| My new life, so far... |
FROM BEIJING, CHINA
Old vs. New in Beijing IT Park
BEIJING, Oct 16 - There is a sharp contrast between the old and the new Beijing in the city's IT park, its version of the "Silicon Valley." Take a look...
Here's the old... shacks, bicycles, push-carts, rikshas...
...and the new, ultra-modern office building, literally across the street from each other. The only thing they have in common is a lot of bicycles, as you can see, that the IT staff use to get to work.
And here's yours truly in front of one of those modern buildings in which I had a meeting this afternoon.
During lunch, I went for a walk through the old neighborhoods in the area...
Here's a lovely red rose looking resplendent in the midst of a weed-infested area in front of an apartment building. Yet even here, people try to stay close to nature. Right next to that someone had planted a few lettuce plants. The green bushes ahead are also something that the apartment dwellers maintain, along with tiny plots in which they try to grow whatever vegetables they can.
Elsewhere in Beijing, where I had a later afternoon meeting at this large company's office, there was a little park in which all the "toys" (meaning exercise equipment) were actually for the elderly and grown-up residents, not the children, as is the custom in American parks. It was heartening to see all these older people working out in their open-air "gym." By contrast, we in America do next to nothing for the elderly, except putting them up in expensive care homes (for those who can afford it) where they basically are left to vegetate till they die.
Japanese vs. Chinese "Spelling"
Last but not least, before I leave Beijing and move on to Shanghai, I want to share with you something very interesting (to me, anyway) about the similarities and differences between the Chinese and Japanese languages. I learned this from a Chinese female business executive who made her point on a dinner napkin.
This is a dinner napkin on which this lady drew the kanji characters that mean the "capital" in both Chinese and Japanese (the four yellow-highlighted signs). But in Japanese the character is pronounced "kyo," while in Chinese it sounds like "jiang." Now the first kanji character in the Japanese capital's name, "to," means east. Thus Tokyo, means the "eastern capital" in Japanese. Why? Because the old capital of Japan was Kyoto, a city west of Tokyo.
Now take a look at the kanji spelling for Kyoto. The name starts with the same "kyo" kanji character that Tokyo has - meaning the "capital" in both cases.
Now switching to Chinese, the kanji word "bei" means north, while "jiang," as you know from before, means the "capital." Thus Beijing means the "north(ern) capital." The old capital of China was Nanjing, the last word in the above exhibit. The kanji word "nan' means south. Thus Nanjing translated into the "south capital."
What's the point of all this? I am not sure. To me, it was a mind-teaser. And then, there's also a cultural education angle...
I don't know how many Americans realize it, but Japan has "borrowed" its kanji characters from China. Except that they are pronounced differently in the two countries. Thus the Chinese and the Japanese can read each other's writing but cannot understand each other's speech. Which is sometimes better than the English vs. American English. But I am digressing...
Anyway, you can stash this kanji mind-teaser up in your memory cells for your next "trivial pursuit" game, or for your next trip to the Orient, whichever comes first. Or not.
Meanwhile, I am off to Shanghai...
