Bingfeng Teahouse

a friend called her tonight and told her that he spent 1000 yuan (about 120 us dollors) to purchase an EGG.

what the hell is that? an egg of 1000 yuan? what kind of egg is that?

she told me that is a dinosaur egg. actually it's not a living egg, it's fossil.

what happend to him? he went to hubei province for a contest of poem elocnte, and bought a dinosaur egg?

she explained to me that a dinosaur egg can sell at the price of 10,000 hongkong dollors in hongkong or at the price of 100,000 u.s. dollors in the states. IT IS VERY CHEAP for him to buy a dinosaur egg with only 1000 yuan.

“but it's illegal to sell it anywhere, he will be caught and put into jail if he sells the egg.” i am still confused.

she continued to explain to me that he doesn't want to sell it, he just wants to keep the egg and perhaps will give that egg to his child. the CHEAP egg just makes him greatly satisfied.

i nod and seems get a clue.

perhaps he should sleep with that CHEAP egg every night so he will smile in the dreams!

the following pics are from dan's shanghai diaries, he made a visit to the building and commented the building in his blog.

i don't know if professors sometimes have their own super fans in the west. it's quite understandable for young girls to become crazy for movie stars but a little bit weird if a professor becomes an idol of a huge numbers of chinese girls. i happen to browse a blog, in which the author, a young girl, created a category titled MY HERO - PROFESSOR LANG, under this category, i find nothing. this just reminds me how shanghai girls worship their NBA idols, they know nothing about basketball but still they are crazy for their NBA “idols” - oh, look at his eyes! oh, his girlfriend must be very happy! oh, he changed his hairstyle!

professor lang, a taiwanese educated in the united states, came to mainland for teaching and academic research, recently criticized many senior managers of state-owned firms of stealing assets by various cunning tactics like MBO (read an in-depth analysis here). the way professor lang presents his argument is interesting, he launched a talk show program in china business news channel of shanghai tv (di yi cai jing, imitating the cnbc program) and “bombed”those senior managers of big state-owned firms including such big names like Haier and TCL.

the public welcomed professor lang as a hero, and you can find numerous comments in internet boards supporting him. although the mainstream economists don't share the same views of professor lang, the government recently banned MBO by senior management of large state-owned enterprises.

to some extents, professor lang and his young fans are participating into the process of policy-making, with the help of various new media in china. although i agree with the view points of professor lang, i have to admit that i am a little uncomfortable with a few things in this case:

1) new media help people express their views, however, many chinese media in current stage have a tendency to excite rather than inform people, and people, in many occasions, are led by their emotions but not by their brains. not to mention that this is the source of many problems in history and today, in china and other parts of the world.

2) the process of policy-making here becomes more and more democratic and involves more and more people, this is good. but there were several cases in recent years in which it was influenced by those who have a bigger share of voice than others, some most influenced by the policy don't have a chance to speak out.

there is a small barber shop in the residential block in which my parents live. it costs 4 yuan to get your hair cut and my monthly hair-cutting budget is 4 yuan.

my wife changed her hairstyle last month in beijing, it looks very similar to the one below and it cost her a few hundred yuan.

friends came to visit us and they applauded her new hairstyle, certainly they asked the price for the hairstyle. then one guest looked at my hair and said,

“why you spent a few hundred yuan for your hair? it's expensive. but anyway, it looks great! it's worth it!”

who says money buys value!

btw, if any of you want to try that 4-yuan-haircut, email me and i will give you the address!

via: peking duck

this post titled blind rage arose hot debate and some of the most emotional comments. the topic is about anti-japan sentiment in china, it might be unpleasant to some readers, but still i think it worth a read. i was also involved in the debate. some of my comments are emotional but they reveal my true thoughts and feelings as a young chinese. i think both chinese and western readers can learn something from this post and the following discussion, hopefully they will.