Bingfeng Teahouse

via: China Launches PR Offensive, sina news (in chinese), china digital times

changing the name of "progapanda department" to "publicity department", sending pandas to taiwan, and hiring a PR firm to help buying Unocal ...... all these seem not enough. climbing quickly in the learning curve, china launched her latest PR initiative - hiring a US PR firm to lobby the US congress.

but will it work? i have a big question mark. just take a survey on how arabs' view of the US transforms after heavy PR bombings by the washington government and you will find that there is little change over there.

the image of countries like china, japan or the US takes long time to build but a few seconds to ruin, why? because you have got an audience that see you through a special eyeglasses.

dance hard, dance smart, but Mr. China, as long as your audience see you through that special eyeglasses, you still got a poor score.

via: cat eyes (in chinese)

when most eyeballs are attracted by Baidu's brilliant debut on Nasdaq, i find a short essay about the monthly expenditures of a migrant worker, it doesn't tell us what specific job the migrant worker does, but his account book should be representative of how much most migrant workers spend in a month. here is a brief translation from that article:

total income of May: 770 yuan (appr., no more than 800 yuan)

expenditures:

rent: 50 yuan (share an apartment with another 3)

management fee: 20 yuan (including 10 yuan "temporary residency fee" for those from other provinces)

dining out: 140 yuan (breakfast: 1 yuan, lunch: 4 yuan)

food (eat at home): 43 yuan

daily expenses: 30 yuan

cigarettes: 20 yuan (2 yuan per pack)

telephone fee: 17 yuan (including 10 yuan beeper service fee)

public transportation: 3 yuan

upbringing of his son: 200 yuan (in high middle school)

new clothes for wife: 20 yuan

send back home: 150 yuan (save for schooling of his son)

medical fee for mom: 50 yuan (altogether 150, shared by 3 children)

misc. expenses: 60 yuan

i don't think i need to translate the rest of his manifesto, his account book says a lot of his life and is stronger than any story he could tell us. this reminds me how those migrant workers at my office were delighted when i offered them a few cokes since they have never drunk coke before.