Tag Archives: translation

More Shenzhen Hukou (debate about) Reforms

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This academic year (2008-2009), for the first time, Shenzhen law allowed for students without Shenzhen hukou to have the same rights to compulsary education (义务教育) as students with Shenzhen hukou. Of the roughly 600,000 school children in Shenzhen, 340,000 do not have Shenzhen hukou. It was estimated that the reforms would cost the government 400 million rmb.

At the press conference announcing the decision, Vice Mayor Yan Xiaopei (闫小培) said that there were two bright spots to the new policy that would make compulary education in Shenzhen more equitable. First, was that education for non-Shenzhen students would be free, just as it is for Shenzhen students. Second, in addition to providing free education, the city would also begin issuing free textbooks. In addition, public and private schools would be obligated to follow the same standard for payment of additional fees.

Of course, these reforms are welcome. However, they point to two ongoing education problems in Shenzhen: 1. The lack of good high schools for the number of students in the city, which means that those who don’t test into a top school and have college ambitions leave the city for high school even if they have Shenzhen hukou and 2. the link between taking the college entrance exam (高考) and hukou.

This April at the Shenzhen two Conferences (the National People’s Congress and the Chinese Political Consultative Conference), Shenzhen began debate about dissolving the law that requires high school 3 students to return to their hometowns to take the college entrance exam.  A few quotes from the debate:

到目前为止，对于政协委员和居民的呼声，深圳市政府方面显得很冷静。对于“取消高考资格户籍限制”的建议，深圳市教育局副局长坦承：“这是一个非常好的理 想。”但唐海海随即表示，高考资格之所以有户籍限制，有多方面的原因。深圳社会科学院社会发展研究所所长、深圳市决策咨询委员会委员杨立勋认为，在目前配 套政策没出来之前，放开高考户籍限制会出问题。深圳市人口办有关负责人也表示：深圳是特大城市中户籍准入最开放的城市，深圳的人口压力已经很大了，如果完 全放开，可能会带来很多问题。

(from xinhua net): To date, the Shenzhen government remains cool in the face of  the desires of the Consultative Conference and Shenzhen citizens. With respect to the suggestion to “dissolve hukou limits on the college entrance exam”, Shenzhen Vice Minister of Education, Tang Haihai (唐海海) said, “This is a wonderful ideal.” However, the Vice Minister then pointed out that there are many reasons why participation in the college entrance exam is limitted by hukou. According to Yang Lixun, Head Social Development Research Department of the Shenzhen Academy of Social Sciences and Member of the Shenzhen Policy Consultant Commity, until an entire set of related policies are in place, disolving hukou restrictions on participating in the gaokao will only lead to problems. A person in the municipal population office pointed out: Shenzhen hukou policy is the most liberal of all the especially large cities, and population pressure in the city is already very great, if [hukou restrictions] are completely dissolved, it is possible that many problems will follow.

In the meantime, the “Sunny Internet” program for middle and high school students who will take the high school and college entrance exams, respectively, enters its fourth year. All of Shenzhen’s schools are required to put basic information online, for free, in the interest of fairness. Required information includes: the kind of school (public, public-private hybrid, run privately owned by the state) its ranking (provincial first level…), target students, recruiting field (the whole city, a particular district), costs, address, and where to go for more information. For those desiring the latest information on both tests, visit the Shenzhen Tests Website (深圳招考网).

taxing fun with (yes!) cell phones…

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One of the events being promoted by the Shenzhen Bureau of Taxation is citizen participation in the 3rd National Tax Collection Text Message Publicity Contest (第三届全国税收宣传短信大赛). I hadn’t realized that the first and second contests had come and gone, but the current contest is open until June 30, 2009. The particularly ambitious can also compete in the ring-tone competition and the multi-media message competition (basically flash for phone), examples here and here, respectively.

I have translated the call because it’s all juicy – from the legalize to justify a text message and jingle competition through a starting date on April Fool’s Day to assurances that the lottery for voting participation will be strictly overseen and that the prize money includes taxes… The assumptions written into this competition, the reasons it is necessary, and the form it has taken are themselves exquisite, interesting, and humorous expressions of applied anthropology at its best.

I am also impressed by the ongoing efforts of the Chinese State to modernize its efforts to stay in contact with the Chinese people. However, I do wonder how these messages will be circulated. Will the State pay to send messages to every cell phone in China? Will it target lists of people a la credit card companies? Or will it simply put the winning messages and ring-tones on line, confident that the artistic merit of the winning entries will result in these messages being downloaded and subsequently circulated among circles of friends?

Below, the contest call.

为向纳税人传递税收信息和宣传税收政策，继2007年、2008年成功举办第一届、第二届全国税收宣传短信大赛基础上，国家税务总局办公厅与中国税务报社今年决定联合举办“第三届全国税收宣传短信大赛” 　　(In order to transmit information about tax collection and policy to tax payers, on the foundation laid by successfully oganizing the first and second National Tax Collection Text Message Publicity Contests in 2007 and 2008, the General Office of the State Administration of Taxation and the National Tax Publishing House today agreed to co-organize the “Third National Tax Collection Text Message Publicity Contest”.)

一、比赛时间2009年4月1日~2009年9月30日。 　(Contest dates: April 1, 2009 through September 30, 2009.)

二、比赛形式第三届全国税收宣传短信大赛包括手机短信、彩信、彩铃3种形式。(Contests will be held in text message, multi-media, and ring-tone publicity.)

三、比赛内容手机短信参赛作品题材不限，需与税收相关，要求在70个汉字以内，具有短小（字数少而工整）、精致（有一定表达创造性）、诙谐（有趣味性，易于传播）等手机短信属性。 (There are no restrictions on the subject matter of competition text messages, they should be related to tax collection,  have less than 70 characters, and share the defining features of a text message, such as brevity (few characters and carefully done), exquisitness (with definate expressive creativity), and humor (interesting and easy to disseminate).

四、参赛步骤及办法参赛者将创作的文字短信，用手机发送，移动用户发送至106575020906，联通用户发送至106550105216，电信用户发送至1065901020000，彩信、彩铃作品发送至taxnews@163.com。( To submit your text messages, use your cell phone. China Mobile customers send to 106 575 020 906, Liantong clients send to 106 550 105 216, CITIC clients send to 106 590 102 000. Multi-media messages and ring tones can be sent to taxnews@163.com)

主办单位将定期在中国税网（www.ctaxnews.com.cn）“第三届全国税收宣传短信大赛”站点上发布参赛候选作品，供公众通过发送手机短信在候选短信中进行投票选出上榜短信，最后由大赛评委会通过对短信得票数、创作水平、趣味性和幽默性等方面的综合评比，确定最终获奖作品。(The oganizers will publish contest entries on the “Third National Tax Collection Text Message Publicity Contest” page of the China Tax News website, where the public can vote for their favorite message. Contest judges will decide the winning entries based on the number of votes, creativity, how interesting it is, and humor.)

公众无论发送信息参加作品比赛，还是发送信息参加投票评选，除正常通信费用（手机短信每条0.1元）不另加收任何费用。(Whether members of the public send text messages to enter the contest or to vote on entries, they will only be charged the standard rate for sending a text messege (.1 yuan per message)).

五、评选和奖励办法 　　1.短信作品奖：一等奖3名，奖金各3000元；二等奖15名，奖金各2000元；三等奖30名，奖金各1000元；纪念奖100名，每名颁发纪念品一份（价值300元）。 　　2.公众投票参与奖：在公证机关的监督下，评委会从参加投票的公众手机号中抽取公众投票参与奖，其中一等奖1名，奖金2000元；二等奖10名，奖金各1000元；三等奖20名，奖金各500元；纪念奖50名，颁发纪念品一份（价值200元）。(Selection and awards  1. text message prizes: 3 first prizes, each 3,000 yuan; 15 second prizes, each 2,000 yuan; 30 third prizes, each 1,000 yuan; 100 honorable mentions, each a prize worth 300 yuan. 2. public participation awards: under the supervision of an authorized agent, the award committee will draw names out of the telephone numbers of people who participated in the voting.  Among the lottery winners, there will be one first prize, for 2,000 yuan; ten second prizes, each for 1,000 yuan; twenty third prizes, each for 500 yuan; and 50 commemorative awards, each worth 200 yuan.)

以上奖励不能重复获得；奖金和奖品均含税，主办单位工作人员及其家属不得参加竞赛活动。(The prizes cannot be repeated; prize money and awards includes tax; family members and employees of the sponsoring bureaus cannot participate in the competition.)

text message education

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the following two text messages recently popped up. they play with two core chinese values – education and proper social relationships. the humor in the first is self-explanatory. in the second, the humor hinges on the multiple meanings of 忽悠 (huyou), a northeastern expression that was introduced into national discourse through the skit, 卖拐 (selling a cane). the comic 赵本山‘s portrayal of a con artist who traded a cane for a bicycle by convincing his mark that he couldn’t walk, let alone ride a bicycle spoofed snake oil salesmen and gullible health nuts alike. the satire also established huyou‘s moral ambiguity; it’s not right to sell snake oil, but if the mark is so willing to buy . . . here note the characterization of 百姓 (the people/comman man).

最大的杀手配顺基地：驾校；最大的失业配顺基地：高校；最大的妓女配顺基地：艺校；最大的流氓配顺基地：警校；最大的腐败配顺基地：党校。

the biggest training ground for assasins: driving school;  the biggest training ground for unemployment: high school;  the biggest training ground for prostitutes: art school;  the biggest training ground for hooligans: police school;  the biggest training ground for corruption: party school.

国家忽悠国家，叫外交；政府忽悠百姓，叫政策；百姓忽悠国家，叫犯罪；领导忽悠百姓，叫号召；百姓忽悠领导，叫捣乱；领导忽悠领导，叫交易；百姓忽悠百姓，叫生意；父母忽悠孩子，叫教育；孩子忽悠父母，叫欺骗；男人忽悠女人，叫调戏；女人忽悠男人，叫勾引；男女互相忽悠，叫爱情；我也忽悠一下，叫祝福；忽悠我的朋友，天天快乐。朋友，天天快乐！

when a country huyous another country, it’s called foreign affairs; when a government huyous the people, it’s called policy; when the people huyou the country, it’s called crime; when a leader huyou‘s the common man, it called an appeal; when the common man huyou‘s a leader, it’s called stirring up trouble; when a leader huyou‘s another leader, it’s called exchange; when the common man huyou‘s another common man, it’s called business; when parents huyou a child, it’s called education; when a child huyous her parents, it’s called lying; when a man huyous a woman, its called flirting; when a woman huyous a man, it’s called seduction; when a man and woman huyou each other, it’s called love; when i huyou, it’s called a blessing; the friends who huyou me are happy everyday. friend, be happy.

fat bird in hong kong!

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On January 10-11, 2009 Fat Bird will perform “FBI: 2009 Shennong Plan” at the Fringe Club City Festival 2009. FBI is, of course, the acronym for Fat Bird Institution.

FBI: 2009 Shennong Project is organized as a series of public announcements, propaganda events, and onstage performances that are adapted to local audience concerns.

Organization of Public Announcement. During a pre-show press conference, FBI Chair Yang Qian explains how recent Chinese food crises are in fact signs that human evolution is entering a new stage. Specifically, toxic food allows the earth to weed out food dependent people, revealing the new human as the ones who directly ingest elements. All human beings are welcome to join FBI’s pursuit of a new and glorious future humanity.

Organization of Propaganda Events. At each of the onstage performance, FBI sets up an information table, where an FBI believer challenges passersby and audience members with the questions: “Are you afraid of China food?” and “If so, would you consider joining FBI?”

Organization of Onstage Scenes (for Hong Kong performance, January 10-11, 2009; time 30 minutes; 7 participants). Each scene is comprised of: multi-media and performance. FBI handouts and propaganda materials will also be available at each performance.

Images of the first FBI handouts from the December 4, 2008 press conference in Hong Kong:


fat bird red and blue

English translation of the handout:

FBI Report to Hong Kong Citizens: The Chinese Food Problem and a New Stage in Human Evolution

People of Hong Kong:

Greetings! Recently, under the pressure of population, environmental, rapid urbanization, and globalization, the quality of Chinese food has become increasingly questionable. Chemical residues in food and chemical additives with no nutritional value are now common. In addition, there are constant reports of industrially processed foods. This year, the “Three Deer Milk Powder Incident” transformed the question of food safety into a focus of social concern. “Three Deer” milk products carried the prestigious “No National Food Inspection” label because in previous years their products had all passed inspection. The contamination of Three Deer” milk products resulted in the collapse of confidence in national food safety regulation. This crisis and the high level of distrust of all food was the background for the appearance of a new illness—comephobia. Comephobics display high levels of anxiety, suffer from hallucinations, and are frequently aggressive. There is a danger of comephobic outbreaks in the richest of China’s eating regions. According to our information, health departments throughout the country are as yet unable to cure or control this disease.

However, the crisis in Chinese food safety is actually a signal that humanity has entered a new stage in evolution. Accordingly, FBI has a special announcement: the results of our research show that there is a special class of human being that does not depend on ordinary food in order to live. They are among us. We call the “elementals” because they are able to secure nutrition from other sources. Elementals are uniquely adapted to the current environment and do not suffer from comephobia. Given ongoing environmental degradation, they embody the hope of human survival and evolution.

FBI is the acronym of Fat Bird Institution, the department of the Global New Life Diversification Federation that is responsible for researching and optimizing the opportunities for human evolution caused by the pressure of the Chinese food environment. We have been secretly tracking the existence of elementals for a long time. However, we were unable to develop an easy method for distinguishing elementals from the rest of the population. The Three Deer Milk Powder Incident enabled a breakthrough in FBI’s work on identifying elementals. Our research shows that children who drink melamine contaminated milk powder and develop kidney stones are in fact elementals. When this research was extended to the adult population, our identifications were 99.46% accurate. FBI decided to announce our presence and research to offer an invitation to all people. Come to an FBI identification station and take the melamine milk test and determine your true nature. The mass distinguishing of human natures is the second core mission of the “2009 Shennong Plan”.

During the January 2009 Hong Kong Fringe Festival, FBI will set up an identification station in the basement of the Fringe Club. We welcome every Hong Kong citizen to begin self-identification. We will also provide entertainment.

Sanlu: more text messages

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More text messages, this time on the Sanlu (三鹿集团) scandal. I am not sure if the link will work. It presently doesn’t work in Shenzhen, but may still function elsewhere. The New Zealand dairy company Fonterra owns 43% of Sanlu. (A brief reminder: Sanlu added melamine, an industrial additive to powdered milk formula. Melamine causes kidney stones in children. According to a NY Times report, three babies have died and over 53,000 have been hospitalized due to complications caused by consuming contaminated milk powder.)

In the follow translations, the Chinese comes first and the English second. Black humor indeed.

河南省委书记发来贺电：热烈祝贺河北三鹿给河北人民带来骗子金牌，从此河南人民的骗子称号将拱手相让。

Congratulatory telegram from the Henan Province Party Secretary: Warm congratulations to Sanlu for bringing home to Hebei the gold medal in swindling, from now on the people of Henan yield their title as the People’s swindlers. (note: Henan people are considered the worst swindlers in China.)

安慰省委书记发来贺电：热烈祝贺河北制作毒奶粉，肾结石可比大头娃娃厉害，安慰人民甘败下风。

Congratulatory telegram from the Anhui Province Party Secretary: Warm congratulations to Hebei for producing poisoned milk powder, kidney stones are definitely more lethal than “big headed babies”. The people of Anhui happily concede to Hebei. (note: In March this year, the Fuyang People’s Hospital admitted babies with large, droopy cheeks. Some of these babies weighed less than when they were born. At the time, it was estimated that at least eight babies had died and over seventy babies had been contaminated by fake milk powder, which had been sold at Fuyang wet markets. News reports suggested that many children were not drinking healthy, mother’s milk. Instead, grandparents took care of these children because their mothers were migrant workers. This analysis is worrisome for several reasons: (1) it points to class-based health risks; (2) blames mothers for working when they “should” be at home; (3) exculpates the swindlers by blaming caretakers for not being able to distinguish between fake and real products; and (4) lets the provincial Ministry of Health off the hook for clear regulatory lapses. Anhui officials should thank God for Sanlu. And for the poverty that compels mothers to become migrant workers even before their children are weaned.)

山西省委书记发来贺电：非常感谢河北三鹿，转移了新闻热点，否则，我们的溃堤事故就要由省委书记来辞职了，现在只省长辞职了。谢谢啊。

Congratulatory telegram from the Shanxi Province Party Secretary: Sincere thanks to Sanlu for redirecting media attention, otherwise, our Party Secretary would have had to resign because of the mud slide. Now, only the Governor has to resign. Thank you. (note: On September 8, a mud slide in Xiangfen County, Shanxi buried Yunhe Village. See EastSouthWestNorth for story.)

证监会主席发来贺电：非常谢谢河北三鹿，周二开盘如果再跌，就是由于三鹿引起的中国经济信任危机，不再是我们证监会无能了，非常感谢河北三鹿转移新闻热点，股民的心疼，没有患儿父母的心疼。

Congratulatory telegram from the Chair of the Stock Regulatory Board: Many thanks to Sanlu. If the market continues to open lower on Tuesday, it will be because Sanlu has caused a crisis in economic trust, and not because we are incompetent. Also, thanks for redirecting media attention. Stockholders’ pain holds nothing on the pain of parents’ concern for their children.

伊利蒙牛等各企业发来密电：老田阿，咋整滴？不是说好了少加点吗，怎吗加那吗多呀，看错秤啦？好心情每天！

Yili and Mongolian Cow sent secret telegrams: Old Tian, how . Didn’t we agree to add just a little? How could you add that much? Did you misread the scale? Keep your spirits up! (note: not unexpectedly Melamine has been found in other milk products, including candy bars, and in other brands.)

中国人在食品中完成了化学扫盲，从大米里我们认识了石腊，从火腿里我们认识了敌敌畏，从咸鸭蛋辣椒奖励我们认识了苏丹红，从火过里我们认识了福尔马林，从银耳蜜枣里我们认识了硫磺，从木耳中认识了硫酸铜，今天三鹿又让同胞之道了三聚氰胺的化学作用。

Chinese people have learned about chemistry through food products: from corn we learned about paraffin; from ham we learned about panaplate; from jujubes we learned about sulphur; and from tree fungus, we learned about bluestone. Today, Sanlu taught us the chemical uses of melamine. (note: In May this year, corn was coated with paraffin to make it shiny and more appetizing in Sansui, Guangdong; Panaplate is apparently a trade name for Dichlorvos (2,2-dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate), or DDVP, a highly volatile organophosphate, widely used as a fumigant to control household, public health, and stored product insects [definition from: China Environmental Law], although I’m not sure how it got into ham; sulphur has provided longer shelf lives to honey-processed jujubes; bluestone is the trade name of copper sulphate, a fungicide used to control bacterial and fungal diseases of fruit, vegetable, nut, and field crops. For a full list of the very scary toxilogical effects visit the Extension Toxicology Network. We know what melamine does.)
And some puns:

外国人和牛奶结实了，中国人和喝奶结石了。

Foreigners drink milk and become strong, Chinese people drink milk and get kidney stones.

日本人口号：一天一杯牛奶振兴一个民族；中国人的口号：一天一杯牛奶，震惊一个民族。

Japenese slogan: a glass of milk a day strengthens the nation; Chinese slogan: a glass of milk a day shocks a nation.

all you can do is sigh

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four battle of the sexes text messages that came strung together like bad faith.

感叹男人：
有才华的长的丑、长的帅的挣钱少、挣钱多的不顾家、顾家的没出息、有出息的不浪漫、会浪漫的靠不住、靠得住的有窝囊。
感叹女人：
漂亮的不下厨房、下厨房的不温柔、温柔的没主见、有主见的没女人味、有女人味的乱花钱、不乱花钱的不时尚、时尚的不放心、放心的没法看。

when it comes to men, all you can do is sigh:
the talented are ugly, the handsome earn next to nothing, the high earners don’t care about their families, those who care about their families have no future, those with a future aren’t romantic, the romantics can’t be relied on, and those who can be relied on are annoying.
when it comes to women, all you can do is sigh:
the pretty don’t cook, those who cook aren’t tender, the tender are clueless, the clued in aren’t feminine, the feminine spend like crazy, the thrifty aren’t fashionable, the fashionable can’t be trusted, those who can be trusted can’t be looked at.

老婆是电视、情人是手机、在家看电视、出门带手机、破产卖电视、发财换手机、偶尔看电视、整天玩手机、电视终身不收费、手机欠费就停机。

a wife is like a television, a lover like a cellphone. you watch t.v. at home, bring your cellphone when you go out. when bankrupt, you sell the t.v., when rich, you change cellphones. you watch t.v. sometimes, play with your cellphone all day. a t.v. is free for life, cellphone service stops if you miss a payment.

三十岁的男人正在学会、抱着同一代唱着同样的爱，四十岁男人已经学坏、抱着下一代唱着迟来的爱，五十岁男人最坏、抱着第三代唱着糊涂的爱。

thirty year old men are just learning to be bad, they embrace someone their own age and sing the same love song. forty year old men have already gone bad, they embrace someone from the next generation and sing a song of belated love. fifty year old men are the worst, they embrace someone their granddaughter’s age and sing a song of messed up love.

做女人一定要经得起谎言、受得起敷衍、忍得主欺骗、忘得了诺言、宁愿相信世上有鬼、也不能相信男人那张破嘴。

to succeed as a woman you have to take lies in stride, put up with indifference, endure being cheated, and forget promises. it’s better to believe in ghosts than in anything uttered by men.

sigh.

狗日的２００８

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the images from wenchuan continue nonstop. last night, a friend told me her daughter isn’t sleeping because she’s watching the live broadcasts. another told me she’s waiting for another miracle. indeed, many of my friends watch and watch and watch, crying almost everyday. when i hear stories like this, i wonder if earthquake hasn’t been deeply cathartic for many people; this has been a hard year, when doing what one’s supposed to do hasn’t been enough to hold the world together.

so history as text message (and it’s only may!):

狗日的２００８
好好过个年吧，遇雪灾了；
好好上个网吧，艳照门了；
好好传递火炬吧，闹藏独了；
发展农村医疗吧，发手足口病了；
买点股票吧，大小非减持了；
坐火车吧，还出轨了；
在家待着吧，还地震了。

dog-fucked 2008

celebrate the new year, and end up snowed under;
go online, and see edisen chen’s pornographic pictures of gillian chung (the yanzhaomen affair);
pass the olympic torch, and tibetan independence supporters riot;
develop rural medical care, and hoof and mouth disease spreads;
buy stocks, and the prices all fall;
take a train trip, and it goes off the rails;
even if you stay at home, an earthquake brings it down.

fat bird update: more shenzhen culture

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in order to create interest in poetry and theatre publications, book city (书城) will be holding monthly poetry readings and performances. the series will be called 诗歌人间 (poetry in the world). 　

the original idea for the series came from 刘静文　(liu jingwen), a culture journalist at shenzhen’s 晶报. when asked, liu explained that the inspiration for “poetry in the world”, was the 99th anniversary of new chinese poetry. as a journalist, he has written on new poetry and interviewed many poets, however, he feels that it would be a pity to limit the celebratation of new poetry to the newspaper.

at the same time that liu was thinking about ways of bringing poetry to a new audience, managers at book city were brainstorming about ways of making poetry more viable. they decided to turn the store into a cultural stage and called liu to help them organize the event.

liu jingwen invited the　poet lai’er (莱耳) to help organize the events because for the past 8 years, lai’er has edited poemlife 诗生活 one of the more successful online poetry magazines in the prc. liu explained that the internet has become one of the main venues for poetry in the mainland. moreover, one of the most exciting things about internet poetry has been the variety and conversations it has inspired. when he started planning, liu decided to bring the energy and influence of poetry to the readings.

liu jingwen then contacted fat bird because he sees a natural affinity between the theatre and poetry. he used greek tragedy to illustrate how in the past, theatre and poetry were the same. moreover, liu believes that from the point of view of the audience actors are more interesting than poets. “poetry readings tend to be very much the same,” he said, “but actors bring different meanings and understanding to words. this will encourage more interest in poetry.”

the first event is 回归 (return). return in this context has two meanings. the first, describes the fact that many poets have had to leave poetry in order to earn money. return will be an opportunity for them to re-enter the world of poetry.

the second meaning is a tacit comment on the role of poetry in the world. throughout the socialist era and early years of reform, poetry was directly implicated in politics. this was as true of the poetry of guo moruo （郭沫若） as that of bei dao（北岛） and huang beilin (黄贝岭). however, lai’er and other contemporary poets now see a trend for poetry to return to its proper place: the private worlds of individuals.

there is of course an irony here. by organizing public poetry readings, liu jingwen is advocating the importance of poetry to everyday life. perhaps, as many would have us believe, the differences between the politics of “poetry in the world” and earlier socialist poetry are both of degree and kind. but perhaps not. the human heart may be as moved by the explicitly political as it is by beauty. when yang qian was a child, he was sent to a factory to learn from workers. during poetry writing lessons, his master taught the children that true socialist poetry came from the heart. he then recited one of his own poems:

党是母亲我是孩，一头扑进母亲怀，咕咚咕咚喝娘奶，谁拉我也不起来

(very loosely translated and without all the rhymes)

the party is mother, i her child
my head goes straight to her breast
gurgle, gurgle, mother’s milk
no one can pull me away

“poetry in the world” will be held on the second saturday of every month at 8:00 p.m. “return” is scheduled for november 10, 2007. in decemeber, “poetry in the world” will commemorate the 800th anniversary of the birth of rumi.

Government Re-Contextualizations, or how the plan gets fixed

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boxed methane pipe, part of the rennovations on dongbin road

Upgrading continues in Nanshan. This morning we received notice that the Nanshan Bureau of Public Works will begin the second part of its 6 + 1 street scenery renovation project (街景整治工程). All the neon is part of this project, which includes upgrading walls (remember the air-conditioner cages?), planting trees and flowers (have I posted pictures of the wooden pots for methane gas release on Dongbin Street yet?), and replacing old billboards, presumably with new billboards (I know I’ve taken pictures of World of War characters creeping across buildings…) Pictures here.

It’s a very Shenzhen approach to governance: build something. It’s as if the constant construction and reconstruction of space will keep people in their respective places. So, for those of you wondering how renovation functions as a means of governance (and I know you’re out there), I’ve translated part of the brochure we received. What I’d like to call attention to is the history captured in the street names. These street names chart the historic progression of development in Nanshan. Some streets are “old” from before reform, some are “new”, built in close proximity to old centers in the eighties. Some streets speak to reform dreams. Still other streets were laid on landfill more than twenty years after old and new was defined by governmental policy. The renovation project homogonizes all this history, as if the streets appeared together one day, already complete unto themselves, derived from some perfect, omnipotent plan.

街区再造 品质南山
6 + 1城市改造工程是南山区政府继去年对蛇口新街、海月路、学府路、沙河路口、留仙大道、朱光路等六条街道和南海大道（一期）、创业路、沙河西路、东滨路（一期）的景观整治改造之后，对南海大道（二期）、蛇口老街+海昌街、后海大道（南段）、南山大道、南新路、东滨路（二期）、居仙大厦进行改造整治，改造内容包括建筑里面、路面、人行道铺面、广告招牌等。

Street Reconstruction, Quality Nanshan
The 6 + 1 Urban Improvement Project is a continuation of the Nanshan District Government’s street renovation project. Last year, Nanshan renovated the appearences of Shekou New Street, Haiyue Road, Xuefu Road, Shahe Intersection, Liuxian Main Street, Zhuguang Road, Nanhai Main Street (part one), Construction Street, Shahe West Road, and Dongbin Street (part one). This year, Nanshan will renovate Nanhai Main Street (part two), Shekou Old Street + Nanchang Street, Houhai Main Street (southern portion), Nanshan Main Street, New Nan Road, Dongbin Road (part two), and Juxian Building. Renovations include: building interiors, street fronts, sidewalks and storefronts, and billboards.

more cellphone messages

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yesterday was 端午节　or dragon boat race festival, which commemorates the death of the poet qu yuan. for origin stories, zongzi recipes, and related poetry go here. in the meantime, the text messages have been flying, some about happy thoughts for each other on a fesitival day, others about stock market trials and tribulations. but whatever the inspiration, the spirit of these jokes points to difficult and strained relationships. to paraphrase an american colloquialism: in shenzhen, we’re taking the lemons of globalization and making lemonade.

for the festival:
武功再高，也怕菜刀
智力再好，一砖撂倒
走自己的路，让别人打车去吧
穿别人的鞋，让他们找去吧
我现在就送给你端午节快乐的祝福，让别人羡慕吧

no matter how skilled, one still fears a knife,
no matter how brilliant, one could be knocked out by a brick.
walk your own path, let others take a car.
wear someone else’s shoes, let them search in vain.
i’m sending you festival greetings, let the others envy you.

from the market a pithy take on four generations of leadership:

老毛一挥手：下乡！
老邓一挥手：下海！
老江一挥手：下岗！
老胡一挥手：下跌！还得意洋洋地说：我叫胡紧套，还怕套不死你！

old mao directed us: go down to the countryside!
old deng directed us: go down [jump] into the ocean! (a reference to the country becoming capitalist)
old jiang directed us: go down [leave] from your post! (a reference to rising unemployment)
old hu directed us: go down! (a reference to plummiting stock prices) what’s more, he arrogantly said, “i’m just afraid that you won’t be taken in!”