Empty Calories In every ex-patriot's life there comes that sharp, occasional longing for home. Recently I surrendered to a moment like this while wandering through downtown Beijing. I ducked into a hotel lobby, bought a copy of Time Magazine, and took my purchase to the nearest McDonalds -- the huge, two-story franchise on Wangfujing Avenue. I ordered a Big Mac, medium fries, and medium coke, and settled into a bright plastic seat to enjoy a few moments of unadulterated Americana. It was a mistake. The coke was okay, but the Big Mac and fries tasted more like hot cardboard than food. My nostalgic snack set me back 18.10 yuan; for 3 or 4 yuan, down the block, I could have treated myself to a delicious bowl of freshly-made noodles in broth -- not only cheaper, but healthier as well. The fact is, Chinese fast-food is great, much better than its American counterpart. The hole-in-the-wall noodle shops are my personal favorite, but you can also pick up a variety of treats in the outdoor markets -- including egg sandwiches, barbecued brochettes, pastries, and all sorts of little pies, some stuffed with meat, others with vegetables. France is the only country in the world where I've found street food equal to that of China's. I spread out my fresh copy of Time amongst the debris of my meal. After several months of reading the highly-processed information in The China Daily, I was looking forward to some "real" news. But I was in for another disappointment. The Chinese press may be prone to an absurd optimism -- an editorial Never-Neverland where profits always soar, technology walks hand-in-hand with the environment, and the overseas Chinese long to be reunited with the motherland. But the Western media can often go to the opposite extreme -- cynicism -- and be just as false. I was astonished by the arrogance of Time, which clearly put itself far above mere Presidents and Senators. I had the special U.S. Election issue, several weeks out of date, and I was hoping for some in-depth coverage of the various local races and ballot issues. But after subtracting the self-puffery of the journalists, there was very little actual information -- less news than I had already learned by scanning the headlines in Yahoo. Not only were the Time articles flippant, but they shallow and biased as well. I was told with pointed adjectives when something was "shocking" or "admirable" -- right or wrong. China may have one sort of censorship of the press, but America certainly has another -- a censorship of the free-market where news must "sell," and the flow of information is increasingly controlled by huge corporations like Time-Warner, Inc. In the end, my copy of Time was exactly like my Big Mac -- empty calories. But at least I had gotten my fix of home. I had satisfied the nostalgic urge, and walked out of McDonalds glad to return to China. Next Week: Getting Around in China Without Chinese From the Editor in Chief: If you have some travel or work experience in China to share with us, we will be very excited to hear from you! Send your feedback by e-mail or regular mail to ASM Overseas Corporation. Thank you! And if you liked this column, please check Expats In China (International Community in China) for more interesting and useful information on life in China as a foreigner, including calendar of events, entertainment, housing, employment, classifieds, personal, etc. |
