Author Archives: Mary Ann O'Donnell

shenzhen and xiamen are special administrative regions!?

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Word on the WeChat circle and as yet unconfirmed, slipping the information in under the holiday radar: Shenzhen and Xiamen may have been elevated to the status of provincial ranked Special Administrative Regions (特别行政区) and not directly administered cites (直辖市) as many have been speculating. Hong Kong and Macao are SARs; Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing are directly administered cities.

It’s true, because of the establishment of the Shenzhen and Xiamen Free Commerce Zones, where there will be different legal systems, if Shenzhen and Xiamen are SARs then they are higher-ranking cities than Beijing!

As part of its elevation, Dongguan’s Chang’an, Qingxi, and Fenggang Districts, Huizhou’s Huiyang District, and Huizhou’s section Daya Bay will be redistricted to Shenzhen.

The Guangdong Provincial Vice Secretary, Ma Xingrui will be promoted to be the first General Secretary of the Shenzhen SAR.

And just like that: good bye special economic zone, hello special administrative region. Let me know if you see an official announcement. In addition to WeChat notes, I’ve seen blog posts. The fact that the news is circulating is, like wow, NEWS.

Update: not news, apparently. Over the Chinese New Year, the speculation was that Shenzhen and Xiamen would become directly administered cities. In fact, just what’s going to happen is still unknown…

礼貌 and 文明, thoughts

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The difference between 礼貌 and 文明 matters because I bumped into a group in the Shekou Sihai park. They were members of 荣格 (RGLove). the charitable fund of the Shenzhen based high-tech company, 荣格科技集团. RGLove had brought in people from all over the country to explore and develop their civilization levels through Confucian studies. The goal, of course, is to intervene in the world by expressing correct relationships, that of course included 礼 which maybe 礼貌, but I’m not for sure. Meanwhile, inquiring minds want to know: just what does all this mean? Continue reading →

brutal logic of contemporary capitalism -saskia sassen

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worth a look.

dmf's avatarsynthetic zerØ

plus her paper Public Interventions: http://www.skor.nl/_files/Files/OPEN!%20Key%20Texts_Sassen.pdf

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礼貌 and 文明: what’s the difference?

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This is an open question to all speakers of Chinese: what’s the difference between 礼貌 and 文明？ My sence is that 礼貌 are practices of appropriate intimacy, while 文明 refers to practices for navigating amongst strangers. In turn, 礼貌 would map onto the moral territory of 脸, while 文明 is about presentation and being seen, hence mapping onto 面子. Am I wildly off, or have I stumbled into a difference that makes a difference? Thoughts?

baishizhou: withering practices

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The process of uprooting the northern section of Baishizhou has begun through withering practices–the removal of social nutrients in order to promote razing and evacuations as inevitable, necessary, desired. Continue reading →

shenzhen place name website

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So yes, there’s a website dedicated to Shenzhen place names as well as associated re/developments. Check it out at 深圳地名网.

identity card politics

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So today a return to a theme near and dear to my heart: satirical text messages, or as we have now stopped texting and use WeChat, satirical blog posts that are forwarded via WeChat. This time, the Op-Ed piece, “We were never Chinese citizens, just Chinese people who live on the Mainland (原来我们都不是中国国民！只是居住在大陆的中国人!) has caught my attention. Inquiring minds want to know, what’s up with that? Continue reading →

society and space open access highlight papers updated

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Contextualize what’s happening in Shenzhen with respect to cities elsewhere. Love open source, wish the scholarship was as easily accessible–hee!

landlord dreaming, or affordable housing III

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So yes, it seems that affordable housing problems are not simply escalating, but also creating new market niches. Recently on the subway, I pick up a leaflet advertising condominiums for sale in Shenzhen East, out near Dachong. The catch? The developers weren’t targeting single families who are buying their first home or even trading up for bigger and better, but rather the developers are targeting potential landlords. From the copy:

Exquisitely designed hotel apartments, 5 years guarrentied rent, as soon as you buy you can start collecting rent.
精装酒店公寓，5年包租，即买即收租。

conspicuous construction

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It turns out there’s a word for the ongoing architecture of inequality: conspicuous construction.