News
In the Local Media: July 2014
Oh, Rat Farts Following an incident last summer at the Hillview Golf Club, in which a guest was hit by lightning, a law suit has been brought before the Dongcheng People’s Court by Mr. Deng, the victim of the accident. Deng, who was playing with two friends when the sky turned dark on July 20, […]
Sea Turtles Celebrates
The Dongguan Overseas Scholars Association (DGOSA) celebrated its second anniversary with an awards banquet at the Sofitel Royal Lagoon in Dongcheng. The organization is made up of a particular group of people. Having studied abroad, they’ve gained advanced expertise and learned international practices. They are also familiar with the domestic market and its rules, possessing […]
Old Brand, New Center
On October 17, 1989, Nestlé broke ground to build the factory that General Manager Alain Barblan says made them the first multinational company to invest in Dongguan. Coming up on their 25th anniversary, Nestlé opened a Dongguan R&D Center last month inside Hsu Fu Chi, a manufacturer of confectioneries, biscuits and traditional snacks. Barblan said […]
Around Town
The Motivational Manager
ABC Company, an American corporation, had recently formed a joint venture with a Chinese company. They built teams that consisted of foreign managers and Chinese staff, who were responsible for developing and marketing new products. However, within a few months, it became obvious that there were significant problems. The teams were not working well […]
Home Made: I Like This Pie
As much as I enjoy learning how to survive in the throes of inconvenience by rising to a challenge, sometimes I just want things to be easy, and to stick to my comforts. In other words, there are limits to my tolerance, and although I’ve tried to model my life around concepts of adaptability, there […]
Sunlight Phobia
Although the sun has been generous to the land of China, giving abundant sunlight during the year, it’s obvious that Chinese, especially women, don’t really appreciate this kindness. They don’t like being exposed to the sun like many Westerners do, which is noticable in the amount of umbrellas are on the streets during sunny days. […]
Summer Reads: Red Sorghum Review
In 2012, Mo Yan became the first writer from Mainland China to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. The prize was considered a watershed moment in Chinese literature and it brought Mo’s work to the attention of a much wider audience. Red Sorghum, published in 1987, is arguably his most famous novel. It tells the […]
Interests
Run with the Money: Repatriating Cash from China
For foreign companies with subsidiaries in South China, repatriating cash from their China company has always been an important and challenging issue. There are several ways of repatriating cash from China, the most obvious is for a company’s subsidiary to pay dividends directly to its foreign parent company. However, only profits that have undergone annual […]
From Folly to Volley: The Dongguan Tennis Center Takes Serve
In 2011, Liu Zhigeng, the Secretary of the Communist Party in Dongguan, announced the development of the Dongguan Tennis Center, a state-of-the-art tennis stadium and facility capable of hosting the world’s best tennis players. The announcement, however, was met with confusion and suspicion by some. Tennis was not popular and the allocation of funding on […]
World Cup Update: Road between Germany and Brazil
Everyone thought that a World Cup in Brazil would be a big deal. But now, after the group stage is done and half the teams are still on the battle for victory and glory—and the other half, including some major blows, are flying home—it’s safe to say that no one imagined such a festival of […]
Brazilian, Football Addict, Visitor: A Sports Journalist away from Country, but Connected to Team
Being an expat is never an easy task. But, when you are Brazilian, love football and are 19,000 miles away from home during a World Cup being played in Brazil, these feelings are made a bit more extreme. That was the case with the load of Brazilians that left the comfort of their homes during […]
Living Here
Hengli
HISTORY Hengli is famous for its cattle market, which started during the Ming Dynasty, a time around 600 years ago when farmers were unequipped with modern scales and animal weight was determined by sight. Five centuries later, the cattle market is still going and its importance to Guangdong’s history was recognized as a cultural heritage […]
Wanjiang
HISTORY Wanjiang started as a village during the Ming Dynasty in 1464. It was initially named Wan Jia Zhou, which means “a delta with 10 thousand houses.” Not until 1797 did the name Wanjiang, or 10 Thousand Rivers, take over because the place was crossed by many rivers. Like any other of China’s river-fertile areas, […]
Houjie
HISTORY The literal translation for Houjie, Thick Street, is a reference to the town’s association throughout its history with relative affluence and wealth. Stories say that over 800 years ago, a high-ranking official moved from Fujian, settling on a street with a similar name. At that the time, it was ‘Back Street,’ a name with […]
Model Mandarin: Internet Slang
BEAR IN MIND Remember how to speak by saying things you shouldn’t. Some words are not necessarily found in traditional dictionaries. However, people use them quite often in daily language. shàikè 晒客 Shài literally means to be exposed to the sun, and is used to mean‘showingoff;’ kè, meaning client or guest, refers to the person. […]
Other Recent Posts
Summer Reads: China Dolls
Lisa See’s China Dolls paints a story of three young women—Ruby, Grace, and Helen—and their journey through the American Chinese Night Club Era. The story begins in the 1930s where three girls of different backgrounds, with different tragic histories behind them, as their paths meet in coming together to perform in one of the earliest […]
Route 66: Work Ahead
Batou, for some, is an oasis from the norm, for others it is a portal to off-key Mando-pop with Casio drum lines. Route 66 can be filed as a confused drinking environment with Americana bric-a-brac strewn about the walls. America’s “mother road” is on display in road signs and memorabilia without much cultural context in […]
Roadhouse Bar & Grill: Rubbed Tummies
The newest venue for Western fare and entertainment lies at the foot of Qifeng Park’s steepest climb. Roadhouse Bar and Grill, aptly named for its thorough replication of suburban American steakhouses, boasts slow-smoked BBQ dishes, steaks, burgers, and others. The front patio is a nice place to have lunch and a beer on a cool […]
Snooker’s Back
Coming just three months after the World Snooker Dongguan Open, the city’s first international snooker event, the sport is back with another pro tour stop. The 2014 CBSA World Snooker Tour Yixing Open-Dongguan Division took place on June 5 through 8 at the Li Jian Bing Billiard Club. The competition welcomed over 80 professional and […]
