Hard to Break the Habit

Beijing's determination to clamp down on smoking is a puff of air

Just before the new year, China announced it would ban officials from smoking in indoor and public areas in a bid to encourage the general population to stop lighting up.

However with the integrity of Chinese officials hardly worth respecting thanks to the many outed by outrageous corruption, greed and complete lack of common sense, why would any intelligent person follow their example?

Meanwhile a UK study published in the New England Journal of Medicine says that if tobacco taxes globally were tripled, the number of smokers would be reduced by one-third.

Researchers say that would equate to saving 200 million people from premature deaths due to lung cancer and other related diseases worldwide.

But it doesn't seem like the Chinese government will take drastic action yet since it owns the tobacco industry and earns a lot of taxes from this lucrative sector, where cigarettes can be a relatively cheap habit to maintain -- depending on what you're puffing.

The UK researchers said it was imperative for China to play a role in addressing the smoking issue.

"Cigarette consumption in China continues to rise steeply and now accounts for more than 2 trillion of a worldwide total of about 6 trillion cigarettes smoked per year," they wrote in the paper.

"Tobacco already accounts for about 12 to 25 percent of deaths among men in low- and middle-income countries such as China. A low reliance on specific excise taxes on tobacco by China... discourages smoking cessation."

Professor Yang Gonghuan, director of China's National Office of Tobacco Control -- yes the mainland really has such an organization but its voice is like a lone cry in the wilderness -- said the Chinese government was unlikely to adopt the drastic increase in taxes.

Increasing tobacco taxes has been studied for a long time but never been implemented due to the powerful lobbying of the tobacco industry.

Tax on tobacco was last raised in 2009, but the industry was compensated through other policies so that it could increase the availability of cheaper cigarettes.

China made 865 billion yuan in tax revenue last year from over 300 million smokers, up 16 percent in from 2011. China National Tobacco Corp revealed last year in a rare regulatory filing that it made 300 million yuan a day in net profit in 2010. It's jaw-dropping, but also reveals how the government is also sucked deep into the habit of wanting to keep the cigarette industry going.

Meanwhile an estimated 1.2 million die from smoking-related causes each year. What is more important? More tax coffers to line officials' pockets or a healthier and more productive population to continue to boost China's GDP?

Obviously we know where the Chinese government stands on this issue...

Vancouver Eats: Cuchillo

Inside Cuchillo that has a warm yet edgy atmosphere

I just got back from dinner with a few friends at another new hot restaurant that opened in 2013 called Cuchillo on the edge of Vancouver's Chinatown. Like Pidgin, Cuchillo was also the focus of attention of anti-gentrification protestors which only drew more curious diners to the place that has no signboard except for a pair of neon purple skulls highlighting this Latin American restaurant.

Inside is a long narrow place of exposed brick with a bar near the front and an open kitchen at the back and long wooden tables for communal eating. We liked the three-dimensional tiled skulls that jutted out of the counter for the kitchen that made this place edgy and cool.

The restaurant's version of Albacore tuna ceviche

The waitress we had was very friendly and helpful, guiding us with suggestions of what to eat. One of her recommendations was the local albacore tuna ceviche ($14) that did not come diced up in a bowl, but instead cleanly presented in layers with two thick slices of tuna on top with a mild spicy sauce and on the bottom a warm Peruvian double-smoked bacon causa or potato.

After cutting up the ingredients and eating them together the flavours were complex and delicious. We also fell in love with the Lois Lake steelhead trout ceviche ($13), with chayote, a kind of lime-coloured melon, cucumber, jalapeno, and interestingly lychee, and mint basil dressing. It was very refreshing, crunchy and slightly sweet, the trout very tender.

Grilled octopus salad with heirloom tomatoes

Another favourite was the corn bread azul ($7). The waitress explained it was gluten-free which repulsed me at first as I've tried gluten-free baked items before that were hardly appetizing. However she said that it was light and fluffy and so we gave it a shot and we're glad we did. They were just as she promised with a subtle spicy kick from the guajillo chilli butter.

The taqueria or tacos here are also must-haves that come in twos. You can't go wrong with the pulled duck ($8), tender pieces of meat that were hardly oily, with roasted garlic topped with blackberry habenero jam. Thankfully each serving has an extra soft taco underneath to be able to carry the generous fillings.

Delicious pulled duck tacos with blackberry habenero jam

For salads we ordered the grilled evo local octopus confit ($13), that came with wedges of heirloom tomatoes and crispy Serrano ham for a contrast in textures. The octopus was cooked perfectly and definitely outshone the tomatoes.

By this point I was pretty much full, but had to try the highly recommended pork belly confit ($21). The fatty tender meat was dressed in a maple chipotle tamarind glaze topped with chicharon, or fried pork rinds, as well as patacones, or fried plantain slices. The combination of flavours here was amazing, again complex and delicate.

The famous pork belly confit was a hearty finish to the meal

Our reservation was at 6pm and we finished around 8pm, but because there didn't seem to be a barrage of customers waiting to be seated we were able to sit here for another few hours to round off a memorable fun evening.

Cuchillo

261 Powell Street
Vancouver
604 559 7585

cuchillo.ca

New Year's Viennese Style

Inside the Orpheum Theatre waiting for the New Year's concert to begin

To celebrate the start of 2014, my family and I went to The Orpheum Theatre to watch "Salute to Vienna New Year's Concert 2014" performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with Viennese conductor Matthias Fletzberger, guest performers and six dancers from the Kiev-Aniko Ballet of Ukraine.

We'd never gone to one of these concerts before so we were pleasantly surprised by the combination of Strauss -- lots of Strauss -- singing and dancing.

The program not only featured Johann Strauss ad his brother Josef, but also Franz Lehar and Emmerich Kalman.

After the Overture to Die Fledermaus, Fletzberger gave amusing commentary for each piece. Soprano Monika Fischl from Budapest was amazing, particularly when she performed her second piece, Johann Strauss' "Fruhlingstimmen" Walzer, Op 410, where she had perfect pitch and control of her voice. Towards the end she had a mini duel with a flautist!

We also enjoyed the comedic singing and dancing duo Szilvi Szendy and Karoly Peller, both from Budapest. They came out dressed in a sleek ballroom dancing dress for say the rumba and a tuxedo respectively so we were surprised to see him flinging her around, her going through his legs and him doing cartwheels. How do you do cartwheels on stage in a tux? She also did the splits!

The ballet dancers were a nice accompaniment to the orchestra, though it was more about the female dancers, while the men were more the arm ornaments.

Finally the audience got to have a bit of fun taking part in Josef Strauss' Jokey Polka, Op. 278 where the conductor instructed us when to clap as if giving a horse a slap on its behind. More clapping ensued in the encore of Strauss' Radetzky March where Fletzberger again gave us hand signals of when to clap.

"Salute to Vienna New Year's Concert 2014" is being performed across the country these few days, from Vancouver to Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Quebec City.

We had the music, dancing and singing Viennese style -- the only thing missing was the super dense chocolate cake called Sacher Torte!

Chinatown's Changing Face

The happening scene at The Keefer Bar in Vancouver's Chinatown

After dinner at The Farmer's Apprentice, my friend took me around to see neighbourhoods in Vancouver that have changed.

She drove us down to Chinatown, and the landscape there has changed considerably. The area was very vibrant when I remembered it in the 1970s and 80s. But next door the Downtown Eastside became known as the poorest postal code in Canada with a number of homeless people, prostitutes and drug addicts who inhabited the area and spilled into Chinatown.

This also coincided with other Chinatowns sprouting up in Richmond and then Coquitlam, so Chinese families didn't have to go all the way downtown to get Chinese groceries and cheaper fruits and cuts of meat.

Cool Chinese furniture sold here

As a result, some businesses folded and meanwhile the homeless, drug addicts and prostitutes would wander the streets of Chinatown, which made it a tricky problem for the Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Area Society.

No matter how much security the group would hire or contact police, the issue would not go away -- until business owners were open to the idea of inviting non-Chinese and non-traditional Chinese entrepreneurs into the area to set up shop.

This happened when I was in Vancouver in the early 2000s, with Wild Rice, a fusion-style restaurant opened on Pender Street next to the Lotus Hotel. The hip dining establishment was known for creating items like lychee martinis and western takes on potstickers and char siu bao.

One shop called Peking Lounge was opened by a pair of Caucasian men who liked going to China, where they bought antique furniture and knick nacks and sold them in Vancouver.

And then another big milestone happened when real estate marketing guru Bob Rennie bought the Wing Sang Building, the oldest building in Chinatown in 2004. Rennie kept the facade of the building that dates back to 1889 and renovated the inside which had been left neglected for decades.

It is now an office and gallery where visitors can come for free tours by appointment to look at the historical building that was both a home and storefront for businessman Yip Sang. He also had 23 children with four wives...

The rejuvenated Wing Sang Building

But back to 2014 -- many of the old shops have been changed into cool bars and restaurants. One that used to be a corner grocery store has been transformed into Oyster Express, serving freshly shucked bivalves with drinks, The Keefer Bar offers slick cocktails. Upstairs used to have suites for rent and had a luminous swimming pool on the top floor, but now are under private ownership.

There's also Caffe Brixton, a neighbourhood eatery and on the edge of Chinatown is Pizzeria Farina, a small pizza place my friend raves about.

When we visited on a Monday, most of the places were closed, but it was still heartening to see the momentum of breathing new life into Chinatown. The place isn't like I remembered, but has definitely become the hip place to be in Vancouver.