C hina Fostering business and culturalI harmonynsight between China and the U.S.

VOL. 13 NO. 8 SEPT 2014 Minnesota Chinese program educators reflect on their China visit By Yongling Zhang-Gorke, contributor During the past several are: Kristine Schaefer, prin- years, we have witnessed the cipal, Woodbury Elementary Arboretum’s Chinese garden, page 2 growth of Chinese programs School; Karin Lopez, principal, in K-12 schools in Minnesota, Woodbury Middle School; Bob especially those in the 12 af- Bulthuis, certified employment filiated Confucius Classrooms. specialist, Hopkins Public As schools grow their Chinese Schools; Molly Wieland, co- program, so does the need for ordinator, Mandarin Immersion establishing stronger connec- Program at Hopkins Public tions with Chinese schools and Schools; Shirley Gregoire, obtaining deeper understanding principal, Hopkins West Junior of the Chinese education sys- High School; Todd Rounda- Chinese acquisitions, page 5 tem. The need is reflected in the bush, science teacher and IB following three areas: coordinator, Hopkins West 1) Partner with a sister school Junior High School; Joe Muel- in China for concrete activities such as the University of Minnesota (CIUMN) ler, curriculum coordinator, Forest Lake exchange of students and teachers in June. The CIUMN would like to Area Schools; Rob Rapheal, president, 2) Get knowledge about the latest trend acknowledge the gracious financial Forest Lake Area Schools Board; and in curriculum reform in China, especial- support given by Confucius Institute Susan Tennyson, strategic data analyst, ly on core subjects of Chinese language, Headquarters/Hanban, and the excellent Edina Public Schools. Yongling Zhang- math, and science, which have implica- logistics planning by one of our Chinese Gorke, assistant director of CIUMN, tions for Mandarin immersion programs partners, Capital Normal University, as was the coordinator and leader of the Dragon Festival 2014, page 10 3) Understand and compare teacher well as International Education Asso- group. development in both U.S. and China to ciation Shanghai for their tremendous The delegation arrived in Beijing on better support in-service development help in arranging for school visits and June 7, hosted by Capital Normal Uni- for the Chinese language teachers in meetings with Education Bureau in versity, who also arranged a round-table the U.S. Shanghai. Without the help from these discussion with the Beijing Education Minnesota school districts with organizations, CIUMN could not have Commission. On June 10, the educators a well-established Chinese program completed the mission of this year’s visited Confucius Institute Headquar- and interest to further develop their Minnesota Educators Delegation. ters/Hanban and experienced the many relationship were invited to apply and The 2014 Minnesota Educators Del- resources for learning Chinese language participate in the first 10-day Minnesota egation had 10 members, nine of whom and culture. They also exchanged greet- New home sales fall, page 7 Educators Delegation to China trip de- are principals or district administrators ings and gifts with the Deputy Director veloped by the Confucius Institute at from four districts. The nine educators Continues on page 6 U.S. plays catch-up in Africa, after China gains new ground Black power activist? page 11 By Kennedy Jawoko, New America Media, Aug. 9, 2014 ground Some commentators from Africa In This Issue agree, arguing that the summit is a belated attempt by the United States to respond to growing Chinese influence Community...... 2 in Africa. (Editor’s note: See “China Politics...... 3 in Africa,” July-August China Insight.) Arthur Larok, director of Action-Aid History...... 4 Uganda – an organization that works to Business.....5,14-15 end poverty and injustice – believes that Education...... 6 the presence of China in Africa gives Economy...... 7 Africa an opportunity to negotiate the best deal. Food...... 8 “The U.S. is beginning to see that As the 49 African heads of state Concluding the three-day summit, Travel...... 9 China means business in Africa,” said return to their respective cities – after a Pres. Barack Obama said, “Tens of Culture...... 10 Larok, who’s currently a Draper Hills three-day U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit thousands of American jobs are sup- Fellow at Stanford University’s Center People...... 11 in Washington D.C., the breaking news ported every time we expand trade with for Democracy, Development and Rule Events...... 12-13 across Africa should be the $14-billion Africa.” of Law. Larok’s observation is backed trade and investment pledge by private So, is the United States playing catch U.S. corporations. up in a region where China is gaining Continues on page 15 PAGE 2 > SEPTEMBER 2014 community www.chinainsight.info Minnesota Landscape Arboretum ChinaInsight Publisher/Editor: Gregory J. Hugh to install Chinese garden, [email protected]

pavilion and walk Manager of Operations/ Circulation: By Elaine Dunn Richard He [email protected] be a Chinese Garden Walk. According to the arboretum’s brochure, the walk is designed to offer “a transition between Staff Writers: the hectic everyday world to a peace- Greg Hugh ful and tranquil environment. Named [email protected] for Fred and Jennie Hsiao, through a generous donation by the Hsiao family, Elaine Dunn [email protected] the garden walk will offer Arboretum visitors a place of respite as it winds around a wetland pond and landscape Contributors: dotted with weeping willows, peonies, Anthony James day lilies and garden plantings and veg- [email protected] etation with origins in temperate Asia. Jodi Yim James The Hsiao Garden Walk will lead to a [email protected] bridge and reception pavilion, so one can pause and experience the natural Raymond Lum [email protected] Architectural illustration of the Minnesota Arboretum’s Chinese garden landscape in harmony with water and beauty of nature.” The path is also ac- Melissa Schneider On an uncharacteristically cool and and completion is anticipated for 2015. cessible from an adjoining path from the [email protected] breezy evening on July 16, hundreds of Perhaps in time for the 2015 Toast & existing Three-Mile Drive. Patrick Welsh garden lovers congregated at the Minne- Taste! Anyone interested in offering finan- [email protected] sota Landscape Arboretum in Chanhas- The new Chinese attraction is de- cial support for the Chinese Garden sen for the 2014 Toast & Taste event. signed to enhance visitors’ experience. project or other enhancements as pos- Webmaster: This fundraiser was hosted by It will include traditional features such sible naming opportunities, please con- Will Ahern the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum as a scholar room, teahouse, circular tact Frank Molek, Arboretum director [email protected] Foundation. Guests enjoyed delicious entry, additional plantings and water of development, at 952- 443-1433 or finger foods such as Korean glazed pork design elements. In addition, there will [email protected]. u Honorary: belly with radish, smoked beef brisket Jennifer Nordin, Editor Emeritus kabobs, beef tenderloin crostini and [email protected] more, prepared by the arboretum cater- ing and many Twin Cities restaurants. About ChinaInsight Wines and beers from local wineries ChinaInsight is a monthly English and breweries flowed freely. language newspaper fostering business The garden setting was, of course, and cultural harmony between China and the U.S. superb. With the June rains, everything was lush and green; and the blossoms, ChinaInsight is a Member of The Minnesota Chapter of the Asian colorful. Hostas and herbs, roses and American Journalists Association rhododendrons. How can it be more (AAJA). perfect? An addition of a Chinese gar- Submissions & den, that’s what! Correspondence Groundbreaking for the new attrac- ChinaInsight welcomes guest articles tion will take place before snow falls and letters to the editor. Correspondence should be addressed to:

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# # 1 Alibaba is a new bright- # 8 6 3 spot in China-US # By# the4 numbers 10 # 7 # 2 relations By Li Zheng, Institute of American Studies of China Institutes of Contem- Chinese pollution: who’s porary International Relations. August 15,2014 complaining? China, especially Beijing, is no- Surprisingly, the IPO of Alibaba funds have started to design products torious for its air quality, which is on the US stock market brought about to help Chinese investors buy shares of a major source of public dissat- many questions and doubts both in Alibaba. The money speaks for itself. isfaction. A recent Conde Nast China and US, and had nothing but a When Alibaba successfully debuts in the Traveler survey ranked it sixth as the world’s “unfriendliest” negative impact on China-US economic US, it will provide an opportunity for city in 2014, based on both air and trade relations. The naysayers are both the US and China to re-recognize and sound pollution and other incorrect. their bilateral economic relations. The factors. In China, Alibaba’s choice to debut company will become a new link be- in the US rather than in China was con- tween the two countries. 2014 fiscal year, an increase of 170% 696 sidered to be a failure of China’s capital Firstly, it shows that China will from 2013. In addition, Alibaba is the Number of complaints received market. Some mainstream pundits on continue to open its market and further master of Yuebao, the biggest monetary by the Ministry of Environmental Xinhua said China’s top ten Internet integrate into the international economy fund in China. Considering the boost of Protection, the country’s envi- companies all selected US or Hong by complying with the rules of inter- E-commerce in underdeveloped cities ronmental watchdog, in the first Kong as their preferred destination to national business. Alibaba is not only six months of 2014. and rural areas, Alibaba still has a long list, and were valued at over nearly two an internet business company but also period of growth ahead. The listing of trillion yuan. Some nationalist pundits a symbol of Chinese emerging private Alibaba in the US shows that China 80 criticized Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and enterprises. E-commerce is gradually is willing to share its best companies Percent of the complaints (558) other companies for traitorous behav- breaking down the traditional Chinese and business opportunities with the US are directly related to air quality. ior, since their profits and users are all geographical and administrative in- and the world. As China continues to in China, but most of their profit was tervention in the market, and creating promote the reform of its state-owned 80.4 given to overseas investors. The share a new middle class in China through enterprises, the new leadership of China Percent increase in the number price of Tencent rose 59% and 98% in entrepreneurship. As Alibaba and its is sending a clear signal to the world. of air-quality complaints re- 2012 and 2013, respectively, whereas peers select US and Hong Kong to list, ceived by the ministry compared the Shanghai Composite Index fell over it means that the international rules Li Zheng is an Assistant Researcher to the same period in 2013. 20% in the same period. Furthermore, of business are better suited to their at the Institute of American Studies of the largest shareholder of Alibaba is the long-term development. They will also China Institutes of Contemporary Inter- 12599 Japanese Softbank. Softbank invested require its domestic business partners to national Relations. u Number of air quality complaints only 80 million dollars and received abide by the same rules to avoid legal received by the Beijing Mu- nearly 400-fold returns over a decade. disputes or damage to its reputation. It nicipal of Environmental Bureau This made Chinese nationalists very is hard to imagine that those companies from January – May 2014. uncomfortable. listed in the US market could take a In US, the listing of Alibaba was careless attitude towards protecting 48 considered as a victory for an unruly intellectual property rights or banning Percent of companies polled by company. In June, US Economic Se- internet espionage. the American Chamber of Com- curity Review Commission (USCC) Secondly, it shows that the common Advertisers merce for Beijing and North- submitted a report named The Risks interests of China and US are expanding, eastern China say they have difficulty recruiting and retaining of China’s Internet Companies on U.S. which will stabilize bilateral economic Your potential executives because of bad air Stock Exchanges. The report clearly relations. Alibaba is a model of the asso- customers are reading quality. stated that the corporate structure of ciation of multiple stakeholders, whose hina nsight Alibaba called for Variable Interest owners include Softbank, Yahoo and C I . Entity (VIE) to have some legal risks, the founders’ team from China. After Shouldn’t you be 114 bringing them in the Number of companies punished and might result in future legal disputes. its IPO, more investors from the US and for violating environmental law Other analysts said Alibaba would China will join the team. The economic door with in Beijing in June. become a powerful competitor to Ama- interests will ensure that investors are an an ad? zon and other American E-commerce important force in stabilizing and pro- companies, and pose a threat to the moting China-US relations. Meanwhile, Contact: Greg Hugh 71 US internet economy. In addition, U.S. the policy makers of the two countries Of 74 Chinese cities monitored (952) 472-4757 by the central government failed media said that Alibaba founder Jack will be more cautious when deciding E-mail: to meet air quality standards in Ma had close yet concealed relations the future of bilateral relations, as their [email protected] March, the environmental min- with Chinese high-ranking officials, decision will impact their respective istry reported. which implied that a level of political citizens’ interests. risk existed. Finally, it shows that China’s eco- 7.7 However, those suspicions did not nomic rise will not only benefit the US$ in billions budgeted by the lower the enthusiasm for Alibaba. Ac- Chinese people, but also provide more Chinese government for the cording to the evaluation by both US opportunities for US and the world. next five years to reduce air and China investment agencies, Alibaba Alibaba is an attractive company with Read the paper online at pollution. will raise over 200 million dollars from growing earnings. As the leader of the US market, to become the largest Chinese E-commerce, Alibaba created www.chinainsight.info IPO in history. In China, some overseas over 23 billion yuan of profit in the PAGE 4 > SEPTEMBER 2014 history www.chinainsight.info The clash of cultures By Pat Welsh, contributor

In the July-August article I discussed that time, along the coast, non-standard (Lin Weixi) and severely damaged a best known factor that provoked the Cantonese, Hakka and Min dialects small temple in the Tsimshtsui district outbreak of the Opium War. The il- were spoken. This dialect situation in Hong Kong. Commissioner Lin legal import of opium that drained the facilitated smuggling activities once the learned of this incident on July 12. El- Chinese treasury of silver in the 1800s opium landed ashore. Commissioner liot learned of the incident in more detail created both an economic disaster and Lin himself spoke his native Fuzhou on July 10 and while refusing to hand a growing problem of drug dependency dialect and Mandarin and had no real anyone over to Chinese authorities, he among the population that extended to knowledge of Cantonese when he ar- advanced $1500 silver Chinese dollars the civil bureaucracy, the military and rived in Canton. He and the officials that to the family of the victim as compen- even the emperor’s bodyguards. he worked with had to use Mandarin. sation and $400 to protect them from There were other factors that played The English were somewhat better extortion and $100 to be distributed into the outbreak of hostilities. In prepared linguistically. Robert Mor- among the villagers to soothe ill-feel- his book “Commissioner Lin and the rison, the first Protestant missionary to ings. Elliot also conducted a trial of six Opium War,” Chang Hsinpao posits China, studied Chinese seriously but persons. The Chinese had been invited that had China been able to limit her he found it difficult to engage tutors to attend but never showed up as this contact with Britain to the commercial because foreigners were forbidden to might insinuate acceptance of Britain’s level and confine foreign influence to learn Chinese. What he learned of claim of extraterritoriality. The six were factories, the Opium War might have the language is what he could achieve convicted of rioting and assault, fined, been avoided. Unfortunately, cultural underneath the Chinese radar. He did, sentenced to three months jail time, and intercourse cannot be prevented as however, publish a dictionary and acted sent back to England where they were modern China now shows us in her big as an interpreter. released because the English govern- cities, her media and press. Another source of irritation was the Commissioner Lin Zexü (林則徐) ment held that Captain Elliot had no First of all there are sharp contrasts From a drawing by a native artist in the different concepts of law between the authority to conduct such a trial. between English and traditional Chinese possession of Lady Strange (Alexander Mur- two countries. Where this was most vis- These cultural differences, fortified values that became obvious in govern- ray (1843). Doings in China. p. ii.) [Public ible was how both countries tried to re- by massive mutual ignorance of each domain], via Wikimedia Commons solve disputes between businesses. The mental structure and political theory, other, created a tension in which mem- Qing rulers insisted upon arbitration and law and social justice, economic thought bers of both sides made decisions that trial Revolution at that time also caused discouraged lawsuits. To them the trou- and the social standing of the various brought about the inevitable clash of professions in a society. Commissioner Lin Zexü (Chinainsight, blesome, the obstinate and the quarrel- 1840 and future hostilities between the For example, merchants in China July-August issue, p. 5) and other Chi- some who could not arbitrate deserved West and China. were at the bottom of the social scale in nese leaders, including the emperor, no pity. Then too, in criminal cases in In my next article I plan to talk more terms of prestige. This contrasts with to make decisions that proved to be China, the burden was on the defendant about the Opium War itself and its ef- the level of prestige enjoyed by mem- disastrous. to prove his innocence. The English, fect on China and the Qing dynasty in bers of the great mercantile houses of When the war broke out no high- on the other hand, had learned the hard particular. u 19th- century Britain where they formed ranking Chinese official had any concept way about how Chinese criminal jus- major pillars of the empire. China’s of the way in which improvements in tice operates from best minds at that time had no taste artillery, ship-building and navigation the Lady Hughes for things that were mercantile or un- had increased the strength of Western Case in 1874 Chinese. For them nothing aside from powers. As Chang Hsinpao put it, to when England the literary classics, Chinese history and the Chinese, England was just another surrendered a philosophy and Chinese belles-lettres Siam whose envoys were little more gunner to Chinese were worth their time since the foreign than tribute-bearers expected to kow- authorities for offerings and ideas played no role in tow before the Celestial Emperor and trial and execu- helping them advance their careers or acknowledge China’s cultural overlord- tion. In that case, enhance their reputation and prestige ship. The English, however, could never Lady Hughes had within the country. Furthermore, there see themselves as anything but China’s a gunner fire a were no equivalents of organizations equals. The Macartney Mission of 1793 salute for some such as London’s Royal Asiatic Soci- and the Amherst Mission in 1816 both guests that result- ety or Oriental Translation Committee unsuccessfully planned an assertion of ed in the death of A painting of Lin supervising the destruction of opium. [Public domain], Wikipedia in China that looked to understanding equality by establishing a resident min- a Chinese indi- foreign cultures. ister in Beijing. Later Lord Napier and vidual and injury Moreover, when it came to mer- Captain Elliot both avoided any detail in to two others who had happened to be About Pat Welsh cantile activities in China, the whole protocol that might suggest submission. in a Mandarin’s boat parked alongside In 2009 while teaching Eng- Canton system for regulating foreign The lack of mutual understanding of the English vessel. lish at Sichuan University, Welsh trade was constructed on a central idea was further exacerbated by the language Further fueling bad feelings between was asked to give a speech of contempt for foreigners and a disdain barrier. No educated Chinese even knew China and England was the issue of where he was introduced to toward merchants. The officials that a smattering of English. The transla- extraterritoriality. The issue: Should the audience as a “pioneer of came to manage foreign affairs in Can- tors that Commissioner Lin employed matters of criminal conduct by an Eng- Chinese American relations” as ton were not the cream of the crop lite- may have been the best he could find, lishman on Chinese soil be a matter for a result of his cooperative work rati. The hoppo, the official authority to but samples of their work read little resolution by English or Chinese courts? in international banking during whom the hong merchants were directly better than the Pidgin English that had Since the Lady Hughes incident of 1784, the Deng Xiaoping era. For more responsible, was always a Manchu ap- become the lingua franca in Canton it was policy that, however serious the than 65 years, Welsh has been pointed by the emperor who often was circa 1715. In addition, on the Chinese crime, no Englishman was ever to be learning Chinese and has used not much of a representative of Chinese side there was also a little language handed over to Chinese authorities for this knowledge both profession- culture, and rarely did he (the hoppo) problem between the Mandarin spoken adjudication. This issue came to the ally and personally to enhance ever have any great interest in nurturing by the Court in Beijing and the various forefront on June 26, 1839, when sev- his understanding of Chinese the good will of foreign traders. Cantonese dialects spoken in Canton eral English seamen and, perhaps one and Asian affairs. Ignorance of the West and its Indus- and along the Pearl River Delta. Also at American, beat to death Lam Waihei www.chinainsight.info business SEPTEMBER 2014 > PAGE 5

U.S. assets, Chinese acquisitions China Briefs By Elaine Dunn Selected newsworthy items spree had already surpassed half of that Foreign businesses recognize build- Not only are private Chinese companies ing a reputation and distribution chan- recently published in the investing in the U.S., so is the Chinese nels in one of the world’s largest Chinese press. government. Is there anything sinister consumer markets doesn’t happen behind this buying spree? What’s the overnight. When TaTa Motors of India Chinese beaten at their own game attraction for the Chinese? purchased Jaguar and Land Rover from Mahjong is a 2500-yr-old Chinese Fear-mongers are casting suspicious Ford in 2008, their key reason was that game, yet at the recent fifth Open Eu- motives toward the Chinese when, in it would help TaTa “better understand ropean Mahjong Championship held in fact, this is the normal course of busi- the process of developing and selling ness in today’s global economy. This cars around the world.” Strasbourg, France, the highest-ranking is what the “free” market is all about! Nevertheless, even as this new ‘Chi- Chinese competitor came in 30th! The In fact, U.S. firms own a lot more Chi- na Price’ pleases stockholders by bid- Chinese team came in 37th! To add in- nese business assets than vice versa. ding up prices of (sometimes struggling) “Faribault Foods bought by sult to injury, four of the five top players According to the U.S.-China Business U.S. companies, worries about Chinese Mexican company,” read an Aug. 2 were Japanese. Council, U.S. firms have invested at motives do not cease, especially when headline in the Star Tribune’s busi- least $90 billion in China in each of the the size of the deals are growing. One of ness section. Giant Guan Gong as public art past four years – more than any given the biggest and fully legitimate concerns “Hong Kong investor group buys year that China had invested in the U.S. is national security. When Shuanghui, A young Chinese artist used scraps majority stake in Forbes Media,” in the past 10-plus years, combined. China’s top pork producer, purchased from a beat-up truck to create a trans- reported South China Morning Post On July 16, New York-based Starr Cos. Virginia-based pork producer Smithfield former in the image of Guan Gong, the on July 19. Completed the first foreign takeover of Foods in 2013, more than one-third of legendary general known for integrity “Wanda invests in premier LA a Chinese state-owned general insurer, the American public signaled consider- site,” announced Global Times on and bravery in Chinese culture. The the Shanghai-based Dazhong Insurance, able concern. Not only was the deal the Aug. 10. transformer (almost 32 x 18 ft) is in which Starr had previously held only a largest Sino-American transaction ($7.1 These recent headlines reflect the Shandong province. minority share. Following the complet- billion) to date, food safety and national value U.S. companies and assets repre- ed purchase, Starr promptly renamed it security were brought into play. sent to global investors. A 2013 White Starr Property & Casualty Insurance Co. The U.S.’s Committee of Foreign Free condom dispensing machines House report stated that the U.S. is Ltd. No major outcry from the Chinese. Investment in the United States (CFIUS) Vending machines dispensing free “the world’s largest recipient of foreign However, private citizens and politi- under the Treasury Department is an condoms have been popping up in direct investment (FDI) since 2006. cians, Democrats and Republicans alike, inter-agency committee authorized to Henan Province. Previously at one yuan Every day, foreign companies establish review transactions that may impact na- air their concerns about China’s grow- (USD$ 0.16) per condom, no one was new operations in the United States or ing financial reach, much like when the tional security should control of a U.S. buying. “Customers” aged 18-60 can provide additional capital to established Japanese invested in the U.S. approxi- business ended up in foreign owner- businesses.” 2012, the last year for mately a quarter of a century ago when ship. Because of the increasing number get a box of 10 condoms by swiping which statistics were available, FDI the Japanese economy was robust and of these foreign investments in recent their ID cards in the machine. Their ID inflows totaled $166 billion. real estate prices were sky-high. years, the agency’s approval review is transmitted directly to the national As a result, iconic brands that A July 2014 Slate article mentioned process and internal procedures had health and family planning bureau. One we thought were as American as ice that ‘The China Price’ used to be three undergone quite a number of revisions box per month per ID card. Let’s hope cream and apple pie aren’t necessarily and reforms. The Aug. 14 proposal from scary words for American manufacturers free does not mean inferior quality! American-owned these days. Here are because those three words represented a group of Chinese investors, including some examples of established Ameri- the “absurdly low rate at which a good a state-owned firm, to buy Santa Clara, New bus shelters, anyone? can brands that are now foreign-owned: or service can be provided by the Middle Calif.-based chipmaker OmniVision Alka Seltzer, Bayer (German); Ben Kingdom. A company – say Wal-Mart will certainly come under CFIUS’ in- Twenty-four out of 25 bus shelters & Jerry’s, Unilever (British-Dutch); – can approach a longtime supplier with tense scrutiny. OmniVision already has along a still-under-construction main Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch InBev the ‘China Price’ and demand that it a design and testing center in China, and road in Nanjing were stolen one night generates nearly 80 percent of its rev- (Belgian); Dial Soap, Henkel (German); meet it. Or else.” Now, however, a dif- in late-July. The shelters were removed Firestone, Bridgestone (Japanese); enue from the country. It is also gaining ferent kind of ‘China Price’ is emerging, from their foundation with glasscutters, Frigidaire, AB Electrolux (Swedish); market share against its key competitors one that actually produces positives for leaving the seat benches standing next to Gerber, Novartis (Swiss); John Hancock the American companies. in the Chinese smartphone market. At the craters where the shelters were once Life Insurance, Manulife Financial (Ca- The Chinese investors have very the end of the day’s trading on Aug. 14, nadian); New York Plaza Hotel, El-Ad specific and strategic reasons for their its stock was up 40 percent for the year. attached. Thieves have not been caught. (Israeli); Sunglass Hut, Luxotica Group foreign investments: OmniVision is reviewing the proposal, Total value? A cool 1.4 million RMB (Italian); Vaseline, Unilever (British- • They are flushed with cash. but whether it gets CFIUS approval is (approx. USD$ 226,000). Not bad for any body’s guess. Dutch); Woman’s Day Magazine, Ha- • They realize the quickest way for them a night’s work, eh? chette Filipacchi Médias (French). to ramp up their management skills, The Chinese had shown consider- Global economy and free trade able interest in acquiring chip-making distribution channels, manufacturing Kidneys shipped as frozen seafood means firms are constantly diversifying techniques and global know-how is by technology the past few years; and no Only 10,000 of the 1.5 million-peo- and investing their resources in differ- acquiring U.S. companies. To them, it is one is interested in helping the Chinese ent economies. Do you know which of worth it to acquire even struggling and companies who may be acting on behalf ple on the transplant waiting list receive the following brands are not associated second-tier companies. of the Chinese Communist Party gain a transplants in China each year, making foothold! Selling off valuable assets to with the correct country of ownership? • It’s a way to source intermediate goods organ smuggling a rampant “business.” the Chinese is a very real and constant Samsung, Korea; BMW, Germany; in the completion of finished goods, e.g., Washington concern. In July, convicted illegal human organ Dom Pérignon, France; Sony, Japan; procure supply for parts that go into the However, China may be topping the “traders” from Jiangxi province claimed IKEA, Sweden; Smithfield Foods, U.S.; manufacturing of Chinese automobiles list of nations who own U.S. Treasury they shipped their human kidneys from Volvo, Sweden. and trucks. bonds (approx. $1.3 trillion) and other Nanching to Guangzhou as frozen If you picked the last two, you’re • China is trying to diversify its trillions liquid assets, it is not the largest foreign correct. Both brands are now owned by of holdings in U.S. Treasury bonds with seafood! holder of U.S. company stocks. A De- Chinese companies. Chinese investors stocks and assets. The Beijing-based cember 2013 SelectUSA report shows have been snapping up foreign, especial- China Investment Corporation, formed New use for QR codes the top five were the United Kingdom, ly American, assets in a big way. (See in 2007, is one of the world’s largest Japan, Germany, Canada and France, Chinese elderly in Anhui Province’s accompanying table.) Of the nearly $35 sovereign wealth funds with assets in the holding a collective 61.5 percent of Ding Xiang district have started wearing billion the Chinese have invested in the $672 billion range at the end of 2013. FDI stocks in 2012. However, China badges with QR codes. When scanned U.S. the past dozen of years, close to 15 It has been buying not just U.S. but Ca- is growing at the fastest pace from 2008 percent took place in the first six months on smartphones, wearer’s ID card nadian stakes in mining and resources to 2012 – at an average annual rate of of 2012. In 2013, Chinese companies number, family contact and district of ($3.5 billion) as well as Australian banks 7.1 percent. bought an additional 10 U.S. companies residence are available. No more wan- ($646 million). Policymakers in Washington may to a tune of $10.5 billion. In the first • They can avoid tariffs in certain in- dering, lost seniors. three months of 2014, their U.S. buying dustries. Continues on page 12 PAGE 6 > SEPTEMBER 2014 education www.chinainsight.info Minnesota Chinese program educators Continued from page 1 of Division of America and Oceania Fan Yigang, director of Shanghai Confucius Institute Affairs Ms. Ren Putuo Education Bureau, provided Shifang and Program Officer Ms. Miao guiding principles from the Chinese Jiefang. The educators visited the fol- perspectives on developing international lowing Beijing schools where they met collaborative for educational exchange. with some students, teachers and admin- Minnesota administrators also shared istrators: Beijing No. 4 High School, the practices in the U.S, where district 21st Century Experimental School and superintendents and the school board the Middle and High School affiliated have the ultimate decision-making with Capital Normal University. power. State level Department of From June 13-14, the educators Education, unlike the Education Com- visited Shanghai schools with activities mission or Education Bureau, does not arranged by International Education As- have to approve the various levels of sociation Shanghai. The delegation was administrative procedure. This is a dem- greeted by Mr. Fan Yigang, director of onstrated difference between centralized Putuo District Education Bureau, and and decentralized education systems. discussed possibilities of developing Both sides (Shanghai Putuo district and educational exchange between schools the participating Minnesota districts) in Minnesota and in Putuo district. The and scholars from Capital Normal teachers have the same expectation had interest in exchanging students and educators also had the opportunity to University introduced new directions [3-4 hours per night on homework] for teachers on two-week or one-month visit five schools, based on each school/ of K-12 curriculum reform in Beijing. their students in our program…It is the exchanges during an academic year. district’s characteristics of Chinese Educators from both countries had shared cultural space that we need to One principal has reported to the district program and needs for furthering rela- lively discussions on teacher develop- strive for as we develop curriculum and superintendent on developing a multi- tionship. These schools include Cosco ment, eager to learn from each other. as we create our staff development for district collaborative for international experimental school, Jiangning School, education exchange. It is sincerely Apart from sharing similarity in the teachers.” It was a pleasant discovery Muslim Elementary School of Putuo hoped the discussion will continue procedures of teacher hiring and contin- that what was learned in China can be District, Anshi Experiential School af- and lead to concrete and meaningful ued professional development, the Min- applied to Minnesota schools with Chi- filiated with Shanghai Music Conserva- activities, and will continue to foster nesota educators learned useful lessons nese programs. tory and No. 2 High School affiliated such dialogues. from their Chinese colleagues on certain with Tongji University. The educators in Beijing have not areas of instructional hours, professional II. Prospectus on developing edu- In addition to participating in edu- reached an initial agreement on devel- development, research conducted by cational exchanges with their Chinese cational exchange oping international exchange with Min- teachers and group collaboration of Every educator visited at least four counterparts, the Minnesota educators nesota educators. CIUMN will continue schools in Beijing and Shanghai. One also had the opportunity to experience teachers of the same subject areas. to explore possibilities in Beijing in the the rich history and culture of China More first-hand knowledge and ex- common pattern expressed by the future. through visits to the Forbidden City, the perience on teacher development were educators: while schools in both cities III. Further development of dis- Great Wall and Beijing’s unique form of obtained through school visits. Teach- are excellent, Shanghai schools had a trict’s Chinese program residences and alleyways, the hutongs. ers who teach internationally focused more representative cross- section of One of the primary purposes of this They also dined at restaurants that were courses such as AP subjects shared their students while Beijing schools had ex- delegation was for the participating frequented by locals. The delegation experiences with Minnesota educators. ceptional students whose top academic district administrators to better under- was very fortunate to witness a demon- While visiting schools in Shanghai, performance was the schools’ primary stand the Chinese education system so stration of Peking opera, one of China’s Minnesota educators had the opportu- focus. In Shanghai, in addition to high they can provide more support to the most prestigious cultural art form, from nity to observe math and English classes achievement, schools that we visited district’s Chinese program. Therefore, Ghaffar Pourazar, a renowned British in progress. Wieland, Mandarin im- focused more on whole student devel- although the participating educators do Peking Opera Master, the recipient of mersion coordinator at Hopkins Public opment (social and emotional), and the not teach Chinese on a daily basis, help- the Great Wall Friendship Prize, and Schools, commented on her enhanced desire to learn about other cultures and ing everyone become more informed attended a Peking Opera performance. understanding of Chinese teachers at perspectives. While this is primarily at- will foster more collegiality and col- While in Shanghai, the educators her district, “I understand much better tributed to the different types of schools laboration with the Chinese teachers, visited the Bund and Yuyuan Garden, why our Chinese teacher struggle with we visited, it also reflects the different hence promoting healthy growth of experiencing the rapid change of the classroom management in an American educational philosophy by practitioners the Chinese program in the respective city within the last hundred years. Both school… why my Chinese immersion in Shanghai and Beijing. districts. Administrators were invited to cities offered their unique charm and reflect on some next steps their districts deeply impressed the delegates. will take on Chinese programs and part- nership with Chinese schools. Reflections from the Delegates Forest Area Schools is not a Confu- I summarized and organized the cius Classroom, but the district’s Chi- delegates’ impressions in three areas: nese program experienced substantial growth in the past three years. The I. Understanding about curricu- district is encouraged to participate lum reform and teacher develop- in more Hanban-organized activities through the Confucius Institute and ment Round table discussion with policy think about future possibility as a Con- makers and administrators in Beijing fucius Classroom. Initial steps such and Shanghai on the topics of curricu- as digital pen pal have begun for high lum reform and teacher development school students to communicate with students in Anshi Experimental School. are common interests of Chinese and For Hopkins Public Schools, the Man- U.S. educators. The Minnesota educa- darin immersion students will enter tors introduced new reform initiatives middle school and the West Junior High such as the College Readiness program School plans to establish a sister-school and curriculum mapping tools such as Naviance, Atlas and the policymakers from Beijing Education Commission Continues on next page www.chinainsight.info economy SEPTEMBER 2014 > PAGE 7 China new-home sales fall By Elaine Dunn

percent in the first half of 2014, with Beijing taking the biggest hit of 49 per- cent. The second-tier cities also did not fare much better. Xiamen, the southeast coastal city, saw a drop of 44 percent in the first half of this year, compared to a year ago. Transactions also fell 37 percent in both Hangzhou in the east and Dalian in the north. Sales in the smallest cities dropped an average of After a strong performance in 2013, 50 percent. sales of new homes in China fell 11 Some developers are allowing buy- percent in May and 23 percent in the ers longer time to pay the 30 percent first six months of 2014 from a year minimum down payment, while some ago, indicating a sustained downturn in are even offering zero-down payment the housing market. The average new terms. home prices in 70 cities fell 0.15 percent The developers face another chal- month-on-month in May. lenge: in addition to sluggish sales, A survey by a real estate firm showed there is a large inventory of empty sales of new homes in 40 big cities fell units, which triggers deep price cuts to 89.6 million square meters in the first to generate cash flow. However, deep half of this year, compared to 116.3 mil- discounts are ineffective at drawing in lion square meters in the same period buyers as people aren’t buying because last year. they believe prices will decline further. The central bank recently urged the Average sales in the wealthiest Chi- nation’s biggest lenders to speed up nese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen dropped 37 Continues on page 15 Minnesota Chinese program educators Continued from page 6 students and administrators. timately develop meaningful partnership For the Confucius Institute, it is a with one or more schools in China to Celebrate Confucius meaningful program to offer for further- support short- and/or long-term student/ ing the development of local Chinese teacher exchange. I hope to witness the Institute Day programs in Minnesota. CIUMN has growth in both quantity and quality of developed deeper relationship with Cap- the Chinese programs in these participat- on Sept. ital Normal University through the col- ing districts through: laboration and improved its quality of • innovative model of immersion Saturday, Sept. 27 is the 10th an- service to the local K-12 schools. This • exchange with sister schools, and niversary of the establishment of the kind of personalized and customized • the long-term support of dedicated Confucius Institute (CI). The occasion programming offers a nice complement staff will be celebrated at more than 440 to large-size educators’ delegations of- For CIUMN, we hope to bring more institutes worldwide. The University fered by the College Board. Bulthuis opportunities like this to other districts of Minnesota established its CI in 2008 (Hopkins Public School employment so that the state of Minnesota will have and will mark the day with fun and partnership with Cosco experimental specialist) pointed out, “This trip is good a closer and stronger connection with engaging activities for all ages. school and conduct student exchange for someone who has experienced China Chinese schools and Chinese education Attendees can learn about Chinese in spring 2015 and onwards through in the past and/or who has a very specific system. phrases and culture through introduc- Confucius Classroom programming. The Confucius Institute at the Uni- objective of finding a sister school or for tory language lessons (for both adults Further discussions are in place in South versity of Minnesota (CIUMN) was Washington County and Edina school learning more about the Chinese educa- and children), calligraphy demonstra- tional system.” Such small delegation established in 2008 to promote the learn- districts with the participating educators ing of Chinese language and culture tions, play Chinese games and bring offers a balanced, personalized and high informing other district personnel about statewide. in a collaboration between home a T-shirt and fun memories. quality experience in China. future opportunities. the University of Minnesota, Confucius Date: Saturday, Sept. 27 Chinese language program, in ad- It is hoped that Hanban will continue Institute Headquarters/Hanban and Time: 10 a.m.-noon dition to being an important world to support the short-term student and Capital Normal University in Beijing. language for the 21st century, is also an Location: teacher exchange in the future. CIUMN supports Chinese learning important pillar that will enable youth University International Center and through a variety of programming for Gateway Plaza at the McNamara Summary of CIUMN to “actively engage in global interaction students, educators and the general pub- Alumni Center on the University’s East All the delegates gave positive feed- and enhance global citizenship efforts to lic. CIUMN offers non-credit Chinese Bank campus back on their experiences in Shanghai, the benefit of all humanity,” elegantly courses, Chinese language assessment, and I attribute this to the rich experi- stated by Tennyson from Edina Public teacher professional development, and ence of IEA Shanghai in conducting Schools. As a new Confucius Class- customized language and culture train- The event is free and open to international exchange programs and room, Edina Public Schools charged ing upon request. public. For more information, visit: fostering collaborative initiatives. It Tennyson with redesigning the second- Yongling Zhang-Gorke, Ph.D. is the confucius.umn.edu/news/ u was the depth of school visit in Shanghai ary education experience. I am pleased assistant director of CIUMN and direc- that allowed the Minnesota delegates to to see that there will be discussions on tor of the affiliated Confucius Class- develop a much better understanding building capacity for cultural learning rooms, which consists of twelve schools/ Read the paper online at of the educational system, teachers’ across the curriculum, expanding Chi- districts/organizations that offer Chi- www.chinainsight.info workday and expectations of teachers, nese language learning program and ul- nese programs throughout Minnesota. PAGE 8 > SEPTEMBER 2014 food www.chinainsight.info Guiyang’s fish in sour soup By Elaine Dunn

to find a husband. The story behind the soup is that there once was a pretty brew master in the Miaoling Mountains whose wine was sweet as honey and clear as spring Fried tofu balls water. She had many suitors and she used to sing, “with love, water can be- come sweet wine; without love, sweet wine will turn sour.” If she didn’t like her suitors, she would serve them sour wine. The soup can come in a red or white soup base. The red base is from fer- mented wild tomatoes and the white, fermented rice. The fish is boiled in the soup base with garlic, ginger, salt, chili, Sliced vegetables in rice wrappers Fish in Sour Soup (酸汤鱼) wine and special fragrant spices. Tofu Think vegetable spring rolls. Fresh seasonal vegetables such as bean sprouts, cucumbers, and vegetables are usually added to the Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Prov- ideal for the cold, wet weather in winter. carrots and deep-fried beans are placed in pot just before serving. rice wrappers, eaten with a sour (what else!) ince in southwestern China, is not only One just cannot visit Guiyang with- Aside from the fish in sour soup, and chili sauce. famous for its beautiful landscape out trying its famous fish in sour soup! Guiyang is also known for: but also its delicately made, hot and This delectable soup is so common and numbing cuisine, a legacy of its Miao in high demand that it can be had from Fried tofu balls residents (苗族), one of the 55 officially street stalls. It is THE traditional Maio A form of Guizhou tapas! Soft tofu recognized minority tribes in China. soup and each Miao family has its own are shaped into balls and deep fried to Yes, numbing. The main ingredients special recipe! But all comes in a large golden color. They are crispy on the out- of Guiyang cuisine are red hot peppers pot and rumour is that Miao girls who side, but tender inside. They are eaten and dried chili powder, believed to be don’t know how to make it won’t be able with a sour dipping sauce. u Spicy quid kabobs Mooncake sales set to go sky high By Xu Lin, China Daily, Aug.19 cious and fresh, with low levels of fat of the traditional pastries. and sugar. You will find classic animated char- In addition to the traditional moon- acters such as Minnie Mouse carved cakes with five-kernel or lotus seed into the mooncake and also printed on paste fillings, the restaurant has in- the elegant packaging. troduced fillings made from fruit and “The tradition of sending mooncakes vegetables, such as cranberry and white as gifts to families and friends is deeply gourd. rooted in our culture, and it has become “The prices of ingredients and the a consumption model. It is still the labor costs have risen, but our retail mainstream.” Bian says. prices have been reduced slightly to sat- According to Bian, some manufac- isfy consumer demand,” Tian says. The turers are looking for mooncake recipes restaurant has introduced a 199-yuan from the early years of the delicacy so ($32) mooncake package, consisting of customers will remember the tastes of eight pastries, this year. the past. For example, compared with Bian Jiang, deputy director of the original lotus seed paste, the current the China Cuisine Association, says: blend has a higher sugar content. “Mooncakes are a seasonal food, eaten Manufacturers are confident about in a festive atmosphere. The prices, sales this year because of the quality which are higher than the actual value, of the products and the relatively low are subject to market demand.” prices. A mooncake factory in Yiwu, Zhejiang. The demand for luxury cakes is weakened this year, Beijing Marriott Hotel City Wall has due to the government’s call on anti-extravagance work style. Lv Bin / For China Daily “The general trend for mooncakes is quality. Outstanding brands are more three types of mooncake packages, with The traditional autumn delicacy has In the face of the austerity measures, competitive in the market, with their prices ranging from 199 to 399 yuans. undergone a makeover as manufacturers this year many manufacturers have delicious and fresh mooncakes, and a Ji Tian, the marketing and communica- look to reach out to health-conscious targeted the general market. To attract greater choices of fillings,” he says. tions manager, estimates about 6,000 consumers. more customers, they are promoting a For example, the Westin Beijing packages will be sold. It’s a long-standing tradition that wide range of flavors. Financial Street has packages that mix “Customers prefer mooncakes with Chinese people eat sweet and square “Customers are into stylish and Western and Chinese flavors such as traditional flavors. You can enjoy deli- mooncakes at family gatherings during healthy mooncakes. That’s what we are goose liver, truffle pumpkins and Chi- cious mooncakes in elegant packages at the Mid-Autumn Festival. However, making,” says Tian Jing, general man- nese chestnut. a reasonable price,” Ji says. thanks to national policy and market de- ager of the Imperial Palace Restaurant The Shangri-La Hotel in Beijing has Zhang Wenlei, assistant director of mand, nowadays there are very healthy in Beijing. as many as 42 fillings at different prices, food and beverage, at the Westin Beijing varieties of mooncakes at reasonable According to Tian, the products sold including some special flavors such as Financial Street, says: “I am confident about our mooncake sales because peo- prices. at her restaurant have no additives, and rose with red bean paste. Diabetics can ple’s incomes have risen, and they attach China’s catering and food industry all the ingredients - from the fillings to choose low-sugar pumpkin mooncakes, great importance to family reunions.” has been implementing the central gov- the cooking oil and flour - have been and those who want to keep fit can buy (Editor’s note: Read about the legend ernment’s regulations advocating fru- carefully chosen. ones containing cereal germs. of the Moon Festival in the September gality since December 2012. In 2013, The restaurant’s most popular items The hotel has unveiled a mooncake 2013 China Insight, online at www. both prices and overall sales volumes are Chaozhou-style pastry mooncakes, package at the price of 138 yuans aimed declined, especially in five-star hotels, which are handmade by chefs with more at the mass market, and Disney-themed chinainsight.info.) u restaurants and bakeries. than 10 years’ experience, and are deli- items for children, who are diehard fans www.chinainsight.info travel SEPTEMBER 2014 > PAGE 9 Impressions of Guanzhong culture By Jia Ming, China Today, March 2014

and when there was a lull in service, spoonful to the last, the taste of tofu with he sat quietly next to the earthen stove, a seasoning of coriander, vinegar and looking bored and lonely. The teahouse chili oil was amazing. serves the local specialty Jingweifu, a A well-known yogurt shop stands kind of black tea with a rather pungent opposite the tofu stand. I was told to taste. Because of its strong flavor, people expect long queues but I didn’t find prefer to spend a leisurely afternoon many people outside when I got there. drinking the tea until its taste mellows. Evidently, the last batch of yogurt had On a small stage in the front of the just sold out and the next batch would teahouse, several elderly men were per- not be ready for an hour. It was clear forming Laoqiang Opera, a traditional the people waiting were disgruntled. folk art in Guanzhong. To the accompa- But it turned out to be worth the wait. I niment of an erhu (a two-stringed Chi- knew from the first sip that this was the nese fiddle), they sang in an imposing best yogurt I had ever tasted – a river manner so that even though the lyrics of sweetness cooled my mouth, throat in Guanzhong dialect were hard to un- and stomach. derstand, I could picture the epic battle I didn’t intend to buy any laozao, a scene they were describing. beverage made of fermented glutinous While customers enjoyed their tea- rice, when I passed by a shop selling it. time, a number of masseurs and mas- But the sample caught my interest and seuses wound their way through the I could not help myself. Leafy Yuanjia Village Lane tables looking for potential clients. The The moreish flavor of snacks in Yuanjia Village can be attributed to the Guangzhong is a region with a color- characters for “noodles,” “fabrics” or most popular among them was a stout, first-rate ingredients. Every snack bar ful history. It refers to the Guanzhong “vinegar,” for example, fluttered in the middle-aged man dressed in a red, tra- declares the source of the ingredients Plain in Shaanxi Province, where the breeze. The mingling aroma of liquor, ditional Chinese suit. Those who used it uses on a board and hangs it on the cities of Baoji, Xianyang, Xi’an, Tong- vinegar and tofu wafted along the main his services told me he was a master at front door. So, diners not only benefit chuan and Weinan are located. The area street, making my mouth water. soothing the neck and shoulder muscles. from exquisite taste, but also from peace highlights the time-honored civilization I entered a fabric store with a group A rather more “no-frills” teahouse is of mind that the snacks are made from of the middle reaches of the Yellow of tourists. Garments and bedding made Wang’s behind Tongjigong. It is actually genuine resources. River and represents the folk culture of of hand-woven cloth are sold in the no more than a large, thatched shed. Its Many city-dwellers hanker after a Shaanxi Province. outer room. In the inner room, tourists folksy environment reminded me of simple, pastoral life. Living in busy, Yuanjia Village of Liquan County is can pose for photos with old looms where the heroes gather in the famous situated in the heart of the Guanzhong and spinning wheels. The neighboring novel Outlaws of the Marsh. The young Plain. The village is surrounded by a shop sells canvas shoes, including a waitresses are dressed in white suits and good number of cultural attractions. One selection of adorable children’s shoes green aprons. A loudspeaker broadcasts of the largest imperial mausoleums in featuring embroidered animal heads. ballads and short stories in Guanzhong the world, Zhaoling, the tomb of Tang Further down the street, I came across dialect. The dialect sounds crisp, creat- Emperor Li Shimin (599-648) is located a woodcut studio. Compared with other ing a convivial atmosphere. just one kilometer from it and was en- stores, this studio had few browsers. It A star storyteller, Old Deng, regular- listed among the first batch of heritage seemed that the owner had been gone ly performs in Wang’s Teahouse. Wear- sites under state protection. Also in its for a while and had left some stone ing a pair of reading glasses, a cigarette dangling from his lips, he looked to me vicinity is Jianling, the burial ground templates and uncolored woodcut prints Wall relief of Emperor Li Heng (711-762), which in the studio. I found that most of the like a big shot in old Shanghai. In spite holds the largest number of and the most works depicted auspicious symbols or of the fact that I grew up in Guanzhong, noisy cities, we eat processed food intact stone engravings among the im- scenes from picture-story books. The I found Old Deng’s strong accent hard because it’s more convenient, wear perial mausoleums scattered across the vivid figures in ancient style evoked to understand so I could only guess he garments made of synthetic materials Guanzhong Plain. With the restoration memories of illustrations in traditional was telling stories about history and because they’re cheaper, and listen to of antique buildings and old customs thread-bound books. famous people. fickle pop music because it’s unavoid- over recent years, Yuanjia Village is Stepping out of the studio, the smell able. But deep in our hearts, we dread- itself a showcase of the Guanzhong of liquor drifted over from a bar next All you can eat fully miss free-range eggs, hand-woven culture. door called Old Street. Its homemade The food street beyond Tongjigong cloth and the pristine folk operas that shilixiang (literally, a wine whose Teahouse is the most crowded part of echo in our memories of home and Busy old streets aroma can be smelled miles away) and Yuanjia Village. Snack bars are too childhood. This was my second trip to Yuanjia nüerhong (daughter wine) drew me in. small for chairs or tables, so visitors In Yuanjia Village people often feel Village. I had learned a lot from my first The interior was simple – a couple of squeeze onto benches outside. The they have traveled back in time to the visit and was determined to come back wooden tables and a wooden wheel turnover of these snack bars is high – no good old days, pre-industrialization and again. But even after this second visit, hanging on the bar counter – in sharp sooner has one diner finished his meal pre-commercialization, when life was I had a thirst for more. contrast to the more trendy bars that can than another snaps up his place. simple and so was happiness. This place A straight road lined with trees and be found on the new pub street behind. A bustling tofu stand caught my eye. allows us to rediscover the meaning of ancient-style lamps leads to the village. The tofu sold here is much more solid life and return to nature. u The community resembles the old town Cozy tea time than regular tofu and tastes better due of Lijiang in Yunnan Province with its At the point where the road widens, to a special binding solution used in the narrow streets, tile-roofed houses and I found Tongjigong, a teahouse dating process. Business was brisk – a number small canals. But in contrast to the back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). of products on a shelf were marked “re- brilliant colors I had seen in Lijiang, An old waiter hummed tunes from the served.” Instead of that tofu, I ordered Read the paper online at the dominant colors of Yuanjia were local opera while rhythmically pulling another appetizing specialty, tofu pud- www.chinainsight.info earthy yellow, gray and white. Large bellows for tea-making. Although busy, ding, served floating in a bowl of soup flags outside shops bearing the Chinese he looked to be in his own little world, like flower buds on a lake. From the first PAGE 10 > SEPTEMBER 2014 culture www.chinainsight.info The Mid-Autumn Festival: why eight boys won’t get the girl By Melissa Schneider, contributor little sister. The next day, her parents which they failed to find a wife. Since single person’s parents—many of whom vetted their options by talking with the beginning of time and in almost spend the day mingling in the crowd fellow villagers about the reputations, every country, men with low-income — and describe the height, educational character and financial reliability of the have struggled more than rich ones background, financial and social status boys’ parents. In traditional Chinese when it comes to finding a wife, so this of their adult children. Hardly any marriage arrangements, the reputation challenge is not entirely new. The sheer ads included a photograph, and the of the parents is far more important numbers of Chinese men who will never information they conveyed struck me than any personal fit between the fu- find a wife are, however, as new as they as more practical than personal. Jason, ture spouses. Marriage is conceived are staggering. a likeable man with crooked teeth and of as the joining of two families, not Thanks to a variety of changes, from darker-than-popular skin, told me he Mooncake the fusion of two lovers or soul mates. the deepening divide between rich and had been coming to that section of the Lingyu said her parents did not con- poor, the disappearance of old “marriage park for more than a year. He called The Mid-Autumn Festival, China’s sider whether the proffered sons were insurance” strategies like child brides these want-ads a place of “last resort,” ancient harvest celebration, is coming good-looking or educated, but did and decades of the “one child policy,” but he very much wanted to meet a wife up on Sept. 8. This day, famous for its consider “whether the son was a nice today’s marriageable generations has 23 so he came anyway. Raised in Hubei iconic mooncakes, is traditionally a time boy who seemed controllable, for my million fewer women than men. The province, Jason had studied English in to gather under a full moon with family, sister’s sake.” Her parents picked the competition for China’s available single university, worked a decent job, and give thanks for crops or harmonious best boy of the nine and gained the tacit women is growing fierce, as there sim- owned an apartment in Shenzhen, which approval of their daughter, who simply ply aren’t enough of them to go around. is no small accomplishment. “Many of marriages, and to pray for things like said, “He’s okay.” Very excited, they This huge lack of brides is creating a the women I call agree to meet me right babies, a wife, longevity and a good announced their choice of a son-in-law “marriage squeeze” felt most sharply here, at the message boards. Some are future. Both the spiritual roots of this the next day, and Lingyu’s sister married among countryside bachelors. With less very beautiful, very fashionable, but celebration and the ready crowd of fam- that boy a year later, during the 2010 education and fewer financial resources they always have too many require- ily it brings together make it a popular Mid-Autumn Festival. to entice a bride, they are standing at the ments. If I don’t meet even one, they time for weddings, and couples have This story of marriage in China back of a line so long that nobody can want to stop right away.” Jason was been tying the knot during this festival sounds so traditional that, with the ex- see where it begins and ends confused and hurt by the difficulty of for thousands of years. ception of the tacit approval of Lingyu’s I talked with one of these “leftover procuring a girlfriend, and told me he Lingyu, a woman I met in Shenzhen, sister, it could almost have come about men,” a man who introduced himself thought the meaning of marriage was China, remembered a day during the during any of the last thousand mid- by the English name Jason, in the changing, growing more complex in 2009 festival when nine families with autumn festivals. Just one other detail matchmaking section of Shenzhen’s China. Somehow, his traditional prepa- unmarried sons came to visit her par- smacks of the marital crisis unfolding in Lianhuashan Park. Situated in a stand rations were no longer enough. “Come ents. Her parents and younger sister China today: the eight boys who didn’t of Chinese palms, the match-making on, I own a house! I don’t have a car still live in the family’s hometown, a get the girl. area was dominated by seven enormous but that is not a problem in Shenzhen. poor village in Jiangxi province, and For millions of China’s poor and message boards, each overflowing with But these women want more than that. those nine families all came to propose poorly educated men, the 2014 festival personal ads for Shenzhen’s available a match between their sons and Lingyu’s will mark the end of yet another year in singles. Most ad were written by the Continues on next page Dragon Festival 2014

Approximately 10,000 sponsors, Clinic Oars of the Dragon paddlers, volunteers, residents in the Sunday neighborhood, and the many donors and • 1st: Monkey Bay Paddling Club supporters of this year’s Dragon Festival • 2nd: Accelerate Fitness gathered at Lake Phalen, Maplewood, • 3rd: Boston Scientific Corporation the weekend of July 12 and 13. Despite • Best Team Spirit: Metropolitan State the sporadic downpours on Saturday, it University Asian Students was another successful and entertaining • Best T-shirts: Health Boston Scientific Corporation Dragon Calm before the action event. A little rain cannot dampen the Come hear the gong spirit of this hardy crowd! Dragon Festival organizers wish to Attendees enjoyed activities such thank the following sponsors for their as awakening of the dragon, authentic continued support of this annual Pan- Asian delicacies, dance and martial art Asian event: American Family Insur- performances, and cheered on the pad- ance, Ameriprise Financial, BlueCross BlueShield Minnesota, Boston Scien- dlers of the dragon boat races. Teams tific, Bunning Aces Harness, Chatime, practiced and raced on both days; Minnesota Twins Baseball Club, Mystic though Saturday races were held up for Lake Casino Hotel, State Farm, Target, approximately three hours because of Refreshing beverages u Freebies for the taking weather conditions. US Bank, Target. A total of 23 boat teams took part this year. Winners are: Saturday • 1st: Hmong Health Care • 2nd: Target • 3rd: Blue Cross Blue Shield • Best Team Spirit: Dragon Divas Strength of teamwork • Best T-shirts: Health East Rice Street A break from performing Hello merchandisers! www.chinainsight.info people SEPTEMBER 2014 > PAGE 11 How did a Chinese-American woman become a black power activist? By Genetta M. Adams, New American Media, July 1, 2014 1950s, Boggs saw Detroit — with its King’s stance on nonviolence seemed booming auto industry attracting a “naive” to Boggs. But like any good steady stream of African Americans revolutionary, her views evolved over from the South — as the next front in a time. new workers’ revolution. “As I saw the violence increase in It was there that she met her husband, our cities, I wondered would it have James Boggs, an auto-plant worker from been possible to combine Malcolm’s Alabama who was deeply involved in militancy with King’s nonviolence,” workers’ rights and a leading activist in Boggs says. “I began reading King Detroit’s black community. Through much more carefully.” James, Grace was embraced by the By the late ’60s, Boggs had become city’s black community and together a well-known figure in the black power they became a formidable duo advocat- movement, after helping launch the all- ing for change for more than 40 years black Freedom Now Party — a party (he died in 1993). that had no interest in integration but She would eventually leave the was interested in gaining political pow- Grace Lee Boggs Photo by Quyen Tran Marxist establishment to focus on the ers for African Americans. Every once in a while, someone black communities and what role did emerging civil rights movement. In “Grace has made more contributions comes along who challenges your as- her identity play? 1963 she and her husband helped orga- to the black struggle than most black sumptions and forces you to rethink “Had I not been born female and nize the march down Detroit’s Wood- people have,“ black power activist An- everything you thought you knew about Chinese American, I would not have ward Avenue, where Martin Luther King gela Davis says in the film. history, culture and identity. realized from early on that fundamental Jr. first tested the themes of his “I Have a Today, even though bankruptcy and Take, for instance, Grace Lee Boggs. changes were necessary in our society,” Dream” speech, which he would deliver high unemployment have left Detroit Before Martin Luther King Jr. and Mal- Boggs wrote in her 1998 autobiography, two months later in Washington, D.C. a crumbling, burned-out shell of its colm X emerged as leaders in the civil “Living for Change. “ When the black movement splin- former self, Boggs is still evolving rights movement, Boggs — a 99-year- The idea of evolution is a central tered into two distinct camps — King’s and pushing for revolution, though her old Detroit resident born to Chinese im- theme of the film and a core tenet that nonviolent resistance on the one hand activism these days primarily involves migrant parents — was agitating on the inspired Boggs to action. She believes and Malcolm X’s militant radicalism on inviting people into her living room to frontlines of movements that presaged that you first have “to change yourself the other — Boggs chose the side that discuss new ideas to help push the city the events of the 1960s. She became an in order to change the world.” One best aligned with her ideal vision of a in a different direction. outspoken activist in the black power of the early moments in her evolution revolutionary movement. “Grace says she sees opportunity movement and was so connected to the happened in 1940 shortly after she “I was a Malcolm person. I would go in the struggle,” Lee told The Root. struggle that the FBI mistakenly thought earned a doctorate in philosophy from and hear Malcolm speak and audiences “She says we can choose to see empty she was Afro-Chinese. Bryn Mawr. Unable to find work at a would squirm as he would challenge lots in Detroit as a place where people A new documentary, American time when businesses felt completely them to think differently to transform just dump trash or you can see them as Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace comfortable telling her, “We don’t hire themselves.” potential farmland.” Lee Boggs, examines how a Chinese- Orientals,” the then-24-year-old headed With black people being brutalized Genetta M. Adams is a senior editor American woman, raised in a middle- to Chicago, where, for the first time, she and killed simply for speaking out, at The Root. u class family in New York City, evolved witnessed African Americans engaged from a Marxist radical to become one in social action — in this case, tenants of the leading activists in Detroit’s fighting to end rat-infested housing. The Mid-Autumn Festival African-American community. It airs “I had never been in contact with at 10 Monday night on PBS. black people before. I was aware that Continued from page 10 The film’s director, Grace Lee (no re- people were suffering, but it was more lation), first met Boggs when she began a statistical thing,” Boggs says. “And They want love at first sight. They want obsessed with marriage and grandchil- working on her 2005 documentary, The here in Chicago, I was coming in contact a good-looking and handsome man. dren, when one in four of its sons cannot Grace Lee Project, which examined the with it as a human thing.” They want to have feelings the first time marry? “model minority” stereotype of Asian In 1941 she became involved in the we talk.” No one knows the answer, but I Americans through the eyes of women March on Washington movement, which Jason is not alone in his struggles. doubt the future will be as grim as the who shared a common name. challenged the federal government to The expectation of romantic love and demographers depict. Necessity is the “I was so blown away by her ex- address discriminatory hiring practices emotional connection to the list of mother of invention, and China, a na- istence in Detroit and the community in the defense industry. When President matchmaking criteria will only make tion that has been surviving for the past around her, that I knew at the moment Franklin Roosevelt realized that orga- it harder for country boys like him to 5,000 years, will find a way through I had to make a longer film about her,” nizers — led by A. Philip Randolph and compete for China’s limited number the present marital crisis. Still, as you celebrate this year’s mid-autumn festi- Lee told The Root. Bayard Rustin — were serious about of “vanishing” brides. Four years ago, val, eat a mooncake for China’s leftover For Lee, Boggs’ story was an op- bringing thousands of people to the na- China’s single men made up 75 percent men, and offer up one of those ancient portunity to examine Asian-American tion’s capital, he signed Executive Order of all unmarried people aged 30-44, ac- prayers for a wife. identity in the larger context of Ameri- 8802 banning discrimination at defense cording to UN statistics. The difficult Melissa Schneider, LMSW, is a li- can history. plants. Roosevelt temporarily halted the truth is that millions of these leftover censed relationship counselor and the “As an Asian-American woman, march — it would eventually happen men will never find a wife — at least author of “The Ugly Wife is a Treasure there weren’t any role models. To see in 1963 — but in that moment, Boggs not a Chinese one. In fact, by 2030, 25 at Home: True Stores of Love and somebody like Grace Lee Boggs — discovered her true calling. percent of single men in their late 30s Marriage in Communist China,” a what she stands for, what she represents “I found out that if you mobilize a are expected to be unmarried, according collection of stories including the two in America — her story is an American mass action, you can change the world,” to a 2010 analysis published in Foreign mentioned in this article. She holds a story. It’s American history,” Lee told Affairs. For hundreds, and maybe Boggs says. “And I thought to myself, masters in Social Work from Columbia thousands of years, that figure has been The Root. “Personally, I feel that we’re ‘Boy, if a movement can achieve that, University and helps people all over closer to 8 percent. If 25 percent is the so ignorant about our own history as that’s what I want to do with my life.’” the world learn how to build great re- national projection, the odds will be far Americans. This is a strain of American While in Chicago she met C.L.R. lationships. Contact her through her history worth taking another look at.” James, a West Indian Marxist involved worse in the rural areas, where 8 out of website, www.luvwise.com, or take her So how did Boggs become a vocal in various socialist organizations that 9 might lose the bid for a wife. What free relationship test. u activist in one of America’s largest advocated for workers’ rights. By the will become of China, so traditionally PAGE 12 > SEPTEMBER 2014 events www.chinainsight.info

2014 // 15 NORTHROP SEASON THE HONG KONG BALLET Thu, Nov 6, 7:30 pm Fri, Nov 7, 8:00 pm Carlson Family Stage at Northrop

Turandot

The Hong Kong Ballet, one of Asia’s premier classical ballet companies, performs Turandot, a dramatic, full-length story ballet of power, lust, and revenge, based on Puccini’s beloved opera and accompanied by visually stunning sets and Puccini’s original music. The dazzling spectacle of Turandot revolves around the love triangle surrounding the princess Turandot, who shuns potential lovers with her heart of ice.

Tickets available online, in person, or by phone.

The Hong Kong Ballet in Turandot. Photo © Gordon Wong.

Chinese Table: Larger U.S assets acquired by Chinese, 2004-2014 acquisitions Continued from page 5 bemoan China’s growing clout, but local governments, chambers of commerce and business leaders are working hard to attract Chinese companies that can create good jobs. The last three gov- ernors of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura, Tim Pawlenty and Mark Dayton, have all led trade missions to China. In addition, mayors of both Minneapolis and St. Paul had led delegations to their sister cities, Harbin and Changsha, respectively as well. All in pursuit of the mighty RMB. The once-feared Japanese invest- ments are today generating more than 400,000 auto industry jobs in the U.S. alone. Chinese investments should pro- duce similar results. China’s economy is still growing, albeit at a much slower pace than the past decade. But, if the U.S. is judicious in allowing the ben- eficial Chinese investments in, the U.S. economy can prosper alongside China. And eventually, those investments may also bring access to a huge China market. Statistics for this article was com- piled from various news sources, nota- bly: CNN Money: Chinese acquisitions of U.S. companies; USA Today, May 29, 2013: China continues to target U.S. companies; October 2013 Depart- ment of Commerce and the President’s Council of Economic Advisers: Foreign Direct Investment in the United States; NPR May 2013,: Examining China’s investment Record in U.S. Companies. www.chinainsight.info events SEPTEMBER 2014 > PAGE 13

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UCBC presents Managing and Marketing Your Business in China, Leveraging China’s Social Media Network Date: Wednesday, Sept. 10 ing tools that are changing the lives of Presenter Joab Meyer had a front- companies and their innovative products 7:30-9:30 a.m. Chinese consumers, communication in row seat on IT innovations in China can change the personal lives (of both Location: the workplace and disrupting traditional while working in Shanghai the past Americans and Chinese) for the better. International Market Square financial services markets. Discussion seven years. In his day job, he is a This summer he relocated to the Twin Studio 185, 2nd Floor will focus on: business operation program manager at Cities while remaining in the same role 275 Market St, Minneapolis • Two of the most influential Chinese IT Cisco Systems where he leads an effort at Cisco. He writes about best practices for using IT to transform companies and Cost: $35 for non-members companies (Tencent and Alibaba) and to leverage enterprise social network their “home-brewed” social networking tools (think Facebook for companies) the people who work for them at http:// ($10 for students); members, free. tools, WeChat and Alipay respectively to drive communication practices that newwatercooler.wordpress.com/. To register: Call Jim, 612-865-6543 • The impact these tools are making in deliver business results for the global Members, please bring brochures China and supply chain team of manufacturing and information to share on the member Recent IT innovations in China have • How these innovations could affect product managers. His personal pas- table during our meeting. u produced revolutionary social network- your business sion to understand how Chinese IT

Chinese American Academic & Profes- Minnesota Trade Office presents Export sional Association in Minnesota (CAAPAM) Process: An Introduction to Exporting presents Wellness & Entrepreneurship Date: Wednesday, Sept. 24 that’s not possible, or you’re register- (養生與創業) 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. ing after that date, bring your check Date: Sunday, Sept. 14 Sessions: Location: DEED Conference Center, or cash* with you to registration. *If Time: 9:20 a.m.-4:30 p.m. 10 a.m.: Starting a Business - Motiva- Minnesota Rm. paying with cash, bring the correct Location: North Oak Golf Club, 54 East tion and Key Considerations 332 Minnesota St. amount, as we do not have change at Oaks Road, North Oaks 11 a.m.: Pain Treatment & Management Ste. E200 (2nd Fl., Skyway) the registration desk. Cost: $40.00 (Student, $15.00) includes Noon: Lunch & social hour St. Paul To register: www.regonline.com lunch 1:30 p.m.: Effect of Intestinal Bacteria Cost: $60, if registered by Sept. 22; Questions: Contact Ed Dieter, 651- Registration deadline: Sept. 8 to Human Body $80 for late registrations & walk-ins. 259-7481; or email ed.dieter@state. 2:30 p.m.: Importance of Emotions in Fee includes handouts, light breakfast, mn.us u To register: Qigong Healing networking lunch and refreshments. Please provide email address, phone no. 3:30 p.m.: Coffee break Pay online via credit card (VISA / and registration fee check payable to 3:45 p.m.: Qigong demonstration by MasterCard only); OR pay by check Read the paper online at CAAPAM, and mail to “CAAPAM,P.O. Master Chunyi Lin (payable to MTO Education) - mail it www.chinainsight.info Box 25767,Woodbury, MN 55125” Questions? Please contact: Dr. Bing- no later than 9/16/14 to ensure receipt before Sept. 08, 2014. Huei Su ([email protected]). u by our office prior to the seminar. If PAGE 14 > SEPTEMBER 2014 business www.chinainsight.info San Francisco’s tech boom bleeding Chinese small businesses By David Lee, New America Media, July 9, 2014

SAN FRANCISCO -- Read ethnical- family and, with 18 percent of its regis- ly or racially: San Francisco resembles tered voters, represent the single most Gold Mountain, the city of Chinese important voting bloc in this Democratic immigrant legend and myth. Read eco- city. nomically: San Francisco is becoming In the mid-1980s, as corporate titans a city of new wealth, no longer a city such as Bank of America and Standard for the middle class and those poorer, Oil moved their headquarters out of San regardless of race—and as the recent Francisco’s downtown, city stewards FBI investigation of Senator Leland bemoaned the shrinking future. “Carmel Yee and alleged Chinatown mobster by the Bay” was the prediction — a cute “Shrimp Boy” Chow makes clear, illicit parody of a city where tourists would money is no stranger to politics in the come to buy trinkets at Chinese shops or new Chinese city. eat chop suey at Grant Avenue restaurants. In stories that the city’s natives Today, the Chinese American/Asian tell about what is happening, there is A shot of Clement Street in San Francisco, long a hub of Chinese small business. American political ascendance coincides always a new landlord or a consortium with the city’s ascendance as one of of landowners scheming to evict long- borders City College, after a notorious Mr. Li’s store pride was its the most desirable places to live on the term tenants from apartments or shops, anti-Chinese mayor. ability to import books from Taiwan. globe—to which the influx of technol- to make room for tenants who can pay Quan Bac’s Big Sister says today that Young people and old people alike ogy companies and their legions of tech rents that are three or four hundred her garbage bill has just doubled. “Now came to the store. His store will soon workers attest. It is also now one of the percent greater. The new landlords are they want to increase the minimum be put out to lease, the sixth storefront costliest. Rent increases alone outstrip not interested in making San Francisco wage to 15 dollars! Forget it!” She is ap- in the neighborhood to go dark, even those of any other city in the country — a more Chinese city. Their interest is in plying for a job with the city; she hopes as rents are going up all over the city. already triple the national average, as of making their buildings into homes for that maybe she will find work as a janitor In genteel Pacific Heights drawing December 2013. And now that the city tenants who can pay big money. at the airport. “My sister works at the rooms, not so long ago, there was talk is the far-northern outpost of Silicon Val- The irony is that as Chinese buyers airport, and she just bought a house in of a coming takeover of “their” city ley, its income gap is among the widest in the country. acquire more property in San Francisco, South San Francisco.” by Asians generally and the Chinese What city leaders in the 1980s could it is often the Chinese American ten- In the frontier city, the Chinese particularly. “Sampans in the har- not have predicted is that the very Chinese ants who are taking a hit. In this new were restricted to Chinatown. They bor,” genteel people said distastefully American merchants and shopkeepers Chinese city of San Francisco, also a were preyed upon by other immigrant (the word “sampan” comes from the whose neon signs they worried were hipster city, one sees more white young groups, such as the Australian toughs original Hokkien term for boats, sam transforming San Francisco into one big people and fewer small Chinese shops called “Sydney Ducks.” A hundred years pan, meaning three planks). Nowa- Chinatown are themselves slowly being and shopkeepers that cater to working- later, it became a joke in San Francisco days, with the dawning of the Chinese squeezed out of the new Asian city. City class Chinese. that “Chinatown” was spreading to century, nothing is so common in San Hall was quick to respond when the face Consider Clement Street in the city’s neighborhoods to the west and the south Francisco as the literal marriage of of skyrocketing rent evictions under the middle-class Richmond District. Clem- of downtown. Clement Street in the the non-Chinese city with Chinese Ellis Act became that of 73-year-old Mrs. ent Street is losing its Chinese character, Richmond district, 20 years ago, became Americans and Chinese immigrants. Gum Gee Lee and her husband, who had even as the streets are full of the city’s a Chinese street. Now it is becoming Doctors marry scientists; a tech mil- lived in the same apartment with their Chinese, young and old. A Chinese less and less Chinese as San Francisco lionaire marries another tech million- disabled son for over 30 years. City Hall Vietnamese immigrant, known along becomes more and more reshaped by aire. Facebook billionaire and San is now pressuring for a new state law that mainland Chinese money. Francisco resident Mark Zuckerberg Clement Street as “Big Sister,” is plan- will prevent speculators from buying up Americans have never quite been marries longtime sweetheart, Chinese ning to close her Quan Bac Restaurant apartment buildings, kicking out tenants, able to get a fix on the Chinese. Local American doctor Priscilla Chan. on nearby Geary Street. The good and flipping the units for sale. But com- nativists knew what they thought of At Chapeau, a lively French bistro reviews on Yelp are the least of it. The mercial rents are totally vulnerable to free Mexicans, Filipinos, Japanese (during owned by a Frenchman and his Chi- crowds, particularly at lunchtime, hap- market forces—there is no rent control WWII), and Russians. But what about nese American wife, there are crowds pily slurping pho, cannot dissuade her for such properties. As the owners and from leaving San Francisco for Daly the Chinese example? Were they the every night. Up the block at Citikids, operators of 40 percent of the city’s small City. “Too expensive, losing too much model minority (for working so hard) or a Chinese family-owned store that businesses, Asian Americans are foremost money,” she tells a visitor. were they unfair to native-born Ameri- has sold strollers and every sort of among those taking the hit. From its Gold Rush beginnings, cans (by working so hard) — familial baby-related accessory, is closing. Last year a farmer’s market sponsored brash San Francisco—wide open to and entrepreneurial at the same time? Mothers-in-law, checkbooks in hand, by the Agricultural Institute of Marin every sort of outsider—has maintained San Francisco is now the great could quiz the salesclerks in Mandarin from across the Golden Gate landed on a special admiration for and a deep anxi- American Asian city. But the capital or Cantonese. But a new generation one end of Clement Street. With city ap- ety toward the Chinese. In the 1850s, city of Asian America is becoming too shops in box stores or online. Soon proval, the market closed off part of the San Francisco mayor John Geary could expensive for many Asians. Ace Hardware will move into the busy street to cars on Sundays so that a praise Chinese work habits — but it was In Pacific Books and Arts, a space because Ace Hardware lost its few dozen vendors could introduce sus- those same work habits that caused the small shop nestled next to the larger, lease up the block. tainable honey, vegan sausages, artisan Irish immigrant nativist Denis Kearney well-known Green Apple Bookstore on Today, the city’s mayor is Chi- nondairy cheeses, and organic vegetables to parade through the Gold Rush city, Clement, Mr. Li, a small man, a scholar nese American, as is the head of the to the mix of Chinese meat and produce gathering resentments, when the econ- of an almost monk-like disposition, says Board of Supervisors. Four others stores. At one organic produce stand, omy grew bad. His slogan to the rabble that soon his store will be closing. This on the board are Chinese Americans. three organic garlic cloves sold for $5, band: “The Chinese must go.” When the is in itself not news — the Internet has The president of the school board is basil leaves sold for $8, and a bunch of economy turned robust, Kearney faded succeeded in making fewer serious read- Chinese American. Asian Americans organic bananas went for $11. away. But just a few years later, the ers, and those readers who survive want occupy leadership positions in virtu- city named Phelan Avenue, which now to buy their books online. ally every level of the city’s political Continues on next page www.chinainsight.info business SEPTEMBER 2014 > PAGE 15

China new- Top 10 cities that saw the biggest month-on-month fall in new-home prices in July Based on an Aug. 1 report from the China Index Academy, 76 out of the 100 cities in China saw month-on-month decline in July – the third consecutive month – dropping 0.81 percent compared to the previous month. home sales The current average price of the 100 targeted cities is at 10,835 yuan (about USD $1,076) per square meter. fall Continued from page 7 Rank City Yuan / square Yuan / square Percentage change mortgage processing, telling them to meter in June meter in July give first-time home buyers priority to 10. Haikou city, Hainan 10,310 10,100 - 2.04 prevent the erosion of consumer confi- province dence and drag down the economy as a 9. Zhongshan city, 6,407 6,276 - 2.04 whole. (Citigroup estimates property Guangdong province 8. Guilin city, Guangxi sales account for 12 percent of China’s 6,185 6,058 - 2.05 GDP.) province Growth in spending in construction 7. Dalian city, Liaoning province 11,798 11,553 - 2.08 and renovation, which includes interior 6. Guiyang city, Guizhou 5,189 5,077 - 2.16 decoration, slowed to 14.2% in the first province five months of this year. Sales of fur- 5. Nantong city, Jiangsu 8,905 niture and appliances, though up, have province 9,111 -2.26 slowed when compared to a year ago. 4. Mianyang city, Sichuan 4,999 4,882 -2.34 Many agree there’s no doubt the province 3. Sanya city, Hainan housing bubble is about to burst. The 24,080 23,415 -2.76 question is how low will prices drop and province 2. Heze city, Shandong for how long? Analysts expect to see 4,943 4,792 -3.05 developers and home-related businesses province 1. Jilin city, Jilin province 6,307 6,108 -3.16 closing shop soon as the downturn con- tinues. u San Francisco’s tech boom Continued from page 14 Down the street at a Chinese produce culture—a parklet — replaced scarce creased substantially between 1980 and sand,” observed a long-time politician store that spills out to the sidewalk, these street parking with outdoor cafe-style 2008 — from 29 percent in 1990 to 41 in the city. “You can try as hard as you same items cost a few dollars less. But seating in front of a new bakery special- percent in 2008,” according to a recent can to hold onto it, but sooner or later it price differentials did not deter the hip izing in designer cupcakes. report. “The number of white births has will slip through your fingers.” And so shoppers flocking to the street market No new demographic data has increased more than births from other it has been for many groups that have to buy. “I’m willing to pay more for emerged to update 2010 Census fig- ethnicities.” come to San Francisco as immigrants. organic produce that supports respon- ures on how the city’s population is Middle- and lower-income Chinese That was the story for the Irish, Italians, sible farming practices,” explained changing. Public school figures have Americans may be responding to the and African Americans. one customer, incredulous that anyone traditionally failed to capture white city’s affordability crisis by having What no one doubts in San Fran- would ask. Nor, she added, did she feel population statistics because 25 percent fewer babies or by moving to the sub- cisco — in either the corridors of power comfortable buying from an “Asian” of white parents send their children to urbs. But in an equally potent trend or in the small shops along Clement store where she didn’t know where the private schools. But one recent trend for the city’s future, overseas Chinese Street — is that the city is now the great food came from. that the school system has spotlighted investment activity in San Francisco’s American Asian city. What we are just Further down Clement, new clothing is a progressive decline in the number real estate is at a fever pitch, according learning is how economics trumps race stores and coffee shops with free Wi-Fi of births to Asians and a steady increase to a San Francisco Chronicle report or ethnicity. The capital city of Asian vie for customers with the old Chinese in the number of white births. “The on the Chinese international property America is becoming too expensive for bakeries and noodle shops. Last year, a percentage of births that were to white website Juwai.com. many Asians. u harbinger of the city’s laid-back youth mothers living in San Francisco in- “In San Francisco, power is like hot

economic growth. Can the United States salvage its U.S. plays catch-up in Africa Still, the challenge for the United relationship with Africa? States is that many African rulers also The answer is yes! Rwanda’s like the way in which China presents it- President Paul Kagame said in a re- Continued from page 1 self as a neutral, value-free outsider that cent interview with Bloomberg: “This wants simple relationships of trade and [discussion] should have started much by official data by the U.S. Department ternational airports to the village store. friendship with African governments. earlier. If things are done right, the of Commerce that put trade between the I remember not so long ago Coca-Cola, Many Africans see this as a mark of relationship, the partnership between U.S. and Africa at about $85 billion per which also announced this week that it respect. Official Chinese websites stress the United States and Africa, has the year, while China’s trade is worth more plans to spend $5 billion in Africa over mutual friendship and cooperation, eco- potential to bypass that relationship than $200 billion. This spring, Chinese the next six years, was the only foreign nomic, cultural, social and educational. between Africa and Europe. Also the Prime Minister, Li Keqiang visited sev- product that reached every corner of the The alternative that China offers relationship between Africa and China.” eral African countries where he sought continent. Now it is Chinese products African rulers is attractive. They point For now it appears enlightened to boost trade. that reach everywhere. The $14 billion to the fact that China has brought more African leaders know where the buck Observers of China-Africa relations trade that was announced and the bil- u of its people out of poverty in the last stops. agree that China’s impact on Africa is lions of dollars in U.S. aid are crucial decades, but without any freedom of one of the biggest global geopolitical to Africa’s economic aspirations, but Editor’s note: For additional info, expression or democracy. In theory, that shifts of the early 21st century. China the Chinese are popular with African please read “China in Africa,” China offers Africa an alternative development is often described by African journalists leaders because they build things — Insight, July-August 2014 online at model. It is unlikely that any African as the ‘weapon of mass construction’ infrastructure. And, if the lasting fruits www.chinainsight.info. as it expands its footprint further into of trade and investment are creation of country will follow China’s Commu- the continent. China is sucking oil and permanent infrastructure such as ports, nist route. It’s impossible to imagine minerals from countries such as South roads, dams, national TV and radio China’s one-child policy making any Kennedy Jawoko is an internation- Sudan, Angola, Sudan, and Zimbabwe, stations, airports, stadia and, some- headway in Africa, for example. But al journalist and a visiting scholar many of the African leaders who met and turning them into manufactured thing that the United States loathes, at Stanford University. He was goods that undercut traditional suppli- presidential palaces, then America will with Pres. Obama at the White House recently a Knight Journalism Fel- ers in the United States and Europe. be playing catch up with China. The will continue to use China’s interest in Chinese state companies have largely good news for the United States is that Africa as leverage against the demands low, where he researched ways to bypassed the New York and London there are millions of ordinary Africans of the United States and its Western improve media coverage of China’s commodities exchanges and gone to the who value freedom of expression, good allies. African governments that are economic activities in Africa. He source of raw material. governance and rule of law, and see no resistant to social and political reforms lives in Menlo Park, California. China’s impact is clear from the in- contradiction between these values and see China as a lifeline. The Minnesota Twins welcome you for FAN APPRECIATION WEEKEND September 19 & 20 All fans will receive a Twins Stocking Cap and are eligible for prizes, giveaways and memorabilia all weekend long!

Kids Appreciation Day September 21 presented by The first 10,000 fans 14 and under will receive a Joe Mauer Growth Chart.