signs

I have long said that China is a country that would really benefit from having two expert services on retainer.  The first is a really good public relations firm, qualified professionals who could tell China that calling people like the Dalai Lama things like “a wolf in monk’s clothing” probably does not do much for its overall international reputation.     

Also, these specialists could come up with a better slogan for China’s new regime than “the Chinese dream.”  Posters promoting this goal are all over the city, for example in Beihai Park:

The meaning, or lack thereof,  of the Chinese Dream has already been the subject of analysis by foreign observers like Ian Johnson of the New York Review of Books.   I do have one friend, a member of the Communist Party (are you listening, dear NSA?), who takes it somewhat seriously, but otherwise it’s become something of a joke, largely because of its utter unoriginality.  

Yet I’ve also spoken with numerous Chinese friends who all say that China does in fact increasingly resemble the United States, which is something I’ve also been saying for awhile.  This country’s chosen model of development, especially here in Beijing, looks a lot like the American way in certain crucial aspects.  The logic of life in middle-class, urban China is devoted primarily to making money and buying stuff, which seems to me to be the overall purpose of American society as well.  Life in Beijing is increasingly characterized by suburban sprawl, automobiles, consumerism, and overwork.  Everyday, packs of young men go around and use ever more of China’s precious trees to blanket subway cars with flyers advertising the latest housing development.  Today’s was an apartment complex that seemed to think it was an asset that it is located 70 kilometers (about 45 miles) from the Beijing International Airport.  Did I mention suburban sprawl? 

(I will allow you to do your own reading and draw your own conclusions about questions of similarities relating to civil liberties, democracy and elections, and inequality in China and the United States.)

The other service from which I’ve thought China could really benefit would be that of an army of proofreaders.   I won’t dwell here on the infinite number of amusing/totally misguided signs you can find here.  Some of you have already seen some language from menus.    I also like the English rendition of this restaurant’s name (which more literally can be translated as “spicy mother-in-law”):

In a public restroom was this:

 

Yet, the more I’m here, the more I find these charming and hope they don’t go the route of grammatical correctness.  

More serious are the ones in Chinese, like this one:

It was posted in the window of a restaurant, advertising for servers and people to work in the kitchen for about $350-450 per month, likely working 7 days per week with long hours.  I'll let you try to figure out the hourly wage.

Finally, there is this encouraging sign for those of you who know of my concern for elephants and the illegal trade in wildlife products:

 

Hopefully this mother's elephant's conversation with her calf on a subway platform sign is self-evident to all--"ivory belongs to elephants."