Great food and a better economy — what is there to complain about?
It’s a slow news day, so I’d like to highlight two old things for you:
First, Shuge.org (书格 shūgé), a website that describes itself as a “free and open online library of ancient texts,” drew my attention (in Chinese) to the wonderful Republican-era map reproduced above. It was created by Russian cartographers, and printed by the Northern Trading Company and Mr. V.F. Yao-hsiun in 1931 in Harbin. You can download high-resolution versions of the map from the U.S. Library of Congress for free.
Second, China’s Millionaire Migration is a 2016 documentary by Australia’s SBS Dateline about the 100,000 Chinese millionaires who have moved to Vancouver, many of them Lamborghini-driving “second-generation rich” kids (富二代 fù èr dài). Their behavior and effect on local real estate prices are making Vancouverites, like people in Sydney and Auckland, wonder if their presence is a blessing or a curse.
The film includes an interview with Kevin Li, the producer of Canadian reality TV show Ultra Rich Asian Girls, but my favorite quote is from one of the young rich Chinese interview subjects: “The Chinese brought you great food and a better economy. What is there to complain about?”
