Ya Dead Yet? Nah, Mon!

And...We're back, and without the football (soccer) season to think about, our mind's focused on the "upcoming" 2010 Olympics, so why not reference a movie about another Olympics that was held in Canada?

Sorry about that bit of babble, but indulge me, we've been gone for a long time. So here's the plan, this blog will undergo a bit of rebranding, the focus will mainly be on the Beijing food and fashion scenes, expect fewer posts a week, but hopefully more quality. There have been a few promising Beijing foodie blogs, but they all end up sputtering out over time, as this is a big area of interest to us and we think we have something to offer on the subject, that's going to be the focus. So expect something like 70% food related posts, 20% fashion/shopping information, and 10% randomness.

If you've dropped us from your blogrolls, shame on you, you're gong to want to add us again! Also, thanks to all who've offered support and encouragement since we've gone silent. The return is thanks to purchasing a Witopia VPN, while its unbelievably slow and frustrating (any recommendations for a better VPN?!?), it gives us access to the world beyond the Firewall. All posts will be cross-posted at Modern Leifeng Inside the GFW for those who have to deal with the evil that is the Firewall, and we'll start out slowly, if all goes well, it may finally be time to purchase our own url.

Thanks to all the readers out there, please come back! And thanks to those who named us one of the Top 50 Blogs on China.

Finally, while this blog has dealt with sports in the past, we're moving all that to our blog Beijing Football (or for those outside of China, you can go to Gongti Legends).

On a Carousel

If you're involved in the online expat scene in China, there are a few people you come to know, very quickly, almost all in a very positive light, but one name has stood out over the years and it doesn't bring with it positive connotations, Chris Devonshire-Ellis. FOARP has the best, most comprehensive introduction of Mr. Devonshire-Ellis around.

The name led to many stories and blogs in previous years, but little has been heard about him lately, though recently he was back to his old ways, threatening the dean of Shanghai blogging, Wang Jianshuo. However, recently it appears Devonshire-Ellis did something unprecedented among bloggers in China and quite possibly around the world.

In his firm's "China Briefing" newsletter, he published a statement from a chummy "interview" with a Chinese government official in which the official makes very remarkable statements about the yuan, the Chinese currency, that, it seems were completely fabricated. China Law Blog has a great look at the whole story, breaking it down with links to other bloggers and some pertinent questions. Though it's doubtful that CDE could face legal charges for his questionable article, whatever connections he has to the Chinese government are certain to be burned. Pretending to be a journalist will get you in trouble in China, but when you do so and it influences the country's currency, I'd expect major ramifications.

This story is causing a mini-storm on twitter and could end up being the expat community's story of 2009, even though the year's only 2 months old.

Thank You Readers!

Thank you to all our readers who helped us finish 2nd in the Chinalyst Blog Awards, General Category this year. There are a lot of problems with the award system and voting, but, oh well, we're always glad for a tad bit of recognition. In 2009, we won't let you down!

A Brief Interlude

We've been away from blogging for a few days now, but hope to have some things up soon, during this interlude, let's play a game, Andrew Sullivan has a photo of the day each day and today's was taken in Beijing, anyone know what area of the city its from?

Who Are These Guys?

An interesting post from WSJ's China Journal on China's most influential 15 foreigners based on "their contributions to the country’s development over the past three decades." Don't worry, the hated Dashan was not among them, thank god, though if you read the list and ask yourself "who?" over and over, it's okay. Here's the list:

1. Robert A. Mundell (Columbia University professor, Nobel Prize winner, advisor to Bank of China)
2. Franklin Yang Chen-ning (physicist, Nobel Prize winner)
3. Lee Tsung-dao (physicist Nobel Pirze winner (shared with Yang))
4. John L. Thornton (director of global leadership at Qinghua)
5. Ian Fok Chun-wan (HK businessman, philanthropist)
6. Hein Verbruggen (IOC member)
7. I.M. Pei (architect)
8. Henk Bekedam (WHO's Chief Rep to China during SARS)
9. Werner Gerich (first foreign manager of Chinese company)
10. Sabriye Tenberken (blind German who started school for blind in Tibet)
11. Morihiko Hiramatsu (worked on agricultural programs in China)
12. Seiei Toyama (Japanese environmental expert)
13. Shoichi Hara (worked on rice cultivation in China)
14. Moris Topaz (Israeli surgeon who flew to Sichuan after the earthquake)
15. Edwin Maher (CCTV9 broadcaster)

Considering 3 members of the list were born in mainland China and one was born in Hong Kong, one wonders why the list didn't also include people like Wang Lee Hom and Chen Kaige (American citizens) and Gong Li, the controversial new Singaporean.

Out of the 15, how many did you know? A pop quiz here at A Modern Lei Feng revealed even our smartest expert only knew 4 (naming 1, 6, 7, and 9). Many Chinese, when only presented the Chinese names, could only come up 3 or 4. So what SHOULD the list look like?

All Over the Map, But Coming Back To Focus

Sorry all, it's been sort of a crazy week or two and this blog has been all over the map with lots of non-China entries and some that weren't really up to the standards we'd like to think we've set for the blog. We've got a number of entries in the pipeline and will hopefully have them up in the next few days.

While we're at it, make sure to stop by Chinalyst and vote for us! We're a bit back in the polls right now, but we believe we can make a come back. I don't mind losing to China Smack, which is a great blog that I really respect, as they do so much work translating interesting stories from the Chinese web for English speakers. However, we don't want to lose to the current leader, a blog that looks like it could win a China Blog award despite the fact the writer(s) seems to hate China.

Vote Early, Vote Often

Chinalyst once again started is annual competition for the best China blogs on the net. As always, I advocate the Chicago way of voting early and often for this blog, which is once again in the General blog category (competition is sure to be tough). Go here to vote for me, I want to say I appreciate all your votes. While you're there, consider voting for other great blogs like Beijing Boyce, China Law Blog, Silicon Hutong, and any of the other fine blogs in my blogroll.

7 Deaths...

The sudden announcement of the death of Yang Jia, the Beijinger who entered a Shanghai police station armed with a knife, killed 6 officers, and injured 4 others, brought about a storm of online thoughts. The story of Yang is far more complicated than just the facts, it includes having been arrested a few times and roughed up by the police despite his claims of innocence. It shocked many around China, though surprisingly many supported him or, at the very least, could sympathize with him.

I am not surprised by the reaction of working class Chinese, migrant laborers, and others who deal with being looked down on and mistreated by the police and others in power on a regular basis. However, when I saw this passionate entry by the popular middle class, white collar blogger, Wang Jianshuo, who almost never writes anything remotely "political", it did make me do a double take.

It doesn't matter what class you are or what your background is, it seems, abuses of power are just too common in China and people recognize the frustration that must have took over Yang, even if they don't agree with the end result. It is never okay to kill 6 people, but all the facts behind Yang's case (check out Black and White Cat below for more details), make it shocking that the government acted so swiftly, carrying out the execution less than 6 months from when Yang committed the horrific act.

I've been thinking about this for the past few days and I'm still at a loss as to what to say, so read the coverage from other fine sources:
NY Times
WSJ China Journal
Black and White Cat

China's Tough Times Ahead

Long before the economic crisis began, I've been talking about the difficulties that China will face in the 4th quarter of this year and the first few quarters of next year, but I feel like I'm always "crying wolf" in an environment that just doesn't want to hear it. The Olympics were incredibly costly, as talked about yesterday, the final price tag might have been in the neighborhood of US$40 billion and the pay off in return is sure to have fallen far short of what the government expected. There were definitely plans for how to deal with the costs of the Olympics, but even with the best plans 1. the losses were greater than expected, and 2. at some point they have to actually pay.

Beyond the Olympics, there was the unexpected consequences of the Sichuan earthquake and the huge bill that comes from that as schools, homes, and businesses need to be rebuilt from scratch in many cases. Even in the best circumstances, things were going to be hard, but when the global economy suddenly went down hill, its' going to be harder than ever on China, and especially those in earthquake damaged areas. This point was brought home excellently in a post on All Roads Lead to China.

Chongqing is far more tempting than Chengdu for most companies, especially as Bo Xilai works his magic there, but for companies looking to help (and get some good PR along the way), Chengdu should be seriously considered if they are looking to get away from the east coast.

Also, while on All Roads, I came across this scary post about fake Corona beer and some interesting comments. Having consumed more than my fair share of alcohol, its a sobering thought (sorry for the pun) and having been involved in some deals involving high end maotai, when you find out how little they actually produce each year and how much is actually out there, its pretty obvious that a large amount of the maotai for sale isn't kosher.

Bylines at Customs Returns?

The Olympics have been over for less than 3 months, but the mass of reporters in Beijing to cover the Games left before the start of September and skipped out on the Paralympics. Despite that, it seems reporters are still out published total crap stories on China. You see them all the time and they are utterly disappointing and rarely worth my time picking them apart. China Law Blog does an excellent job picking apart the Newsweek story about China being the world's most stressful place.

These sort of trend stories based on one or two incidents are just laughable, but easy to sell to gullible editors back home who know little to nothing about China and so the story passes their smell test. The problem is that too many readers will go on to believe it because "it was written." What is surprising is that the story is by Melinda Liu (at least it carries her byline) and while nobody is perfect, there are few with her depth of knowledge and experience writing on China nowadays. Even the best can make mistakes sometimes...

The Insanity of the Palin Pick, Redux

From the Editors:

When an entry on Sarah Palin, McCain's VP pick, was originally proposed, we figured "what the hell", we'll go with it. We are all varying degrees of liberal here and none of us like Palin, so despite this blog generally being focused on China, we figured it was time to join in on the Palin pile-on.

The "correspondent" who wrote the entry may not have been wholly clear in what she said, but we still support the gist of her argument. The Palin pick feels like a bad reality TV show, "Who Wants to Be America's Next Vice President." What makes it even scarier is the fact that John McCain's health is what you'd expect of a septuagenarian, that is to say, it's day to day. If elected, one wonders if his health will keep him in good enough shape to make it through four years in the White House, making his Vice Presidential choice absolutely important.

We respect and appreciate everyone who comments and emails us, both in support of an entry and opposing the views of an entry. The "Insanity of the Palin Pick" entry has caused a bit of an uproar, perhaps mainly due to the writer not being clear enough.

We have nothing against people from small towns, people who attended community/junior colleges, mediocrity, graduates of the University of Idaho, or hockey moms (we definitely have nothing against hockey moms, one of us is a proud product of a great hockey moms and hockey families sacrifice a lot for their children). We don't even have anything against people who'd name their kids Track, Piper, and Trig.

Sarah Palin was mayor of a tiny town in Alaska for 6 years and has been Governor of Alaska for less than 2 years. This, to us, is not enough experience for someone who would literally be a heartbeat away from sitting in the Oval Office. Her previous career was as a sports reporter for a TV station. Is this the person you want staring down Putin or Hu Jintao? Is this the person you want in charge of a nuclear arsenal? While Obama doesn't have overwhelming "experience", he has spent many years being a servant of his community, in one way or another. Yes, Joe Biden is from Delaware, hardly considered an important state, but his career in public service has lasted almost as long as Palin has been on this earth.

The Bush years brought the nation down to a new low, it showed that we would accept mediocrity in the White House if it was packaged right. We don't think the qualities we listed above (ie being from a small town, being a hockey mom, even being a graduate of the University of Idaho) disqualify anyone from being Vice President (or even President). As we said, one of our mothers was a wonderful hockey mom, but that doesn't make us think she'd be a good pick for VP. Looking at Sarah Palin and her pitiful credentials for the job, it makes it obvious there is one reason John McCain picked her, because she is a woman. It seems Palin was one of the few, if not the only, young female Republicans around, and so McCain, weary of picking a Libby Dole or Kay Bailey and thus being identified as the AARP ticket, chose the only young female, even though she was completely unqualified.

Blogging (or Not) the Olympics

The consortium that is "A Modern Lei Feng" has come together and been discussing how to treat the Olympics. The world's largest sporting event is in our backyard, the spiritual home of this blog, what should we do?

We have contributors in Beijing, around China, and in many past (and future) Olympic cities, including Tokyo, London, Atlanta, and Chicago (fingers crossed for 2016!). However, we've decided that no matter what, constant live-blogging from all these locales won't make much difference. We know our readership isn't very large and if it hasn't gotten big before the Games, it's not going to change during them. Plus, there are so many reporters who have much better access than us. Beyond that, for our contributors in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenyang, the Olympics should be about enjoying the spirit and excitement of the times, this once in a lifetime experience, instead of rushing to a computer to constantly write down their thoughts.

Therefore, for the next few weeks, we'll bring you regular content if/when there's a big story and perhaps offer some daily Olympic updates, but there will be no over the top or special coverage. Enjoy the blog and enjoy these Olympics!

Celebrate!

It's as if the GFW knowns my pain after the defeat and wants to console me, surprisingly, blogspot is back online, we'll see how long it lasts, but its a nice attempt at helping me get over the defeat...

Giving Credit Where Credits Due

Jaunted has put together an interesting series on the Beijing Olympics and a recent entry talks about Beijing's Olympic/Paralympic preprations as related to the disabled, the title being "Accessibility Is a Pipedream." I've been very critical about Beijing's treatment of the disabled and its Paralympics preparations, but in this sense, I'm a little frustrated.

Perhaps I'm just more optimistic lately about how things will go, but I think there is more than meets the eye on this issue. The article's focus is overwhelmingly on the 10,000 sign language translators that are currently in training. To be honest, I always thought the focus on sign language training for the Paralympics was a bit strange, the Paralympics don't include any deaf athletes. The article brings up a good point about what type of sign language the trainees are learning (its my understanding it is Chinese Sign Language, as well as some International Sign Language and/or American Sign Language) and how easy it will be for them to communicate with deaf people.

What the article is missing is the fact that Chinese people are learning sign language (and other lessons and skills to help them interact more conveniently with disabled people). The article states:

About 30,000 Beijing-based volunteers have now signed up for "disability
training" ahead of the Olympic Games. As we speak, they're undertaking crash
courses in how to deal with handicaps of all types, from physical disabilities
to visual and hearing impairments to learning difficulties.

The fact that this is true is what really matters. There needs to be more interaction between disabled individuals and everyone else, they need to be seen as worthwhile individuals who can be integrated into society. The more opportunities that people have to learn there is very little difference between the able-bodied and disabled, the better. Beijing's move towards making the city (and society as a whole) more accessible doesn't seem to be a temporary one, but a permanent attempt to change things.

The Westside is the Bestside!

I really want to love the Bizcult blog, they come up with such great titles for their articles, but having read 2 recent posts, I find a lot to disagree with, though, I should let them off as its the articles they're quoting that lead them astray. Their blog entries typically start out with some creative lead-ins to introduce an article and then goes into it further.

One, for example, looks at Beijing’s west side and a mall that’s a favorite here at Modern Lei Feng, Joy City (check out our post about it here). It starts out: “What’s the west side of Beijing known for? Maybe squat toilets, newspapers on bulletin boards or old men playing cards.”

Huh? Wha??? Wait a second, why diss the west side? By the way, what accounts for the west side? Does it extend to the southwest and Fengtai? Does it go northwest to the university area in Haidian? What about the foreign enclave that is Houhai?

It goes on to say: "International retailers could be giving that more 'traditional; side of town a makeover. We’re not talking about Gucci and Prada. It’s more mid-range international retailers that are interested in the west side.”

Umm…What can I say, but WRONG! The “traditional” side of town? According to whom? First, if there is an area of Beijing that has resisted “change”, it would be the southern part of the city, basically anything south of subway line 2. As for international retailers not being interested in the west side, that’s if you don’t go any further west than Xidan. However, if you take the subway one stop further and head to Fuxingmen, you’ll find Armani, Cartier, Burberry, as well as Prada and Gucci, plus Beijing’s only version of the ultra-luxury department store Lane Crawford (all located in Parksons and Seasons Plaza).

The west side is positively overflowing with big money, all the banks are located there and it has now become the financial district, walk around Fuxingmen at lunchtime and try not to bump into an I-Banker, I dare you!

Xidan isn’t a luxury spot, its sort of Beijing’s version of Tokyo’s Shibuya . It’s usually teeming with teens and twenty something’s who are looking for mid-priced goods. Joy City encompasses this outlook, full of your typical foreign high street shops or their Chinese equivalents (ie Zara, Next, French Connection, Izzue, and Esprit), but also the lower end Chinese brands like Baleno, Giordano, Semir, and all the rest. It’s basically a mirror image of The Place, which the writer described as “posh.”

The article states that Xidan “hasn’t always been a hit with foreign brands” just because Uniqlo failed there is a bit of a stretch, what about the Uniqlo location that failed in what the article describes as the “luxe” (a major stretch as its very mixed) that is Oriental Plaza?

In another entry talking about Chinese retail therapy, Shanghai is used as an example. The lead in to this one uses Nanjing East Road as an example, though this isn’t a very useful example because that area is filled with low-end Chinese and Hong Kong brands and very few “high street” brands and no luxury brands (beyond luxury watches).

The article concludes “While it is clear from Nanjing East road that more affluent customers don’t mind paying extra for that hip foreign brand, it’s not enough to sit back and rest on your laurels quite yet.” Again, what? Affluent shoppers are NOT going anywhere near Nanjing East, their down the road on Nanjing West at Plaza 66 and Plaza City or they’re roaming around Xintiandi. Further, Nanjing East Road is NOT a place to find local Shanghainese, it’s a place to find tourists, Chinese and foreign, but only tourists.

We feel a bit sorry for the blog as they dropped these entries right into our wheelhouse, so we felt the need to correct them. We have 2 lifelong west side residents here and so they were especially sensitive about the insult.

We do really want to thank Bizcult though as the article which led to their westside post has us starting to dream as it said that major foreign stores like the UK's Topshop and the US' Urban Outfitters and Banana Republic are coming to China this year. If this is true, it could be an expensive fall for us...

Crazy Right Now...

Like everybody, I have a soft side for gossip. It's always fun to hear inside rumors and the like and for lawyers, the place to go for gossip is Above the Law. The website's focus is on what is affectionately referred to as "biglaw", the US' major law firms, and typically the New York offices of these firms. Granted, the majority of lawyers in the US don't come close to earning what the associates at these top firms earn, but it can still be interesting. The comments, a mixture of immature frat humor, real insight, and overall cattiness that would make the most gossipy high school cheerleader blush, are also well worth reading.

Recently, the site's focus has moved away from New York with a new feature called the "Asia Chronicles." The most recent post, Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams, paints a dreamy picture of what its like being an associate at a top firm in Asia. Sure, there are firms like Simpson Thatcher that pay a similar salary in Beijing/Shanghai/Hong Kong as in New York and throw in an $80,000/year housing allowance, that's right, HOUSING ALLOWANCE, as well, which will cause anyone, even some of those biglaw associates in New York to drool. Imagine what it's like for people at top Chinese firms who are working just as hard as associates at the foreign, biglaw firms, but can't even get a salary that matches a US firm's housing allowance! If you're in the industry and you aren't at one of those firms, it can bring tears to your eyes...

Let me tell you, there are very few firms that are paying at those levels. If you want to be in a China office (especially Beijing/Shanghai), you'll be earning a good salary, but beyond a very small number of foreign firms, your salary will be far less than what you are paid in New York. That's not to say your salary won't be very high for China, but expect low 6 figures, high 5 figures with a minimal housing allowance at best.

It will be interesting to see the future of this series, but from the first few articles, its quite obvious that it is (heavily) sponsored by a recruiter, who seems to be trying to drum up business by selling people on how great it can be to work in Asia. At the same time, the number of extremely racist comments are startling. Frat humor is one thing, but these comments cross the line and are a disgrace considering that they most likely came from highly educated US attorneys.

Lawyers Writing About China

China Law Blog did a post a few weeks back about English language blogs on Chinese law and last week I got some props from Black China Hand who talked about the number of lawyers writing blogs on China.


I have the utmost respect for the people on CLB's list who take the time to write blogs on Chinese law. While some of the people blogging are lawyers who use their blogs as a marketing tool, a number of excellent blogs are written by students. I am blown away by the quality of China Business Law Blog, all the posts are extremely in-depth analyses of Chinese law issues and are extremely educational. I cannot imagine myself taking the time to write such posts (instead of studying or going to a bar) back in my law school days.

My status as a lawyer has been kept on the down low since I started this blog, though from time to time I do touch on legal topics, but my recent back and forths with Chinese Lawyer Blog has sort of outted me, that's okay.

While I love the law and find Chinese law extremely interesting, I can't imagine using time away from the office to blog about legal issues. I deal with law enough in the office, I don't want to take it home with me. Therefore, while this blog touches on legal and political issues occasionally, the focus is still on my favorite extracurricular activities. Thus, the focus will remain on sports, art, brands, and (in the weeks to come) especially dining out. I would like to think that I can hit on some of the major happenings, the shops, the restaurants of Beijing, but its hard because I don't have the resources that City Weekend and That's Beijing have. There are a few helpers here, but we all have day jobs and this is only a labor of love.


Anyways, make sure to read those blogs if you want to know what's happening in Chinese law, but please also take the time to stop by here and find out what's happening on the ground in Beijing.

Real Advise to American Law Students (and Contracts are King!)

I recently saw a post on that great bastion of idealism and legal insight, the China Lawyer Blog, and found it pretty amusing as usual. At first, the start pulled me in by saying: “Many US law students are contacting me these days for advice about how to get a job and succeed while working at a Chinese Law Firm, like my law firm Zhong Lun. A few of them already work as interns in Chinese law firms.” I don’t advertise my involvement, but every now and then I bring up legal issues. Students and alumni at my law school and random blog readers write me from time to time with similar inquiries about what its like to work at a Chinese law firm.

To simplify what was already very simple, I’ll just offer the 3 lessons that he offered:
Lesson #1: If you do business with Chinese lawyers, get them to pay cash when they eat.
Lesson #2: An internship at a Chinese law firm means nothing and will not help you.
Lesson #3: An entry level job with a law firm is hard to get and will make your life miserable. And, you have no prospect of ever improving your status.

Let’s start with the first "lesson", if his accusation against Zhong Lun is true, its pretty hilarious. The very best Chinese law firms are structured and run not much differently from US law firms and usually partners would, without any thought and usually with a battle over who pays the check, be more than willing to throw down their credit card and cover the entire bill. In most cases, this meal would be reimbursed by the firm anyways. Zhong Lun is among the top Chinese firms, but if what Mr. Brauer says is true, its corporate culture is highly flawed and still very Chinese, not like the other top tier firms here.

The third one is an interesting issue to deal with. He’s stating a fact. Life in a law firm, be it in the US or China or England or wherever is going to be hard, especially for an entry level associate and it will be a miserable life for awhile. This is true if you are working at a top firm in Beijing or New York or London. Young Chinese lawyers working at the very best firms located in the CBD here are chained to their desk, just like young lawyers at Wall Street firms in New York. Much like lawyers at those Wall Street firms, everything will be based on performance, annual or semi-annual performance reviews will decide what your bonus and raise will be and are handled highly professionally. It’s cut-throat, even more so in the US because of the size of the population, but if a young Chinese lawyer doesn’t like it, they can choose to stay away from the most prestigious firms and instead go to a small firm in Beijing or a smaller city (lawyers in the US face a similar choice when job hunting).

The second one is a little harder, and is also somewhat factual. If you are a young US law school student and you get an internship with a Chinese firm (usually through a summer study program), it is unlikely the internship will help you very much. The only time I’d advise coming over for a summer program is after your first year of law school, during the second year, its time to line up a summer associate position with long term prospects. A US law student, even if they speak perfect Chinese, doesn’t have a very good understanding of Chinese law and won’t be able to do many of the things a Chinese law school student could do. The internship is basically just a line on the resume and in almost all cases, it won’t mean a lot of real world experience. Though, if one uses the time wisely and builds up contacts and friends within the firm and with foreign lawyers here, the time won’t be completely wasted and the internship may lead to future employment.

Most importantly, the post’s title is “Don’t Ask Me To Pay You, Idiot! Contracts Are For Fools” and in the article Mr. Brauer states that, “The difference is that it is impossible to enforce a contract against Zhong Lun, especially if you are foreign employee or client.” This is completely and utterly not true, it couldn’t be any further from reality. You NEED to have a contract, both for the obvious reason of setting up the terms of your labor and because it is required when a foreigner applies for a work visa as well as under the current Labor Contract Law (if you don’t have a contract, you benefit bigtime, any law firm worth its salt will sign a contract before you even start).

Chinese courts, much like US courts, aren’t going to spend a lot of time listening to hearsay. If you can prevent evidence to support your case, they will listen, no matter if you are a foreigner or a Chinese. A contract is the ultimate form of evidence in an employment dispute and it’s anything but impossible to enforce it in court. However, it is absolutely important to have every term that is negotiated between the two parties included in the contract, verbal promises made in conversations that aren’t memorialized in the contract can’t be protected. Put it in writing! Let me repeat that, and let that be the only lesson here, PUT. IT. IN. WRITING. If you do so, and if the end result is a day in court, your day will be much smoother.

It is not easy getting a job in the China legal market and if you’re an American law student who isn’t a Chinese citizen, you are facing an uphill climb. Getting an internship with a Chinese law firm during your 1L summer is a good way to start climbing that hill. It is tempting to take an offer from a Chinese firm as there are very few that are willing to even consider foreigners for summer (or any) positions, but make sure it is the right firm. It will make all the difference in the world, a great firm may not give you a long-term offer, but the partners are likely to have contacts at foreign firms and will be willing to give you a hand. This is important, contacts matter, they matter a lot and go a long way in whether you can find a job. Being highly competent in reading and writing Chinese, especially legal Chinese, will be beneficial. Even in that case, its still a crap shoot in the end.

Time for Another Beatdown

You know, I've told myself its time to stop playing and get back on my game, I got the message from China Law Blog already. So its great when I got called out, again, by China Lawyer Blog (no connection to Dan's fantastic blog).

So now I'm a loser, well, sorry, I never said I ran with the cool kids, hell, I'm on blogspot after all. That said, a loser, sir? I've read your blog and I know that this is what you do because it seems you have nothing better to do, which is probably why Zhong Lun shit canned your ass.

I'm not saying I know the facts on the situation in Tibet right now and I know equally well that Mr. Brauer has no clue whats going on. In almost every account, they are quoting around a dozen deaths, but their source is Xinhua and (in a bit of bias) they fail to mention who was killed, according to Xinhua it was onlookers who got caught up in the stampedes. Of course Tibetan exile groups are claiming many more, but why are they to be trusted any more than the Chinese government, they obviously want to garner international sympathy. Look at the mayhem this has caused on the streets of Australia and India where police are also "brutally" quelling protests that have gone too far.

So far, having read almost every piece of news I could find on the story, (which basically is just different versions of the NY Times, AP, and Xinhua stories), it appears the Chinese government acted quickly and with a more restrained approach than during previous incidents in Tibet. Perhaps we are starting at 2 different points, I think Tibet is and will always be a part of China, maybe Mr. Brauer disagrees, but you wouldn't know it from his post. I like having discussions with people, that's why I blog, if you think my opinion is wrong, explain to me why. And while my tone toward the DL may have been a bit harsh, does anyone truly believe that he has no power to stop these protests? At the very least, his statements about "cultural genocide", harsh terms, could easily be viewed by some as incitement.

But see, that's an idea, it seems Mr. Brauer can't grasp ideas, he just resorts to name calling. So for you folks at home keeping score:

Modern Lei Feng, 2, China Lawyer Blog, 0.

"Well I guess I got my swagger back."

Whatever Happened To...Street Pizzas?

Thinking back to two years ago, it seemed a new phenomenon had taken over Shanghai. Everywhere you looked you saw people eating something out of a brown paper wrapper (which you'd see all over the street, too) that sort of resembled pizzas and were often even advertised as China's first pizzas, most notably the masses were crowding around a little stall not far from Raffles Plazza. It was a fad in Beijing, too, but not on the supersized level that it was in Shanghai, yet that famous stand in Shanghai is long chai'd and you no longer see these pizza like items for sale.

I'd almost totally forgot about all this until I saw a post at On the Fringe few weeks ago. The "pizzas" that I always thoroughly enjoyed were much like what she is describing, often times also featuring cumin and other yangrou chuanr spices and pieces of "lamb". It seems that this trend is still alive and well in Qingdao, where she appears to be writing from, but why its disappearance from the streets of Shanghai and Beijing? Those brown wrappers WERE everywhere, perhaps it was so ubiquitous as to make too big a mess and so got banned?