A Guide to Shenzhen-Hong Kong Border Crossings

For many expats living in Shenzhen, crossing the border to Hong Kong is something of a regular occurrence. Depending on what type of visa you are on, you may be required to exit Mainland China every 30 days, or indeed you may be able to come and go as you please. For expats living and working in Shenzhen, the most obvious choice is to cross one of the several land or sea borders and head to Hong Kong. Many people just do a quick u-turn and head straight back through China customs, whilst others may spend a couple of days taking advantage of shopping and leisure opportunities.

However, there are several ways you can cross over to Hong Kong, and most foreigners use one of five checkpoints. These are the land borders of Luohu, Huangguang and Futian, the bridge at Shenzhen Wan and the ferry at Shekou. This article will highlight a few of the idiosyncrasies of each crossing to help you decide which method of leaving Mainland China is the most convenient for you.

No matter where you live in Shenzhen, one of the border checkpoints is usually accessible by taking a taxi or jumping on the metro system. If you are taking a cab, simply say your destination followed by the element kou’ an meaning “border”. For example, saying “Huangguang kou’an” to a taxi driver will usually get you there without any hassle or confusion. Depending on where you live or what budget you are on determines what crossing you will choose, but conveniently there are crossings in each main area where foreigners tend to live; Luohu, Futian and Nanshan districts.

1) Luohu

A Guide to Shenzhen-Hong Kong Border Crossings

This is one of the busiest border crossings between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The easiest way to get here is to take the metro to the Luohu stop, and you will find yourself at the busy Shenzhen Railway Station. This train station has direct high speed trains to Guangzhou, as well as to other destinations outside of Guangdong Province. As a result it can be incredibly hectic, so keep a good hold of your personal belongings as pickpockets are endemic around the station. From here you simply have to walk through both sets of customs before embarking on another train that takes you directly to Kowloon. The crossing is open from 06:30-24:00.

2) Huanggang

A Guide to Shenzhen-Hong Kong Border Crossings
Photo: flickr.com

Situated a little further west from Luohu, Huanggang border crossing is designed specifically for vehicles. If you avoid the mad commuter rush hours of morning and early evening, you are likely to find that this crossing is a lot quieter with queues vastly reduced in size. Another convenient feature of Huanggang is that it is open 24 hours a day with buses leaving for many destinations in Hong Kong. This border is used a lot by expats living in Shenzhen who go for a night out in Hong Kong but want to avoid paying for costly hotels. However, once you have caught the bus, keep hold of your ticket as you will be required to change buses after you travel from the mainland side to the Hong Kong checkpoint. Open 24 hours.

3) Futian
As another land border, Futian is accessible by metro. Peak times can be busy, but probably less so than at Luohu and Shenzhenwan. The area surrounding this checkpoint on the mainland side is the Futian Free Trade Zone, and subsequently many expats who work in Hong Kong live close to this crossing, as it is very convenient. Once you have entered the cavernous hall you will traverse a walkway that crosses the Shenzhen River, separating the mainland from the New Territories of Hong Kong. Once you have passed through customs you can catch a train that takes you directly to Hung Hom MTR station in Kowloon. Open 06:30-24:00.

4) Shenzhenwan
Shenzhenwan used to be a maddeningly frustrating way to get to Hong Kong because of the huge queues of people that would sometimes extend out of the entrance, especially during weekends. Thankfully due to recent construction work, they have extended the size of the entrance hall to lessen the waiting time. There is no metro station serving this border crossing, so you will have to take a taxi. Nevertheless, as it is situated in Nanshan District, it is fairly central to the majority of foreigners in Shenzhen, many of whom live in Shekou. Once you are through Hong Kong customs, you can take a bus over the kilometer-long bridge to many destinations or just jump in a pleasantly air conditioned Hong Kong taxi, although this is an inevitably more expensive option if you are going to Hong Kong Island. Open 06:30-23:30.

5) Shekou
By far the most expensive way to travel to Hong Kong (around 120 RMB each way), but certainly the most convenient for Shekou-dwellers is to take the ferry. Due to the higher cost of travel, customs is usually a lot quieter so your waiting time will be heavily reduced compared to Shenzhenwan kou’an or Luohu kou’an. From here you can take ferries to Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong International Airport, Macau and Zhuhai and so it is a popular way to cross the border for many expats living in Shenzhen. Check their website for sailing times.

No matter what crossing you choose to use, make sure you have filled out your mainland China exit card as well as a Hong Kong immigration slip, otherwise they might just send you to the back of the queue.
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2010 China’s Best Hospitals List

Editor’s note: The following article was edited and translated from an article published by Xinmin Evening News, a Shanghai newspaper. The article discusses in brief how the "2010 China’s Best Hospitals List" was compiled in an "objective" and "fair" manner, and then lists the 80 top hospitals in China. For the purposes of this article, a breakdown of the number of top hospitals in China by city, as well as the English name of each hospital and its location were added.


The "2010 China's Best Hospitals list", the top 80 hospitals in China voted on and selected by 2,009 medical experts across China was officially released on November 19th. The list was compiled by the Institute Hospital Management at Fudan University in Shanghai, and will be updated annually.

The list is an objective and fair reflection of Chinese hospitals, ranking them according to their "clinical strength", "academic prestige" and "ability to treat difficult illnesses". According to Professor Gao Jiechun, head of the Institute Hospital Management, a series of voting and peer-review regulations for the 2,009 participants ensures that there will be no vote rigging or statistical discrepancies in the final ranking.

The top ten hospitals in 2010 are: Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Sichuan University Huaxi Hospital, General Hospital of PLA, Shanghai Jiaotong University Medical School Ruijin Hospital, Fudan University Huashan Hospital, No. 4 Military Medical University Xijing Hospital, Peking University First Hospital, Fudan University Zhongshan Hospital, Zhongshan University First Hospital and Peking University People’s Hospital.

A breakdown of the number of top hospitals in China by city, as well as the full index of the top 80 hospitals in China (complete with English, Chinese and city info), is listed below.

Number of top hospitals by city

Beijing: 21
Shanghai: 16
Guangzhou: 8
Chongqing: 4
Wuhan: 4
Zhejiang: 4
Chengdu: 3
Jinan: 3
Nanjing: 3
Xi'an: 3
Changsha: 2
Harbin: 2
Shenyang: 2
Tianjin: 2
Anhui: 1
Guilin: 1
Suzhou: 1

Top 80 hospitals in China

Rank	Hospital	Location	Reputation	Research	Total
1	北京协和医院 Peking Union Medical College Hospital	Beijing	80.00 (1)	11.78	91.78
2	四川大学华西医院 Sichuan University Huaxi Hospital	Chengdu	64.59 (2)	20.00	84.59
3	中国人民解放军总医院 General Hospital of PLA	Beijing	58.91 (3)	15.86	74.77
4	上海交通大学医学院附属瑞金医院 Shanghai Jiaotong University Medical School Ruijin Hospital	Shanghai	39.63 (4)	12.67	52.30
5	复旦大学附属华山医院 Fudan University Huashan Hospital	Shanghai	36.60 (5)	11.86	48.46
6	第四军医大学西京医院 No. 4 Military Medical University Xijing Hospital	Xi’an	34.38 (6)	13.01	47.39
7	北京大学第一医院 Peking University First Hospital	Beijing	34.01 (7)	11.77	45.78
8	复旦大学附属中山医院 Fudan University Zhongshan Hospital	Shanghai	29.52 (8)	14.77	44.29
9	中山大学附属第一医院 Zhongshan University First Hospital	Guangzhou	27.71 (9)	12.06	39.77
10	北京大学人民医院 Peking University People’s Hospital	Beijing	26.40 (10)	11.74	38.14
11	华中科技大学同济医学院附属同济医院 Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Tongji Medical School, Tongji Hospital	Wuhan	24.15 (11)	12.29	36.44
12	第二军医大学长海医院 No. 2 Military Medical School Changhai Hospital	Shanghai	16.60 (12)	10.62	27.22
13	华中科技大学同济医学院附属协和医院 Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Tongji Medical School, Xiehe Hospital	Wuhan	15.07 (14)	12.14	27.21
14	北京大学第三医院 Peking University Third Hospital	Beijing	16.20 (13)	9.37	25.57
15	中国医学科学院阜外心血管病医院 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Fuwai Cardiovascular Disease Hospital	Beijing	11.98 (19)	12.17	24.15
16	中国医科大学附属第一医院 China Medical University First Hospital	Shenyang	10.83 (24)	13.26	24.01
17	首都医科大学附属北京安贞医院 Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing Anzhen Hospital	Beijing	9.99 (30)	14.02	23.48
18	中南大学湘雅医院 Zhongnan University Xiangya Hospital	Changsha	12.48 (18)	11.00	23.48
19	浙江大学医学院附属第一医院 Zhejiang University Medical School First Hospital	Zhejiang	10.39 (26)	12.62	23.01
20	中南大学湘雅二医院 Zhongnan University Xiangya Second Hospital	Changsha	12.79 (17)	8.78	21.57
21	上海交通大学医学院附属仁济医院 Shanghai Jiaotong University Medical School Renji Hospital	Shanghai	13.39 (16)	8.12	21.51
22	上海交通大学医学院附属第九人民医院 Shanghai Jiaotong University Medical School Ninth People’s Hospital	Shanghai	11.86 (20)	9.40	21.26
23	南方医院 Southern	Guangzhou	13.73 (15)	7.51	21.24
24	复旦大学附属肿瘤医院 Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center	Shanghai	10.92 (22)	8.90	19.82
25	上海交通大学医学院附属第六人民医院 Shanghai Jiaotong University Medical School Sixth People’s Hospital	Shanghai	7.99 (33)	11.21	19.20
26	第三军医大学西南医院 No. 3 Military Medical University Xinan Hospital	Chongqing	6.02 (41)	12.45	18.47
27	中国医科大学附属盛京医院 China Medical University Shengjing Hospital	Shenyang	10.39 (25)	7.19	17.58
28	第二军医大学长征医院 No. 2 Military Medical University Changzheng Hospital	Shanghai	7.71 (35)	9.85	17.56
29	首都医科大学附属北京同仁医院 Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing Tongren Hospital	Beijing	10.14 (29)	7.19	17.33
30	首都医科大学附属北京儿童医院 Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing Children’s Hospital	Beijing	10.92 (21)	6.00	16.92
31	首都医科大学宣武医院 Capital University of Medical Sciences, Xuanwu Hospital	Beijing	10.29 (27)	6.00	16.29
32	复旦大学附属儿科医院 Fudan University Pediatric Hospital	Shanghai	10.92 (23)	4.81	15.73
33	南京军区南京总医院 Nanjing General Hospital of the Nanjing Military Area	Nanjing	9.86 (31)	5.84	15.70
34	首都医科大学附属北京天坛医院 Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing Tiantan Hospital	Beijing	8.74 (32)	6.37	15.11
35	山东大学济鲁医院 Shandong University Jilu Hospital	Jinan	5.18 (49)	9.91	15.09
36	复旦大学附属眼耳鼻喉科医院 Fudan University EENT Hospital	Shanghai	10.30 (28)	3.71	14.01
37	上海交通大学医学院附属新华医院 Shanghai Jiaotong University Medical School Xinhua Hospital	Shanghai	6.86 (38)	7.01	13.87
38	中山大学附属第三医院 Zhongshan University Third Hospital	Guangzhou	3.65 (61)	10.20	13.85
39	苏州大学附属第一医院 Suzhou University First Hospital	Suzhou	3.65 (62)	9.96	13.61
40	重庆医科大学附属儿童医院 Chongqing University of Medical Sciences Children’s Hospital	Chongqing	6.87 (37)	6.70	13.57
41	中山大学肿瘤防治中心 Zhongshan University Cancer Center	Guangzhou	4.06 (56)	9.29	13.35
42	江苏省人民医院 Jiangsu Province People’s Hospital	Nanjing	1.50 (94)	11.75	13.25
43	广东省人民医院 Guangdong Province People’s Hospital	Guangzhou	7.89 (34)	5.33	13.22
44	中山大学中山眼科中心 Zhongshan University Zhongshan Ophthalmology Center	Guangzhou	5.62 (42)	6.29	11.91
45	中日友好医院 China-Japan Friendship Hospital	Beijing	3.99 (60)	7.83	11.82
46	天津医科大学附属肿瘤医院 Tianjin University of Medical Sciences Cancer Hospital	Tianjin	5.30 (48)	6.31	11.61
47	首都医科大学附属北京朝阳医院 Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital	Beijing	4.37 (54)	7.16	11.53
48	南京大学医学院附属鼓楼医院 Nanjing University Medical School Gulou Hospital	Nanjing	3.12 (68)	8.00	11.12
49	天津医科大学总医院 Tianjin University of Medical Sciences General Hospital	Tianjin	3.02 (69)	7.86	10.88
50	武汉大学人民医院 Wuhan University People’s Hospital	Wuhan	1.78 (87)	8.97	10.75
51	中国医学科学院血液学研究所 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Institute of Hematology	Beijing	5.62 (43)	5.13	10.75
52	浙江大学医学院附属第二医院 Zhejiang University Medical School Second Hospital	Zhejiang	2.43 (77)	8.26	10.69
53	桂林大学第一医院 Guilin University First Hospital	Guilin	2.19 (81)	8.38	10.57
54	重庆医科大学附属第一医院 Chongqing University of Medical Sciences First Hospital	Chongqing	0.47 (111)	10.01	10.48
55	浙江大学医学院附属妇产科医院 Zhejiang University Medical School Women’s Hospital	Zhejiang	4.06 (58)	6.34	10.40
56	北京大学口腔医院 Peking University School of Stomatology	Beijing	5.61 (46)	4.75	10.36
57	中山大学附属第二医院 Zhongshan University Second Hospital	Guangzhou	4.27 (55)	5.65	9.92
58	上海交通大学医学院附属上海儿童医院 Shanghai Jiaotong University Medical School, Shanghai Children’s Hospital	Shanghai	7.17 (36)	2.60	9.77
59	第四军医大学口腔医院 No. 4 Military Medical University Stomatology Hospital	Xi’an	3.43 (65)	6.31	9.74
60	中国医学科学院肿瘤医院 Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Hospital	Beijing	6.05 (40)	3.54	9.59
61	浙江大学医学院附属儿童医院 Zhejiang University Medical School Children’s Hospital	Zhejiang	5.61 (44)	3.81	9.42
62	哈尔滨医科大学附属第二医院 Harbin University of Medical Sciences Second Hospital	Harbin	0.50 (110)	8.78	9.28
63	广州医学院第一附属医院 Guangzhou Medical School First Affiliated Hospital	Guangzhou	6.15 (39)	3.05	9.20
64	中国人民解放军第三零二医院 China PLA 302 Hospital	Beijing	3.43 (63)	5.73	9.16
65	中国医学科学院整形外科医院 Plastic Surgery Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences	Beijing	4.68 (50)	4.42	9.10
66	第四军医大学唐都医院 No. 4 Military Medical University Tangdu Hospital	Xi’an	0.22 (118)	8.86	9.08
67	北京地坛医院 Beijing Ditan Hospital	Beijing	4.68 (53)	4.13	8.82
68	北京积水潭医院 Beijing Jishuitan Hospital	Beijing	5.61 (45)	3.13	8.74
69	哈尔滨医科大学附属第一医院 Harbin University of Medical Sciences First Hospital	Harbin	1.25 (98)	7.31	8.56
70	东方肝胆外科医院 Eastern Hepatic Surgery Hospital	Shanghai	2.75 (74)	5.72	8.47
71	北京大学肿瘤医院 Peking University Cancer Hospital	Beijing	2.80 (73)	5.64	8.44
72	四川大学华西第二医院 Sichuan University Huaxi Second Hospital	Chengdu	3.12 (66)	5.30	8.42
73	四川大学华西口腔医院 Sichuan University Huaxi Stomatology Hospital	Chengdu	4.68 (51)	3.67	8.35
74	上海市精神卫生中心 Shanghai Mental Health Center	Shanghai	4.06 (59)	4.02	8.08
75	武汉大学口腔医院 Wuhan University Stomatology Hospital	Wuhan	2.81 (70)	5.11	7.92
76	安徽医科大学第一附属医院 Anhui University of Medical Sciences First Affiliated Hospital	Anhui	2.18 (82)	5.66	7.84
77	第三军医大学新桥医院 No. 3 Military Medical University Xinqiao Hospital	Chongqing	1.03 (99)	6.72	7.75
78	山东省立医院 Shandong Province Li Hospital	Jinan	2.62 (75)	4.88	7.50
79	山东省肿瘤医院 Shandong Province Cancer Hospital	Jinan	2.18 (79)	5.30	7.48
80	复旦大学附属妇产科医院 Fudan University Women’s Hospital	Shanghai	4.68 (52)	2.78	7.46

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Researcher portals

A researcher portal is a website that attempts to list all the publications of a given researcher. Some portals also allow sharing papers, interacting with other researchers, calculating citation statistics, etc. Every researcher wants their work read and cited, so these websites can be useful tools for getting your work noticed. They can also function as a de facto home page if you don’t already have a personal website. Conversely, they can be a good way to find new work by researchers in your field. However, unless a site provides a relatively complete list of your publications, and covers a large proportion of the research community in your discipline, it is of limited value.

Lately, there seems to have been a lot of activity going on with various portal sites trying to get researchers to sign up for their service. Just this week I’ve had three different services wanting me to sign up. So I thought it was timely to review the various options. I’ll start with the two best options.
Google Scholar Citations

This week, “Google Scholar Citations” was publicly launched. Google Scholar itself is an incredible resources covering journal articles, working papers, books, and almost everything else a scholar might cite. Google Scholar Citations is a place where all the outputs from a researcher are listed. It provides a way of listing your publications, tracking citations to your publications, computing citation metrics, etc. There is very little work in setting up a profile. When I did it, Google had automatically identified all my publications. Nothing seemed to have been missed, and it even listed one paper I had forgotten I had written!

To see the profile of an existing researcher, just search for their name on Google Scholar. If they have made their profile public, it will appear in the search results. Some examples are Andrew Gelman and Scott Armstrong. My profile is also there.

To set up your profile, go to scholar.google.com/citations. You may have to do some editing of the results to merge versions of the same publication, or to correct some errors in the database. I have 142 publications listed and it took me about 10 minutes to go through and make sure they were all correct.

Hopefully, Google will use the information provided by these edits to correct their Google Scholar database, although that isn’t happening yet.
Mendeley

If you use Mendeley, you will already have an online Mendeley profile listing all the publications in your “My Publications” collection. My page is here. Whenever you write a new paper, or have a paper accepted in a journal, just update the details in Mendeley, make sure the paper is in your “My Publications” collection and your profile is automatically updated.

With Mendeley, you have to add every output yourself, whereas Google Scholar finds and adds outputs for you. But if you use Mendeley anyway, this is no extra work. I use Mendeley as the backend to my CV (it generates the bib file that is used in my CV) so the Mendeley profile is a side-benefit rather than representing additional work. Mendeley lists 152 publications for me — it includes a few biblical writings that haven’t made it onto Google Scholar.

A nice feature of Mendeley is that it allows you to share pdfs of your papers.

Mendeley does not track citations like Google Scholar, but it does provide some excellent facilities for collaboration. You can share papers with your contacts, and set up groups to allow for research collaboration and discussion.
All the rest

There are several other sites attempting to provide similar services, but none of them come close to Mendeley or Google Scholar Citations in useful features and usability. I’ve set up profiles on all of them, just to see how they work.

ResearcherID: lists 81 of my publications. This is one of the oldest options and I set up my profile a couple of years ago, and now can’t remember how much work it was. It misses my books, R packages, working papers and book chapters, but has most of my journal articles. Links to online versions of the papers are provided. OK, but limited compared to Mendeley and Google Scholar Citations.
Microsoft Academic Search: links 105 of my papers. This is Microsoft’s answer to Google Scholar. The database looks like it might be cleaner than Google Scholar, but a lot of citations are missed and my exponential smoothing monograph is nowhere to be seen. Also, working papers are missing.
ResearchGate: lists 74 of my publications, lists the “Journal of Epidemiology” as my top journal (where I have two papers) instead of the IJF (where I have 17 papers), and requires me to upload all my papers manually. No thanks.
Academia.edu: lists 58 of my papers and couldn’t find any more when I searched. So I would have to add the rest manually. Very limited information about any paper available. Why are they still in business?
iamResearcher: lists 45 of my publications, barely 1/3 of what I have on Mendeley and nothing from 2011 except for the MComp package for R. It also lists a working paper from 2010 which never existed, with a list of coauthors who have never written a paper together. With a name like “iamResearcher”, I should have expected this.

Recommendations

Ignore the emails from ResearcherID, ResearchGate, Academia.edu and iamResearcher. Just hit delete. Microsoft doesn’t really promote their site, so they don’t send emails to annoy me.
Set up a page on Google Scholar Citations. It’s not much work and makes your work more visible. It also allows you to track citations which are useful if you apply for promotion.
Use Mendeley and put all your own publications in the “My Publications” collection. Then spend 10 minutes editing your Mendeley profile so it gives a little more information about you.
If you don’t have a personal website, use your Mendeley profile as your personal home page.
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西红柿鸡蛋汤

суп_из_яйца_с_помидорами

Сегодня рецепт одного из самых популярных и любимых китайских супов – с яйцом и помидорами.

Ингредиенты:
2 помидора
1 яйцо
5-7 перьев зеленого лука
кусочек имбиря (примерно 5 см)
5 зубчиков чеснока
растительное масло
соль
кунжут
половинка куриного кубика

Инструкция:

1. Режем помидоры дольками, а лук, имбирь и чеснок кусочками (как на картинке)

2. В плошке взбиваем яйцо в однородную массу

3. в сковороде разогреваем масло, добавляем ч.л. кунжута, кладем лук, чеснок и имбирь, мешаем.

4. Обжариваем их до появления аромата и кладем в сковороду помидоры, мешаем.

5. Через 5 минут заливаем немного кипяченой воды, солим.

6. В это время в кастрюле кипятим воду с половинкой кубика.

7. В кипящую воду закладываем овощную смесь и заливаем яйцо, быстро перемешиваем, чтобы яйцо получилось хлопьями – выключаем.

Готово! Приятного аппетита)
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Chinese Diet – 10 easy things you can do to lose weight

Eat your food family style
I used to hate eating family style, we steered away from these restaurants. I wanted what I wanted and didn’t want to share it with anyone. Now all of our meals are placed in the middle of the table.
Keep in mind that you don’t make 5 lbs of meatloaf and just throw it in the middle of the table. You make your normal three dishes; (what you would think of like your main dish and two side dishes) however you don’t make one larger than the other. They are all about the same size.

Use a smaller bowl – much smaller
Go into your cupboard and find your smallest bowl. Now that will be the bowl that you will eat out of. You can use your normal plates to serve your dishes on in the middle of the table. See you didn’t even have to get new bowls. How is that for easy.
You might be thinking how am I going to be full on just one bowl of food that small? Not to worry you are not limited to only one bowl, but every time you finish your bowl you have to consciously get more food. You pick what you want to eat and how much of it. By doing this you actually pick much much less food than someone would naturally serve you.

Vegetables are your main course
Vegetables dishes are what two of your three plates on your table are. For example you might have one plate of a cucumber dish, one of corn & carrots, and then another with ribs. If you wanted one night to have diced potatoes, chicken, and eggplant that would also be okay.
We were not fans of vegetables before either, but find a few dishes that your whole family loves and rotate those. Trust us.

Cut down on your meat & dairy
We eat very little meat. Most Chinese eat very little meat because it is expensive. We have opted out of eating lots of meat because it isn’t the main course of a Chinese diet and that is what we wanted. We found that meat is actually harder on the digestive system than we ever thought. After a night of heavy meat eating we all feel a little more lethargic.
If you love meat, then don’t cut down too much, but be conscience of how much meat you are eating versus veggies. If you are worried about the nutritional aspect of it make sure you introduce different protein dishes that are not meat. There are tons out there.
We eat very little dairy. It was hard at first coming from the cheese head state of Wisconsin. Cut it down and try to limit it to eggs, milk and yogurt. You will be surprised at how awesome you will start feeling.

Use chopsticks to eat
You don’t know how to use them. Well watch this little tutorial and then practice away. Remember practice makes perfect, JUST DO IT! We love eating with chopsticks and wonder why we didn’t use them more at home. They are so cheap to buy and are actually lots of fun once you get going. Our 4 year old Lupita now eats all of her food with chopsticks too and she is left handed.
You eat a lot slower, A LOT. I still have seen people shovel food with chopsticks so I know it can be done, but for most of us it is a lot harder to do so.

Introduce rice and noodles into your meals
A Chinese diet includes a lot of rice and noodles. So our daily diet is no different, we eat rice and noodles 3 times a day.
We have grown to love it. We feel like our meal isn’t complete if we don’t have some.
White rice and white noodles is the color of choice. The Chinese actually feel that brown rice is in the same category as the plague, they avoid it at all costs and find it a bit insulting. What about all of the calories and the carbs in white rice? These people have been eating it for thousands of years and look better, live longer, and are healthier than anyone else. So I will trust them and stick with my WHITE rice. Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken!

Eat your left overs – don’t waste food or the money you spent on it.
The Chinese know how to recycle and reuse things like no other society I have ever experienced. Coming from a consuming/disposing society this has been an eye opener. I will admit I really don’t enjoy left overs. I am not sure where my hatred for yesterday’s food comes from, but it has been there for sometime.
Now we don’t make enough food to feed an army, we just make enough and if there are some left overs they don’t turn gross in the fridge over night. I am guessing it is because there isn’t pounds of butter or grease so the food looks very similar to what it did the day before. We rarely throw out food.

Don’t deprive yourself of everything – just don’t gobble it.
Don’t think that we just sit around eating carrots and celery all day and that is how we lost all of our weight. We eat food we crave and love too. I am a sucker for a coke and a snickers bar. I don’t want to know how many calories are in there or how many carbohydrates. But I have one of my power pick me up doses about twice a week at least. Some afternoons I feel like I just need a little something to get me through the day and I run down to the convenience store and pick up my little snack.
We crave McDonald’s and so do our kids, so about once a week we have our American treat. We either choose McDonald’s or KFC. It is much more expensive to eat MCD’s here than it is in the US, so that keeps us away too. We do not deprive ourselves and feel bad about eating some food that we know is extremely bad for us. Anyone knows that depriving yourself of the little joys in life will only throw you off the wagon sooner.

Don’t keep a stocked pantry of snacks or “just in case food”
We come from a family that keeps food around in case the Apocalypse comes or maybe the next group of teenage boys. The problem with keeping all sorts of yummy food around is that you eat it when you aren’t suppose to. You might have will power, but we don’t!! Especially Zeek, he will go and snack on just about anything he can dig up at 11 or 12 at night. So we have eliminated having snacks around all together.
If you have kids you know that they can and want to eat many more snacks than we do. Remember, you are teaching them their eating habits now. When their metabolism dies like ours has they will begin to pack on the pounds and not know why. This is the time to teach them about healthy eating and snacking habits.
Everyone in China I encounter grabs an apple or some yummy fruit to snack on. That is considered their sweet, good food for thought.

Don’t use too many bottled spices, natural spices are best and really are all that you need.
This might sound odd, but it is true. We use to have about 30 bottles of spices in our cupboard. I admit that I didn’t know how to properly use 28 of them. In our Chinese diet we use about 4 or five different spices in total. They are ginger, garlic, oyster sauce, chives, and soy sauce. The ginger, garlic and chives are cut freshly and put into the dishes. Why not use fresh seasons if you can.
We believe it has helped with bringing out the natural flavor of our food and made all of our veggies extra yummy.

Yup that is it!!

No insane pills or equipment to buy, just a little common sense really.

How can you not love it!

It might sound just too easy, but we are living proof that it works.
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Online and On Time – Buying Things Online for Delivery to China: English-language Books and More

Let’s face it – sometimes you just don’t want to leave the house, cram back into the subway to cross town so you can wander around Zhongguancun being pawed by vendors shouting ‘helloo’ top-volume at you when all you need is memory card for your camera. Where do you get a book that’s not written by Jack Welch or Donald Trump? Even if you’re willing to brave the crowds and take a chance on buying something counterfeit or able to bargain down marked up laowai prices, do you even know where to go for a voltage converter or the new Neil Gaiman children’s book?

Thanks to the twin marvels of the internets and international shipping, those of us living in China are still able to enjoy many of the creature comforts we’re used to, the things we crave so badly during a Northern China winter. The books and TV shows, the miscellaneous electronic parts, the new hard drive to store all the downloads we’ve accumulated. After all no one wants to read ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ and ‘Tale of Two Cities’ all winter and few of us want to watch CCTV9 at all.

Amazon

Although Amazon has bought up Chinese auction site Joyo they have maddeningly not created an English version of the site. Fortunately, the regular US based English language Amazon ships to China. Priority shipping should get your goods to you in (according to the Amazon site) 2-4 days, expedited shipping takes, on average, 12-20 days, and standard takes 17-28. More info on Amazon shipping to China here.

The downside to Amazon shipping is that some goods on Amazon come through independent merchants who set their own shipping policies and these policies may not include China so be sure to read the shipping policies before you get too attached to anything.

Alibaba

With Alibaba you never really know what’s going to come out of the lamp. The site is used by manufacturers as well as individual buyers and you many find the perfect shirt at a great price only to find out the minimum order is 10 pieces. Since everything comes through individual sellers – like eBay – payment and shipping terms vary although everything ships within China. The site is available in a variety of languages besides English which will be helpful for the many non-native English speaking expats tired of always having to do everything in English.

Alibaba is not the easiest place to find a new phone or jacket but with a bit of effort you can find some pretty amazing products that Amazon certainly doesn’t have – in English. And it’s certainly amusing. Ever wondered where to buy a cement mixer? Well now you know. You may not have room at home for a potato chip processing line but you must have room for a new watch phone, maybe even room for 100 of them. The buying procedure isn’t as simple or streamlined as it should be but with some patience and perseverance you can come away with a good deal and it’s especially good for businesses needing larger quantities or looking to wholesale.

Paddyfield

For hungry readers who don’t want to wait several weeks for Amazon, Paddyfield may be a better option. Based out of Hong Kong, Paddyfield ships books to the mainland faster and cheaper (usually) than Amazon does. The book selection is thorough and diverse and the Asian fiction session is especially good. The deliveries aren’t super quick – they average about two weeks – but they’re trackable directly through their site. You can pay by credit or international debit card, bank draft, or through T/T if you arrange it with them. The books themselves are sold at good prices – what you would expect to pay in the US or elsewhere.

Bongo – mail forwarding

If you really need something sent to you that you can’t get through Amazon, or locally, Bongo can help you. Bongo is a mail forwarding service that provides you with an address in the US, you have your packages shipped to that address, and Bongo forwards it to you. It’s available for one time users as well as by membership subscription. If you are receiving more than one package they can wait for them all to arrive and ship them to China together to save you money. For 50 cents a photo they’ll even photo your items and send them to you so you can verify the contents and condition of a package before it’s shipped all the way here. You need to register with them first, a process which usually takes one business day. They ship everywhere in China and they are quick about it – to Beijing should only take 3 days. More on their China shipping times.

Chinese-language sites

Taobao

If you speak Chinese or have a good helper there are several Chinese sites that offer similar services. Taobao is the auction wing of Alibaba – think eBay but Chinese. Like eBay they offer a wide range of consumer electronics, shoes, and MP3 players shaped like Mickey Mouse’s head. You can read more on Taobao here.

Joyo

Although owned by Amazon, using Joyo has some advantages over using its parent company – mainly that you pay for the item on delivery which ensures you get the proper item in the proper condition.

Dangdang

It’s too bad Dangdang is all in Chinese because the site’s design and wide range of products are both pretty sweet. They even have a bookstore section although the English titles are mostly business books available off of street carts for cheaper prices (although not much cheaper).
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How to Save Thousands through Online Shopping in China

Life in China often turns out not being as affordable as it seemed when you just arrived here. If you want to eat food that isn’t suspiciously cheap or just downright disgusting, you often end up paying the same price as back home, if not more. The same can be said about clothes, which in the case of imported foreign brands, tend to be much more expensive than in Europe, or in the case of non brand clothes often requires you to be in possession of impressive bargaining skills in order to get a good price. Fortunately however, the solution to this problem is already here in the form of the multitude of online shopping providers on the Chinese net.

The online shopping scene in China can be divided into two different categories: the actual web shops, and the flash-buy pages or tuangou (团购) as they are called in Chinese. To use these pages requires a working knowledge of Chinese since they are all in Chinese, and they will often send an SMS in Chinese confirming the order.

Web shops

You can basically buy anything your heart desires through any of the many shops online, and generally at a far lower price than you might get in your local supermarket. Sites like Taobao.com (Chinese eBay) function as a front for thousands of individual shops, and are a true heaven for the shopaholic Sinophile.

But the online Chinese shopping bonanza does not end here: larger online shops like vancl.com will be happy to supply you with anything you need to fit into this summer’s fashion, including t-shirts with print for 29 RMB and shoes for only 59 RMB. While vancl.com has clothes for both sexes and a distinctively young vibe, moonbasa.com another of the big online clothes shopping sites targets female shoppers with a broad selection of clothes and lingerie.

But of course it’s not just cheap clothes you can buy conveniently online. The page womai.com which is run by the huge state owned corporation COFCO (China Oil and Foodstuffs Corporation), has a huge selection of mainly food related products, ranging from imported Maine lobsters to Xinjiang dates and Brazilian coffee, all at very reasonable prices.

The great thing about this kind of online shopping is that all you need to do is to collect all the products you want in your online basket, write your name, address and phone number, and off the order goes! When sending the order you can specify which date you want the order to be delivered, which is also when you will pay for the goods in cash. It is perfectly okay to try your new clothes on while the deliveryman is waiting, and if it is not exactly the perfect size they will take it back and return with another size. Both vancl.com and moonbasa.com offer free postage as long as the order is at least 59 RMB, as well as a 30-day money back guarantee if you are not satisfied.

Flash-buy / Tuangou

You may have heard about groupon.com, the American website devoted to providing customers with great deals based on the idea of offering a lower price when a big group of people buy the same product at the same time. Although this is an American invention it is by no means confined to that country; in fact China has embraced flash buy with a zeal that only the Chinese (always eager for a good deal) can muster. Flash-buy or Tuangou (团购) as it is known in Chinese is all the rage right now, and new web pages offering flash-buy deals to the Chinese market are popping up all the time, while the subway and buses of Beijing are plastered with commercials for the big flash-buy sites.

You can basically buy anything from these sites, ranging from cinema tickets to fancy seafood dinners and — believe it or not—even real estate! The Chinese love for flash-buy pages knows no boundaries.

When you go to a flash-buy site and click on one of the deals offered, you will usually be told whether the amount of people signed up for this deal is sufficient to make it available, as well as a timer displaying how long time is left before the offer ends. For example if you want to buy a dinner through a flash-buy site, then usually everything you get is determined by the restaurant and it will be shown in pictures on the webpage. This of course takes away some of the fun of ordering yourself, but there are so many deals out there that you should be able to find the one just right for you, and besides, the savings can be as much as 40 to 60%.

When you have decided which deal you want to buy, you register with the page using your email and mobile phone number. After the online payment has gone through you will receive an SMS which you can use to claim your dinner once in the restaurant. Please note that most restaurants who offer flash buy dinners have a specific set of dates inside which the offer must be used.

With so many pages to choose from it can be hard to know where to go, but the following are among the biggest and most reliable. These are all in Chinese, so a working knowledge of Chinese would be a big help in using them (or a patient Chinese friend!):

Major flash-buy sites in China:

www.tuanbao.com
www.meituan.com
www.nuomi.com

To use these flash-buy pages you will need an online bank account from one of the Chinese banks, but since most expats have a Chinese bank account and opening up an online account is not very hard, this should not be a problem.
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Тибет. Таким вы его ещё не видели

Работы современного китайского художника Ван Игуана (Wang Yiguang) вдохновлены скромной красотой Тибетских гор. Художник несколько лет работал в Тибете и влюбился в него и его людей. Оптимистический настрой тибетцев послужил бесконечным источником вдохновения для создания его произведений. Глядя на эти картины, хочется сбросить с себя серость будней, груз повседневных проблем и улететь в мир спокойствия и тихой мечтательности, в который влекут эти летящие маленькие феи.
Такой Тибет хочется увидеть и – остаться там навсегда.

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Picking Brand Names in China Is a Business Itself

 By MICHAEL WINES

BEIJING — After a hard day’s labor, your average upscale Beijinger likes nothing more than to shuck his dress shoes for a pair of Enduring and Persevering, rev up his Precious Horse and head to the pub for a tall, frosty glass of Happiness Power.

Or, if he’s a teetotaler, a bottle of Tasty Fun.

To Westerners, that’s Nike, BMW, Heineken and Coca-Cola, respectively. And those who wish to snicker should feel free: the companies behind these names are laughing too — all the way to the bank.

More than many nations, China is a place where names are imbued with deep significance. Western companies looking to bring their products to China face a problem not unlike that of Chinese parents naming a baby boy: little Gang (“strong”) may be regarded quite differently than little Yun (“cloud”). Given that China’s market for consumer goods is growing by better than 13 percent annually — and luxury-goods sales by 25 percent — an off-key name could have serious financial consequences.

And so the art of picking a brand name that resonates with Chinese consumers is no longer an art. It has become a sort of science, with consultants, computer programs and linguistic analyses to ensure that what tickles a Mandarin ear does not grate on a Cantonese one.

Art “is only a very, very tiny piece of it,” said Vladimir Djurovic, president of the Labbrand Consulting Company in Shanghai, which has made a business of finding names for Western companies entering the Chinese market.

Maybe. But there is a lot of artistry in the best of the West.

The paradigm probably is the Chinese name for Coca-Cola, Kekoukele, which not only sounds like Coke’s English name, but conveys its essence of taste and fun in a way that the original name could not hope to match.

There are many others. Consider Tide detergent, Taizi, whose Chinese characters literally mean “gets rid of dirt.” (Characters are important: the same sound written differently could mean “too purple.”)

There is also Reebok, or Rui bu, which means “quick steps.” And Colgate — Gao lu jie — which translates into “revealing superior cleanliness.” And Lay’s snack foods — Le shi — whose name means “happy things.” Nike (Nai ke) and BMW (Bao Ma, echoing the first two sounds of its English and German names) also have worn well on Chinese ears.

Still, finding a good name involves more than coming up with clever homonyms to the original English.

“Do you want to translate your name, or come up with a Chinese brand?” said Monica Lee, the managing director of the Brand Union, a Beijing consultancy. “If you go for phonetic sounds, everyone knows where you are from — you’re immediately identified as a foreign brand.”

For some products, having a foreign-sounding name lends a cachet that a true Chinese name would lack. Many upscale brands like Cadillac (Ka di la ke), or Hilton (Xi er dun), employ phonetic translations that mean nothing in Chinese. Rolls-Royce (Laosi-Laisi) includes two Chinese characters for “labor” and “plants” that more or less have become standard usage in foreign names — all to achieve a distinct foreign look and sound.

But on the other hand, a genuine Chinese name can say things about a product that a mere collection of homonyms never could. Take Citibank, Hua qi yinhang, which literally means “star-spangled banner bank,” or Marriott, Wan hao, or “10,000 wealthy elites.” Or Pentium, Ben teng, which means “galloping.” Asked to introduce Marvel comics to China, the Labbrand consultants came up not long ago with “Man wei” — roughly phonetic, foreign-sounding and eminently suited to superheroes with the meaning “comic power.”

To introduce Clear dandruff shampoo to young Chinese, who are already inundated with foreign brands, Ms. Lee’s firm decided to focus on the shampoo’s image. “It’s not about where this product comes from; it’s about the benefit it can bring to you,” she said. The ultimate choice, Qing Yang, combines the Chinese words for “clear” and for “flying,” or “scattering to the wind.”

“It’s very light, healthy and happy,” Ms. Lee said. “Think of hair in the air.”

“Clear” is one of a select number of Chinese words that carry unusually positive connotations, and that find their way into many brands’ names. Others include “le” and “xi,” or happy; “li,” meaning “strength” or “power”; “ma” or horse; and “fu,” translated as “lucky” or “auspicious.”

Thus the name for Heineken beer, Xi li, and the many automobile brands — Mercedes, BMW, even Kia — that include a horse in their Chinese names (one Kia sedan is named Qian li ma, or “thousand-kilometer horse,” an allusion to strength).

Precisely why some Chinese words are so freighted with emotion is anyone’s guess. But Denise Sabet, the vice general manager at Labbrand, suggests that the reasons include cultural differences and the Chinese reliance on characters for words, rather than a phonetic alphabet. Each character is a collection of drawings that can carry meanings all their own.

Then again, some meanings are best avoided.

Microsoft had to think twice about bringing its Bing search engine here because in Chinese, the most common definitions of the character pronounced “bing” are “disease,” “defect” and “virus” — rather inauspicious for a computer product. The revised name, Bi ying, roughly means “responds without fail.”

Peugeot (Biao zhi) sounds enough like the Chinese slang for “prostitute” (biaozi) that in southern China, where the pronunciations are especially close, the brand has inspired dirty jokes. And in China, the popular Mr. Muscle line of cleaners has been renamed Mr. Powerful, (Weimeng Xiansheng). The product’s maker said in an e-mail that it had forgotten why.

But it could be that when it is spoken, the name Mr. Muscle has a second, less appealing meaning: Mr. Chicken Meat.

Adam Century and Li Bibo contributed research.
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G-Shock #45: Matte Ping

It seems pink is not a color for everyone. I must say I very much like the color tone of this watch. It made me even think in finding a second pink Riseman, which is in a similar tone. Sometimes pink is regarded as a non masculine color in Western culture, but in fact, in history pink was THE masculine color (baby-blue was considered feminine). Personally I think this watch is a good uni-sex model. Wearing this pink model as a man probably consciously or unconsciously show you are a strong personality, as some men don’t like to wear pink because they are afraid what other people think of them, while I think who you are is more important to what people think of you. 

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Cut in Front of Me? I Will Take You Out!

I love living here in China. I love the excitement, I love the change, and I love the chaos and commotion. I love feeling like the world is churning around me and I am a part of it, and for that I am truly grateful. Having said that, I think sometimes it’s easy to feel a bit defeated living in a big city and even China in general. There are certain things however, culturally, that don’t happen quite as often in Western countries. Most of the time we quietly adapt, but sometimes it’s annoying. Expats complain about things like queue jumping in stores. We finally learn, after a while, that if you leave more than 8 cm between you and the person in front of you, three people will squeeze their way in. I always find it hilarious how Westerners tend to relax a bit when going to places like Western grocery stores where they can stand back a tad and actually enjoy “personal space.” However, you learn never to let your guard down or you will quickly be taken by surprise.

The other day at April Gourmet, there were 6 of us standing in a line. I saw that there was way too much space in between us; we should have known better. We all have our grocery baskets on the floor and are patiently waiting for the register. Out comes this fifteen year old kid with some obvious sense of entitlement, who simply saunters up with his milk to the front of the register. The older French woman, being polite, simply huffs but says nothing, the lady at the counter says nothing, and the guy checked out first.

This happens so many times with the taxis in China that I have begun to lose count. As everyone knows, you can be standing in the rain for an hour, and have 10 people standing 5 feet away from you, after noticing by the sogginess and desperation in your eyes that you have been standing there for quite some time. In dog-eat-dog fashion etiquette, they will plow past you, knocking you over practically into the muddy trenches of the China streets to take your taxi.

But sometimes, just sometimes, you decide you will not take it anymore, and you throw all the chivalry and polite conduct your parents tried to instill in you to the wind. And it feels pretty good. This takes a few months of living in China before you can actually build up the courage to throw all good mannered behavior to the wind. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

Commuting during rush hour traffic 45 minutes away is, needless to say, an exhausting endeavor on a daily basis. Sometimes you can wait 2, 5, or 25 minutes for a taxi in the morning. Most of the time the taxis are full, or sometimes, as baffling as it seems, they refuse to pick you up by pretending they don't see you frantically waving your arms, briefcase in hand, sparkled eyes with muffled hope focused in their direction. But they pass on by.

This morning it was a crisp Beijing day, on many other days I had also been waiting for fifteen minutes or so for the taxi, only to have it blatantly hijacked by someone who came out 2 minutes earlier. When I flagged the taxi down, they would swoop in Jackie-Chan style into the front seat before I could protest, and sped away in my precious taxi. This morning I waited, and waited, watching hopelessly as the taxis passed by filled with other work bound people. I noticed out of the corner of my eye a couple emerges from behind me. It was painfully apparent I was headed to work as I had my briefcase and computer bag crumpling my left shoulder. The man crept up, not 3 feet to my left, and the woman ambled up from behind, and positioned herself not ten feet from my pervious taxi stakeout position. My eyes squinted into little slits as I realized what she thought she was going to do. No, I don’t think so! You, Missy, shall NOT steal my taxi that I have been patiently waiting for 15 minutes. Sure enough, several taxis passed, I held my arm out, and so did she. She looked back at me, I glared at her. In the distance a bit down the road we saw a taxi, shiny red “AVAILABLE” sign flipped down nicely in the center of the windshield like a light at the end of the tunnel. I stood out into the road, situating myself and ready to pounce. I held my arm out, so did she, and the taxi slowed to a stop in between us. I ran for it, she quickly tried to get in front of the passenger door and motioned to her friend to come over. No, I think not. With lighting speed, I leapt between her and the passenger side door as she stepped back, glaring into my eyes. “WO DI YI GE, I am first! I am going to work,” I snarled as I NFL-shoulder-butted her out of the way with my big bulky brief case. She yipped back, stunned at my assertiveness. Success! I ripped open the door and tumbled inside as the taxi driver watched in amusement.

I sat there cackling to myself as I tried to give him the address, not wanting to use my peripheral vision to see the griping woman gesticulating towards me in obvious discontent. The taxi chuckled at me, as I explained that I had been there waiting forever and I wasn’t going to let her just steal my taxi! He laughed, shaking his head and giving me the thumbs up, “hen bang!” - very cool, he remarked as we sped away. Yes, it is these moments when you unfortunately must stand up for yourself or you will get walked over. If not, you have no one to blame but yourself. And you can only pity and hate your own politeness to a certain extent before you fight back, and are victorious. He who quietly lyth downeth will beith loudly walked uponith!

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Mikhail who?

Born 300 years ago this month, Mikhail Lomonosov was surely Russia's first modern scientist, yet he remains strangely unknown outside his homeland, as Robert P Crease finds out

Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (1711–1765) was one of the most far-sighted, polymathic and colourful scientists who ever lived. Far-sighted, because he pioneered the use of quantitative research methods. Polymathic, because though he died at just 53 he contributed to physics, chemistry, astronomy, metallurgy, mining, poetry, literature, mosaics, glassblowing, meteorology, electricity, grammar and history – and built a chemical laboratory, glass factory and flying machine. Colourful, because of irreverent antics and a hot temper. So why is this Russian genius barely known in the West?
Pioneering polymath

Lomonosov was the son of a peasant-turned-fisherman from the Archangel province of north-west Russia. His insatiable love of knowledge, and family conflicts, led him in 1730 to borrow a few rubles and depart for Moscow on foot. It was a time when Peter the Great's reforms were still being bitterly resisted by entrenched clergy and nobility. Indeed, to enter the Slavic Greek Latin Academy he had to pretend to be a son of nobility. When this deception was exposed in 1734, he was nearly expelled.

In 1736 Lomonosov began four years of study in Germany, where he learned the corpuscular theory of light and the need to treat it within a mathematical framework. He began writing poetry, but his revelry and carousing often landed him in trouble. On one trip a recruiter for the Prussian hussars befriended him, got him drunk and convinced him to enlist. The next morning, Lomonosov awoke in uniform in a heavily guarded fortress. It took him days to devise an escape, by climbing two palisades, swimming two moats and eluding cavalry in hot pursuit.

Lomonosov returned to Russia in 1741, joining the Russian Academy of Sciences. Its founding, by Peter the Great in 1724, essentially marked the start of science in Russia – but it was still staffed by often incompetent foreigners (Bernoulli and Euler had left). Rude and mocking to inept colleagues, Lomonosov landed himself under house arrest following one violent episode. He was released after delivering odes to the Empress and a public apology, and became the Academy's first Russian academician in 1745.

At the Academy, Lomonosov undertook a breathtaking range of experiments. He transformed Russian chemistry from art into science, introducing quantitative methods and laboratory instruction. He built Russia's first chemical laboratory, where he conducted about 4000 tests and experiments. He used corpuscular theory to explain the elasticity of air, considered heat a form of rotational motion, introduced the idea of absolute zero and a version of conservation of matter and energy. He developed self-recording thermometers and designed a model helicopter to take them to the upper atmosphere. (A full-scale version was never built.) He designed and built a glass factory, and created a huge (6.4 × 4.8 m) mosaic, The Battle of Poltava. He also founded Moscow State University, although Pushkin called Lomonosov himself "our first university".

But Lomonosov could not escape embroiling himself in fierce attacks and counterattacks with opponents. These fights reflected in academic circles the ongoing conflict that Peter the Great had set in motion between religion and science.

Many episodes in his life were dramatic. He and co-worker Georg Richmann each built "thunder machines" to measure electricity during thunderstorms. During one storm on 26 July 1752, Lomonosov's frightened family begged him to leave the lab. He brushed them off, but was interrupted by Richmann's servant, asking him to come quickly. Lomonosov rushed to Richmann's house, which had its own machine, to find his colleague dead, having been killed by a blast of bolt lightning – of which Lomonosov then offered the first theoretical model.
Lack of recognition

Why Lomonosov is not better known in the West has something to do with a lack of good material about him not in Russian. His biography – Russia's Lomonosov by the chemist Boris Menshutkin (the English translation appeared in 1952) – is dry and focuses on Lomonosov's chemical contributions. The most sensitive account in English, written by physicist Pyotr Kapitsa in 1966 (Soviet Physics Uspekhi 8 720), is but nine pages long.

Furthermore, polymaths tend to be underappreciated both because their ambitions exceed their ability to complete projects, and because we cannot believe that people are able to overflow traditional disciplinary boundaries. My favourite illustration of this is by French historian of chemistry Ferdinand Hoefer, who wrote that "among the Russian chemists who have become known as chemists, we mention Mikhail Lomonosov, who mustn't be confused with the poet of this name".

Yet another factor is that some claims made for Lomonosov are hyperbolic, smacking of Cold War assertions of Russian superiority. Lomonosov also made mistakes, notably denying the proportionality of weight and mass. Whether Lomonosov was first to observe the atmosphere of Venus is an interesting controversy bound to be revived next year with the 2012 transit of Venus.
The critical point

Lomonosov worked in almost complete isolation from other scientists or even those who appreciated science. For instance, he had to beg a sponsor to allow him to spend his leisure time conducting chemistry and physics experiments the way others would spend theirs on billiards. Kapitsa also realized that Lomonosov's genius is partly obscured because he lived in a time and place where the lack of a scientific environment made it easy – and possibly inevitable – for even a genius to go astray. Great science, like great art, requires an educated and demanding audience. This was not present in Russia at the time and one of Lomonosov's principal contributions was to begin a coupling between science and culture.

We need to remember Lomonosov. Centuries have passed since scientists have needed to struggle for cultural recognition of the importance of science and its beneficial impact on humanity – but that luxury is now being eroded. We may have to take up Lomonosov's struggle once again.
About the author

Robert P Crease is chairman of the Department of Philosophy, Stony Brook University, and historian at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, US

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Wolf in Sheep’s Skin: Fake and Contaminated Foods in China

When people think of food scandals in China, most people think of the 2008 melamine milk incident, in which six infants died and over 300,000 people fell sick, some with serious kidney complications. Sadly, that was by no means the first time China was host to abominable shortcuts when it came to food. Past incidents include soy sauce made from human hair collected from salons and hospitals (2003), stinky tofu fermented with sewage (2007), marinating duck in goat urine to pass it off as lamb meat (2009), and replacing the blood in pork blood pudding with formaldehyde, salt, food colouring and corn starch (2009).

While certain food scandals get cleaned up and cracked down upon by the government, new ones constantly crop up. So what are the ones that are turning consumers’ stomachs nowadays? Read on for the fake and contaminated food in China that is grabbing today’s headlines.

Wolf in Sheep’s Skin: Fake and Contaminated Foods in China
Photo: vancouversun.com

Fake:

1) Rice
News channels in Hong Kong, Korea and Vietnam went wild when it was revealed that some manufacturers were selling plastic rice for consumption in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, in 2011. The concoction, made with a blend of sweet potatoes, potatoes and plastic industrial resin, has mainly been sold to poor farmers. According to an employee of the Chinese Restaurant Association, three bowls of this fake rice is the equivalent of eating one plastic bag.

2) Baozi buns
Chinese officials have come out saying the multiple reports sprouting from Shanghai in 2010 on fake baozi buns were, well, fake – but most of the Chinese and expat population believe that the government is simply trying to save face. The buns are made from a combination of cardboard soaked to a pulp in caustic soda (a chemical used in paper and soap making), powdered seasoning and fatty pork. This type of shortcut is apparently used all over China, although the original report came out of Beijing.

3) Beef
Since pork is quite a bit cheaper than beef, some restaurants are simply soaking their cuts of pork in sodium borate, a detergent additive that gives it the texture and taste of real beef. The really scary part? Only five grams of this sodium borate is enough to kill a child, while for others it can cause long term poisoning, cancer and deformities. Marinating the cut of pork (or, in some cases, chicken) for only a couple hours can be enough to pass it off to the consumer.

4) Eggs
While eggs seem like a difficult item to fake, the practice has gained momentum this year. And while it is true that quite a process is involved, the cost effectiveness still makes it worthwhile for food scammers. So what exactly is in these fake eggs? That would be sodium alga acid, water, gelatine, baifan, sodium benzoate, lactones, carboxymethyl cellulose, calcium carbide, lysine, food colouring agent, calcium chloride, paraffin wax and gypsum powder, to be exact.

Not Quite What They Seem:

1) Wheat and rice flour
China sure loves its melamine. Mixing it into wheat flour and rice flour artificially increased protein levels in dog food (which was pretty much the same reason they mixed it into baby formula a few years ago) that was shipped overseas in 2007. This resulted in over 4,000 dogs dying after essentially being poisoned to death.

2) Noodles
Sweet potatoe glass noodles, particularly popular in certain Sichuan dishes, are supposed to be made of, well, sweet potatoes (sweet potatoe flour, to be exact). This gives them a transparent but blackish, purplish colour. In 2011, however, a few factories in Guangdong province decided to go a cheaper route and make them out of corn flour instead. And how did they achieve that unique colour? By mixing printing ink, green dye and paraffin wax (normally used to make candles).

3) Baozi buns
Consumers who thought buying baozi from a grocery store was more sanitary than buying it off the street were sadly mistaken when reports surfaced of buns that had passed their expiration dates being given new life by the manufacturer. These stale buns were simply mixed with water, yellow food colouring (which has been declared illegal), flour and so much artificial sweetener that it “exceeded national standards.” As many as 336,000 buns were then sold back to stores as new.

4) Mushrooms
An independent study found that over 81% of fresh mushrooms sold at markets contain levels of fluorescent bleach, which is used to make the mushrooms appear whiter and more recently picked. This study was done in Beijing in 2010 and promptly shot down by the government, but subsequent surveys in the media have found that most Chinese citizens believe the original findings. Luckily, this addition doesn’t seem to apply to dried mushrooms.

Obviously the effects of eating fake and tainted food are numerous. And while it is almost impossible to tell exactly how many people are suffering illnesses or diseases from tainted food in China, current Chinese estimates put the number well over 300 million citizens and cost over 168 billion Yuan a year, according to the Asian Development Bank. Sadly, until food safety is (seriously) moved to the forefront of government priorities, these cases will only multiply.

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Самый богатый китаец будет членом ЦК Компартии

Так повелось, что у каждого китайского президента, или, как это принято называть в Китае, у каждого поколения лидеров, есть свое политическое кредо. На смену «культурной революции» Мао Цзэдуна пришли «реформы и открытость» Дэн Сяопина. Цзянь Цзэминь выдвинул свою теорию «тройного представительства», Ху Цзиньтао правит под лозунгом «научного развития» и создания «гармоничного общества».

Будущий пятый китайский руководитель Си Цзиньпин продолжит дело предшественников, а его политическим кредо, скорее всего, станет борьба с коррупцией и модернизация экономики. Кредо предшественников на свалку истории не выкидывают – соблюдают преемственность. Таким образом, каждый новый президент добавляет к идеологическому базису свою долю кирпича и цемента. Это называется «социализмом с китайской спецификой»: идеология обогащается новым содержанием, но основы при этом не попираются.

Однако последние десятилетия Китай, по крайней мере, в социально-экономическом плане, меняется самым стремительным образом. Под эти изменения нужно не просто подводить «гранитную базу идеологии» – меняться должна сама Компартия Китая, иначе ее может постичь печальная участь КПСС. Этот урок китайцы усвоили хорошо. Поэтому каждый новый китайский президент – это не просто новый лозунг, но и новое поколение политиков, внутрипартийная и правительственная ротация и некоторая смена курса в рамках общего фарватера китайского социализма.

До самого конца ХХ века идеологическую основу КПК составляли – по славной марксистско-ленинской традиции – крестьяне, рабочие и солдаты. Серп, молот и штыки. В 2001 году Цзянь Цзэминь выдвинул свою теорию «трех представительств», согласно которой КПК, наряду с означенными группами, олицетворяет собой «всех прогрессивных предпринимателей, которые неустанно работают на благо родины и народа, разделяют все основополагающие принципы КПК и идут по пути строительства социализма с китайской спецификой».

Говоря проще, КПК признала заслуги частного сектора в строительстве современного Китая. Признала совершенно справедливо – объективная реальность. К серпу, молоту и штыкам прибавились толстые кошельки. Тогда, 10 лет назад, этот шаг китайских лидеров многим казался чуть ли не революционным: говорили, что Китай окончательно становится на «капиталистические рельсы», и скоро останутся одни кошельки.

Однако ничего революционного на самом деле не случилось. Тот «поворот» был куда менее кардинальным, чем реформы Дэн Сяопина на фоне правления Мао Цзэдуна. Как и прежде, КПК сохранила за собой прочные позиции. Более того, классовая опора на бизнес стала абсолютно логичным продолжением политики современного Китая. При этом об идеях Великого Кормчего партия, похоже, забывать совсем не собирается, а некоторые наблюдатели даже отмечают, что при Ху Цзиньтао в партии обозначился некоторый левый уклон.

С 2001 года в КПК вступило много предпринимателей. Правда, в верхние партийные эшелоны продвинулись лишь единицы. Например, генеральный директор компании «Хайэр» Чжан Жуйминь или президент Китайской нефтехимической корпорации (Sinopec) Ли И. Во всех этих случаях речь шла либо о государственных, либо о тесно аффилированных с государством или партией компаниях.

Но вот недавно произошло событие, которое, на первый взгляд, должно заставить Председателя Мао перевернуться в своем мавзолее. Стало известно, что в составе ЦК КПК с очень большой долей вероятности появится первый частный капиталист. Да не просто капиталист, а самый богатый человек Китая – Лян Вэньгэнь, основатель и владелец машиностроительного гиганта, корпорации Sany.

Вполне естественно, что такой знаковый для КПК и китайского общества в целом шаг воспринимается неоднозначно. Принадлежащее КПК агентство Синьхуа так комментировало это событие: «Уход в политику миллиардеров привлекает повышенное внимание общества и вызывает споры. Некоторые считают, что Китай нуждается в чиновниках, которые хорошо разбираются в реальном секторе экономики. Уход Лян Вэньгэня в политику будет способствовать повышению уровня экономического управления правительства. Однако другие говорят, что в Китае достаточно чиновников на уровне заместителей министров или министров, а вот мировых брендов и охотно занимающихся бизнесом предпринимателей не хватает».

Кто же этот олигарх, с которым не гнушается ассоциировать себя китайская верхушка? Выходец из бедной деревенской семьи Лян Вэньгэнь окончил Центральный южный металлургический институт. В середине 80-х гг. работал на государственном заводе при Министерстве военной промышленности, где со временем возглавил отделы планирования и экономической реструктуризации. Там он познакомился с Тан Сюго, Мао Чжуну и Юань Цзиньхуа , которые стали его верными друзьями и бизнес-партнерами на всю жизнь. Сейчас все трое входят в состав совета директоров Sany и также обладают более чем миллиардными состояниями.

В 1986 году четверка друзей покинула завод, чтобы основать свое первое дело – овечью ферму. Новоявленные бизнесмены прогорели в первый же год: овцы не пережили зиму. После этого Лян Вэньгэнь предложил заняться тем, в чем друзья знали толк – строительными материалами и металлургическими изделиями.

В том же году, собрав общими усилиями 60 000 юаней (по тем временам около $6000–7000), друзья основали новое предприятие. Через 7 лет на волне строительного бума компания сменила профиль на выпуск строительной техники и приобрела сегодняшнее название – Sany (в дословном переводе с китайского «три один» или «триединство»). По словам Лян Вэньгэня, это название означает «первоклассная компания, первоклассные таланты, первоклассный вклад (в экономическое строительство)». Хотя версия о том, что в названии заложены четыре основателя компании (три + один) тоже довольно популярна.

Сегодня Sany входит в «FT Global 500», имеет в распоряжении пять собственных промышленных парков, четыре R&D центра в Америке, Германии, Индии и Бразилии, 24 региональных представительства и более 70 000 рабочих. В 2010 году доходы компании превысили 50 млрд юаней ($7,9 млрд), увеличившись за год почти в два раза.

Также выросло и состояние Лян Вэньгэня. В середине года Forbes и его китайский аналог «Хужунь» признали Лян Вэньгэня самым богатым человеком Китая, с состоянием $9,3 млрд (по версии Forbes) и $11 млрд (по версии «Хужунь»). Еще Лян известен благотворительностью. Он спонсирует стипендии более десятка вузов, поддерживает китайскую Ассоциацию детского образования, перестроил университет, в котором учился, и построил не одну сотню километров дороги в родной провинции Хунань.

Членом партии Лян Вэньгэнь стал лишь в 2004 году, вскоре после того, как его компания провела успешное IPO в Гонконге. Первую заявку на вступление в КПК Лян подал в 1986 году, но ему отказали. После этого он еще дважды пытался получить партбилет, но тщетно. Ведь КПК традиционно состояла из чиновников, политиков и представителей госпредприятий. Даже после «тройного представительства» Цзянь Цзэминя китайская Компартия (особенно ее левое крыло) совсем не привечала частных капиталистов – они, мол, подрывают дух социалистической системы.

Теперь, видимо, выяснилось, что Лян Вэньгэнь все-таки не подрывает. Назначение миллиардера на эту государственную должность означает, что Комиссия по партийной дисциплине ЦК прочесала его биографию по часам и минутам, вдоль и поперек. И точно не нашла компромата: Лян чист перед законом. Иначе и быть не может: КПК не станет мараться о сомнительные капиталы и сомнительных капиталистов. В конце концов, мало ли в Китае миллиардеров...

Но теперь предварительные процедуры закончены, и осталось лишь несколько шагов, включая официальное заявление, до окончательного включения Ляна (оно, скорее всего, произойдет через год) в те две с небольшим сотни людей, которые избирают святую святых Китая – Политбюро. Нет, Лян с его миллиардами пока не заслужил право голоса. Он станет не полноправным, а ассоциированным (запасным) членом ЦК – пока не умрет (или другим способом не сдаст полномочий) другой полномочный член Комитета. Но, в любом случае, Ляна позвали в ЦК не просто так. Он будет олицетворять и продвигать интересы тех, кто начал с «киоска», сумел подняться до «сети супермаркетов», и все это без того, чтобы «жениться на дочке миллионера».

Словом, оказывается, что у китайцев все не как у людей. Во-первых, олигархи у них начинают не с приватизации государственной собственности, а с баранов. Во-вторых, не привлекаются по УК. В-третьих, в Англии не уезжают. В-четвертых, не привлекаются в качестве «правой оппозиции». В-пятых, и далее по списку, вообще не замечены... Такая вот история self-made миллиардера, в лучших традициях американской мечты. Мечтают ли американские миллиардеры вступить в КПК? Вряд ли. У них свои партии. И у русских – тоже.

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