Did I forget to mention how I feel about the smoking ban in Shanghai?

Because I'm totally stoked about it.  I didn't actually find out until after it came into effect (at the beginning of the month), but I'm so happy that smoking is now banned in most public places (and if people are allowed to smoke, they need to have a dedicated smoking area).  The widespread smoking here has always been a bit of an issue for me (mostly when you're trying to eat and some dickhead at the next table is blowing smoke in your face), although I tried not to complain about it too much because, well, western countries still haven't all come into line about it (apparently you're still allowed to smoke in bars in Wisconsin?).  But, now that there are rules (although who knows how often they will be enforced), I am really happy about it.  I hope it means that next time I go to the hospital, the doctor won't be finishing off a cigarette like he was the first time I had to go.

Other things to be happy about are perfect Sunday eggs at Mesa (thanks for the recommendation, Wo Ai), tasty tea and free wi-fi at Citizen, old school Bon Jovi, and Thai mangos waiting for me when I get home. 

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Derelicte: Homeless man in China becomes an Internet fashion icon

A homeless man in Ningbo has drawn international attention as a fashion icon, with articles going out about him in Asian publications as well as The Independent and the fashion section of New York magazine. 

I'm not sure if I would call him 'starkly handsome' or compare him to Takeshi Kaneshiro, but I'm pretty sure I agree with what was said at the bottom of the Independent article:

His identity remains a secret, and social workers in Ningbo say they want to keep it that way. "Homeless people are vulnerable. It is incorrect to use them for entertainment purposes," said one worker at a homeless centre in Ningbo. Brother Sharp is said to appear mentally disturbed when approached on the street.

In China, begging is technically illegal, as the Communist Party-run state provides all a citizen could need. In reality, the rapid development of the Chinese economy in the last 30 years has marginalised many.

The rumours surrounding Brother Sharp's true identity persist. Some say he is a university graduate who lost his mind after his girlfriend left him. Others have blogged about how they sought him out and tried to help him find work or to go back to his family, but that he appeared frightened and cried out without speaking.

The local government in Ningbo said it had a policy of looking after the homeless, and that it would extend the same treatment to Mr Sharp.

So, don't approach him for fashion tips.  Seems logical.  What I think is awful is that people are obviously trying to help him because they think he's cool/good-looking/stylish, etc, but what about the other people in the same situation who are just not quite so well put-together?  It's reminiscent of foreigners picking up stray cats on the street and then not knowing what to do with them.  I think it's better to do something at a higher level (that is, not make one person/animal your pet project, if you'll forgive the pun) - donate some time or money to a reputable charity or government organisation.

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Twhy?

So, I have been kind of against the whole idea of Twitter for a long time now, but I have admitted to myself that it's likely because it's another one of those ideas with a lot of potential, but when put in the hands of the idiotic masses made me want to hide under the bed covers. 

Recently I've been noticing more people who I would want to follow on Twitter posting on Twitter, so I thought I'd finally give it a go to see what it can do for me. 

One big problem - Twitter is unavailable in China.  Why did I pick this time and place to sign up?  Probably mostly because I am the queen of bad timing.  So, I have spent an hour or so using a shaky VPN service to sign up and connect with a few other services that I will be using to help me read/post (ping.fm, Posterous, Shozu on my phone, Google Reader).  I know I won't be able to use the full capacity of the service, but it will be interesting to see what can be done from within the GFW. Let's call it another experiment.

Of course, I have still yet to solve the issue that neither of my blogs (and now this Twitter account) are available in China, where I think people would be the most interested in what I have to say.  Hmm.

Anyway, follow me, I guess!  @bananaundercovr

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Oh, you're welcome, China!

This was on the bottom of my income tax receipt.  I feel like such a valuable part of the collective!

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Older and older

When I was growing up, I skipped a year of primary school (through pure genius, obviously), and so was always the youngest one of my friends.  As I get nearer to the age of 30 (I can't believe it, but I guess nobody ever can), I have started to become one of the older people in my workplace, and in some groups of friends.  I can deal with this, of course, but what makes it a bit more difficult is that according to Chinese age reckoning, I'm now 31.  That's right. 

You may wonder how this works, and I will try to explain.  In Chinese thinking, a person is 1 when they are born, not 0.  Kind of makes sense, as you've been developing for the better part of a year by the time you emerge into the world.  So, add a year to what you say your age is now, if you want to convert.  As well as this, Chinese people don't 'age' on their birthdays.  Nobody adds another year to their tally until Chinese New Year.  And you can add another year now, since Chinese New Year was last week.

So how does this work out for me?  Well, the year I was born, Chinese New Year was about a week after my birthday.  That means that when I was a week old, I was two (Chinese) years old already.  No wonder I was always smart for my age. 

Additionally, had I been born a week or two later, I would now be a year younger.  Go figure.

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More and more blocks

I was just catching up on a friend's Twitter feed (read through Google Reader), and realised that I couldn't go to any of the bit.ly links at all.  This is doubly frustrating because I don't know what the original URL is (I might, in fact, be able to view the site from here), and just...what the hell, China?  I know that it's a common shortener for Twitterers (Tweeters?) and whatnot to use, but it doesn't mean everything they're linking to is offensive.  It might be inane and time-wasting, but surely it should be up to me what I want to see?  It appears that pictures hosted on Imageshack are also unavailable, which is just annoying.  The main page loads, but the images don't.  I just wanted to look at pictures of cute, tiny animals.

I found a good summary in comment form on Wired.com, which covers most of the depressing blockages:

Posted by: tvnewswatch | 01/11/10 | 2:19 am |

I can confirm that Wired is not currently blocked in Beijing [11/01/2010]. However, as stated the blocking of sites is in ‘constant flux’. You incorrectly state the BBC is blocked. Not quite true. BBC Chinese is blocked, but only a few pages from the English version are affected by the GFW. Wikipedia is also largely unaffected, tho of late pictures on the site are not showing. Google.com is accessible, though many Google services are blocked.

IMDb was blocked last Wednesday [9th January] but is not alone in its being inaccessible. It joins the ranks of dozens of other sites, many of them social networking platforms or web 2.0 sites. As of January this year many Google services still remain blocked. Blogger, YouTube, Picasa web, Google Health, Google Sites, Google Groups, Google’s Development site, Chromium.org, the Chrome Extensions site and even the Google Wave invite link are all inaccessible. Google Docs is only accessible via the insecure http mode [not https] and even then it is unstable with spreadsheets blocked and direct access to folders and other functionality thwarted.

Social networking sites Facebook and Twitter are blocked and several other blogging platforms such as Typepad and Wordpress are also stymied by the censors. Sites that share content are also affected including Friendfeed, Tumblr, technorati, imageshack, Scribd, Dailymotion, Liveleak, Vimeo, Twitpic and Pirate Bay. Even some URL shorteners have been shut down including bit.y links. And in October last year the Python programming software download link was blocked.

For many expats, using the Internet is a particularly frustrating experience. Content shared by friends and family, as well as business colleagues outside China, is often unobtainable unless one is prepared to pay additional fees to foreign based VPN [Virtual Private Network] providers. Even then, some sites cannot be accessed.

Even where sites are not blocked they are often unstable. Google News is one such example. Links may not open the first time round and some links are preceded by a Google referrer which has to be deleted in order to open the required site. Many expats, still able to access Twitter via third party apps which bi-pass the Great Firewall, express their fear that the restrictions may go further and even block GMail, Skype and other communications’ tools. It’s all a guessing game, however, and the uncertainty is increasingly uncomfortable.

On the 'plus' side, after spending some time in Hong Kong without the GFW, I think I'm kind of over Facebook.  The incessant babble, anyway.  It's definitely fallen into the hands of the people who just don't really get it.

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There's literally nobody around

Well, that's not strictly true.  But, this morning, on the way to work*, there was hardly any traffic, and in the streets around me there were probably only about 15 people.  I thought to myself "Wow, it's dead out here!"  Of course, this is all comparative.  If I were to think the same thing at home, there would literally be nobody else in sight.  But that's the way things go in bustling Shanghai.  I was just jealous of all the people who weren't on their way to work.

I just heard a huge boom outside, and I guess the fireworks haven't completely stopped yet.  It's a week since the new Chinese year began, and it's been like a war zone every day since with huge fireworks and annoyingly-long strings of crackers going off at all hours of the day, night, and ridiculously early morning.  Some clever and considerate people have been letting them go off in the driveway of my apartment complex, and they explode right about my window level.  Would be interesting once or twice, but I was sick in bed for three days of the break and just wished they would shut the hell up.  I'm glad I was in Hong Kong for the weekend of the new year, so I missed the real craziness. 

*Don't get me started on having to work on a Sunday as part of a seven day week which we have to do in order to receive the 'seven' days off we got last week.
I didn't take any pictures this year, so the image is from the Beeb.

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