Bingfeng Teahouse

after Premier Wen's remarks on further advancing democracy in china, people are excited and start to discuss the "roadmap" of democratization, one interesting idea is about "special democracy zone", which suggests that china should first test those practices in one area and then expand the model to the rest of the country. obviously it was inspired by the idea of "special economic zone" and has its merits.

but the underlying presumption of the idea of SDZ is that democracy enhances the social and economic development, this is exactly what practical, result-oriented chinese people expect from democracy. but what if it doesn't come out that way? the true value of democracy is not to help the society beome better but to prevent it from the worst. will a SDZ show this to the chinese people in the short run?

and which part of the country should become a SDZ? developed or less developed region? rural or urban? ........

a real estate in north-east part of beijing, claming it to be the place to make you feel like "living in the up east Manhattan in a chinese city".

ESWN presented a post commenting on chinese defending ameria's handeling of katrina crisis:

At this time, what struck us most is the comparison between the American and Chinese military.  To my mind, there is no doubt that the Chinese military was more effective.  The People's Liberation Army and the Militia Police were more timely and courageous in the various Chinese floods.  The American military did not show up on time here and they were not effective.

Some Chinese people are not happy with this outcome ... This debate reveals the shortcomings of certain people.  They raise the flag of Americanized democracy and will not permit any criticism of the American government.  As some netizens said, even the American government has acknowleged its mistakes, so why are you defending them?  But those people go into a tirade instead, and that is quite disappointing.

and not surprisingly, a lot of people from that super powerful country sneered the idea that the US could learn something from china in dealing with an emergency like katrina and, wrap the original article with the labels we are all too much familiar.

are we creating something one-dimensional? just think about it

this is what i find on the back of the ticket of LiYuan Theatre. wheather the choice is correct or not, my wife and i had an enjoyable Peking Opera night, everything seems to remain the same as i first visited here many years ago, even the climax was the same, when actors started to perform the kung-fu actions, kicking the red-tasselled spears back and forth with hands, feet and shoulders, the audience, most of which are foreign tourists, were very excited and shouted with glee. i am not sure that play (ba xian guo hai - eight celestials travel across the sea) has so much kung-fu, but no doubt kung-fu attracts laowais and their money. and to my surprise, the first floor beomces a big dinning hall with a lot of tables full of food and tea, i guess that might help the theatre increase the box revenue.

due to the time constraint, we hired a ricksha, the dirver is a local beijinger and has his own ideas. when we first asked him to take us to Laoshe Teahouse, he introduced us to take a bus and said that would be quicker and cheaper, then i changed idea and asked him how is it to LiYuan theatre, he thought it was a good idea and agreed to take us for 15 RMB. then he took us through the beijing hutong and introduced various allusions and stories of the old beijing hutong during the drive, for his hospitality and extra service, we finally gave him a fat tips.

which way of making money you prefer? i like the ricksha driver's way of making money, he didn't lose himself for making money, and even his job is servering others, he keeps a noble dignity that hardly found in many other "higher" professions.

have problem to upload photos to hexun photo sharing system, will try it later.