ZGBriefs | September 15, 2016

ZGBriefs is a compilation of news items gathered from published online sources. ChinaSource is not responsible for the content, and inclusion in ZGBriefs does not equal endorsement. Please go here to support ZGBriefs.

Featured Article

That was a stupid idea — until we thought of it: The cultural phenomenon of squatting toilets, split pants and giant hickeys (September 11, 2016, The Culture Blend)
Maybe, the most prominent recent example of “it was stupid until we thought of it” has been brought to us by 23 time gold medalist Michael Phelps (and numerous other Olympians who jumped on the cupping train).  He taught us in Rio that gigantic hickeys aren’t always a bad thing.

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Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

Official Tributes to Mao Subdued on 40th Anniversary of His Death (September 9, 2016, China Real Time)
Four decades after Mao Zedong died, the dictator’s life is being marked with solemn pilgrimages, online braised-pork tributes — and little official fanfare.

Mayor of major Chinese port city of Tianjin faces corruption inquiry (September 10, 2016, The Guardian)
The mayor of the major northern port city of Tianjin is being investigated on suspicion of corruption, China’s ruling Communist party said on Saturday, the latest senior official to be caught up in a war on deep-seated graft.

Rising Uighur militancy changes security landscape for China (September 10, 2016, AP)
In the past two years, militants belonging to the Uighur ethnic group native to the vast Xinjiang region in western China have shown signs of becoming a force in Islamic extremism globally, a development that is reshaping both the ground war in Syria and Chinese foreign policy.

Can Beijing Stop Hong Kong’s Separatists? (September 12, 2016, The New York Times)
The Democratic Party’s political centerpiece in the recent election amounted to asking Beijing to reopen the door to electoral reform. The pan-democratic leaders, in sticking to what is widely viewed by the youth as a depleted strategy, have lost the trust and respect of younger people.

Why China's interest in reining in N. Korea has waned (+video) (September 12, 2016, Christian Science Monitor)
The North conducted its fifth nuclear test Sept. 9. US hopes of enforcing international economic sanctions with enough bite to dissuade Pyongyang from building a nuclear bomb depend on China – which on this issue, China is undependable. 

The Chinese Democratic Experiment that Never Was (September 13, 2016, Tea Leaf Nation)
Hong Kong protesters get most of the press, but the latest conflict in Wukan means more to mainlanders

White Paper Defends China’s Human Rights Practices (September 13, 2016, China Digital Times)
A new State Council white paper entitled “New Progress in the Judicial Protection of Human Rights in China” seems intended to challenge rather than dismiss China’s critics, highlighting legal reforms and praising “the new progress made in human rights protection in the field of justice.”

China is destined to lead, but not ready (September 13, 2016, East Asia Forum)
For a great power to lead the world there are a few qualities that it should bring to the table. These include, but are not limited to, material strength, an aspiration for recognition, and sufficient international support. Does China currently possess these qualities?

China Expels 45 Lawmakers Over Election Fraud (September 14, 2016, The New York Times)
China’s legislature has expelled 45 of its members in a vote-buying scandal that has snared a prominent businessman who is active in donating to American universities, foundations and political campaigns.

The Chinese diaspora’s role in the rise of China (September 14, 2016, East Asia Forum)
China’s stupendous growth since the mid-1990s has overshadowed the diaspora, but this only obscures its key enabling role in China’s rise. ‘Diaspora’ is of course a reductionist term that elides the variation among overseas Chinese in history, outlook and circumstances — most are not wealthy businessmen.

Police Crush Uprising In Chinese Fishing Village Of Wukan (September 14, 2016, NPR)
For the past 5 years, one southern fishing village has stood out among others in China. Residents ousted Communist Party leaders and elected one of their own. But authorities quashed the uprising.

Religion

Beijing takes next step in revising regulations on religions (September 9, 2016, UCA News)
A draft bill to amend the Regulation for Religious Affairs (RRA) was released by the Chinese government for a one-month public consultation on Sept. 7. This follows an extensive build-up over the last year that had the involvement of the highest levels of the Chinese government including President Xi Jinping.

The Value of Interdependence (September 9, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
I’ve learned from working in China that the grass is not greener on the other side of the world. That may seem obvious to readers, but it is a newer revelation to me. The harvest is all around us, and only together, engaged in God’s interdependent plan, can we bring it all in. 

What Color Are You? (September 12, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
The good folks at Global Mapping International (GMI) have put together a helpful infographic (below) highlighting three primarily cultural orientations as depicted by the three primary colors.

Chinese Pastor Imprisoned for Opposing Cross Demolition Campaign Released (September 12, 2016, Gospel Herald)
A pastor from China's coastal Zhejiang province has been released after spending several months in prison for protesting the defending churches facing demolition.

Using Chinese to Teach Hebrew (September 13, 2016, Jackson Wu)
As I’ve said many times before, the Chinese church needs more teaching in the original biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek. For those who engage in this ministry, this is the post for you.

A Conversation with a Rural Preacher about the Need for Innovative Training —Part 1 (September 13, 2016, Chinese Church Voices)
What is the current situation of the rural church? What kinds of challenges does the rural church face? What sort of potential does it have? This article is an account of an interview by the Christian Times editor with a post-1980s-born rural church preacher from south-central China named Chen.

Commentary: Anti-Muslim Sentiment Is Taking Over China’s Social Media Scene (September 14, 2016, US-China Perception Monitor)
Judging from blogs and other forms of social media, the author of this article, Mu Chunsan, finds that there is a pervasive sense of anti-Muslim sentiment among the Han Chinese, who make up around 90% of the country’s population.

Society / Life

China’s Quest for a Moral Compass (September 9, 2016, The Diplomat)
In other words, China doesn’t just lack common etiquette and basic manners; it lacks a moral compass altogether. This is one of the reasons why Christianity is on the rise in China.

China's sinking coal mining towns and villages – in pictures (September 9, 2016, The Guardian)
Thousands of residents in China’s Shanxi province have been evacuated as villages next to mines have started sinking, after decades of reckless coal mining.

HIV-Positive Students Ponder Life After High School (September 9, 2016, Sixth Tone)
Leaving the Red Ribbon fold marks an important transition from childhood to adulthood. But it also marks a departure from a caring, comforting environment that has offered them some degree of shelter from discrimination. For the students, they will have to make it on their own in a country where, despite some modest advancements in recent years, HIV carriers continue to face significant discrimination in many areas of society.

Marriage Falls in China, Transforming Finances and Families (September 11, 2016, The New York Times)
Fewer Chinese people are getting married, a shift with profound implications for China’s economic and social life. The decline in marriages means a decline in the number of babies, and potentially less spending on homes, appliances and other family-related purchases — the kind of spending China needs to drive economic growth.

China: 'world's highest bridge' nears completion in Guizhou (video) (September 12, 2016, The Guardian)
The Beipanjiang bridge, in mountainous southwestern China, soars 565 metres (1,854 feet) above a river, the Guizhou provincial transport department said in a statement. As such it overtakes the Si Du River Bridge in the central province of Hubei to become the world’s highest bridge, said the statement posted on Sunday.

Mother’s Killing of Children in Rural China Spurs Debate About Inequality (September 12, 2016, The New York Times)
Then, one day in late August, everyone in Agu Shan Village in northwestern China seemed to know her name: Yang Gailan. Ms. Yang, 28, was found dead outdoors alongside her children, three girls and a boy, all under 7 years old. The authorities said Ms. Yang killed herself after poisoning her children with pesticides and attacking them with an ax.

Shanghai Police Find Root of Rumors That Sparked Home-Buying Frenzy (September 12, 2016, China Real Time)
It began, police said, with a woman who said she had a tip that the city government was mulling changes to home-buying rules. According to a police statement, a 34-year-old Shanghai property-sales manager—identified only by her surname, Shen—said she had been notified in late August that city officials would meet the following week to possibly tighten bank-lending rules in September.

Tourism Traps Ethnic Minority in Tradition (September 13, 2016, Sixth Tone)
Zhaoxing is at a crossroads. As the largest Dong ethnic minority village in Guizhou, it is struggling with fundamental questions of cultural preservation: How do you preserve long-held traditions while still allowing for development, and at what cost?

China’s Post-90s Workers: The Job-Hopping Generation (September 13, 2016, What’s on Weibo)
Only 40% of China’s post-90s graduates stay in their job for longer than 2 years, a new study says. Many young Chinese are not afraid to quit their jobs, with some media even reporting cases of twenty-somethings resigning because “the weather is too cold”. China’s post-90s generation is a job-hopping one, that chooses personal freedom over financial security. Is it true they quit their job over every little thing?

These heartbreaking photos show what it’s like being a migrant in China (September 13, 2016, The Washington Post)
This past May, I visited China’s capital city for the first time. What better place to photograph the planet’s rapid urbanization than in the world’s most populous country?

Divorce in Cross-National Marriages: Who’s Deceiving Whom? (September 14, 2016, The Beijinger)
An article in Sunday’s Global Times suggested that divorce rates were increasing in cross-national marriages in China due to “cultural differences, conflicts on how to raise their children, extramarital affairs and long-term separation caused by work or visa problems.” The article has prompted debate within Beijing’s international community, but do the facts support the headline?

Typhoon batters Taiwan, barrels into mainland China (September 14, 2016, CNN)
Typhoon Meranti struck China's mainland after pounding Taiwan, making landfall early Thursday near Xiamen in Fujian Province, according to CNN meteorologists.

Photos: Bridges of China (September 10, 2016, Reuters)

Economics / Trade / Business

Cross-Culture Negotiating Skills: Analyze and Adjust (September 12, 2016, China Solved)
Successful negotiators have to master two complementary skills – analysis and planning. The trick, however, is that you have to analyze your counter-party, and then adjust your own plans, methods, and behaviors.

China’s Airbnb Clone Takes Trip Abroad (September 14, 2016, Sixth Tone)
Despite competition from industry giant, Chinese vacation rental site Tujia hopes to carve out international niche.

Negotiating with Chinese Companies Part II: the Devil is not in the Detail (September 14, 2016, China Law Blog)
Pye observes that Chinese culture traditionally shuns legal considerations and instead stresses ethical and moralistic principles. By contrast, Westerners are thought to be highly legalistic.

Education

Schools Of Hard Knocks (August 30, 2016, The World of Chinese)
Chinese schools aren’t typically known for bullying; when asked about it, many Chinese assume that students simply don’t have the time for it on account of all the studying that is required. But the worrying number of filmed incidents of savage physical bullying that have gone viral online is a testament to the fact that China has a real bullying problem, both in schools and outside the school halls, and authorities are gradually acknowledging the scale of the problem.

Teacher Talk (September 10, 2016, The World of Chinese)
Although people of different ages or from different regions may not have much in common, educators always have similar tendencies—strict, hard-working, and always urge students to study harder. Here are some classic lines from Chinese teachers which, if you have Chinese education experience, may sound all too familiar.

Can China Become The World's Education Leader? (September 12, 2016, Ozy.com)
The rise in China of the foreign student, or liuxuesheng, has paralleled the expansion of the Middle Kingdom’s homegrown student body. While higher education is shrinking in neighboring Japan and South Korea, it is expanding rapidly in China, with the number of college graduates mushrooming from 805,000 to 7.65 million over the past decade.

Science / Technology

How Cold War rivalry helped launch the Chinese computer (September 14, 2016, Aeon)
The invention of the first Chinese computer would be a major victory, a ‘gift’ from capitalism to the Chinese people. It would score a ‘Free World’ technological and cultural victory, while also raising the possibility of a new infrastructure for the global dissemination and translation of Chinese-language material.

History / Culture

Zhou Enlai and Henry Kissinger meet in 1973 (September 11, 2016, Everyday Life in Mao’s China)

The Original Hutong Hipster: The Life and Times of Edmund Trelawney Backhouse (September 13, 2016, The Beijinger)
He roamed the backstreets and brothels of Beijing, trading in gossip and rumors, and living a life of self-imposed exile. Edmund Trelawney Backhouse (he’d want you to know the surname is pronounced BACK-us not back-HOUSE) was the original hutong hipster.

14 Flags of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau (September 13, 2016, China Underground)

Arts / Entertainment / Media

The People in Retreat: An Interview with Ai Xiaoming (September 8, 2016, New York Review of Books)
Ai Xiaoming is one of China’s leading documentary filmmakers and political activists. Since 2004, she has made more than two dozen films, many of them long, gritty documentaries that detail citizen activism or uncover whitewashed historical events.

How Amateur Choirs Reshape China’s Musical Landscape (September 12, 2016, Sixth Tone)
Chinese choral music dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. At that time, scholars in China began to prefer Western music over Chinese traditional music since it was considered a more refined art form. The style of Western songs was copied by Chinese composers and added to school curriculums to teach children important life lessons, and patriotic large ensemble pieces were created and performed to inspire nationalism.

Can China’s Best Newspaper Survive? — A ChinaFile Conversation (September 13, 2016, China File)
Can Alibaba’s founder, Jack Ma, who has strong ties to mainland business interests and to the ruling party, support “objective, balanced and fair” coverage of China and his own business in English only? Are Chinese readers and readers of news in Chinese to be deemed second-class citizens, even by the venerable SCMP?

Theater’s Evolving Role in China and Taiwan (September 13, 2016, The New York Times)
Over the past few decades, Stan Lai has established a reputation as one of the most celebrated Chinese-language playwrights and directors. His works include more than 30 original plays, two feature films and four operas. […] In a recent interview, Mr. Lai spoke about changes in the theater industry in China and Taiwan and how his Buddhist beliefs influence his writing.

Travel / Food

Quintessentially Shanghai: street eats and regional cuisine (September 8, 2016, Shanghaiist)
With so many Chinese delicacies hailed as traditional cuisine and honored dishes, you may be hard pressed to separate the marketing from the history. Now’s the time to get your facts straight; local specialties are truly the cream of the street-food crop. The dishes that make the list have earned their keep for the unique textures and tastes they offer.

Learning the Uyghur Dutar in Xinjiang (September 9, 2016, Far West China)
The dutar is a two-stringed lute that is characterized by a long neck and pear-shaped body. There are various forms of the instrument that are played all over Central Asia, but the Uyghur dutar is known as one of the largest in this family of plucked instruments.

Ten nature places to visit in China (September 10, 2016, China Underground)
China is filled with countless places that enchant visitors, with its mix of ultramodern metropolis, small villages where little has changed over the centuries and striking natural scenery.

A Foodie’s Yunnan Voyage (September 12, 2016, Wild China Blog)
Yunnan’s status as a gastronomic paradise is unwavering: between far-flung lands of idyllic villages and snow-capped mountains, the southwestern province offers unparalleled diversity when it comes to Chinese cuisine.

As Chinese turn tourist, some visit an unfamiliar land: their own country (September 12, 2016, Christian Science Monitor)
Increasingly curious about places that are off the beaten path in their own vast nation, the Chinese are using digital tools to book visits with domestic farmers and other villagers that, until now, have rarely benefited from China’s booming tourist economy.

The only good mooncake is a MEAT mooncake (September 13, 2016, Sinosplice)
Like many foreigners (and many modern Chinese), I am not fond of the mooncake (despite once participating in a mooncake-eating contest). Yes, I am aware there are many kinds. I have long since tried all the traditional kinds, such as 豆沙 (sweet bean paste) 莲蓉 (lotus seed paste), and 蛋黄 (egg yolk), as well as the fancy new kinds made with ice cream or Japanese mochi. Not a fan. But then I just recently had a freshly baked (not sweet) meat-filled mooncake, and I am a fan:

Dark Side of the Mooncake: Scalpers Profit from Autumn Delicacy (September 14, 2016, Sixth Tone)
Mooncakes — thick, soft pastries that come with a variety of glutinous fillings — are synonymous with China’s upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival. But behind the seemingly innocuous delicacy, an illicit market, trading in the mooncake vouchers companies issue yearly to employees, is at play.

WildChina founder and Dali-native Mei Zhang’s Insider Tips to Dali (September 14, 2016, Wild China Blog)
Dali is the perfect backdrop for a truly authentic Chinese travel experience. From stunning mountains to decadent gastronomic delights, the city of Dali and its surrounding areas provide visitors with a one-of-a-kind immersion into a China both old and new.

Language / Language Learning

Five Ways to Bid Someone Adieu in Mandarin (September 12, 2016, The Beijinger)
As summer winds down and the cooler weather sets in, many of our friends are departing Beijing to start their studies in new locales, or deciding to finally take the plunge and make a career move or change. If one of your Chinese friends is about to embark on such a new path elsewhere, here are a few handy phrases you can use to wish them all the best.

Overcoming the problem of having too many Chinese words to learn (September 13, 2016, Hacking Chinese)
In this week’s article, I will discuss the problem of having too many words to learn from different angles. My hope is that one of them, or perhaps more likely a combination of several, will help you overcome this problem!

Books

Richard Wilhelm's "The Soul Of China" (September 10, 2016, Ian Johnson)
In this insightful review as a Weixin post, the Chinese Christian author Promise Hsu gives an early review of my book in Chinese. Below, my discussion of it and parallels to Richard Wilhelm's own book on China's soul.

The Ordinary in the Midst of the Extraordinary (September 14, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
David Joannes is a self-proclaimed “missionary,” trailblazer, and ragamuffin whose newly released memoir, The Space Between Memories, chronicles twenty years of pioneering work among the minorities of Southwest China.

Chinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Elementary Kindle Edition, by John Pasden and David Moser (Amazon)
The AllSet Learning Grammar Wiki BOOK series brings to ebook format everything that made the online wiki the internet’s #1 reference for Mandarin Chinese grammar

Links for Researchers

WeChat and civil society in China (Sage Journals)
As the most widely used social media platform in China, WeChat has penetrated into daily life and has broad implications for the development of civil society. This article assesses the impact of WeChat in three aspects.

Biblical Hebrew In Chinese: Fostering The Rethinking Of Teaching Method Through Language Defamiliarization (Scott N. Callahan, Baptist Theological Seminary, Singapore)

Hostile Neighbors: China vs. Japan (September 13, 2016, Pew Research Center)
China and Japan – neighboring economic and military powers – view each other with disdain, harbor mostly negative stereotypes of one another, disagree on Japan’s World War II legacy and worry about future confrontations.

What is the 'historical' in China's claims to the South China Sea? A survey of relevant pre-modern Chinese texts(Academia.edu)

Who Is Xi? (May 12, 2016, China File)
Xi’s view of Mao emerges in the official biography of his father compiled by Party scholars, whose first volume was published when Xi was close to achieving supreme power and whose second came out after he had become Party general secretary and state president.

Image credit: Wikipedia