Cheese in Asia 奶酪在亞洲

I just read some story about the rise of the cheese consumption in Asia, propelled by American food chains with their offering such as cheese sandwiches and pizzas. 

最近我读到一些故事講述美國食品鏈與他們的產品，如奶酪三明治和比薩餅，推動了奶酪消費在亞洲的增长。

Cheese is the best thing I learned to enjoy in the U.S.  In China, the dairy product I ever had was milk and whipped cream.  In the U.S., particularly in the food-crazed California, we have huge varieties of cheese, with all kinds of textures, hardness and creaminess and flavors.

奶酪是我在美國學會了享受的最好的食品。 在中國时，我吃过的乳制品只有牛奶和掼奶油。在美國，特別是在讲究食品的加利福尼亞州，我們有极多品種的奶酪，拥有各種材質，硬度，奶油度和风味。

The only Chinese food I can think of to compare is dumplings.  The most famous dumpling restaurant in my home city, Shenyang, 老边饺子馆 (Old Bians' Dumpling Restaurant), boasts several dozens kinds of fillings.


唯一可比的中國菜是餃子。我的故乡沈陽的最有名的餃子館，老邊餃子館，擁有幾十種品种。



Cheese can be a tough sell to Asian countries where pastures are not widely available and dairy productions are not daily staple food.  Its distinctive flavor and smell can put off some people and maybe even upset someone's stomach - someone claims that Asians lack a certain enzyme to digest cheese.

奶酪可能较難推銷給沒有很多牧場的亞洲國家，那里奶製品不是每天主食。奶酪的獨特的風味和氣味让人排斥，甚至可能造成消化问题 - 有人称亚洲人缺乏消化奶酪的酶。


I fell in love with cheese immediately and appreciate good cheese very much, but am not shy away from cheesy food generally offered in fast food chains. Quality not quantity.

我从一开始就愛上了奶酪，并学会了欣賞优质奶酪，同时我迴避快餐連鎖店提供的一大滩奶酪的食品。质量而不是数量。

When my parents visited me from China about ten years ago, I was a bit concerned with their ability to appreciate it cheese or even to be able to digest it, particularly my mother who does not like taste of butter much.  However, they enjoyed the good Parmesan cheese I served with pastas very much and I felt confident enough to serve them more varieties of safe (less smelly) kind cheese. 

大約十年前，當我的父母從中國来看我，我有點擔心他們肯不肯吃奶酪，能不能消化它，尤其是我的不喜歡奶油的味道母親。然而，他們很喜欢我加在通心粉里的乾酪，我有信心让他們尝试了更多品種的安全（味道不重的）的奶酪。
 
I don't doubt that some Chinese and other Asian people have trouble in digesting dairy product but many don't and they can learn to appreciate good cheeses just as well as westerners.

我不懷疑，一些中國和其他亞洲人有困難消化乳製品，但很多人没有这个问题，他們可以學會和西方人一样欣賞好的奶酪。

中美物价 - Is the Price Right?

There is a well-read article circulating online, comparing the prices in China and in the US and UK.  The zest of the article is that the prices in the developed countries are much lower than those in China.  Many Chinese readers expressed their frustration over this "fact". 

However, the prices quoted in the article are often skewed or simply wrong.  There are many facts were not known to the author of the article who admitted that he only spent two weeks in the US to investigate the prices.

1) Many prices prices listed are inaccurate. Many prices quoted were seen in shops and restaurants operated by Chinese, or in open market, while prices quoted in China were often in the department stores.  The article mentioned $0.99/pound pork or ribs.  Meat costs that low is extremely hard to find in the US if not impossible.  The quality of the meat must be miserable as well.  In the US, pork costs usually in the range of $5-8/pound.   The article even mentioned the price for BMW Z4: $21,000.  I did a quick search and found the sticker price of $43,655 - $57,500 ( http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/BMW_Z4/ ).

2) there are historical reasons for price differences.  US is a fully developed country and the percentage daily costs are lower than the developing country as China.
3) There are many costs in the US unknown to many Chinese, such as personal income taxes.  A textbook in the US often cost $100-200 while in China they are printed on cheap paper and cost on the par of mass-market paperbacks.  In the US, medical insurance cost is very high and the article failed to mention that.
4) Many luxurious goods Chinese crave are luxurious goods to Americans as well, such as Coach handbags.
5) The low costs in the US is not sustainable.  It is supported by the huge national debts.  Relying on consumers for economic growth is like drinking poison to quench thirst.  The low tax for the rich is not a good example either.
6) The article mentioned that all the houses in the US can be called a villa.  It is not true.  The quality of American single family houses are quite low. 
7）Article also mentioned that in China, if one is well-educated, one needs to own a house (flat) otherwise he/she would not have any dignity.  Nonsense.  In the US, many house-owners take out 30-year loans and often re-finance down the road.  Once the houses are paid off, they are often near the end of the life.

In short, low prices in American have many political and historical reasons, but should not be copied.

Of course, from a consumer point of view, is unfair.

1）文章列出的好多美国物价不准确。华人的店， 基本是脏，乱，差，物价当然低。猪肉，排骨 0。99/磅， 除了赤贫，谁敢吃? 那个价现在在华人店也没有。猪肉一般是5-8 美元/磅。宝马Z4价格： $43,655 - $57,500， 不是文章说的$21000 （ http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/BMW_Z4/ ）。
2）中美发展水平不同，造成消费水准不同。发展程度愈高，日常费用比例愈低。
3）美国人有好多其他消费，文章没有提， 比如个人税收。美国的一本教科书，一般价格$100-200。医疗保险费用高。

4）好多中国人喜欢的，对美国人讲，也是奢侈品，比如 Coach 包。
5）美国人的低物价，造成美国国力衰退。美国人的低物价是中国买的美国国债支撑的， 而且持续不下去。靠消费引导经济增长是饮鸠止渴。美国富人的低税率也不可学。
6）美国的住房并不好。所谓别墅也不准确。你们看到美国龙卷风, 水灾的报道，也应该看到那些"别墅"。
7）30岁要有房，否则失去尊严？他们也太好面子了。美国人买房，大多要申请30年贷款。中途再贷。好多人房子付清了，一辈子也快过完了。

总之，美国人低物价是事实，有历史原因和政策原因，而且并不可学。

当然，从消费者角度看，是不公平。

Restaurant Menus - 餐馆菜单

In the food obsessed San Francisco region, many restaurants have very small menus and they change often, to reflect the fresh ingredients available during the season.

Over the years, I have learned to appreciate short menus, which often indicate the chef would pay close attention to every dishes on the menu.  This type of menu can be found most often in the so-called Californian cuisine restaurants but now even some Chinese restaurants are catching up the trend, and no longer offer those several dozens of cooking methods of entirely interchangeable pork, shrimp, chick or beef - unfortunately they still persist in many generic and lackluster restaurants, being everything and being nothing.

在講究美食的舊金山地區，許多餐館的菜單都非常短小，而且經常變更，以反映當前季節的新鮮果蔬。

多年來，我學會了欣賞簡短的菜單，這往往表明廚師將密切關注菜單上的每一道菜。這種類型的菜單經常出現在所謂的加州食品餐廳裡，但現在連一些中餐館，也已趕上潮流，不再提供幾十種烹調方法，完全可以互換的豬肉，蝦，雞或牛肉- - 但仍有一些通用和無光澤的餐館堅持使用那些，什麼都是，什麼都不是的傳統菜單。



Related blog / 相关题目: Ordering Food in Restaurants 点菜

Chinese College Graduates Abandon Pets 毕业生离校 大量宠物遭抛弃流浪校园

It has been reported by Chongqing Evening Newspaper that in universities, every year many pet dogs and cats got abandoned by their previous owners who graduated and moved away from campuses.

The picture below shows one of such abandoned cat in Southwestern Normal University.  The staff had tried to chase away some abandoned dogs, for fearing of attacks on students and some staff started to feed those lovely cats.

据报道, 每年一到学生快毕业的时候，学校的流浪猫狗就越来越多。近日，重庆晚报记者接到不少高校学生的电话，反映校园流浪猫狗越来越多。

下图是这样的一只被遗弃的在西南政法大学的流浪猫。工作人员担心流浪狗伤人, 曾赶走一些流浪狗, 而有的工作人员则开始喂一些可爱的流浪猫。


Source: People's Daily

Getting Up - 起床

Getting up in the morning is often hard for young people.  People who need to get up on time in order to go to school or work often find reliable means to wake them up.

In the US, independent people often use alarm clock to woke them up, while in China, young people often rely on their elders to wake them up.

Not only old people need to wake up their adult child(ren) who live with them, they are to wake up visiting nieces and nephews and their families.

As the manufacturer for the world, alarm clock can be easily bought in China and it won't cost much.  The dependence of the young people on their elders is rather unseemly.

Perhaps there are tiger-mothers and wolf-fathers in China, but they are, actually rare. 

年輕人早上起床往往很困難。需要準時起床上學或上班的人需要可靠的手段來喚醒他們。

在美國，獨立的人經常使用鬧鐘叫醒他們，而在中國，青年人往往依賴於他們的長輩來喚醒他們。

老人們不僅需要喚醒和他們住在一起的成年子女（们），他們还要喚醒來訪的侄儿侄女和他們的家庭。

鬧鐘可以很容易地在作為世界的製造商的中國購買到，而且也不會花很多錢。這種年輕人对他們的長輩依賴的是不體面的。

在中國有也許虎妈和狼爸，但它們實際上很少。

Grandma

© Matthew Felix Sun

Mother's Day in China - 母亲节在中国

Mother's Day, like Christmas, is a new fad in China.  Besides making or buying gifts for their mothers, Chinese kids were made to do something rather a bit strange.

It was reported that in a small town in Jiangxi Province, one hundred school pupils were rounded up, along with their mothers, to form a formation in the middle of school playing ground, and were required to wash their mother's feet, to demonstrate their love toward their mothers.

In Taiwan, a principle of a middle high school washed his 93-year-old mother's feet in public.

Many students did not feel comfortable in doing so.

The same news segment also reported that in a high school in Guangdong Province, 600 middle school students participated a so called Adulthood Ceremony, by kneeling down to their parents to receive a "Family Letter" to mark their passing into "Adulthood".

Facing some criticism regarding the kneeling, the principal countered that kneeling is the highest honor in China and if children don't knee to their parents, how could they express their gratitude towards their parents?

It's nauseating to see the demeaning of the young and lacking of dignities of all participants.

母亲节, 和圣诞节一样，是中国的一个新时尚。除了为其母亲制作或购买礼物，中国孩子们被要求做一些奇怪的事情。

据报道，在江西省的一个小城镇里，一百名小学生们, 连同他们的母亲, 被集合起来在学校操场形成一个方阵, 为他们的母亲洗脚，以证明他们对他们的母亲的爱。

在台湾，一个高中校长公开为他的93岁的老母亲的洗脚。

许多学生觉得这样做很不舒服。

同一个新闻还报到说，在广东省的一个高中，600名初中学生，跪在地上从父母手中接收"家书"，以通过所谓的成人仪式, 纪念 "成人"。

面对一些就下跪的批评，该高中校长反驳说，在中国下跪是最高的礼节荣誉，如果孩子不跪他们的父母，他们怎么能表达对父母的感激呢？

对年轻人如此贬损和所有参与者的尊严缺乏, 让人很恶心。

What (Not) To Bring As Gifts - （不）要带什么当礼物

While cleaning my drawers, I encountered some gifts I brought with me from China to the U.S. near twenty years ago.  I had never found an appropriate opportunity of giving them out.

They are quite proper gifts actually - small tea cups, fans, silk handkerchiefs, clay figurines, postcards, embroidered table decorations, etc.

In general, it is very hard to give gifts in the US, particularly those exotic gifts we brought from China -- they are often in appropriate, because of the style, taste or value.

In the US, people often give small gifts such as flowers, chocolate, etc. to show appreciation, and gifts from China often seem too serious.  For major events, such as wedding, brides and grooms usually register with department stores and list what they desire as gifts.

More over, the gifts with distinct Chinese flavor can be hard to sell - Americans who do like those exotic items are in clear minority.

I remembered that I tried to give my first academic adviser a set of Great Wall postcards (very cheap and appropriate) but still he declined after carefully and respectfully viewed all the postcards.

For any new comers to the US from China, I recommend bring several gifts, mostly little ones, beautiful but not screaming Chinese.  A few more distinguished gifts can serve in the right moments, which can only in many years' time.

Generally speaking, when you give gifts to people you are not familiar with or have higher social standing, often, you are making them embarrassed.

打扫我的抽屉，我翻出一些近二十年前我从中国带到美国的礼物。我始终没有找到了一个适当的机会把它们给出去。

它们其实是很适当的礼物 -- 小茶杯，风扇，丝绸手帕，泥人，明信片，绣花装饰表等

在通常情况下，很难给美国的礼物，特别是我们从中国带来的异国情调的礼物- 往往因为风格，品味或价值不适当。

在美国，人们常送鲜花，巧克力等，以展示赞赏或感谢, 但来自中国的礼物，往往显得过于庄重。对于重大的事件，如婚礼，新娘和新郎通常百货公司登记，列出他们希望得到的礼物。

进一步，具有鲜明的中国风味的礼物也很难出手 -- 美国喜欢那些外来品的确为少数。

我记得我试着给我的第一个学术顾问一套长城明信片（很便宜，很合适的），但他恭恭敬敬地仔细观看所有的明信片，仍然谢绝了礼物。

对于任何从中国到美国的新来者，我建议带几件礼物，大部分小礼物，漂亮却不尖叫中国特色。几件更出众的礼物也可以，在合适的时刻给出，通常在多年以后。

总之，当你送礼物给不熟的人， 地位比你高的人， 往往让他们很尴尬。

Red Flowers
Oil on Canvas

© Matthew Felix Sun
www.matthewfelixsun.com