Parking Costs in China's large cities is becoming prohibitive. And so it should. Too many cars in a city reduces the quality of life for everyone.
Anyone who has recently visited China and Beijing knows that there are too many cars on the streets, thus clogging the free flow of traffic. Gone are the days of riding a bicycle. Public transit is the only way to get around, but buses are just as slow as cars. Beijing has started a lottery for potential new car buyers, which helps. The solution may lie in a scarcity of parking spaces. If you have no parking space you have no place to park your car.
It has been a long time coming, but Chinese fugitive Lai Changxing has finally been deported from Canada. His case took 12 years and went right to the Supreme Court of Canada, the highest court of the land. The twists and turns in this case are numerous. The conclusion of this case is also interesting. The Canadian Consulate in Beijing posted the court results in English on Sina Weibo, a Twitter equivalent in China, but was deleted two days later, presumably not by the original posters. A link was posted to direct readers to the court ruling, and this was also deleted. Here is the court ruling, in full. This court ruling was somewhat difficult to find for me, being inconveniently not indexed by Google. Still I was able to find this Federal Court decision online and in full. The contrast between the Chinese and Canadian legal systems has never been more striking.
The Wong or Huang family crest approved and recognized by the Canadian Government
In yet another display of cross cultural friendliness the Canadian Government has officially approved the coat of arms for the surname “Wong” in Cantonese, or “Huang” in Mandarin. These are cultural displays of affection that bring Canada and China together. I wholeheartedly approve.
Wong or Huang is the seventh most common Chinese surname according to the 2006 census. There are a lot of Huangs in the world, and not they have a legitimate Canadian coat of arms or family crest.
Freshly squeezed orange juice is so much better, and way more expensive, than tetrapacked or frozen
Growing up, orange juice was a valued commodity in our family, in that it was rare on our table. Orange juice was expensive to buy and my family could not afford it on a regular basis. While we were “encouraged” to drink water in actuality we had no choice. For this reason, I provide orange and apple juice to our Little Weeds. To me orange juice is a daily reminder of the importance of the small things in life. In a revelation of sorts I set up a taste test of freshly squeezed vs cartoned orange juice (OJ) for the Little Weeds. It was no surprise that they were able to identify which one was freshly squeezed, and also no surprise which one they preferred. Freshly squeezed orange juice is so much better in taste than cartoned orange juice. You really cannot believe all the marketing and packaging of products, as they can warp your life perspective.
This will be the third year my Little Weed will be attending the Boys 2 Men Institute Summer Sports Camp, here in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Overall the camp has been very well run and my Little Weed has had loads of fun. While the last 2 years the camp was held at Stephen Leacock Collegiate, this year the camp was moved to L’Amoreaux Collegiate Institute, which is still close to our house. The worst part of this camp has always been the first day, when the kids need to be registered. Happily, today’s registration for the 2011 camp was relatively painless. Three cheers for the organizer, Hugh Keane.
Eating watermelon while in China might cause you diarrhea
Your relatives sit you down on their stools in the doorway of their rural Chinese farmhouse. The doorway is the only large shaded area, and there is the bonus cross draft that, in your mind, seems to lower the 30°C temperature. Watermelon slices comes out and you are thankful for their hospitality, but you know that despite your vigilance against waterborne bacteria, you will get the runs. Do not eat watermelon while traveling in China.
The migrant worker says the the university student: You spent money to go to college, yet your income is the same as me who did not go to college!
There must be more to this story, but ironically I find this cartoon very funny! Workers earning the same as university grads. Mao would be happy. We see this happen here as well. Friends here in Toronto, Canada have been telling me that trades and construction workers are doing well, but university grads are starving for jobs. One hopes that education will return as being valued by employers. When I cannot say.
Tree branches cut by a Mainland Chinese neighbour. These cannot easily fit into my fireplace. Toronto, Canada
Random events pummel our life on a regular basis. This is also true here in Toronto, Canada. My fireplace is used somewhat frequently during the colder months, so I am always on the hunt for firewood. We have many Mainland Chinese people here in Scarborough that throw out burnable wood, mostly from trees on their property. It is an odd experience to me to see cut up tree branches from these Chinese houses, as most of the wood is not able to easily fit in my fireplace. This is markedly different from firewood left curbside of Canadian houses. I postulate that those Mainland Chinese that migrate to Canada are intellectuals and university graduates, and that they have no experience in making a fire or preparing wood to be burned in a fireplace or stove. Canada only welcomes educated and affluent Mainland Chinese to our shores. Maybe wood cutting should also be part of the entry criteria.
Foreign reporters in China have it tough. While they try to stay out of trouble, their very profession puts them in harm’s way. It could be worse: They could be local reporters. The Toronto Star’s Asia Bureau reporter Bill Schiller was detained and interrogated by undercover police in Beijing. He was eventually released. At least they did not beat the crap out of him. They could have, and there would be nothing he could do about it before, during or after. From a Canadian standpoint, being detained by Beijing police was quite illegal, by Chinese law, and should not have occurred. Such incidents with foreign reporters are quite common. The message to Mr. Schiller, from a Chinese government perspective is as follows: You are in China and you play by our rules. You were covering an event that you should not have. We can detain you, search through your things and confiscate whatever we wish. Being a reporter offers you absolutely no protection from the police. You were committing an illegal act and you signed a document admitting this. You admitted guilt, so now we have the legal right to not only detain you but to deport you from China for your crime. We own you.
Which Toronto Chinatown is better? Uptown or Downtown? I test both.
It is rare for me to visit Toronto’s downtown Chinatown because I live in North-East Toronto, where we have the highest concentration of Mainland Chinese in Toronto. Today we went to MEC.ca (Mountain Equipment Co-op) for cycling gear, so stopped and had lunch in Chinatown at Spadina and Dundas. Having not been there for many years, it was interesting.
