There’s one English-language TV channel available to us, CCTV 9, run by the main Chinese TV network. Needless to say, we’ve been watching it frequently. It’s a mix of news, cultural pieces, and travel pieces. My favorite show is the economic news, as it’s the most clearly propagandized segment. It’s all about the art of reading between the lines. For example, there’s been a lot in the news here lately about the rise in consumer prices, mostly food, particularly pork. A big rise, something like 5% over the last month. The Chinese news reports about the increase in the consumer price index, in pork prices, and talks about various things the government is doing to improve the situation. But nothing about the actual underlying cause. I mean, they mention things like increased demand, and being sort of between pig harvests, but that makes no sense. The cyclical nature of pig availability is likely the same every year, and demand does not spike quite that suddenly. Really, what’s going on is some mysterious pig illness, but they’re never going to discuss that.
What they do constantly champion is the robustness of the Chinese economy. So, in the spirit of China’s economic prowess (its annual exports that now exceed US$1 trillion), it was time for us to finally go shopping for touristy things. We went to Panjiayuan Antiques Market, a giant outdoor market with everything from vases to shadow puppets to embroidery to paintings and everything in between. It was overwhelming. The things for sale were likely not true antiques, but there were still lots of beautiful things. We bought some small watercolor paintings depicting Chinese girl children and babies to put up for the impending kiddo. Check out the pictures below…
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2 comments:
Wow, I'm just now reading all of your posts, so I'll comment on all of them in general up to this point. It's scary to think that one day maybe the US will bombard its citizens with propaganda the same way Beijing does now. Your pictures are awesome, I particularly like the scale model of the city and the Olympic stadium (the chicken bones were a little too much info, though) :-) All the touristy stuff you've visited looks amazing to see, wish I could see them in person. Looking forward to reading more, I laughed a lot! -George
Jen, have a very happy birthday!!! How are you & Peter celebrating your special day? (Not more chicken on a stick, I hope). :-)
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