Bald Grass Mud Horses - 草泥光头马

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The grass mud horse - cao ni ma (草泥马) - is a popular Chinese Internet phrase used as symbolic defiance of Internet censorship in China. The Chinese words for "grass mud horse" sound very similar to the common profanity 肏你妈. which translates as "fuck your mother".

Videos, cartoons and merchandise of this mythical animal, which resembles the alpaca, have been widely circulating online since early last year. However, it was only recently that I received these photographs of my family farm's very own grass mud horses looking quite unlike the bushy creatures that attempt to subjugate the Chinese government's attempts at control.
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Since the grass mud horse, or cao ni ma, is used as defiance of censorship in China, I wonder if there is any different hidden agenda of Brickfield Farm's very own Bald Grass Mud Horses, or cao ni guangtou ma (草泥光头马)?

On the Webb: How to spot a jap

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How does one "tell the difference between the Japs and our oriental allies?"

Well, I had no idea before I read the handy Pocket Guide to China - a 72-page booklet distributed to US soldiers during their stay in China during World War Two [Click images to enlarge]:

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Read a recent post on the Institute of East Asiatic Venomology for Chinese translations.

Chocolate girl – racism and reality TV in China

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Meet Lou Jing (娄婧), a mixed-race Chinese girl who is tormented in the following clip by presenters of the show Let’s Go! Oriental Angels (加油！东方天使). The contest, in which Lou Jing got to the final rounds of the Shanghai heat, has been running throughout August on Dragon TV. For those that need don't know Chinese, or who can't see the clip, a rough translation follows.

The patronising female presenter begins by asking: “Lou Jing, so you’re mixed race, how come your Chinese is so good?”

This is not the first time Lou Jing has been asked this irritating question. Un-phased, she replies: “My mum is Shanghainese, and I grew up in Shanghai.”

The questioning continues, “And your father is…”

Amid nervous laughter, Lou Jing slips in that her father is American.

However, presenter number two doesn’t let her get off the hook that easily. “Right up until Lou Jing was 16, she thought her father was Shanghainese… Ro

ll the clip!”

Next, cue the harrowing music. “20-year-old Lou Jing was born into a single-parent family. Her father was a black man of American nationality, who didn’t know he had made Lou Jing’s mother pregnant... He left Lou Jing’s mother and returned to the US... Lou Jing’s mother had no choice but to raise her daughter alone…”

Following what is edited as a horrific news item, two presenters go on to ask her whether she ever wanted to know more about her father. After all sorts of nonsense, the presenters really manage to bring on the waterworks by suggesting that “Daddy could be in some corner of the world listening to you now...”

Personally, I would have been upset enough about the way the show was put together. However, for Lou Jing, who became lovingly (?) refered to as “chocolate girl,” and her mother, things were about to get a lot worse as Chinese netizens sunk their teeth in.

Most of the attacks are aimed at the mother, who according to one netizen is a “whore” for messing around with a black guy. China Hush, where I originally found this story, has translated number of comments and opinion (read commentary translations here).

This is a touching story. One that might have been touching enough to constitute the first half of a Disney movie plot, if only her voice had been a bit easier to listen to. If you can bear it, listen below to more of chocolate girl.

On the Webb: Tatt’s China for ya!

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An recent article in The Sun about some “fishy” goings on in China reveals that lasers are being used to “etch images on the scales of parrot fish.”

Have I got tattoos for you!

The report implies that this is a new “craze,” claiming that this bizarre practice began recently in the Chinese city of Chengdu. 

However, at least a couple of The Peking Order readers will disagree; some friends and I once saw these interesting “characters” in markets in the southern province of Yunnan, as far back as 2006. 

While this report will come as no surprise to my travelling companions, The Sun goes some way towards explaining how those characters came to be on the fish, a question that has been troubling my friends and I for years. According to the article, “Fish are placed in special tattooing machines and emerge the other end with images permanently engraved on their skin.”

The report quotes a pet shop owner as saying that "The machine is quite choosy about which fish it can cope with. Most of the fish tattooed are parrot fish, since they have a high survival rate."

Sick as a parrot fish? 

The article goes on to quote a marine expert who condemns the practise, saying: "It is cruel and unnatural. For every one that survives, there are dozens that die in laser accidents." 

On the Webb: Debunking the MSG myth

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In an article on the Guardian website yesterday, Jeremy Goldkorn states what I suspected all along: MSG is nothing to worry about.

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The story is based on various articles and academic studies, which all agree that the food additive MSG (monosodium glutamate) in normal concentrations has no effect on the overwhelming majority of people.

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The article also mentions a couple of things I did not know:

• “Chefs who don't use glutamate crystals use soy sauce in most recipes, and soy sauce tastes good precisely because it's chock full of glutamates.”
  
• One quoted article featured a random test where an “MSG complainer” was secretely fed a meal full of the additive. He did not complain, because he did not know he was eating it.
  
• Parmasan, Marmite and seaweed is also packed full of glutamates.

I never believed "MSG complainers" - not one of them had ever told me exactly what the stuff is, what it does to you, or even what it tastes like.

China, cheesier than ever...

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As an ex-cheesemaker, I was excited to hear about Le Fromager du Pekin, which, according to a Daily Telegraph article, is Beijing's first French-style Chinese cheese manufacturer.

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Say Cheese...

Liu Yang learned his craft in France while studying management. After befriending a shepherd who taught him how to make goat's cheese in Corsica, he enrolled at the local agricultural school. "All the people studying with me came from cheese-making families and they were all French. I was the only foreigner and I couldn't make cheese," he is quoted as saying.

On his return to China, he set up shop, importing equipment from France and asking a local engineer to make him a cheese-making vat. Mr Liu makes blue cheeses and a Camembert with the slightly disappointing name, "Beijing Grey."

Having thought hard about Chinese cheese names suitable for The Peking Order, I came up with a controversial mild Dutch cheese made on the Yangtze River, the “Three Gorges Edam.”

Another suggestion for Mr Liu is a tribute to China’s first emperor and his mausoleum in Xi’an, the “TerRICOTTA Warrior.”

Over 1,000 websites feature “problem maps”

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According to an article in today’s Beijing News, as part of a recent drive to correct “geographical information,” authorities in Beijing have found that over 1,000 websites contain maps with “bits left out” or “incorrect bits.”

Approximately 10,000 websites were reviewed, including large Chinese sites like Sina and Netease. Most of the 1,000 problem websites were identified because of irregularities relating to Chinese territory.

The article goes only some way to clarify the vague terms used, saying that in some cases, Chinese territory, including the disputed Diaoyu Islands and Taiwan, had been marked as being outside of China. In other cases, “state secrets” had been divulged.

Various departments, including the Beijing planning authority and the Ministry of Commerce, will form a joint taskforce to audit the sites. According to a government official quoted by the newspaper, websites will be dealt with according to nature of the irregularities., with the most serious violators being shut down.

Beij 3: MOKOnut

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The Peking Order is committed to seeking out exciting phenomena in China, especially when those exciting media phenomena involve half-naked women. This week, Beij 3 features MOKO.cc – an extremely popular Chinese social network that appeals both to the narcissism of women in China and the lust of humans, well... everywhere.

The premise is simple, just like Myspace or Facebook, members have a personal profile that allows them to list basic information and upload photos. So that members can be spotted and make network connections, they can be listed under various titles, i.e. Actor, Still Model, Car Show Girl, Producer, etc.

However, the reasons that MOKO looks so good are also the things that make it different from other social network sites:

1. There is a selective registration process. According to the site, only 10 percent of applicants get through the initial screening. What it is not mentioned are the criteria are used to choose members. Although it could be that the unlucky 90 percent did not fill out their form correctly, a quick look at member profiles (a "quick look" will be impossible for many) would suggest it has a lot to do with looks.

2. The site has an offline presence. MOKO has a number of successful partnerships with magazines like Maxim and FHM, as well as Beijing nightspots, like LAN Club, which hosts regular MOKO parties.

3. MOKO makes photos look good. Once a member, people can apply to be a MOKO Top Girl (or a MOKO Top Man). Once accepted, members are invited for an interview and a photo shoot, all free of charge. The photos taken at the shoot are the photos you see all over the site. If you wonder why the some of the girls look too good to be true, they probably are - MOKO boasts that it photoshops the photos, also free of charge.

4. There is a voting system. The votes of unregistered viewers are worth one point, the votes of members are worth five. Meet Zhang Yinghan, who currently leads the MOKO Top Girl ranking with 164,802 votes:

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On the Webb: Blackie's KONGKAST

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Kongkretebass have been organizing and promoting drum & bass events in Hong Kong since early 2006. In addition to regular events, this HK crew produce the KONGKAST podcast, which, with several thousand listeners every month, features guest mixes from DJs and producers around the globe.

Released yesterday, the 94th KONGKAST stars life-long friend of The Peking Order, DJ Blackie. This is how Beijing's very own D&B superstar is introduced on the website:

Since his arrival in China back in 2004, Dj Blackie has swiftly connected with Beijing’s electronic music scene and become a celebrated dance floor killa, known for his driving dnb sets. Apart from performing for his crew The Syndicate, Blackie is also regularly seen in the spotlight alongside uber-respected promoters ‘02culture’ at the popular Yen parties.

Download Blackie's KONGKAST here!