Category: Culture

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The Saftey Catwalk for Awareness

A Condom Fashion Show in China

Models parade in outfits made of condoms during a fashion show at the 4th China Reproductive Health New Technologies & Products Expo in Beijing July 11, 2007. Condoms of all shapes and sizes were used to make dresses, hats and even lollipops. Models fought through extravagant soap bubble special effects to show off tight-fitting wedding gowns, scaly-looking evening dresses, outrageous bikinis and other garments made entirely of condoms. The show was held at the Fourth China Reproductive Health New Technologies and Products Expo and organized by China’s largest condom manufacturer, Guilin Latex Factory, to promote the use of condoms in the fight against HIV/AIDS. It also marked World Population Day, organized annually by the U.N. Population Fund.









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Dragons in Flushing

This weekend we went to check out the annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in Flushing NY. The festival is significant in China, celebrated by a day of narrow boat races shaped like dragons. Competing teams row their boats in sync with a furious rhythm pounded out by on-board drummers. The dragon-boat races symbolize the frantic attempts to rescue Qu Yuan.

Qu Yuan is said to have committed suicide by drowning himself in a river. Qu Yuan was a minister in the kingdom of Chu situated in present-day Hunan and Hubei provinces during the Warring States period (475 – 221 BC). He was upright, loyal and highly esteemed for his wise counsel that had brought peace and prosperity to the kingdom.

Many of the teams are locally sponsored and seem to celebrate the day with music food, drink, crafts, games (quite a few gambling tents) and the rest of the locals hanging out around the river for the day. It hazy and humid but not too hot. The event was quite expansive in the park but was not as populous as I thought it might have been; quite possibly because there was so much land. I enjoyed both the Chinese (noodles, dumplings, satay) and non-Chinese food (corn and shaved ice).

On the way back, I noticed many volunteers canvasing the crowd for Obama “working for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community”. I can already tell if there’s this much initiative to hit all cultural backgrounds and events like this, then Obama is throwing the net out to all corners and will have a huge turn out in November next year.

Some pics from the event:

A few more from the gallery

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IKEA destroys ancient Chinese tombs

Construction workers in Nanjing in southeastern China, destroyed 10 tombs dating back 1800 years – the tombs from the “six dynasties” period from AD 220 to 589. They were said to be of high quality and probably from a rich family of the time period. Under Chinese law, people or work units found destroying “ancient tombs” can be fined 50,000 to 500,000 yuan (about $6,600-$65,700) but the laws are weakly enforced, and the developers would rather pay the fine than delay or cancel construction projects…

Ah the virtues of capitalism in a communist society… it’s a wonder we can even do business with China…

Reuters Story Here