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cambridgestuart

Listed below are comments made by cambridgestuart between Thursday, 12th June 2008 and Monday, 18th August 2008.

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Liu Xiang out 4:24pm on 18 Aug 2008 The international eye has to have played a part in Liu Xiang's downfall. He had so much pressure on him, not just from the Chinese or international public, but from himself. I think in conditions like these its easy for an athlete of Liu Xiang's standard to injure himself or push himself too hard. Personally I always had that little fear that Liu Xiang wouldn't do nearly as well as the world knew he could.
Not quite what we thought 07:40am on 13 Aug 2008 The Shanghai Hostesses thing is not surprising, but I would not condemn them for it. I was told long ago that Air China picked girls firstly for their skills then secondly for matching a rough appearance guide. When you live in a country with 1.3 billion people, going for perfection in this way is not so unreasonable.
Bin there 3:18pm on 06 Aug 2008 I have a compost bin which I put food waste in, this is lined only with kitchen paper. It still needs cleaning and I empathise with you not wanted to clean it. The waste from this bin goes to a compost heap though, so I have never had to deal with the bin men but have often wondered about this type of situation.

Good luck and I hope you find it easier than you expected to encourage us all to be a bit braver.
Olympic restrictions 2:23pm on 22 Jul 2008 I am currently in China on holiday. I happened to go down to Qingdao, a secondary Olympic city. There I met a construction boss who lived quite close to the new Olympic sailing venue. He told me that he couldn't get home without a special pass either, also he couldn't bring home left overs from restaurant meals (i.e 'doggy' bags) without them being in a clear container and checked before entering the building.
I've actually heard a lot of complaints about the Olympics getting in the way of peoples lives. People late for work because of preperation for the torch relay. Friends not being able to leave their houses because of the torch relay.
What tops it all off for myself as a visitor to China is that I am lucky enough to acquire tickets to see three Olympic games. Trouble is my VISA cannot be extended for the fours weeks I need, so I won't even be able to see two of them.
I have to say KrSund70 is right about your air quality report, it was a bit unscientific, but Olympic security measures and little nitty bitty rules have most definitely been taken to an extreme.
Stuart R
Made In China 11:32am on 27 Jun 2008 I think that trade in the sense of production moves and moves. My only concern is when China is rich enough to desire more and more service jobs which country will take the production work of their hands. My point here is not about fear for any economy but rather the sustainability of production globally.
Xinjiang in mind 4:01pm on 16 Jun 2008 It is almost impossible to tell, truly. Admittedly in the West I have only heard of this threat, but generally problems like these do not make covers and stand out as news stories.
I'd like to believe that the threat has been somewhat overstated, but not to cover up for any policing changes but rather to unsure any threat no matter how small is dealt with.
A divisive Davis? 4:19pm on 14 Jun 2008 Personally I am frustrated with David Davies. What is he trying to prove. Surely, considering his position in the Conservative Party, his seat must be fairly safe. So what is he trying to prove, rallying a majority of people who already support you as an MP does not prove that the British public support or oppose the 42-day plan.
Shutting us out? 4:29pm on 13 Jun 2008 It is sad really, because I trust the Chinese government when they say they will crack down on corruption, and I also believe they will put maximum effort into helping the people of Sichuan. However, they do themselves little good by trying to block foreign media and shut up negative stories. Personally I believe that it is this inability to accept critism and the difficulties China has with foreign media cover that has caused modern, negative, western interpretations of China. Stories are twisted by foreign journalists because they have suffered in ways like James has just described, and take grudges away with them.
Your top 10 4:33pm on 12 Jun 2008 Response to #51:

I do not see this argument as reflective of Chinese society, individuals or history; I was honestly, simply trying to highlight that the argument, though fairly brought up, was never going to end and so there was no point carrying on with it. Especially as peoples comments, like such:

"No wonder westerners find China a confusing country if the BBC reporter in the country cannot get the name the most prominent Chinese business man right."

Were turning needlessly sour and rude, and taken out of context.
Your top 10 07:35am on 12 Jun 2008 All this talk about "Li Ka-shing, instead of Li Jiacheng" is a bit silly really, admittedly the only person who could give a final say would be the man himself.

At the end of the day James picked that person I'm sure some people would have been unhappy even if he had of use the old romanization which fits with cantonese. Can we just leave it be.

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