China Diary

Coping with Power Deficits

Life has become miserable in different part of India due to power cuts on astaggered basis, in some cases lasting up to nine hours . Opposition leadersalways blame electricity boards or state governments for power problems . InChina, if it is any comfort, the situation is not any better, but people havelearnt to adjust with power cuts . In Beijing or Shanghai industries haveadapted to night and weekend use, thanks to the shutdown orders and pricingincentives .Charges for the use of electricity at peak hours in Beijing, thefirst of its kind , was decided by the Municipal Development and ReformCommission as a measure to alleviate imminent pressure on the capital’s powersupply . It was interesting for me to talk to some officials on this issue ,because I have seen darkness in some streets in the night hours .I have beeninformed that Beijing plans to invest more than two billion Yuan (about US$ 242million) to renovate its power supply networks and coordinate with power gridsin other parts of China this year: the country’s aggregate power gap isexpected to be about 20 million kilowatts . North China will face a powershortage of more than 4.2 million kilowatts . The Chinese capital is also likelyto raise its water rates to record high .In fact, now Chinese government or evenyoung citizens are not bothered about the ideology of Mao or the socialistpattern. They have only one aim: compete in the international market and beatAmericans .

The Chinese Cup of Cha 

Just as in my home town Ujjain, I found several tea shops during my China visit.Chinese teahouses are the traditional ancient cafes of the east, for gettingtogether and chewing the fat, or just an adda for time-pass. It was a goodopportunity to travel in the Yunnan state, the birthplace of tea. Of the 380premium quality teas, more than 260 originated here. The teahouse has become aplace for people to not only sip tea and relax , but also to hold socialactivities, private parties and conduct business. Apart from providing the old,traditional Beijing taste, the teahouses also act as hubs of cultural activities- so you can watch traditional  performances while nibbling at Beijingstyle snacks and delicacies, dating back to the Qing dynasty (1644-1911)emperors, says Dr. Jiang Jingkui of the Institute of South Asian Studies, PekingUniversity. Teahouses are mushrooming everywhere in large cities, in largetemples, travel resorts, hotels and office buildings.

Better manners for Beijingers?

The 13 million residents of Beijing have been given a little more than threeyears to improve their manners in time for the Olympics to be hosted by theChinese capital in 2008, according to an etiquette campaign launched by the cityrecently. It is hoped that with the campaign, Beijingers will become moreamicable. Officials are hoping there will be less senseless hooting of car hornsin the streets, and more generous welcome when foreign teams arrive at sportevents. Perhaps reason enough to want to have Olympics in Delhi!

Hire and Fire Journos

One scoop for my progressive journalist friends in India. We all attack thegovernment attempts at liberalisation and the leaders of the Left also speak upin support for journalist unions. However think twice before you use the exampleof Red China for labour reforms or protection. The Wenhui Xinmin United PressGroup is known as one of the largest newspaper groups in China and according toits president, Mr. Hu Jin Jun, as one of the leaders in the nations market-oriented reform , the group was amongst the first state-owned enterprises toimplement the contractual labour system. Its solution? Encourage employees tocompete. Headed by the leadership of the Communist Party, the group has growninto an enterprise with more than 3000 employees, with over 300 of them atsenior positions and net assets reaching RMB 2.82 bln. and a profit hittingabout RMB 400 mln annually . The group has been on a rapid developing track,which helps stabilize its management mode that guarantees its profitability .Let us hope more media persons from India will visit China and come back asgreat supporters of the policy to hire and fire .

Surviving as a Vegetarian

How are you going to survive in China as a vegetarian? This question wasasked by some friends before I left for China. But I have not only survived, butalso thrived. Indeed, the variety of vegetarian dishes encountered by me inChina is impossible to find in the fanciest of hotels in India. So if youthought, as I did, that only fish, duck, chicken, seafood and all kind of animalmeat would be available in Chinese restaurants, you'd be mistaken. I wassurprised and delighted by the sheer spread of the pure vegetarian menu on ourdining table -- assorted cold cuts, sautéed ginkgo with lily bulbs andvegetable, sautéed corn with asparagus, braised sliced winter melon with bamboofungus, double boiled Chinese cabbage with mushroom, sautéed shredded eggplantwith Chinese pancake, sautéed shredded bean curd with fungus and wild ricestem, sautéed honey melon with celery and Hawaii nuts , braised Yi Fu noodelswith nushroom. And for a nice finishing touch? Ice cream with green tea and freshfruits.