Meow Mix

We are now in Shanghai, a city that is so much like NY (except that it is full of Chinese people). The skyscrapers, the promenades, the upscale stores, Shanghai has it all. Once a British, French, American and Japanese possession, the city is both modern and classical.

After only a week, the ethnicities in China are starting to distinguish themselves. Especially here in Shanghai. The people here do not have the fair-skinned look like the Chinese of Beijing but, rather, have more Japanese eyes and darker skin. I have been told that the women are much sluttier too, which I suppose is not surprising in a thriving port town frequented by so many foreigners.

If you watched television in either the 80's or 90's, you probably remember a commerical for Meow Mix cat food. In it, the cats bounce their heads singing "Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow" to a catchy rhythm. It was catchy enough to still be memorable now. Well, if you ever have the occasion to hear some of these Chinese chicks belt out their native tunes, they sound just like the meow mix commercial, except worse. On the train this morning, we awoke not to the rhythmic meowing similar to the commercial, but to a strained, lenghtened, meeeeooowwwwwwwwww..... We all burst out laughing from our three-high bunks on the train, a humorous reminder that we are in China. The Chinese Britney Spears eventually took over the airwaves, which was a bit more palatable.

This country is overwhelming. The teeming masses, the endless peddlers of everything imaginable, the modernity. I have been told that to slow the population growth, the government encourages people to marry later and to go to college. It is a good thing, because with over 1 billion people, China will have to be on the forefront of research and development in alternative fuel sources. One need only spend a week here to understand how massive China's needs must be to continue expanding at 9% per year. And, the Chinese do not consume at the obscene levels at which Americans overindulge. At least not yet.

By the way, in case you have posted comments to the blog, I cannot read them. The government censors EVERYTHING that comes in through the internet. I can post, but I cannot read my blog or any of the comments.