China demonstrations against Carrefour markets
Follow this link to an article in The New York Times about demonstations against France China
The young Chinese are advocating boycotting French products because the French have criticized China's policies in Tibet. The young Chinese are also upset with the coverage of Tibet by CNN. It disagrees with the coverage provided by the Chinese media. My students often advised me to watch China Central for what they referred to as "the real news." Of course, I got my news from the BBC which can be received throughout China, and an English language station in Hong Kong. My students referred to these news stations as "propaganda."
I did a lot of shopping at Carrefour when I lived in Shenzhen, China. We all did, Chinese and foreigners alike. I went there even though I wanted to get away from the West, as I write in my book:
Carrefour, a French store, was everything I had tried to leave behind in America, maybe more. It was like WalMart, only two stories and noisier. When I entered, Celine Dion was singing My Heart Will Go On, but she was almost drowned out by the pop music from Hong Kong and the electronic games.
On the second floor, I found groceries. There were fresh fish in tanks and on ice and heaps of fruits and vegetables, including the malodorous duran fruit that an Indian friend had told me was banned from five-star hotels in India. It sat openly here, stinking like something rescued from a musty closet in a long-abandoned house. On the next aisle were packages of noodles, and bags and barrels of rice. Jars of jams and jellies, boxes, bins and bottles of tea. There were bread and instant coffee and salt and milk and yogurt. I walked down a seven-foot-high aisle of twelve brands of Danish butter cookies and stumbled into a man and woman holding a toddler over a trash can. The little girl was peeing.
Then, I saw a young woman pointing at snakes in a tank. A clerk netted half a dozen, dropped them into a plastic bag, knotted it, raised his arm and hurled the bag onto the floor. It hit with a muffled whack. The young woman leaned over, picked up the bag and put it in her shopping cart. Beside me, Zhou Jia was laughing again. "Don't worry. Eels. Now they won't get out of bag."
I picked out a dead white fish wrapped in plastic and put it in my cart. I was rather happy; this was really different.
The young Chinese are advocating boycotting French products because the French have criticized China's policies in Tibet. The young Chinese are also upset with the coverage of Tibet by CNN. It disagrees with the coverage provided by the Chinese media. My students often advised me to watch China Central for what they referred to as "the real news." Of course, I got my news from the BBC which can be received throughout China, and an English language station in Hong Kong. My students referred to these news stations as "propaganda."
I did a lot of shopping at Carrefour when I lived in Shenzhen, China. We all did, Chinese and foreigners alike. I went there even though I wanted to get away from the West, as I write in my book:
Carrefour, a French store, was everything I had tried to leave behind in America, maybe more. It was like WalMart, only two stories and noisier. When I entered, Celine Dion was singing My Heart Will Go On, but she was almost drowned out by the pop music from Hong Kong and the electronic games.
On the second floor, I found groceries. There were fresh fish in tanks and on ice and heaps of fruits and vegetables, including the malodorous duran fruit that an Indian friend had told me was banned from five-star hotels in India. It sat openly here, stinking like something rescued from a musty closet in a long-abandoned house. On the next aisle were packages of noodles, and bags and barrels of rice. Jars of jams and jellies, boxes, bins and bottles of tea. There were bread and instant coffee and salt and milk and yogurt. I walked down a seven-foot-high aisle of twelve brands of Danish butter cookies and stumbled into a man and woman holding a toddler over a trash can. The little girl was peeing.
Then, I saw a young woman pointing at snakes in a tank. A clerk netted half a dozen, dropped them into a plastic bag, knotted it, raised his arm and hurled the bag onto the floor. It hit with a muffled whack. The young woman leaned over, picked up the bag and put it in her shopping cart. Beside me, Zhou Jia was laughing again. "Don't worry. Eels. Now they won't get out of bag."
I picked out a dead white fish wrapped in plastic and put it in my cart. I was rather happy; this was really different.
I loved this entry to your blog although the whacking of eels onto the floor was pretty awful. Still I can so picture it happening. The description was so familiar of my times in Asia!
You know, durian is banned in far less than five star hotels in Thailand and Taiwan and I suspect many other Asian countries. They have these little signs with a color photo of durian in a red circle with a red slash right across the photo sitting on hotel reception counters.
Did you ever try durian? You can buy it here in the Twin Cities if you're interested. Its available at a market called Swang Hur on Nicollet's Eat Street.
I've never been in a Carrefour before but it is one of the main places to shop in Chiang Mai so I'm bound to make its acquaintance. 'Sounds like small doses of it would be best.
Thanks for another wonderful entry!
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Oh, I forgot to say - Hurray for Carrefour and their speaking out against what the Chinese government continues to do in Tibet! Knowing that they have spoken out in this way will make shopping there endlessly more pleasurable! I'll really look forward to giving them my business!
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There is so much to say about what is going on between China, Tibet and the Western countries. I'm trying to gather my thoughts for a blog about it. In short, I believe China wasn't ready for the criticism that comes with being a leader in the world. China's strict policy of no criticism of internal affairs works when one is isolated, but once one becomes a host for world events, like the Olympics, internal affairs become everybody's business.
I keep reading that the award of the games to Beijing was an attempt by the Olympic Committee to induce China to clean up its environment and improve human rights. That may be what's happening here. When a system is dysfunctional, it takes outsiders to clean it up.
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