User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: Turn Right, Turn Left

@simonpettersson

You use the Chinese sounds in order to communicate - it is that simple.  You may use English sounds if you like but you will not be understood.

Posted on: Buying a Bike

@orangina

Ah, my post was slightly ambiguous I can see.  The double standard I am referring to is between a bicycle helmet and that required for riding a motorcycle or a scooter.  My reference to a construction hat (a 'hard hat') is a red-herring; I just used it as a comparison with the styrofoam variety. I realise that construction hats are designed to protect the user from objects falling from above.   

So my query stands because a bicycle accident and a motorbike or scooter accident potentially produce the same kind of head trauma. 

I suggest that the bicycle 'solution' is a compromise - there is no way that the little styrofoam jobs would protect you like the helmet that I wear on my motorbike. Otherwise, why not allow styrofoam jobs for motorcyclists?  I have seen study results that suggest that styrofoam contributes to certain kinds of brain injury (somehow causing the brain to shake inside the cranium.)  Similar to the arguments about headgear commonly worn by Rugby & Rugby League players - the science says that they only serve to protect the player from trauma to the surface of the head.   

I fear that the answer lies more in the realm of politics than the science of physics.  The shocking toll from bicycle accidents is testimony to this. 

In Sydney helmets are compulsory for cyclists so you can't make the comparison you refer to (about taking risks.)  And your point about neck injuries seems valid - in fact I have been told that helmets can cause neck injuries.

Posted on: Turn Right, Turn Left

@jimijames

Your examples reinforce the point that I have been making - but they don't take us any closer to underlying values as an explanation for behaviour.  Most Chinese names are three syllables (as you say); my name is three syllables.  I pronounce the Chinese name the same as a Chinese native does; but the Chinese for some (unfathomable?) reason converts my name to a five syllable noise that sounds remarkably unlike my name in English.  They convert my name to sounds used in the Chinese language.  When I say a Chinese name I use sounds used in the Chinese language; I do not convert the Chinese name to sounds used in the English language.  All that can be observed.  The question is: what deep-seated values in Chinese culture explain this behaviour?

Posted on: Buying a Bike

Many lessons quote prices that give a skewed impression of the cost of living here - Shanghai is considerably more expensive than the rest of China. A new bike with bell, basket and lock should set you back about 250 RMB.

While on the subject of X-cultural comparisons, an acquaintence manufactures motorcycle helmets in China and exports to Europe and the United States. He cannot sell these helmets to Australia because our standards are different. 

On the subject of 'aren't other people weird' - people on bicycles in the West usually wear flimsy little helmet-affairs no better than the construction helmet - I think that the latter would be stronger. Anyone know why we have this double-standard?  (Please don't use the excuse that bicycles don't go as fast - they go fast enough to kill a rider from head trauma.)

Posted on: Turn Right, Turn Left

@tal, changye

Tal, your post on Darwin, sorry, 达尔文, is right on the mark.  Exactly what I was referring to.  As someone once said, 'ya gotta laugh'.  

Obviously this is one of those terrible generalisations; I'm a little embarrassed to bring it up.  

But recently I was at a function and someone had mangled my family name into gibberish (touched a nerve it did.)  Why didn't they just ask how I prefer to be addressed?  ie. bodawei..  :-)   

Posted on: The Door

@RJ

Australia and China have similar bank security & the Armaguard-type functions.  Perhaps you see more security personnel in a bank branch in China, but that is typical of almost all Chinese institutions.  They serve a double purpose - I have often asked them for general information which they are happy to provide (same at railway stations - you are much better off asking the 保安 than a railway employee.)  So the answer is 'probably', although I don't know how they do it and I have certainly not witnessed one.  Nor have I witnessed one in Australia for that matter.  BTW Australia is now into blowing-up ATMs.  I don't think that guns are common in China, except in the hands of the police.  

@barbs

There are cop shows on Chinese TV - in some ways the one I used to watch was a little quaint, in the style of Inspector Rex. Or is that Inspector Llllllrrrex?  Following the European rather than the American school.  

PS. I will endeavour to keep you posted on matters concerning the police.  (Like you local police correspondent?)  If memory serves correct I did some research a few years ago on a Chinese police website that had quite a bit of information in English.  No doubt polished for foreigner consumption but informative all the same.  That is where I got all the details about classification of division functions and descriptions of their uniforms.

PPS. Anyone seriously interested in Chinese policing could start with the following:

Dutton, Michael (2005) Policing Chinese Politics: A History, Durham & London: Duke University Press. 

Dutton, Michael & Lee Tianfu (1993) ‘Missing the Target? Policing Strategies in the Period of Economic Reform’, Crime and Delinquency, Vol. 39, No.3, pp.316-336. 

Michael Dutton carried out his research inside the Police University in Beijing. The material is very interesting (that word again.)    

Posted on: Taxis and Taobao

john

absolutely. In my attempt to fit in I have pretty much given up conversation about 'danger', 'drive more slowly' and 'seatbelts.'  These sometimes become silly discussions and I can't say that I have ever really influenced driver behaviour (except making one guy really angry.)   

Posted on: The Door

@barbs,chiongzibide

I was once accused of being interested in far too many things 'you can't possibly be interested in all of those things' I think the comment was.  Anyway, I did a minor study of the different arms of the police, names, uniforms, etc. (My teacher and my teacher's teacher were both into Chinese security, policing etc.)  Sad to say I don't have my notes any more. :-( I would love to hear from some informed people on this but as a start, some interesting things: 

one arm of the police force is the fire brigade

there is a tactical response group who deal with civil unrest, riots etc. (a sleepy group in some places and overworked in others?) 

in my numerous dealings with the PSB they have always been painfully polite and helpful - they do visa extensions etc.  (BTW 公安局 gonganju)  

the traffic police are always good for giving directions, locating your bank branch when it has been recently knocked down (nothing can stop the flood of progress).  Otherwise they have a very boring existence and try and avoid any 麻烦。 

the local police station keeps track of where you live and keeps copies of your visa (they might knock on your door at night)  

the detective writer Qiu Xiaolong, who writes in English, sheds some light on the operations of the police (although it is of course fiction)  

Posted on: Taxis and Taobao

I recommend that you never ask a Chinese taxi driver to do a U-turn.  The other day my driver completed such a turn (un-asked) on one of those feeders onto a freeway; it was so narrow that a three-point turn was required and we had traffic bearing down on us at near freeway speed.  We eventually stopped a line of traffic and not a horn was blown in anger, but I felt very exposed to danger! 

Posted on: Turn Right, Turn Left

@tal, changye and others

Ned Kelly is an important part of our culture - not exactly core values, but I would put him at more important than the Opera House.  A true hero.  More important than both Sidney Nolan and Crocodile Dundee (although it would be a toss-up which one of those made the most money.)  More important than Jimmy Blacksmith (although it would be a toss-up between Jimmy and Ned which one caused the most blood to flow.) 

Changye, Jimijames

All these transliterations - I guess we have to have them but they are worrying to the point of being annoying.  Thanks to pīnyīn we can pronounce a Chinese name exactly as a native (after several years practice); many Chinese transliterations of Western names seem so inept by comparison.  But there is something else deeply cultural that I am trying to get at here - when I say Deng Xiaoping I try to get it exactly right out of respect for the language.  When a Chinese person says a transliterated Western name it is often said with a smile - the message seems to be 'doesn't that sound funny'?  What do you think?