Both of these were found within about 30 minutes of each other while attempting to look busy at work today. For their own special reasons, they need to be shared...
Are foreign men in China Worse than anywhere else...
I really do love to read the referrer logs of this site. Once or twice, you'll run across something disturbing, but most of the time you get a little insight into who people really are. Today, someone searched for "'Western Men' Expat Dating," and found a recent posting of mine on the topic. As I followed the searching link back, I found this lady in Shanghai who holds an alternative view to our friends over a China Dirt.
By the way, you can also follow the same Google page to a paid advertisement for www.horseloversconnection.com. It's your choice.
Anyway...What I want to say is how glad I am to see someone in China actually having a successful dating life. I will not go so far as to say every woman's experience in China should or could be the same, but I think some time should be spent to reflect on why her experience is different. In my book, she calls like it is, namely that guys will be jerks no matter where they are in the world. That's a given. Using excuses like "yellow fever" doesn't get to the core of the problem. Nor does the fact that average men become "reinvented" cover it either. She does, however, cut straight to the point and asks "why are you here?" and "why blame a man for your own unhappiness?" I'm jealous that she's actually allowed to ask this.
(side note: I should write more about the "reinvented" aspect of China.)
So now that I'm temporarily off my soapbox, let's move on to something a little lighter...
The History of China (or here if you have Great Firewall problems)
With a little tweaking, this is sure to become a classic for every expat in China to read. There is no way to really cover this without diminishing from its true brilliance. I think the best thing to do is to cover my two points and let you decide:
3000 BC: Exactly 5007 years ago this Tuesday, primitive man all over the world began to pick up objects using small wooden sticks as tools. Two advanced primates along the Yellow River basin decide that their way of picking up things with wooden sticks indicates their superior level of civilisation, and establish the foundations of Chinese civilisation after taking a sh*t in a hole.
And then there is the more recent:
1405: Admiral Zheng He and his men arrive on the east coast of Africa: a feat accomplished 87 years before Columbus discovered America. Zheng He and his men spend their time in Africa walking around in a tour group and refusing to eat the local food. After being asked to leave for saying the locals were “too black”, Zheng He steals a giraffe, and cooks it upon arriving in China. The giraffe disagrees with the stomach of the Chinese Emperor; Zheng He is imprisoned and the African natives are then asked to apologise for hurting the feelings of the Chinese people.
I've left a message for the author to continue his work by creating "Future History of China" document, which I would start writing myself if not for fear of stealing his intellectual property.
Then again, I am in China.
Comments