Opinions
A series of arrests in Dongguan have revealed a massive counterfeit cosmetics network operating on Taobao, China’s notorious online marketplace. Creams, sunscreens, and soaps of some well-known western brands were counterfeited and sold on a number of Taobao stores for nearly two years before authorities caught the operators. Some of these Taobao vendors were found [...]
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The 3rd World Internet Conference, initiated and hosted by China, wrapped up last week in Wuzhen. During the conference, President Xi made several remarks promoting ”cyber sovereignty”, or the idea that each country should be free to govern the internet the way they see fit. Emphasis was placed on governance and maintaining “peace and order” while still [...]
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By Xing China has developed a bad reputation as a country rife with labor abuses. Whether it be the Foxconn suicides in Shenzhen or abuses at Mattel toy factories in Dongguan, it appears that workers rights are continually threatened in the midst of frenetic economic expansion in China. However, labor abuses are not only limited [...]
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Good Samaritan Laws in China When I first arrived in China from Canada, one of the first pieces of advice I was given by my local friends was to never help anyone on the bus or on the streets, even if they were injured. I was informed of several high profile cases in the news [...]
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Ou Leili is a contributor at Ministry of Tofu. You can learn more about her on our About page. “I am festering away, paralyzed and over 100,000 yuan (US $16,303.60) in debt. Our family has suffered an unimaginable fate.” This declaration was translated from the now-deleted blog of Ji Zhongxing. Ji, a 34-year-old man from [...]
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Zheyan Ni is a contributor at Ministry of Tofu. You can learn more about her on our About page. Tiny Times was released on June.27. It’s based on the director Guo Jingming’s best-selling novel published in 2007. The movie portrays the urban lives of four college graduates in Shanghai, their friendship, relationships and careers. The movie’s [...]
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Outside China, people are buzzing about Peking pound, the hot money from China that drives up prices or drains supplies of a wide range of things from property to baby formula, from gold to oil, as if a sneeze from the rising Chinese middle class could truly freeze the entire world. But at home, what [...]
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Chris Toepker is a contributor to Ministry of Tofu. He hails from the United States, has been living in greater China since 1990 and has recently relocated to Beijing. All too often, visitors to Beijing fret and cluck their tongues at the air pollution. While it certainly is awful, clearing the air is certainly no simple [...]
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“I’m sorry, but the lavender pillow is out of order, can you please choose another?” A classic mixture of over-the-top yet sincere customer service sprinkled with cultural “close enough-ness” to be charming. A soft knock on my hotel door reveals a smiling young man with my Chinese Herb Pillow as I think “what a crazy [...]
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A master’s graduate coming from rural China did not find an ideal job in the city and returned to his village to work on the farm. His father, who has been a peasant for his entire life, felt so humiliated and depressed by his son’s choice, or rather, lack of any, and attempted suicide. On [...]
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Readers of the Guardian Newspaper in the UK have expressed their desire on an online poll to see an apology from John Leonard, the American swimming coach, following his allegations that the performance of the Chinese swimmer, Ye Shiwen, were ‘unbelievable’ and ‘disturbing’. An overwhelming 98% of netizens who visited the site stated that they [...]
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Note: Gil Hizi is Ministry of Tofu’s contributor. He is also the chief editor of website Thinking Chinese. Jianbing (煎饼), often translated to ‘Chinese pancake’, is one of the most celebrated snacks Northeast Chinese streets, and even foreigners tend to appreciate its greasy taste and its high calorie-per-money value. In recent years the jianbing is facing [...]
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After Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced at a press conference that Chen Guangcheng could well apply to study abroad just as any other Chinese citizen can, the U.S. State Department issued a statement that says Chen has been offered a financial aid package by a U.S. university and is allowed to bring his wife and [...]
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Four major state-run newspapers in Beijing published strongly worded editorials on the same day, accusing the U.S. politicians of “clumsy antics” and using activist Chen Guangchang as a pawn against China. Beijing Daily: “Looking at U.S Politicans’ Clumsy Antics through Chen Guangcheng.” Beijing Times: “Chen Guangcheng Is A Newly Found Tool And Pawn of America; [...]
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Note: Gil Hizi is Ministry of Tofu’s contributor. He is also the chief editor of website Thinking Chinese. In the last few decades, self-help culture, in the form of advice books, accessible knowledge and popularized expertise is blooming in the Western world as well as in many developing countries. China is no exception. Commercialized medicine, [...]
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Until last night, Bo Xilai is like Schrodinger’s cat thrown into a dark box with radioactive substance. All Chinese know the political career of Bo, a charismatic politician best known for his campaign of singing red songs and combating triads and a hopeful candidate for China’s top office, is over, but no one knows how [...]
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Note: Gil Hizi is Ministry of Tofu’s contributor. He is also the chief editor of website Thinking Chinese. The marketing of brands in China often faces tensions between modernity and tradition, foreign and local orientations or individualistic materialism and longstanding cultural values. Whether we are discussing foreign companies or local enterprises, in order to prosper in [...]
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Note: Gil Hizi is Ministry of Tofu’s contributor. He is also the chief editor of website Thinking Chinese. China is giving great attention to the sharp differences between the 70hou (Post-1970s, Chinese born between 1970 and 1979), 80hou (Post-1980s, Chinese born between 1980 and 1989) and 90hou (Post-1990s, Chinese born between 1990 and 1999), as [...]
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Last year, the article “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” drew global attention to the “maternal ruthlessness” of Chinese moms, and ultimately popularized the term “Tiger Mom.” Now, almost exactly a year later, a new Times article “Tiger cubs on the prowl” by Mark Clifford pointed out the shift in these tiger cubs. (Read our story [...]
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From Beijing News Miyun county, situated at northeast Beijing, is going to invest more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion) on the construction of an English-speaking town as large as 60 hectares (165 acres) where no Chinese is allowed, according to county chief Wang Haichen. “It is a significant development project with the nature of [...]
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