The Power of Weibo

A friend eagerly told me today about the power of weibo, or the Chinese version of Twitter.

She believes this is the best way for people to voice their opinions, particularly criticisms of officials and using this form of social media to make them accountable.

A recent example she cited was about a party official from the Yuexiu district government in Guangzhou who got into a physical and verbal fight with a flight attendant.

Fang Daguo, 41, was boarding a China Southern Airlines flight from Hefei, Anhui province to Guangzhou with his wife last Wednesday.

He allegedly confronted flight attendant Zhou Yumeng because she had told the couple to put their luggage away in the overhead compartment but did not help them.

Zhou posted her side of the incident on Weibo, saying that Fang verbally threatened her, saying he had good relations with her boss, and that he bruised her arm after he grabbed it. She also cried in the incident.

In her post, she said she did not want financial compensation, but an apology.

And as expected, he said nothing.

Chinese netizens or internet users were all angered after reading Zhou's version of the events and demanded Fang apologize.

But now we hear the ending of the story -- China Daily is reporting that Fang has now been suspended and that he, a political commissar for the Yuexiu district Armed Forces Department, is being investigated.

There were rumours that Zhou was fired from her job, but China Southern Airlines says she still works for the company.

It's victories like these that make netizens excited about their ability to influence the government and make its officials more accountable for their actions.

In Fang's case, if the allegations are true, it's just another official who thinks it's beneath him to take orders from someone else and believes guanxi will save him.

That kind of arrogance is exactly what the Chinese hate the most.

And they will make sure these officials get what they think they deserve -- a public flogging online.

Lost and Found

Looking out at Dongsishitiao around 10am on Monday

Today was absolutely gorgeous -- after the rains the sky was so clear and blue today it was amazing this was Beijing.

Friends had told me that just before I arrived the air was so polluted, with no wind to clear the air or rain to wash the dust away.

Mao just barely visible behind the green sheeting

It wasn't too hot and perfect to walk outside which is what I did.

Before lunch I paid a quick visit to Tiananmen Square but was disappointed to see the Gate of Heavenly Peace with Chairman Mao's portrait obscured by green scaffolding. Perhaps they are fixing up the area before the 18th National People's Congress, the date of which has yet to be revealed.

The square itself is looking less like a square and more like a concrete park with large rectangular screens broadcasting feel-good images of China, and more greenery perhaps to soften up its image. However there are intense security checks just to get into the square which completely deters anyone from even thinking of doing something that could cause a ruckus.

I crossed over to the north side and walked towards Wangfujing. Many people were eating yogurt popsicles, hanging out on street benches napping or chatting amongst themselves.

Wangfujing is just as commercial as it's always been. While Louis Vuitton and Gucci don't have an overt presence, stores like Nike, Van Cleef & Arpels, Hermes and Zara are there.

Security guard getting his shade thanks to McDonald's

And when a security guard has a McCafe umbrella to shade him from the sun, there must be some kind of guanxi between the government and McDonald's...

However people mostly wandered up and down the street gawking at the high-end merchandise.

While we didn't really need it today, all along the pedestrian-only path there are these tall metal machines with vents spewing cool mist.

It's a great idea to beat the heat, but is it really environmentally friendly, having these machines using energy to pump out mist that immediately evaporates?

Nevertheless, it was even more entertaining seeing some country bumpkins visiting the area, point at the machines and wonder what they were for. They probably thought those city folk just can't take the heat.

An energy-guzzling mist-making machine

Perhaps my happiest moment today was when I got my watch repaired.

Five years ago when I first lived in Beijing, I went to a repair shop in Wangfujing to get my watch fixed.

The repair man chastised me for not taking better care of my watch, exclaiming how dirty it was. He replaced a part and cleaned the watch as good as new and warned me not to get it wet.

But five years later, my watch would stop and start in the last few months and then yesterday the hands refused to move.

So I took it to Wangfujing, hoping the repair shop would still be there -- and it was!

The same repair man wasn't there, but a cheery one who meticulously took apart my watch, checked several parts and then revealed that one of them was broken and needed to be replaced. I can't remember if it was the same one, but I was relieved when the watch started working again.

He didn't criticize me for the state of my watch but cleaned it carefully before putting it back together.

I was so thrilled the watch was fixed as I've had it for at least a dozen years and find no reason to replace it.

The watch repair guy examining my timepiece

However my joy was short lived when I walked to the end of Wangfujing to a hutong where a friend had taken me to for dinner once.

It was purportedly the first restaurant in Beijing after the end of the Cultural Revolution and the beginning of reform and opening up in the late 1970s.

I don't remember the food being good, but very oily, however it was just the historical pedigree of the place that made it special. And it was filled with laobaixing or ordinary people who were probably residents in the area.

So I was sad to see the hutong surrounded by a metal wall and the hutong was demolished.

Where did the restaurant go? Where did the people go?

It's the sad reality of development in Beijing...

Checking Out More Old Haunts

Slow-baked salmon with spinach and figs

As soon as I had booked my ticket to Beijing, my next order of
business was to reserve a table for the famous Sunday brunch at Maison
Boulud.

I used to go there periodically especially when guests were in town
and particularly missed the warm madeleines at the end!

This morning it rained and I worried about how the rest of the day
would pan out. But then eventually the rain stopped and the weather
was cool and refreshing. Not only were the temperatures perfect, but
we also breathed in some nice clean air.

For today's brunch I brought a good friend with me as we had a lot to
catch up and enjoyed the meal at the same time.

Quail egg tartine with chicken liver crostini and duck confit

However I was dismayed to find many guests did not bother to wear
decent clothes. At one table, a Caucasian couple was dressed up with
the man wearing a jacket and cufflinks, while next to them were people
in hoodies, T-shirts and shorts. How disorienting is that?

Nevertheless, we were eager to try the brunch menu and I ordered the
quail egg tartine, chicken liver crostini, frisee herb salad and
ragout of duck confit.

There were a number of flavours and textures happening in the one
dish, making it complex but also refreshing.

On top were three fried quail eggs with the yolks slightly runny, on a
bed of greens covering the crostini of chicken liver. The crunchiness
of the greens and crostini contrasted with the smoothness of the
chicken liver and we enjoyed the hearty serving of duck meat that was
not too dry.

Norwegian smoked salmon with a yolk in the middle

My friend was curious about how escargot tasted like and quite enjoyed
them, cooked in herbed butter, garlic, parsley and ham. They were
chewy, and heavily seasoned in the pungent sauce.

She also ordered the Norwegian smoked salmon, laid flat on the plate
and garnished with minced egg, a poached yolk in the middle and herb
salad with pumpernickel toast. She pronounced it delicious and
savoured each bite.

As for my main, it was prettily presented on the plate, a square piece
of slow-baked salmon, then spinach that looked like a dark green
rectangle block, then garnished with roasted black fig balsamic sauce.

On the whole it was an interesting dish that also had many flavours in
the mix. The salmon had a crispy crust but inside was moist and
perfectly cooked, while the spinach was warm and soft. There was a
small cube... couscous perhaps? It was a pity there were only two
slices of figs as this seemed like an intriguing combination with the
salmon.

Yummy madeleines that end the meal at Maison Boulud

In the end we were pretty much full (along with the French bread and
pastries), but definitely made room for the madeleines, light, lemony
mini sponge cakes sprinkled with icing sugar. A sated delight in each
bite. We felt obliged to try the petit fours but they were much too
sweet for us.

We walked off the brunch by going to Panjiayuan, another favourite
haunt of mine.

By observation there were noticeably fewer stalls open -- was this a
sign of the times? Or had people found a better way to sell their
goods?

In any event most of the things were the same. I tried to find curios
I hadn't seen before, but most were quite familiar, or variations on
things I'd seen.

Flipping through old school Chinese comic books

We wandered in the book stall area, a place I never went into before
and here many stalls were not open. There were tons of second-hand
books, mostly auction catalogues and old Chinese books, particularly
political ones. My friend was immediately brought back to her
childhood when she saw small comic books for sale. Some had historical
settings, others featured Donald Duck.

All kinds of collectable items were sold here, including coupons used
to exchange for cotton fabric, rice and meat. They were all in good
condition. There were also cigarette packages, some completely new,
others used and carefully extracted from the box. What would you do
with a whole stack of different packaging?

Then we went into the main covered market area and came to a Miao
ethnic minority woman's stall selling embroidery.

What do you do with cigarette packaging?

I've bought from them many times before and while I'm happy to buy the
embroidery, I'm sad to see that they are selling their cultural
identity for only a few hundred RMB. Many of the older pieces feature
very fine embroidery that is not done anymore. The newer designs are
colourful, but not nearly as intricate. She showed us a book pointing
out the various costumes they wore to show the different pieces of
fabric came from different parts of the outfit.

I wanted to show my friend the antique toy stall, but it was gone. It
had featured 1970s and 1980s toys made of metal and many of them moved
mechanically.

We also wandered to the back alley area where there used to be
temporary stalls next to each other, but only a few were left.

Newly-carved walnuts from the green fruit

On our way out we were surprised to see these round green fruits and
discover inside were walnuts. They were meticulously carved out of the
green flesh... but why would people want to buy them?

After seeing so many things our eyes were tired and we moved onto our
next destination -- Dawanglu.

I met another friend for dinner at Din Tai Fung. I came just before
6pm and was shocked to see the place was practically packed already.
This is arguably one of the most profitable restaurants in town.

Appetiser of seaweed, tofu and bean sprouts at Din Tai Fung

The menu has become a large red book filled with pictures. And the
variations on xiaolongbao are almost endless. There are even
xiaolongbao with black truffles inside.

But we stuck with the traditional ones and they were absolutely
divine. It's the thin skins that I love the most, holding together the
hot soup inside and combined with vinegar is a sublime experience.

We also ordered an appetizer of finely sliced seaweed, bean sprouts
and tofu that was refreshing and slightly spicy. The kaofu, or braised
wheat gluten was already sold out. Same with the river shrimps
stirfried with peas. How early do you have to come here to eat these
dishes? 5pm?

The perfectly delicious xiaolongbao

In the end we also ordered stir-fried pea shoots which were fine, but
I was disappointed with the shrimp and pork wontons, the shrimp seemed
smaller and overcooked, though the broth was the same standard as
before.

For dessert we ordered the mango with shaved ice and condensed milk.

We both gasped at the size, but the bowl was the same as the one I
remembered from before.

Nevertheless, we managed to finish the vast majority of it, the meaty
cubes of mango combined with cooling milk and ice.

Ending the meal with cubes of mango chilled in ice

By the time we finished our meal an hour and a half later, the table
next to us was about to have its third seating.

Amazing.

Revisiting Old Haunts

Saturday morning outside my hotel window

Today the view outside my window looked dreary... it was hazy, but
actually not too humid which was a good sign that the sky was not as
pregnant with rain as feared.

After the severe flooding in July, my friend told me that whenever
there are forecasts for rain, people think twice about going out
because of their bad experience. But in the end there were showers at
lunchtime and then in the evening.

Before meeting friends for lunch near Sanlitun I wandered around
Yashow or Cotton Market. It was early in the day so it wasn't that
busy, the stalls manned by young women in uniform fucshia polo shirts
pretty much hawking all the same things, from Abercrombie & Fitch tops
to socks and underwear, shoes and fake bags. They seemed bored and
gossiped with their neighbours or tried their best to chat up
foreigners to buy their goods.

I was grateful not to have a foreign face and managed to wander around
pretty much free of harassment.

Then I walked through Sanlitun and from the quick glance it looked
pretty much the same, with the anchor stores, Apple and Nike still
there. The water fountain continues to be a hit with the kids wanting
to cool down from the summer heat. There seems to be more locals than
expats at this mall which is a natural progression.

It's interesting to note that while Taiwanese book shop Eslite has
opened in Hysan Place in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay, going 24 hours on
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, Page One will be opening up in
Sanlitun going 24 hours as well. A copycat or a trend in bookstores?
We shall see.

Kids playing in the water park at The Village at Sanlitun

After lunch I headed to Silk Market at Yonganli. On the subway it's
annoying to find you still have to put your bags through a screening
device from a company called Nutech which by the way was run by
President Hu Jintao's son... what terrorist threat could there be now
that the Olympics have long gone, same with the 2010 Shanghai World
Expo?

Silk Market has changed quite a bit since I was last there over two
years ago. Many of the floors have upgraded, with the stalls having
glass walls on the outside and trying to look more upscale with shiny
gaudy floors and brighter lights. Some have done away with the stacks
of clothes covering the walls and try to present only a few outfits to
make it look more exclusive. For example there are blouses or dresses
with the Tory Burch label, others Chanel... are they real?

When I first came to Beijing, I bought a cashmere cardigan and loved
it so much that I wore holes through the elbows. It was difficult to
part with, let alone replace as the ones in Hong Kong are very
expensive.

So one of my missions was to find the same shop selling cashmere
sweaters from Inner Mongolia and luckily it is still there, with
pictures of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visiting the shop as
well as other dignitaries or foreigners they think are VIPs.

No one else was buying sweaters for summer so it was a pleasant
shopping experience, not without some bargaining.

In the end the sales girl put my things in a black plastic bag and
then the Silk Market-issued plastic bag. I asked her why the double
bagging, and she explained that she didn't want competitors to see the
goods. Really? That bad?

Competition got fierce in the basement where the fake bags are. It's
just so ironic that the government claims to be clamping down on fakes
and yet sanctions places like the Silk Market and Yashow to continue
their business. The demand from tourists is too great to ignore, as
they find these items too hard to resist.

Laden with goods, I schlepped back to Sanlitun to have dinner with
another friend. We ate at Turkish Mom, a place I used to eat at.

The shop space where Page One will be in Sanlitun

The menu is pretty much the same with hummus, tabouleh, dolmades, and
minced lamb with spices, though the mini dumplings are gone.
Nevertheless the food is still pretty good on the whole and
reasonable.

Afterwards I headed to Bodhi, the massage place I frequented when I
lived in Beijing.

Thankfully the full body massage wasn't as painful as I had
anticipated, and glad to get some kinks sorted.

I asked the masseuse how business was, and it seems it's still pretty
good. He said most of the clients were from Hong Kong, Taiwan and
overseas, which was the bulk of the business before as well.

Hopefully I'll be able to visit again a few more times before I leave...