The Chinese food we eat here is pretty different to the Chinese food eaten outside of China. There is a hue variety in Chinese food -the dishes, how they are cooked, how they are presented, what is eaten and so on; with at least 50 different kinds of cooking styles from around the country. But I won't talk about that now. That is something that needs to be explored individually.
After watching Food, Inc, a film i highly recommend everyone to watch, I'm happy i live in China and eat here, and not in the USA. Though there is not much transparency about the supply chain of Chinese food I'm pretty sure most vegetables and fruit are at least grown inside China (although probably with a lot of chemicals). I bet the conditions the animals are raised in are pretty bad, but probably not as bad as in the USA. The UK has been a leader in local sourcing, with many supermarkets making an effort for vegetables and meat. And it is better to eat less meat, something i've been trying to do more often in the last few years.
But, more concerning is all the chemicals that go into the food we buy in supermarkets, from snacks to pre-cut meats; from cereals to drinks. And this is one thing that is as common here as anywhere else. The Chinese are big on their snacks and rubbish biscuits, but they are also big on all kinds of tofu or sausages or meats that have various things added to them so they can sit on shelves for months or years on end and still be ok to eat. Something i definitely stay away from from a taste perspective already. Food, Inc has some great added features on the DVD with some adverts they have broadcast in the USA with celebrities promoting healthy food. I quite like the one with them struggling to read out the ingredients on the back of the food packets. And that is disturbing. In fact a lot of what we eat is disturbing. The documentary is very very well done though. Fairly fair, fairly focused, fairly interesting, quite funny too.
It can be argued that eating healthier is possible without breaking the bank, but it would be more expensive to eat healthier, especially if the healthy food is organically grown. It is probably worth it, but the question arises of if we spent more on food (like we used to 'in the good old days') we'd have less to spend on services, entertainment and luxuries all of which create more jobs than could be created if we had more farmers paid more money. But, this is not a reason not to eat healthier and organically. It is not that much more expensive, and if I ate less non-nutritional stuff, then... well i think it would even itself out. So more self-restraint it is then, as well as more exercise! Am getting back into the running mode again finally, to add to the twice-weekly games of football.
For those in the UK, Food, Inc is coming out in select cinemas this week and hitting London in a couple of weeks (see http://www.foodincmovie.co.uk/cinemas.php). Go watch it, or try to watch it online, if you are in the USA, on PBS (http://www.pbs.org/pov/foodinc/photo_gallery_watch.php) which showed the film last week on TV and is still showing it online for a few more days. Then think about your food.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
another year in Harmony and Elegance
Today we re-signed the lease on our apartment for another year (the name means Harmony and Elegance). Happy to have no increase in the price since the purchase prices in beijing have continued to go up over the last year (over 10% a year in Beijing) and i'd heard from some people that rental prices had gone up too, especially after Chinese new year. However our landlady just asked to change the dates on the contract and it was simple. She is a lovely lady who works at the Bank of China and thus requires signatures on everything (in this case, that we both agree to change the dates). Her husband works at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is currently posted to the Embassy in Myanmar (or Burma is its previous name). As some readers might know the apartment complex we live in was built by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and sold to their (retired) employees for half the retail price, hence our neighbours (see last blog). Actually I believe the apartment is their parents' who must have worked at the Ministry too but have now retired. The old lady came along too although had little to say.
Both of them were impressed with the state of the apartment, and i showed them the new school next door and updated them on other local developments. Always good to keep the friendly relationship going in case we renew again next year! :)
One amusing thing about this compound is the amount of notices we get in our building's lobby -about changes affecting the water supply, about special events, about changes to the benches in the park, about the old people's activity center around the corner and all sorts. There are at least 5 notices up at any time and they are always kept up-to-date and replaced when something else happens. I rarely read more than the headlines (all in Chinese) but do get the impression the compound makes some real effort to organize activities and minimize disruptions for residents with such great communication! New trees have been planed this weekend as Spring takes hold but still no sign of progress in kitting out the gym building (that has remained a shell for over a year) unfortunately. More progress on the massive construction site to the north though where the 15 buildings are now being painted and the new park next door is being built.
In other news, last weekend Andrea and I went to a wedding in Shanghai. It was raining a lot of the time and cold (so cold that unfortunately a marquee had to be put up for the wedding ceremony that was on the roof of a fancy hotel overlooking the river in Shanghai, on the Bund which somewhat ruined the atmosphere/view, but it was still nice). It was a nice wedding and good to be back in Shanghai for the first time since last August. At least 3 new subway lines had opened in preparation for the World Expo that starts on May 1st, lasting 6 months. It should be an amazing thing to go see with so many pavilions from different countries -everyone making huge amounts of effort with them. I am definitely going to try to go for a few days later this year. I can also feel proud that the British pavilion is one of the most striking and most talked about. Check it out here: http://en.expo2010.cn/c/en_gj_tpl_71.htm
As expected the Shanghai government has been cracking down on fake DVD sellers, but we found a shop that had a fake door leading to a hidden room at the back that itself had a secret door leading to another hidden room at the back! Fantastic -and one of the best DVD collections i've seen, although the prices were fairly steep (around 16 RMB, or 2 USD) but all good quality and suitable for viewing on the train ride home.
Before Shanghai I was at a team planning/building thing in south china for a couple of days, and was very impressed with the location: one of the many Spa resorts that exist, but this one was well designed, well laid-out, had excellent service and good facilities with pool tables, table tennis, a gym, karaoke (of course) and facilities for the team building exercises. Although it was colder than normal, spending time in the 45 degree pool was enjoyable, though I cannot work out if that brought on my cold, or helped get rid of it. Anyway, no more cold now, just elation after Tottenham beat both Arsenal and Chelsea in the last week. Perfect response after failing to get to get to the Cup final and will mean i'll be on a knife-edge for the next few weeks worth of games. Last week our 5-a-side team all got kits (cheaply) made, unfortunately in red, but never mind -I'll get over it.
Both of them were impressed with the state of the apartment, and i showed them the new school next door and updated them on other local developments. Always good to keep the friendly relationship going in case we renew again next year! :)
One amusing thing about this compound is the amount of notices we get in our building's lobby -about changes affecting the water supply, about special events, about changes to the benches in the park, about the old people's activity center around the corner and all sorts. There are at least 5 notices up at any time and they are always kept up-to-date and replaced when something else happens. I rarely read more than the headlines (all in Chinese) but do get the impression the compound makes some real effort to organize activities and minimize disruptions for residents with such great communication! New trees have been planed this weekend as Spring takes hold but still no sign of progress in kitting out the gym building (that has remained a shell for over a year) unfortunately. More progress on the massive construction site to the north though where the 15 buildings are now being painted and the new park next door is being built.
In other news, last weekend Andrea and I went to a wedding in Shanghai. It was raining a lot of the time and cold (so cold that unfortunately a marquee had to be put up for the wedding ceremony that was on the roof of a fancy hotel overlooking the river in Shanghai, on the Bund which somewhat ruined the atmosphere/view, but it was still nice). It was a nice wedding and good to be back in Shanghai for the first time since last August. At least 3 new subway lines had opened in preparation for the World Expo that starts on May 1st, lasting 6 months. It should be an amazing thing to go see with so many pavilions from different countries -everyone making huge amounts of effort with them. I am definitely going to try to go for a few days later this year. I can also feel proud that the British pavilion is one of the most striking and most talked about. Check it out here: http://en.expo2010.cn/c/en_gj_tpl_71.htm
As expected the Shanghai government has been cracking down on fake DVD sellers, but we found a shop that had a fake door leading to a hidden room at the back that itself had a secret door leading to another hidden room at the back! Fantastic -and one of the best DVD collections i've seen, although the prices were fairly steep (around 16 RMB, or 2 USD) but all good quality and suitable for viewing on the train ride home.
Before Shanghai I was at a team planning/building thing in south china for a couple of days, and was very impressed with the location: one of the many Spa resorts that exist, but this one was well designed, well laid-out, had excellent service and good facilities with pool tables, table tennis, a gym, karaoke (of course) and facilities for the team building exercises. Although it was colder than normal, spending time in the 45 degree pool was enjoyable, though I cannot work out if that brought on my cold, or helped get rid of it. Anyway, no more cold now, just elation after Tottenham beat both Arsenal and Chelsea in the last week. Perfect response after failing to get to get to the Cup final and will mean i'll be on a knife-edge for the next few weeks worth of games. Last week our 5-a-side team all got kits (cheaply) made, unfortunately in red, but never mind -I'll get over it.
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