bit surreal to walk around the city, and see so many girls in tight mini-skirts on the arms of foreigners.  I know it's fine, and all, and the massacre was a long time ago.  Just odd thinking about the city's past, and the suffering of its people. It's like the partying and hooking up was happening on a grave site.
• Shanghaiist has a great post (albeit about a week old) about Shanghai being the sex capital of the world.  A reporter from a Japanese magazine says "Right now, Shanghai is the hottest spot in Asia -- believe it. It's got those famous karaoke clubs with hostesses, massage parlors and erotic baths. It's evolved beyond anything we Japanese can imagine." And that's saying something.
• I know there are very few people in China who follow British Columbia politics, but there are some.  If that's you, I highly recommend Sean Holman's Public Eye Online. He has excellent sources and has broken some major stories.
  
• And finally, the Vancouver Giants have won the Memorial Cup!

And on a personal note, it looks like a decision has been made.  I blogged earlier about whether to stay in Shanghai or return to Beijing for schooling. Despite the fact nearly everyone I've spoken too in Shanghai thinks I must be certifiably crazy, I will be returning to the dusty capital. Let's hope I'm doing the right thing.

I should arrive in town on Sunday. 

Canada underestimates Chinese power
Times Colonist
Published: Sunday May 27 

You wouldn't know it by our relatively small population, but Canadians have managed to really spread out worldwide. Here in China, it seems like every other foreigner I meet is from Toronto or Vancouver or Edmonton.

And on a recent trip to Bangkok, I saw lines of foreigners waiting to check in at a budget hotel. A majority were faithfully carrying navy blue Canadian passports as identification.

The good news is being a Canadian overseas is often much easier than being an American, or even a German or Briton for that matter, because we are generally viewed favourably.

Toronto and Vancouver have become magnets for overseas Chinese and many who fled the country during Mao's years often tried to reach our shores. We have traditionally had a good reputation as being fair and honest. But times are changing.

"Only the corrupt Chinese go to Canada," an elderly man in spectacles told me over a steaming dim sum breakfast at a park in the southern city of Guangzhou. "I don't like the Canadian government."

He wasn't referring to our government's complaints about the treatment of Huseyin Celil, the Canadian who is being held by the Chinese authorities for "terrorist activities and plotting to split the country," according to state-run media.

He also wasn't referring to the Conservative government's decision to grant honorary Canadian citizenship to the Dalai Lama, who is still seen here as a "splittist" set on breaking up the country. He wasn't talking about the frequent trips Canadian MPs are making to Taiwan, either.

No, he was talking about Lai Changxing, one of China's most notorious criminals, accused of embezzling billions of dollars and then fleeing to Vancouver, where he remains today.

Despite repeated requests to have him turned over to Chinese authorities, our government has let the legal process take its course. He's been in Canada for years and has just been given another chance to fight deportation.

It's not a good time to be a Canadian in China, because these issues are starting to trickle down into mainstream opinion, obviously guided by the monolithic state-run media machine.

But whereas Xinhua wire stories used to regularly blast former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for paying respects to war criminals at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, now the target is Canada, and most recently Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, who was being warned not to "damage Sino-Canadian ties."

But judging from the two countries' laundry list of grievances, perhaps the ties are already damaged. Canada has been one of the few countries insisting China improve its human rights record, becoming a thorn in the side of the Communist emperors in Beijing.

A recent Angus Reid poll showed 76 per cent of Canadians want our long-term policy with China based on advancing human rights and minority rights, not just economics. But the chances of that happening are slim, because there's simply too much money to be made.

China is not an "emerging" or "growing" superpower. Many feel it's become one already, and has enough economic clout to tell other countries what to do. And as much as Canadians like to think we have a say, we don't.

Other than natural resources, which are also found in other countries with friendly ties to China, we don't have a lot to bargain with. We have a relatively small population, no substantial military strength and aren't one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

We can either look the other way and cash in on China's dizzying economic growth, or we can cease trading with one of the world's largest and most dynamic economies.

CEOs, governments and companies have overwhelmingly chosen the former. They are lining up to obey whatever rule China puts in place for access to its 1.3-billion person market.

From Google and MSN, which willingly block Internet searches not palatable to the Communist regime, to the World Health Organization, which most recently denied Taiwan and its 23 million people membership thanks to pressure from Beijing, China is becoming used to getting its way.

Canadian consumers, if they are honest, would likely also prefer being able to buy cheap Chinese-made goods at Wal-Mart rather than paying more as part of an effort to pressure some far-off government to improve the human rights of people they've never met in a land they'll never see.

It all boils down to money, for governments, companies and individuals.

The one bright spot for social activists will be the Olympic Games next year. China views the Olympics as a major coming-out party and the Asian ideal of "face" means China is very sensitive about ensuring the event goes off without a hitch.

Linking Darfur to the Olympics worked for 107 U.S. congressmen, who wrote a letter urging China to take action or face an Olympic boycott. China responded by sending 275 military personnel to the region.

But it can go the other way, too, as five protesters learned when they unfurled a banner calling for a Free Tibet on Mount Everest. Instead of giving Tibetans more autonomy, China cracked down on Tibetan travel permits issued to foreigners.

Dealing with China is a complex game. But while our government's moral stance is admirable and commendable, it is ultimately doomed to fail.

If this is the best that we can expect from Democratic contenders for President, it will be a boring campaign season for China-watchers.  China has only come up fleetingly so far in the Democratic debates, but Senator and leading Democratic nominee Barack Obama finally discussed China's military buildup and relations with Taiwan in a speech given on the Senate floor.  But what he said was hardly shocking.

He talked about China's "peaceful rise", called for more military transparency, and a continuation of the status-quo in cross-strait relations.  Is China too sensitive a topic for presidential contenders to tackle?  It seems so.

Obama's comments, and the full story, can be found here. 

After much reflection on this question, I've come to the conclusion that..... I don't know.  My good friend Tim Stoney, a former reporter with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, believes that Asian culture and democracy just don't mix.  He claims that Asians, by their very nature, are adverse to change, and don't like the see-saw back-and-forth scheming that makes democracies so vibrant.  I'm paraphrasing, but he says Asians (and this is a vast, vast generalization, something I normally try and refrain from doing) prefer to know who the government will be, and what the policies will be, 10 or 15 years from now.  That allows proper planning.

Perhaps my friend is on to something, or perhaps it's hogwash, as the democracies in Taiwan (Province!) and South Korea can attest.  Whatever, below is a column I wrote on this subject after a recent trip to Bangkok.  (Yes, honest, I was there to write hard journalism stories!!!).

Desire for order trumps democracy; Thais' contentment with military coup points to Asia's different values
Published: Sunday May 13
Times Colonist 

The Chinese propaganda machine is very effective. Ask anyone in China about democracy and they will reel off reasons why now is not the right time.

"China isn't developed enough yet." "Chinese people aren't educated enough." "China needs stability first." The list goes on.

Decent reasons really, but not for most of us in the West. We're accustomed to believing that democracy is the only way. Challenging that belief is tough, but it's necessary.

And Thailand offers a good example of a country where democracy has gone horribly wrong.

Western governments and media outlets were quick to denounce the overthrow of a democratically elected prime minister in a bloodless military coup last year. Thaksin Shinawatra was fresh off an election victory, his second landslide majority.

But while images of tanks in the streets of Bangkok were enough to make CNN headlines, the reasons behind the coup -- and the feelings of the Thais -- were often left unreported.

"I hope he never returns," a Thai taxi driver told me en route to Bangkok's sparkling new Suvarnabhumi Airport last week. "If he does, somebody will kill him."

Thaksin, who has been ordered to stay away from Thailand by the military, is not well-liked in the country's urban areas. His election victories and popularity were owed to the rural areas which didn't see firsthand the level of corruption in his government.

"Look at that," the taxi driver said, waving a finger towards a giant, concrete rapid-transit line along the highway. "What a waste." The multi-billion-dollar line was intended to connect downtown Bangkok with its new airport. But now it sits there, unfinished.

You don't have to go far to see other evidence of waste and mismanagement. Thaksin rushed the new $4.5-billion Suvarnabhumi Airport to completion. After only months in operation, complaints about construction quality, crumbling runways, overcrowding and an embarrassing lack of bathrooms have forced the military junta to re-open the old Don Muang Airport.

Thais say his real sins go much deeper. Thaksin is accused of perverting democracy to centralize power and limit dissent, creating an authoritarian regime with him at its centre.

And questions are mounting about his sale of communications giant Shin Corp., controlled by his family, to a Singapore government agency. The deal earned his family $2.1 billion -- tax-free.

All that helps explain why, when the military decided something had to be done, the country's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej gave his blessing.

Most Thais told me that life carries on as it did before. They are happy to know the circus atmosphere surrounding Thaksin is gone and the government is now "much less prominent," according to the driver.

While the military regime has promised the return of democracy and a new constitution, they have cracked down on the media in the meantime. The government blocked the YouTube website for showing a video of King Bhumibol next to images of feet. The king is regarded as semi-divine and generally loved, while feet are considered offensive. It has also blocked websites and broadcast reports about the deposed prime minister.

But despite the erosion of a free press, the Thais seem to be taking everything in stride -- just as the Chinese do.

One of my friends from Australia once told me that democracy doesn't fit easily with Asian culture. I argued about the importance of freedom of speech, human rights and all the other ideals we are raised with in the West.

But the longer I've remained in Asia, the more I'm gaining perspective on his point of view. Here, the value of stability trumps democracy.

Asian people generally respect authority and their elders. The Western ideas of activism, questioning authority and individuality are as foreign to Asian cultures as authoritarian regimes have become to Europeans and their descendants. Asia has very few truly democratic countries and even those that can hardly be called democracies by Western standards.

Japan's Liberal Democratic Party has been solidly in power for half a century, except for a short-lived opposition coalition government in 1993. Singapore is an apparent democracy, but it has been run by Lee Kuan Yew, his son, and their People's Action Party since it gained independence in 1959. Malaysia has been run by a single multi-party coalition since the 1950s and Indonesia is unstable at best.

Taiwan and South Korea could turn out to be success stories, but both are too young to be judged. And Taiwan's chaotic, fight-filled legislature is often cited as proof that China doesn't need that "immature" form of government.

India might be a bright light, but its cumbersome democratic system is often blamed for its failure to match China's rapid economic growth.

"We have to sacrifice for the good of the whole," a close Chinese friend once told me. She was referring to the bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square protesters back in 1989 and explaining how many Chinese believe the students who died that June were paying the price for their country's success today.

Many Thais see their military coup in the same light, except this time the sacrifice was democracy.

There are splinter groups calling for the right to vote in Thailand and China.

But there is no massive underground network advocating democracy, no widespread support and no large-scale threats to the two governments.

Even without democracy, everything seems to be working just fine.

Sorry... perhaps I should say the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea", as we're forced to do in Chinese state-run media. (Likewise, South Korea is the ROK.)

Richard Spencer, who also writes a wonderful blog, has an article in today's Daily Telegraph about North Korea's test firing a series of short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan. It's not the first time North Korea has been rattling its sabres, of course. After repeated warnings from Washington to suspend development of a nuclear weapon, North Korea (oops... DPRK!) went ahead and built one anyway.  Then after promises of "grave consequences" if North Korea went ahead with a nuclear test, it did it anyway.  Now this, from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe:

"We have been saying that our patience has come to its limit."

He also warned of a response if North Korea did not begin dismantling the nuclear reactor soon.

Hmm... "warned" of a "response".  You mean, like Japan did prior to the completion of the weapons program?  Like it did prior to the nuclear test?  And what exactly is the response? Pyongyang has been calling Japan and America's bluff for a while now.

I can't help but feel a bit sorry for North Korea.  It's a basket-case regime that is crying out for attention -- any kind of attention. It presses ahead with a nuclear weapons program despite warnings, then tests a weapon despite warnings, then goes ahead and fires missles into the Sea of Japan.  Still, the most the established powers can come up with as a "response" is their "patience has come to its limit."  In fact, if the Six Party Agreement comes into effect, Kim Jong Il can probably credit his nuclear program with fending off the United States.

Kim's regime must figure the western establishment is pretty spineless.  Nothing but empty warnings, rhetoric, and threats. The best way to handle North Korea may be to just forget about it, because it's highly unlikely Kim, the head of a poverty-ridden country, will do anything (like send missiles into downtown Seoul or Tokyo) to destabilize his hold on power. And I think the US has isolated the DPRK enough to keep tabs on any possible weapons or technology that Kim may try and send to other rogue regimes.

Scott Feschuk is a humerous Canadian writer, and has two short blurbs on North Korea here and here.  They are a bit dated, but still worth checking out. 

Three weeks ago the That's Beijing weekly newsletter linked to an article about love being found in Poacher's.  I was stunned to see it there, because it was an article I had written a few days earlier for the Victoria Times Colonist. It said:

This article about true love being found in Poachers appealed to the romantic in us.

I've no idea how they found the column, and the link takes readers to a pay site where you can't even read it.  So, if anyone is actually interested in reading it, I have posted it below in its entirety.  Enjoy!

Finding love in a backstreet Beijing bar
Published:  Sunday April 29, 2007

     One of the places I’ll remember in Beijing most is a bar called Poacher’s.  When I moved to China I was a fearless 25 year old, and my other Canadian friends and I spent more than a few nights in this timeless Beijing establishment.

      Poacher’s, way back in 2004 (which is an eternity in China) used to be down a back alley off the main bar street.  If you didn’t know it was there, you could’ve never found it.  First a left, then a right at the lamb-skewer stand, and then walk a few more meters past old Chinese buildings and some fake DVD shops.  You’d know it, because the thumping of American Top 40 songs could be heard throughout the back lanes.

      Like many bars in Asia, a mix of young North Americans, Europeans, and Australians mingle with the dozens of pretty Asian girls.  When drinking, dancing, and loud music get thrown in, it can be more than a lively night on the town.

      What made Poacher’s stand out more than other bars was its atmosphere – a run down warehouse hidden among the historic hutongs, or traditional courtyard houses, in Beijing. I always found it fascinating to listen to the latest tunes pulled straight from American radio in a bar in Beijing, where a majority of the people inside couldn’t even understand the lyrics.

      One of my favorite perches was from a little balcony to the left of the stage, where sometimes we’d dance and survey the scene.  Down below was an older fellow, perhaps in his 60s, pouring gin and tonics and $1.75 pints of Tsingdao.  To this day, I’ve always wanted to talk to him. As an older fellow, he lived through the Cultural Revolution, one of the darkest moments in Chinese history, as well as the Great Leap Forward and other trying times.  He still works hard, earning a living selling drinks to young women in scantily clad outfits surrounded by drunken foreigners, something unthinkable in Mao’s day.

       Then there were the regulars.  One of the young women was named Liane (pronounced “Lianna”) who was clearly available to whoever wanted to be with her.  I talked with her a few times, and while our conversations never ventured into Chinese economics or military strategy, she was still quite lovely.  She was only 22 years old at the time and very pretty, and fits into a stereotype that is slowly becoming obsolete as China becomes more prosperous: the girl who is just looking for a passport.

      Of course, I’ll never forget New Years Eve 2004, when the cover charge was an astounding $15. In Beijing, where lineups and cover charges are as foreign as people practicing Falun Gong, this left us quite indignant.  But we came around when we were told that cover included an entire bottle of wine – one each – for every person in our party.  We had 12 people that night, and with 12 bottles of wine at our table, that $15 proved to be the cheapest New Years I’d ever had.

      But there is one night in particular that I will always remember.  I brought a couple of friends to meet up with some colleagues from China Central Television late one Saturday.  I was inside dancing while my good friend Trevor Metz, who used to work in media in Kamloops and Price George, was chatting with a young woman he had just met outside.  I know Trevor had partaken in a few too many Tsingdaos that night, and when he came inside he slipped on the floor and fell directly on his face, as though a bookshelf had just tipped over with a big thud upon hitting the ground.  As crowds stood laughing at him, he got up and continued inside the bar, probably too drunk to realize he had just served as everyone’s comic relief.

      His biggest fear at that moment, he told me later, was that the girl, Jingjing, had seen what happened.  Luckily for him, she hadn’t.

      Trevor and I visited that bar on many Friday and Saturday nights, along with several other friends from Canada.  It was a chance to share stories, funny moments, laughs, and relish in our experiences. In the back of our minds, we knew that when our contracts were up, we would return to our regular responsibilities in Vancouver, Victoria, Prince George, or wherever else we were from.  China was supposed to be a one-year adventure, not a whole new beginning. But life rarely goes as planned.

      Nobody knows this better than Trevor Metz.  Today, Trevor will celebrate his wedding to Jingjing in her hometown, a small city in central China. “We have a very happy life together and I never dreamed I would end up with someone so wonderful, kind, caring, understanding, beautiful, and fun as her. She is perfect in my eyes,” he said.

      It doesn’t matter where you find love, as long as you find it somewhere.  And for Trevor, he found it far away in China. 

      In a fun little bar called Poacher’s.

I almost hate bringing this up, because it's such a cliched question.  But while most people debate it in the confines of a bar over a nice frosty mug of Tsingdao, I'm facing the reality of it.

Let me explain.

I lived in Beijing for nearly two years, made great contacts in the city, and my girlfriend and most of my friends live there.  When a management job opened with Guangzhou Television a year ago, a job that included on-air hosting and input into content, it was too good to pass up (the salary helped a lot, too). Likewise, after a year in Guangzhou, a job opened in Shanghai that was also too good to pass up.  A chance to build an English-language portal website at Jongo.com. I got my hands dirty, hired some staff, brought some columnists on board, and the product began to improve.  Then "Black Monday" came, and we were all let go as the UK investors decided to focus on another project.

The goal has always been to study Mandarin.  I've always felt that media, journalism, communications, and PR experience combined with strong Putonghua can open a lot of doors.  I've kept putting study off because promising jobs keep popping up.  But now that Jongo has gone bankrupt, perhaps now's the time.  But where?

I'm based in Shanghai.  I have a beautiful apartment.  I'm making some friends down here.  And say what you will about Shanghai, you Beijingers, it's a beautiful city.  There's no doubt in my mind that Shanghai is the nicer, more livable city of the two. And for whatever reason, traffic isn't even as bad down here! But here's the catch: I like news, and I want to study Mandarin.  And the damn Olympics are an extra throrn in the proverbial side. Beijing wins on all three fronts.

So... pass up on Shanghai because of Beijing's potential?  There's no doubt the world is zeroing in on Beijing at the moment.  It's the political center of the country, and, well, I love politics.  With the Olympics coming and the city's top-grade schools, perhaps it's the place to be.  But it will be awfully sad to say goodbye to Shanghai, a vibrant, compelling, modern mix of East and West. I've only been here three months. Far too short.

Making the decision a little more difficult is a job offer I just received from Interfax China, based here in China's largest city. It comes complete with a foreign journalists visa, which is highly coveted. But I think I've put off studying for too long. And, as many people tell me, those jobs should be available later.

What do you think? 

Ahh... I've finally entered the world of real, live bloggers.  I must say, there are a lot of excellent blogs about China out there, so why do we need another?  I mean, for history, Jottings from the Granite Studio is second to none.  China Law Blog has excellent legal and business information.  Imagethief is one of the top "thinking" blogs that I make a point of checking daily.

This blog aims to be a bit of those blogs, with a heavy media and political bent.  I am a Canadian, and my background is in journalism.  I served for nearly four years a legislative reporter for News1130, Vancouver's top all-news radio station.  I came to China in 2004 in search of adventure and a better resume, after being holed up in a government PR job for 18 months (a job which, after witnessing the mayhem and chaos in China, was quite good).

I've done a lot since moving here, like so many others have.  From judging drama competitions to clinking beer glasses with the Chief of the Beijing Public Security Bureau (ganbei!), the last 2.5 years have flown by so fast I can hardly make sense of it all.  

It began as a radio host with CRI, then an editor at CCTV 9, then a radio host at Beijing Radio, then a few months of Putonghua study at Tsinghua University, then an Executive Editor and host gig with Guangzhou's English Channel, then the Senior Consultant of Jongo News in Shanghai.  Somewhere in there I managed to get a few articles published in the International Herald Tribune and the Washington Times, although it took a lot of bashing my head against the wall to get it done.  Those are my credentials, and that is my background in this fascinating country.

My main interest is politics, whether provincial, Canadian, American, or especially Chinese.  Like many bloggers and readers in China, I've read several books on China, and I hope to discuss them in this space. As many of us in the journalism community like to say, the lead-up to the Olympics should be rich with stories and conflict.  This is fertile land for a journalist.

The plan now, after being ruthlessly relieved of my duties at Jongo.com, along with 60 other diligent and talented staff, will be to return to Beijing and focus on Mandarin study.  (Yes, after luring me from Guangzhou, breaking my work contract, my apartment lease, and moving to Shanghai, the company lasted little more than two months.) But in between, I'll be contributing to newspapers and posting articles and thoughts here.

Why does China need yet another blog? Perhaps it doesn't.  But I'll do my best to earn my little corner of China's vast blogosphere. 

I hope you come back.