7-foot something...Chinese are taller than Americans

What's in the food?

Wow, what are they feeding the kids in China? Yao Ming is the 7-foot 2-inches (2.26 metres) tall NBA star for the Houston Rockets. He's been in the news this month as he's marrying his sweet heart, another basketball player from China, who comes in at 6-foot 2-inches tall (1.9 metres)!

Ok, these two aren't your average rice-yammin' Chinese citizens, but NPR noted that the Chinese are gaining height, whilst the Americans are stuck at an average 5-foot 9-inches! And we all know the advantages that tall folk have over the height-challenged...

It's gotta stop

It's was interesting to read that, even though Yao Ming is fairly traditional (he got married back at home and close to his fiance's hometown), he is trying to bring attention to something that has been worrying me...The demand for exotic animal parts for Chinese cuisine due to folklore or superstitious beliefs.

The NBA Houston Rockets centre has been active in environmental protection and last year Yao Ming pledged to stop eating shark's fin soup which is considered a Chinese delicacy. The shark's fin is the only part that is valuable ($300+/lb) so fisherman just slice off the fin and dump the shark back to drown in the sea - a practice called 'finning'.

Ironically, this dish would've certainly been on the wedding banquet menu as it's a sign of wealth and prestige. By speaking up, Yao Ming has raised the awareness of the cruel and senseless practice within and outside of China.

Avril goes to China

Avril learns Mandarin

China Radio International is the only station broadcasting from Shanghai in English I believe. That's where I found some news about Canadian pop punk queen, Avril Lavigne, arriving in Shanghai to play her first solo Chinese gig.

It's a smart move on her part considering some say a larger proportion of money is made from concerts etc. than record sales now. Let's assume only a very small percentage will legitimately buy Lavigne's tunes in China, but anciliary revenues from the world's largest market could be huge(r).

Has anyone seen a blonde girl with an entourage...?!

The Shanghai Youth Daily said that: "the punk singer arrived at the city secretly, and that even the local media and hard-core fans at the airport failed to see her."

Don't make me laugh. Oh, and which local media took the pics?! Come on - unless a moody white rock chick being chaperoned by some burley white and black body guards is a normal occurance in Shanghai's Pudong International airport I think Lavigne would've stuck out like a sore thumb!

Avril in Mandarin?!

AOL Video is hosting some video clips of the concert. I didn't watch, but may be it includes her Mandarin version of "Girl Friend". If not, here it is below...hey where can I buy the bootlegged concert VCD/DVD...?! Hahaha.



Loving this



Avril in Cantonese

Mattel recalls 9 million toys

Here we go again...

So, Mattel are recalling 9 million toys that were 'Made in China' as they contained two dangerous elements: tiny magnets that can be swallowed by kids or higher than acceptable levels of lead paint. Deja vu: two weeks earlier another 1.5+ million Mattel toys were recalled due to a lead paint scare.

As this latest news broke some interesting facts and commentary emerged. One NPR story highlighted how many products are manufactured in China - 80% of the toys sold in the US are made in China. Understand that manufacturing is to China what the IT industry is to India. It's the economic engine driving China into the First World and it'll be very hard to change that trajectory.

'Quality fade'

So, with such a high number of products from China of course any problems will probably be from a factory in China. So why is this happening? For example, we know that Wal*Mart is famous for 'Every Day Low Prices' and some of those low prices come as a result from increasing pressure on its suppliers to deliver. This is managed by the manufacturer through a process called 'quality fade'.

Here's a simple version of how it works: the Retailer squeezes the Manufacturer on price which results in the Manufacturer only being able to carve out a 2% profit margin on the deal. Once the deal has been running for some time, the Manufacturer reduces quality (ingredients, components etc.) to gain a 10% profit margin. The change is subtle and people may be none the wiser.

Here comes the politics

AP reported Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. saying: “Another week, another recall of Chinese-made toys." Rep. Mike Ferguson, R-N.J., said companies whose toys are made in China need to be sure their products meet U.S. safety standards. “If they don’t, I believe Congress must give federal regulators the authority to ensure that our kids’ toys won’t actually harm them,” he said.

With this renewed pressure there could be calls for raised trade barriers and demands for further Chinese Yuan currency re-evaluation to make it fairer for US exporters, although the US dollar has hit a 26-year low which is good for export trade and has got to be helping the US trade deficit.

Bowl of cardboard dumplings please...NOT

China has fake news stories too ;-)

Oh man, as if China didn't have enough world attention on its quality control! Zi Beijia, an aspiring investigative journalist for Beijing Television faked a story that shocked viewers of his report, but also landed him in jail!

Reuters reports that Zi had been arrested after it emerged that he had fabricated a report that local dumplings hawkers were adding softened, pork-flavoured cardboard to their food. On Sunday, a Chinese court sentenced the TV reporter to one year in jail for faking the report that was picked up across the world.

The Chinese official Xinhua news agency reported: "the journalist, Zi Beijia, was convicted after an open court hearing of "infringing the reputation of commodities". He was also fined 1,000 yuan ($132)."

Damage unlimited

But the damage has been done. No one hears that the story is fake, just that there was such a story. The public will remember that China has such practices and might, at best, remember that China fakes news reports.

In this new emerging market economy, trust between China and other countries needs to be earnt. Individuals are busy scrambling to grab a piece of the cake at any cost, but all the outside world sees is China Inc. suffering huge growing pains.