May 29, 2007 12:25

`The Shadow in the Water'

Posted by Bill Powell | Comments (10) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This

Blogs have become wildly popular in China, and one of the more interesting is written by a woman who is married to a Chinese American guy—a physician-- and lives in the United States. The blog is called ``The Shadow in the Water,” and it’s popular because it basically compares and contrasts middle class life in the United States and China (the blog’s author, who does not give out her name, says she has three kids “and one cat.") A lot of Chinese are intensely curious about life in the US and how it differs from what they are used to in China.
It’s a pretty wide ranging subject and the author often has fun with it, as do some of her readers. She recently wrote, to take one example, about how hard it is to bring gifts back for relatives in China—which she, like every Chinese, is obliged to do whenever she returns for a visit—because everything is so damned expensive in the US compared to China. But she noted that a Chinese friend recently asked the blogger’s husband, the doctor, to prescribe Viagra for him. How may did he want, her husband asked the friend. (He’s usually prescribes only ten at a time.) “How about 5000?” the guy said. He apparently was going to hand them out to all his friends back home, a great souvenir from America if ever there was one.
Another time recently she wrote about the Chinese obsession with having male children, and laid out a complicated formula she’d heard about for how to practically guarantee that when a woman gets pregnant she has a boy. You start with the number 49, then assign a number to the month in which the woman becomes pregnant, using the lunar calendar ( ie October is nine, November is ten, etc) and add it to 49. Then you subtract the age of the mother. Then you add 19. (Why 49? Why 19? No idea.) If the result is an odd number, the child will be a boy; if an even number, it’s a girl. The accuracy of this formula, according to the blogger, is 80 per cent.
One of her reader’s complained that this was just way too complicated to deal with, plus she had heard that Japanese doctors had figured out a way to guarantee the sex of a child.
Nothing gets the Chinese blogosphere going quite like an even vaguely favorable reference to anything Japanese. So a reader responded: oh, really? If it’s true the Japanese have figured this all out, why can’t Japan’s Crown Prince have a boy? Which, I have to say, was a pretty good point. (Japan is in the midst of a debate as to whether one of the Crown Prince's daughters should eventually be able to ascend to the Chrysanthemum throne, given the current lack of male alternatives in that generation. )
Anyway, if you can read Chinese and want to check out the site, it’s available through the Sina.com web site:
blog.Sina.com.cn/m/shuiyinger

Oh, and one last thing: the blogger’s family recently bought a new house in the US—she doesn’t say where, exactly, they live-- and she was busy organizing the move, so she didn’t post for several days. This prompted a complaint from a reader. Why haven’t you been blogging lately?
And the woman replied (I’m paraphrasing slightly): y’ know, blogging is sort of like sneezing. If you sneeze ever day, you’re probably not feeling very well; in fact, you’re probably sick…
Which, in any culture or language, pretty much says it all, don’t you think?

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Reader Comments (10)

Madox:

The obsession about having a son rather than a daughter is very very stupid. Why don't you want to have son anyway? These days, for a man to get married, he has to pay, pay big, that is. And before hand. He has to have already, a house, car, other expensive stuff.

In fact, Chinese daughters are often more filial and take of their parents. Like my family, I and my bro are away from hometown, and it left to my sis to take care of our parents. Previously, my parents paid dearly for my bro's wedding. I told them not to pay and let him do whatever he wants.

But they become more traditional as they grow older.

To summarize, it is stupid to desir a son. Have a daughter and the rest of your life is all set.

I hope everyone really attacks this stupid preference every you get a chance.

Posted by Madox | May 29, 2007 7:07 PM

Pu Yi:

"One of her reader’s [sic] complained...?"

I hear the Japanese have determined a way to ensure the proper use of apostrophes.

Posted by Pu Yi | May 29, 2007 9:02 PM

Ron Frost:

"Japan is in the midst of a debate as to whether one of the Crown Prince's daughters should eventually be able to ascend to the Chrysanthemum throne, given the current lack of male alternatives in that generation"

No they aren't. Princess Kiko (Akishino's wife) gave birth to a boy last September, which means the debate has been put on hold for another generation.

"Why 49? Why 19? No idea."

Why add anything at all, for that matter? If the only thing that matters is whether the number is odd or even, adding 68 to it will make no difference to the final answer.

Posted by Ron Frost | May 29, 2007 10:01 PM

Yi Yi:

Can anyone give me an idea what is the current general Chinese urban generation preference when it comes to gender of a child, if at all? Curious.

Posted by Yi Yi | May 29, 2007 11:27 PM

nanheyangrouchuan:

Regarding Chinese anger at positive attitudes towards the Japanese, a Japanese girl is Miss Universe!

Bwaaaaaaaaahahahaha!

The preference for boys will be a big part of China's undoing, just imagine, the world's largest potential market for K-Y jelly.

Bad, bad CHina.

Posted by nanheyangrouchuan | May 30, 2007 12:17 AM

Tony:

I'm a Hong Kong Chinese, expecting my first baby, and I hope it'll be a girl. I don;t care at all about this obsession with male children, which frankly I think is ridiculous. And Yes, I agree with Madox, daughters tends to be more filial and take of their parents.
Nowadays, the gender imbalance means girls/women are 'valuable', such 'value' will surely increase if the gender gap widens in the future.

Posted by Tony | May 30, 2007 12:25 AM

Mimi:

I heard a formula that is guaranteeing a smart boy, actually guaranteeing a genius boy, which is (drum, drum, drum) "Go Vegetarian!”

Posted by Mimi | May 30, 2007 11:05 AM

Livenlearn:

Are there any english blogs that discuss this topic of comparing America's middle-class to China's? If so, it would be very interesting to read. Thanks for your response!

Posted by Livenlearn | May 30, 2007 9:42 PM

huaren:

"Regarding Chinese anger at positive attitudes towards the Japanese, a Japanese girl is Miss Universe!Bwaaaaaaaaahahahaha!"nanheyangrouchuan.

Japanese rep is Miss Universe 2007 because she is smart and beautiful! Chinese rep is Miss Congeniality because she is apparently the most friendly, and Mutton-on-a-stick is laughing out loud because Miss America was the clumsiest and is probably walking around with bruised albeit lovely glu-maximus.
The last time an international public figure fell in front of world television was Maggie Thatcher, after meeting with Deng in China.
Many said that was an omen, a "finger on the wall," harbinger of the beginning of the end of UK. Nah, we are not superstitious, are we? Pure coincidence, pure coincidence, that's all. Long live America!

Posted by huaren | May 30, 2007 10:34 PM

brg8:

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