Shenzhen is generally regarded as the epicenter of the world’s electronics industry with most of the worlds major brands manufacturing their products here. You can find virtually anything you want in the many electronic markets which can be found around the city, most of which are clustered around Hua Cheng Be (Hua Qiang Lu Metro Station, exit A).
I never knew there was an art to typographic design until one day one of my friends told me she had studied it (while simultaneously trashing the layout of something I had just made). This new world of serif, san-serif, ascenders, descenders, terminals, baselines and kerning fascinated me so I set out to try to educate myself on the subject.
Whilst browsing a pile of stray Chinese books at work the other day I came across this gem of a title: “Etiquette: Your Etiquette is Worthy of Million Dollars” (their chinglish, not mine!). With such an enticing front cover I couldn’t help but peek inside (sorry about the poor scans) – How to present and accept a business card: notice the arrows indicate where you should be looking! In general people in Asia take the giving and receiving of business cards very seriously. The actually book contained 9 steps in total. How these people ever get any actual work done I don’t know. Fake smiles optional. How not to hug a member of the opposite sex: priceless expressions (and severely ugly dress). As an Englishman my advice…
Last weekend I learnt how to cook Chinese dumplings. For those who might not be familiar with these tiny parcels of deliciousness a dumpling consists of minced meat and chopped vegetables wrapped into a piece of dough and then boiled, fried or steamed. There are also sweet varieties but I made the traditional type and for your entertainment filmed a short video of the process: Pretty simple but somehow I don’t think Jamie Oliver has anything to worry about! Ingredients needed: Minced pork (about 1:1 ratio with vegetables) Spring onion & cabbage finely chopped Soy sauce & rice wine (or vinegar) Dumpling pancakes (some people make their own but it was too much hassle for me) Instructions: Mix together the minced pork and chopped…