Chinglish And Matteo Ricci

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gwydionwilliams posted a photo containing a large block of Chinglish, but which also mentions Matteo Ricci:

Matteo Ricci Chinglish

Although I enjoy posting examples of Chinglish, I prefer short memorable examples, rather than long blocks such as this. These are all to common in China and don’t do much for me. Maybe it’s something to do with my attention span!

However, I chose to feature this example because as well as the large dose of Chinglish, it also mentions Matteo Ricci (pronounced Richi). Who’s Matteo Ricci you ask? He was an Italian Jesuit priest and missionary, who was the first person to introduce Christianity into China (in the 16th century).

How do I know this? Well, I used to live in Zhaoqing, where Matteo Ricci lived for 6 years (from 1583 to 1589). There are a few monuments / historic sites scattered throughout the city.

Also, Fr John Wotherspoon who was the head foreign teacher at the school I worked at in Zhaoqing, is a big fan and even has a Matteo Ricci website. Quite understandable, as John is also a Christian missionary working in China.

So I have a soft spot for Matteo Ricci too (and for Chinglish!).

Chinese Zodiac Horoscope Wheel

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Here is an interesting photo of a Chinese Zodiac horoscope wheel by AndWat.

Chinese zodiac horoscope wheel

It’s an interesting zodiac wheel, probably used for some sort of horoscope function. If anyone knows exactly what it does, please let me know.

What I do know is that the Chinese are quite superstitious in general (and that’s obviously a large generalisation). They place a lot of importance on the zodiac and predictions (ie horoscope).

Certain years are good years to have children in, so there’s a boom in children in those years. Likewise with marriages. Conversely, there are bad years as well. I’ve heard of people waiting a year to get married, just because the current year doesn’t produce favourable omens for weddings.

All of this reminds me of an article I read recently on chinese horoscope love compatibility. It’s quite an interesting concept – and more than that, it’s quite a bit of fun too.

Anyway, for the record, the Chinese zodiac is a 12 year cycle, with each year named after one of 12 animals, each with different characteristics. Whichever animal is your zodiac sign is said to have a big influence on your personal traits and also on your fortune. The 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac are:

  • Ox: 1949,1961, 1973, 1985
  • Tiger: 1950,1962, 1974, 1986
  • Rabbit: 1951,1963, 1975, 1987
  • Dragon: 1952,1964, 1976, 1988
  • Snake: 1953,1965, 1977, 1989
  • Horse: 1954,1966, 1978, 1990
  • Ram: 1955,1967, 1979, 1991
  • Monkey: 1956,1968, 1980, 1992
  • Rooster: 1957,1969, 1981, 1993
  • Dog: 1958,1970, 1982, 1994
  • Pig: 1959,1971, 1983, 1995
  • Rat: 1960,1972, 1984, 1996

Interestingly, the cat doesn’t appear in the Chinese Zodiac and legend has it that this is because the rat tricked the cat and took his place.

Fake iPhone

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Okay, here is a photo of a fake iPhone, taken by Robert Scoble of Scobalizer fame.

Robert used to be a famous blogger for Microsoft and now heads up FastCompany.tv. Robert appears to be in China for a couple of weeks to meet entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. He’s also taking some very interesting photos, including this one:

Fake iPhone

Not a surprise really – fake copies of everything are available in China. The IPhone would be a prime target. With his ex-Microsoft connection, I wonder what Robert thinks of all the fake Microsoft software you can buy for under USD$1?

I hope Robert enjoys his trip and posts some more photos of China. I also recommend you get over to his blog to read about his trip to China.

Blue Skies In Beijing

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Just to offset my last post about smog In southern China, here are some photos by Mario Carvajal of Tiananmen and the Forbidden City in Beijing under clear, blue skies.

blue skies in China, pollution free  DSC_0866
DSC_0861  DSC_0860

I’ve told this to people again and again: In Beijing, the pollution can be horrible (though not as bad as Guangzhou), but you’ll also get some lovely days of perfect wheather as well. These photos prove it!

It may only be about one day per week, but it does happen!

Edit 4 July 2012: Unfortunately, it seems that the pollution and air quality in Beijing has gotten steadily worse and is at a new low point. There are still a few blus sky days, but not as many as there once were. Here’s to hoping that some of the measures the Chinese government is taking actually helps them.

Smog In China

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The bad side of living in China: the pollution. It’s often, but not always, bad throughout most of China. However, in the southern areas (ie Guangdong) the pollution is terrible. The whole of Guangdong is often covered in smog.

Sepperer Markus recently posted a photo of some pretty bad smog in Hong Kong:

Smog in South China

The reason for the terrible polution in Guangdong? The huge number of factories in Guangdong. Guangdong is wall to wall industrial from one side to the other. Of course there are problems with environmental controls in these factories too, which makes it even worse.

This picture matches the worst smog I’ve personally experienced, which was in Guangzhou. Shenzhen, where this was taken, is only about an hour away from Guangzhou, so it’s no surprise that conditions are similar.

Smog is the one thing I don’t like about living in China.

Full Face Sun Visors

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Recently, egorick posted a picture of a cyclist wearing a full face sun visor:

full face sunvisor in China

Co-incidentally, I just came across an old post on Sinosplice called China’s Solar Visor Craze which discusses the sun visor craze starting in 2004. I’m pretty sure that I saw these way back in 2002 in Guangdong, so it may have taken a while for them to spread to the rest of the country.

The popularity of these sun visors is in large part due to an obsession with protecting themselves from the sun. This is especially prevalent in Chinese women, who want to have milky white skin – traditionally peasant women had dark skin from working in the fields, wheras high class ladies spent most of their time indoors and had pale skin as a result.

Anyway, these sun visors are a very clever invention and they seem to be spreading – I recently saw a lady wearing one of these full face sun visors in the middle of Brisbane! Not really surprising given the large number of Chinese people in Brisbane, but it took me rather aback.

Beijing Railway Station At Night

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Magnifique, lizixiang, 璀璨！ posted a couple of superb photos of the Beijing Railway Station (Beijing Zhan) at night:

Beijing railway station at night

Beijing railway station

It looks very impressive at night time. The building is lit superbly, but that’s not a surprise – the Chinese are excellent at lighting buildings at night.

According to Wikipedia it:

opened in the 1950s, as can be seen from its architecture (which merges traditional architecture with 50s-design). It is located in an extremely central location, just next to Jianguomen, and is within the confines of the city’s 2nd Ring Road.

The Beijing Railway Station is a familiar site to me (and to many other visitors to Beijing), although I’ve never caught a train from here. I used to catch a bus near here and the bus stop was always very busy!