User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: Don't Eat the Snow

Cinnamonfern

Thanks so much for completing my education. I learnt about snow from 'Nanook of the North' so I'm at a disadvantage. Actually I am now wondering if Inuit kids do this, and whether there are dangers of frost bite.

So girls don't do this? :)

Posted on: Don't Eat the Snow

'Don't eat the snow! No, not for the reason you're thinking..' 

I'm not thinking anything.  I grew up in the tropics; I'm not very snow-wise.  Why would anyone older than a one year old want to EAT snow?  OK, dying of thirst in Antarctica is one possibility. 

And then, what is the usual reason for NOT eating it if it is nothing about it being dirty?  It's cold and wet, right? Is that it?  It'll spoil your dinner if you fill up on snow?  

Posted on: How to Protect the Environment

Just on the last couple of points - the solar water heaters are interesting because I think that they were originally used because they are cheap (yes, cheap, despite being perceived as expensive in the West.) Landlords often didn't install them but for a couple of hundred rmb you could put a tank on the roof of the apartment block and you had very cheap hot water. When sun is in short supply some people don't shower, or they lash out at a public bath house. In the cheaper accommodation there is no gas or electric option for dull days - even at my university campus the students have just solar or the bath house.

But - solar in more recent times has become part of Government programs (yes, I know I am contradicting myself to some extent.) I am aware in Zhejiang for example, provincial government spent some money on solar systems in rural areas to improve the standard of living/public health. So it is a bit of both - it suits China because it is a cheap energy source, but it has got to the point where governments are starting to subsidize it too, where people are too poor even to buy themselves a solar system.

Finally - yes, they kind of mix up environmental and health factors in this preference for cars. Like it is their personal environment they are talking about. The air pollution levels are high, so I'd prefer to be insulated from that in a motor car, rather than riding a two wheeler (electric or petrol). It is not really environmental awareness as we know it; we might be inclined to argue that cars (and electric bikes) are the root cause of the air pollution problem. Different cultural perspective. There is also some anti-motorbike feeling because in past decades they were two stroke or heavily polluting - these days China made motorbikes (for export) can boast higher environmental standards than for cars.

Posted on: The Rising Cost of Food

Okay - thanks for following that up for us Jason, I will now put away my 警察 voice and go and do something useful. Actually I was having fun playing detective.

On a lighter note, my tutor referred to the 发改委 as the 九宫格 (a reference to 象棋.) The powers that be.

Posted on: The Rising Cost of Food

Hi Jason - they don't 'need' to read ChinaSmack, granted, but the wording in part is identical - so coincidence aside both ChinesePod and ChinaSmack relied on the same original article. ChinaSmack acknowledges their source, that is the difference. You say yours was written well before the article was published; I presume you mean the ChinaSmack article, not the original article. Interestingly the English translation is identical! How does that come about if yours pre-dated the ChinaSmack translation? If you used the same original Chinese article I guess pure chance is possible. But you seem to be implying in your post that the ChinesePod material is original - it can't be.

It's not a biggie - I'm not asking for footnoting or anything - I was just surprised to come across the identical wording in another source! Maybe in this case it would have been okay to note generally where it came from? Although it is implied in the dialogue that they are listening to a broadcast; it might be interesting for poddies to be told the nature of the source material.

I'm not suggesting the staff aren't doing a good job. You are all doing a great job, much appreciated. I hope the writers continue to go about their work as effectively as they have over the past couple of years I've had at ChinesePod. 加油！

Posted on: How to Protect the Environment

I didn't see dorrick's comment until just now - hmm, we see the Chinese world differently, possibly because of where we live (and lived). I draw my comparisons with Australia mainly, and Yangshuo has been heavily influenced by the West, but that may not be relevant here. Using your own take-away container I would say is the norm on campuses I have lived in, in both Hangzhou and Kunming - at least it is very common. No-one in my experience would react with surprise if you present your own take-away container.

Paper, cardboard, metals and glass are recycled in large quantities, in fact anything of value (as dorrick says.) Not only through the garbage disposal chain - we always buy our yoghurt in re-usable bottles and there is a 1 rmb deposit on the bottles. That does not happen in Australia.

But 'environmental consciousness' in China is governed by the culture - it is quite unlike the West. If you judge it by Western standards you will give it a low mark. I try not to judge it by Western standards; one reason for this is what I referred to above - the West loves Government 'schemes', but they are not always successful and they do not always guarantee a real environmental consciousness.

Yes, littering is rife in China (offends Westerners) and many waterways are polluted (offends the Chinese.) But this does not suggest that Western environmental philosophies or policies are superior. There is not really enough room here to give you many examples supporting my case but, a couple,

- the 'environmental footprint' in China is a small fraction of that in Western countries like the US and Australia (and this is the key test as far as I am concerned - in the West we talk big but when it comes down to it we are unwilling to give up our wasteful/costly lifestyles). Admittedly this is a function of China being a poor country.

- for a poor country the budget for environmental improvement is immense - they do things on a large scale that most Western Governments are not able to contemplate because of vested interests

- the actual level of recycling I believe is ahead of Australia (despite the existence of Government schemes in the latter)

- the budget for 'greening' the environment is also huge & they often invest in 'instant' landscaping, importing mature trees rather than take the slow approach favoured in the West

- the use of solar energy for water heating/hydro energy is a significantly higher proportion of the total than in the West, and has been so for decades

- there is a high level of environmental consciousness in China, but this has a different meaning to our Western interpretation - they are not so much into anti-litter campaigns and Government subsidized recycle schemes. Their main concerns are things like cleaning up rivers, getting clean water, air pollution, contaminants in the food chain. To name a few. I did some research which tested people's views of the 'environment' - a majority of respondents favoured use of motor cars over motor bikes for 'environmental' reasons - had me puzzled that one.

Posted on: River Town Tourism

在生词，《大红灯笼高高挂》拼音是‘dǎ(三声调）hóng等等，da应该四声调。

Posted on: The Rising Cost of Food

'On 2010 November 2nd, the country’s National Development and Reform Commission publicly released the results of their October urban food retail price monitoring. Amongst the 31 products it monitored, nearly 80% of the product prices had increased. With the continuous increase of food prices, new words from “蒜你狠” [a pun involving the word for garlic and the phrase "you are hateful/ruthless"] to “姜你军” [a pun involving the word for ginger and the phrase "checkmate"], and again from “糖高宗” [sugar] to “油你涨” [cooking oil] and “苹神马” [apples (notice that this pun has an extra meaning involving the "shen ma" buzzword too)], were created one after another. The continuous increase of prices also gave birth to the ““海豚族” (海量囤积一族)” [“hai tun zu” (hai liang tun ji yi zu), literally "dolphin tribe/people" (meaning people who hoarded to avoid price increases)]. Just like dominoes knocked over, apart from agricultural product prices collectively increasing, the prices of related food, clothing, housing, transportation [daily necessities] were also gradually rising, the prices affecting everyone’s lives.

At the same time as people cut costs, they also discover new ways to do things. Group buys became a new style of purchasing. Several websites promoted “today’s group buy” products with prices up to 90% off, attracting internet shoppers. As an emerging e-commerce model, group buys refer to users going through consumer-organized groups, specialized group buying websites, or business organized groups to increase their bargaining power with business and gain large discounts on products. This has attracted the attention of consumers, manufacturers, and even capital markets. 团购 simply means group buy or group purchase.' (ChinaSmack)

Does ChinesePod get its material from ChinaSmack these days?

Posted on: How to Protect the Environment

'a switch for the bathroom water heater.. Are these switches common in China? My apartment in Hong Kong doesn't have one.' 

In mainland China there is a lot of solar hot water - there is usually an electric backup and you switch between the two if you need to.  I've seen the film but I'm not sure if this is what he was referring to.  

'Is recycling catching on in China yet?' 

I don't know that recycling ever went away in China - it doesn't really need to 'catch on'.  Compared to the West a very wide range of materials are re-cycled, both formally (such as where you have a designated bin) and informally.  Someone combs through all our household rubbish, so we try to make it easier by separating what we think might be useful and saleable. Every few hundred metres there is a recycling business, people separating rubbish and selling what is valuable. Despite all the recycling schemes in Australia, my impression is that there is still more recycling of materials in China, without these formal schemes.  

Posted on: The Rising Cost of Food

'练习生专家'

练习生 - trainee

专家 - expert

Trainee expert. This is obscure as well as not natural Chinese as far as I know, sorry. An expert in training is my intended meaning. It needs a foreign perspective to make any sense at all - the Chinese would just say trainee. I was being oxymoronic and perhaps ended up just moronic. :)