Ramses, with a whopping 4 votes.
Archive for April, 2010
Best part about Chinese fashion: Chinglish shirts
One of the things that annoys me most about Chinese fashion is the fact that I can’t fit into a lot of things. Most stores don’t carry my size shoe, and most pieces of clothing are either too short in length or too narrow in width (or sometimes both). Luckily, a lot of the popular stores from back home can be found all over Shenzhen.
But what Chinese fashion lacks in fitting it makes up for in hilariousness. Exhibit A: The Chinglish Shirt. Walk around any urban area of China, and you are bound to see many young Chinese people sporting this fantastic piece of clothing.
Essentially it’s a shirt with English on it. These shirts remind me of the fad that hit the US fashion scene a few years ago. (Think annoying “That’s Hot” Paris Hilton shirts and “Juicy” embroidered on the … never mind). What makes them hilarious is that most of these shirt manufacturers use botched English to duplicate the fad. The botched English provides daily entertainment for native English speakers like myself. You’ll see me constantly scrambling to find a camera or notebook to record the sayings on some of the more poetic ones I see.
Below are a few of the Chinglish shirts I purchased from Dongmen over the weekend. I sifted through hundreds of shirts to find the best ones. (Last one NSFW).
Nearby love: more preferable than far away love.
This looks like something someone would Tweet to get a certain phrase in the Trending Topics.
RECOUNT: Renaming the Roaming Ram™
The polls have officially closed and the name “Ramsey” has emerged as a clear winner. It appears as though Roaming Ram™ finally has a name
BUT… it has come to my attention that the name Ramses would be much more BA, on account of that awesome pharaoh dude with the same name. So I’m going to be democratic and open the polls again for a Round 2. But just this once.
Ramsey or Ramses?
- Dude, Ramses. It's, like, historical n' stuff. (Pick this one). (57%, 4 Votes)
- The tribe has already spoken. Ramsey. (Don't pick this one). (43%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 7
Loading ...Disclaimer: Same rules from Round 1 apply. Especially that part about dictatorial rejection.
Introducing the Roaming Ram™
I recently received this stuffed ram as a gift from one of my students and immediately knew I needed to incorporate him into my everyday lifestyle.
BFF.
So, I came up with the not so original idea to take a photo with him in front of every cool destination I visit while traveling.
Unfortunately, Roaming Ram™ wasn’t around when I visited a few famous destinations earlier this year, but I was able to find these hypothetical photos of him traveling around Asia. (You think I used Photoshop? Please. This is the Internet. Ethics, people*.)
What the Roaming Ram™ would have looked like in front of the Great Wall when I visited in August. What do you mean his resolution seems sharper than the rest of the image?
What the Roaming Ram™ would have looked like in front of Angkor Wat when I visited Cambodia 2 months ago.
Always trying to upstage me, even hypothetically. What the Roaming Ram™ would have looked like blocking me in front of the Petronas Towers (Malaysia) when I visited in October. What do you mean Roaming Ram™ seems to have much better lighting than the rest of the photo?
The Roaming Ram™ would have come in handy for covering people who should have worn less revealing bathing suits in Phuket, Thailand during my trip there 2 months ago. Unfortunately, even he can't be in two places at once.
This is where I need your help. My new friend needs a name. Roaming Ram™ isn’t a name, it’s a breed of ram—an endangered but soon-to-be-mass-produced one at that. He can’t go along living his life posing awkwardly in photos without an identity. So, I’ve created this handy dandy poll thing (so meta!) to let you help me pick.
What should the Roaming Ram™'s name be?
- Ramsey the Roaming Ram™ (43%, 9 Votes)
- Rocky the Roaming Ram™ (24%, 5 Votes)
- Ignatius the Roaming Ram™ (19%, 4 Votes)
- Ricky the Roaming Ram™ (5%, 1 Votes)
- Ray the Roaming Ram™ (5%, 1 Votes)
- Other (add in the comments section) (4%, 1 Votes)
Total Voters: 21
Loading ...Disclaimer: All voting results subject to dictatorial rejection should I decide I like another name better.
*Okay, maybe I used Photoshop.
Pollution in China: No, we don’t wear facemasks all the time
Tiananmen Square on March 20. Photo from Reuters
It’s widely known that China’s air is pretty badly polluted. For the last few weeks in Beijing, a combination of dust from the Gobi desert sandstorms and pollution turned the air brown.
Last week, the sandstorms reached Southern China. In Hong Kong, the pollution index hit 400. (An index 200 is considered “severe”). On Tuesday, I visited Hong Kong to finish some errands. Here’s what I saw:
Pollution along Victoria Harbour. These buildings on the island are not very far from Avenue of Stars, where this photo was taken.
The pollution definitely had a noticeable effect on my health. On Monday, I began to develop a deep cough. I assumed I had just come down with something until I read about the pollution in the news Tuesday. By Wednesday, I lost my voice and the cough became painful. My voice was so gone that I needed a microphone to teach my classes. Luckily, the worst of both my cough and the pollution were gone by the end of the week.
One of the recurring themes of China in the Western media is, of course, the pollution. It’s a classic example of framing. (Sidenote: Communication Studies terms FTW!) While I agree that it’s a problem, I sometimes think it’s overhyped. Yes, some days here in Shenzhen, a city in Southern China, the pollution can be pretty bad. But often, the skies are almost completely clear.
A lot of the news that comes out of China tends to come from Beijing, a city that is far more polluted than the rest of China. But I think it’s unfair to portray China solely from the Beijing perspective. China’s a big country, after all. It’d be like saying all of the US is just like New York City.
I’ve heard some crazy facts and rumors about the pollution: Living in Beijing is like smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, each month spent in Beijing takes a year off your life expectancy, expats who return to their home country tend to bounce back, etc. I can’t prove the validity of these statements, especially since I’ve only visited four cities (Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hong Kong) and seen the countryside only once (on my 27-hour train ride from Beijing to Shenzhen). But I can say that every day here ISN’T miserably smoggy, requiring us to wear facemasks all the time. But if your main perceptions of China come from AP photos and CNN, you might think we do.
Chinglish
One of my favorite things about living in China is encountering signs that have been poorly translated into English, or what we 外国人 (“waiguoren”—foreigners) like to call “Chinglish.” Below, the single best Chinglish sign I’ve seen in Shenzhen:
It reads:
Fire should remain calm and rational direction, the rapid withdrawal.
Due to sudden fires, in the face of heavy smoke and flames, it is first necessary to force himself to be calm and quick judgments dangerous place and a place of safety. The decision to escape as soon as possible withdrawal of danger. Do not blindly follow the crowd and mutual crowded, chaotic—rampant. Withdrawal to the attention of North Korea[?!] or the bright open area outside run, as much as possible to run floors below, if the channel has been blocking pyrotechnics. Back pyrotechnics should be left direction, Terrace, louvre, such as rooftops to escape outdoors.
Okay. Got it.
View all of the Chinglish signs I’ve run across here.
(Chinglish fire escape sign, originally uploaded by bridget.odonnell.)
About
Bridget O'Donnell is a designer for Ataway in Shanghai, China. She previously worked for the China Daily and graduated from the University of Michigan in 2009. More »