Tell it to Steven Hawking. A person's physical stature does not limit his/her potential for work that does not rely on his/her physical stature (e.g., English teaching, as well as physics). The cultural attitude that those who are discriminated against because they do not fit the culturally desired norm should be outcast or should be provided for by special environments that can be sold as entertainment venues to those who will not deal with their own prejudices is a cultural attitude that perpetuates discrimination against all who are 'different'. The problem here, as elsewhere, is a matter of dehumanizing those who are 'different' - prejudicial culture that regiments anything that deviates from its standards, rather than dealing with the prejudice itself. Why not have a theme park within which 'foreigners', with all their funny habits, can be kept, so that they do not disturb the 'normality' of cultural prejudices? Actually, there could be many: one for 'black people', one for Tibetans, one for Japanese, one for gay people, one for Han Chinese people who have given up their 'traditional' clothing for 'western-style' clothing (e.g., the great majority of Chinese, over the past century or so) - in fact we could subdivide and subdivide until nothing was left but mutual nonrecognition. All these would help to maintain the narrow identities of 'normality' that can be relied upon to advance support the cultural attitudes that promote the continuing inability of people to recognize each other as human, and to celebrate and accept their differences - not as entertainment items, no matter how 'cute', but as full human beings. How different is all this from apartheid?
This effort to maintain prejudice can, of course, be profitable to those who invest in it, and convenient for social engineers and political elites who want to maintain an elite power status by reliance on it.
The place is an insult to our common humanity and a spotlight on cultural attitudes of exclusion. Those who find that they enjoy such displays should take a good look at the nature of the culture that has formed them so narrowly. Cultures change; cultures have always changed; cultures are presently changing and will continue to do so; there is nothing sacred about cultural attitudes. Our common humanity is an ongoing project, and those who imagine they are not part of such a project are simply contributing their own blindness to it, and limiting themselves in the process. It's not the 'dwarves' who are the problem, its the people who will not accept them as within the boundaries of 'us'.
Popular night market locations closed, ban appears permanent
发布者I think street vendors are fine, although not nearly so many together as are on Wenhuaxiang.
As for the chengguan, I hope enough get in hot water to eliminate the pay-to-look-the-other-way syndrome.
Popular night market locations closed, ban appears permanent
发布者Seems to me that the clearance of this market is, on balance, a good thing, but such determined activity by the chengguan, apparently carried out in the unnecessarily rough manner which has been their trademark, must have been at the orders of some serious source in government or Party, at some level. Would like to know what level that was, and why it all seems to have come down so vigorously and all at once (the timing, just before Chunjie, doesn't strike me as odd - there's usually a coming-to-an-end and then beginning-anew theme around this time of year)?
Getting Away: Yunnan's eerie Wumao Earth Forest
发布者Hey, great photos. I've long heard of the 'earth forest' but somehow the thing never sounded that interesting to me, but thanks to your photos I now have a different point of view.
Kunming to put 45,000 public use bikes on roads
发布者Seems to me the deposit might be returned only after the bike has been returned, and vice versa. Naturally, profit-seekers here have to be controlled by law, registration, etc., and not allowed to run off with the deposits. I don't understand that people would junk the bikes somewhere if it meant they'd lose Y299.
Kunming to put 45,000 public use bikes on roads
发布者Tiger, thanks for the Guardian article - seems the refundable Y299 is a good idea.