Overseas Chinese Web Guide

Author: Ken Chan

  • Damned if You Do…

    Palo Alto Online reported that the city utility will be raising water rates.

    The commission also recommended raising water rates by 10 percent to generate $2.2 million. A fixed charge of $5 per residence and more for businesses would also be added that is not based on water usage, according to a staff report. Additional money is needed because less water is being used due to efficiency and the loss of large customers. Supply, operating and staff costs continue to increase, however, according to the staff report.

    So, if you use a lot of water, your rates will go up. And, if you conserve water, your rates will still go up. Either way, you’ll end up paying more. So, the next time they send you a flyer about conservation, you know where to file it.

  • Gas Buddy Points the Way

    gas-prices.jpgEven with GasBuddy.com showing me the lowest priced gasoline in my area, I still rang up a $70 charge. That’s the most I’ve ever paid for a tank of gas. And, while gas prices do fluctuate up-and-down, the general trend is up, up and away. I don’t think we’ll be returning to 99¢/gallon gas any time soon, if ever. In 15 years, when I’m paying $200 per tank, unless cars aren’t using gas at that point, I’ll recall the Spring of 2007 when I only paid $70 per tank and wish for the days of $3/gallon gas.

  • Sounds from Inside China

    soundscape.jpgA typical tour of China passes through the major cities of Beijing and Shanghai with excursions to Xian and Guilin. Even if you’ve taken several trips to China, you probably have never seen some of the sights and sounds found in KQED’s Soundscape of China.

    Here are some of the highlights:

    • Muslim prayers at a mosque in Kashgar, Xinjiang
    • Women inmates sing at a Re-education Through Labor Camp outside Beijing
    • Matron singing at an orphanage in Jiazuo City, Henan
    • Buddhist monks chanting at Jokhang Temple, Lhasa, Tibet

  • Location, Location, Location

    los-angeles-traffic.jpgThe problem with living in a desirable location is that everyone else wants to live there as well. Of course, when you visit open houses on the weekend, everything looks great because you never see the grinding traffic that slows down all surrounding commute lanes during the weekday. So, if you are thinking of moving to a new location, check out traffic conditions on Google Maps during your typical commuting hours and see if the drive to and from your new house to work is even manageable.

  • Home Price Comparison

    coldwell-banker.jpgIf you are thinking about immigrating to the United States or moving within the United States, you are probably aware that housing prices vary from region to region. Fortunately, Coldwell Banker offers a Home Price Comparison Index, which allows you to see what an equivalent house in 4 different regions will cost. First, set the market value of house in a region you are familiar with. Then, select three other markets.

    Coldwell Banker told met that a $1,000,000 house in Palo Alto, CA is similar to a $438,000 house in Queens, NY, a $187,000 house in Phoenix, AZ and a $218,000 house in Las Vegas, NV.

  • It’s Never Too Early…

    Expectant fathers and mothers are often told that it’s never too early to start saving for college. Unless they have an unusually precocious child, most parents have 18 years to accumulate enough savings to pay for college expenses. Then again, if their child is unusually precocious, maybe a free ride on an academic scholarship is in the future.

    However, no one really warns newlyweds that it’s never too early to start saving for day care or preschool. Depending on the choices availabe in your area, day care or preschool can be quite expensive, as in more expensive than tuition at a public university.

    For the 2006-2007 academic year, UC Berkeley assesses $3,899.75 per semester for undergraduates who are California residents. Double that for the entire academic year and a college-bound parent is paying $7,799.50.

    Challenger School, in comparison, charges annual prepaid tuition for five all-day preschool of $14,905 and all-day kindergarten of $10,087. And, parents don’t have 18 years to save up for this sum.

  • In Search of Roots

    in-search-of-roots.jpgAs a child, Chinese New Year was a time to receive red envelopes (红包) and eat sticky rice cake (年糕) or nian gao. It is quite easy to be a child during Chinese New Year. However, what about the adults? Whatever customs we picked up, if any, from our parents, one day, each of us will have to decide what customs and traditions we pass on to our sons and daughters.

    How appropriate it was then for the San Francisco Chronicle to cover a program called In Search of Roots, run by the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco. The program is open to Chinese Americans from 16–25 years of age with families originating in the counties of the Pearl River Delta region in Guangdong province. The program offers interns an opportunity research their ancestry and complete a pilgrimage to Guangdong to visit their ancestral village.

    The Chronicle also featured a companion video to the article. And, of course, you can find program highlights on YouTube as well.

    In Search of Roots 2004 Trailer:

    From Guangzhou TV (in Cantonese):

    Considering all the resources that Chinese Americans have today, I hope that 2–3 generations down the line, our descendants will have more materials to trace their lineage if they choose to do so. So, if you are spending time with family during this Chinese New Year, please take some time to note down or record their stories.

  • Learning Chinese Language Online

    chinesepod-com.jpgA friend introduced me to ChinesePod, a website that offers free Mandarin Chinese lessons online. You have the option of listening to each daily lesson online or downloading the podcast to your iPod for later listening. Each lesson offers a conversation between a Chinese and English speaker. The lessons seem suited for an intermediate or advanced beginner who is looking for an easy way to pick up some vocabulary or phrases. I don’t think a true novice will be able to follow the lessons at all. Also, some features, such as viewing a PDF transcript of the podcast, requires a paid subscription.

  • A Working Parent’s Lament

    Has e-mail replaced
    the intimate face-to-face,
    Do online chats end
    with a paternal embrace,
    Will our children learn
    if they are not within sight,
    Can we really know
    whether their mood’s dark or bright.

  • A Timeless Tale of Families Split Apart

    shanghai.jpg
    Photographer: Peter Morgan

    The Wall Street Journal featured a story about liushou ertong, which refers to the roughly 22 million children left behind in the Chinese countryside while their parents seek higher-paying jobs in cities such as Shanghai. In China, small problems do not exist by mere fact of the population size. By way of comparison, 22 million is roughly the population of Texas, our second most populous state.

    However, this problem is neither new nor limited to the Chinese countryside. We only have to look back a century or so to witness the countless Chinese men who left their wives and children behind to build America’s transcontinental railroad, work the mines, and labor in the agricultural fields. in the 1980s, we saw Chinese parents leave their children behind in the United States while they continued their careers in Hong Kong or Taiwan. Sometimes, the mother would remain in the United States with the children, and sometimes not.

    In the present day, as the Chinese economy heats up, we can see a new generation of Chinese fathers again separate from their families. This time, reversing the trend from a century ago and departing Gold Mountain for China’s seductive shores. In our moment of excitement, the opportunities always look great, especially when the tangible financial benefits seem to outweigh the amorphous emotional costs. The truth is that our time together is too precious a gift to sacrifice. And, time once passed can never be replenished.