The first few weeks here I was adamantly against eating western food. It didn't take long for me to realize that what the school is feeding us isn't real Chinese food, seeking out reasonably priced Chinese food is difficult and ordering it generally requires people who speak Mandarin. There are some Chinese fast food places that are really good and in my opinion much better quality than McDonalds. They're 24 hours, easy to order at (just point at the picture) and will fill you up for 10 Yuan. Unfortunately they don't seem to exist in Tianjin. Moreover, beyond the logistics I've had some experiences with REAL Chinese food and even the tame dishes can be pretty intense. Very meat intensive and the cuts of meat are kind of strange. With chicken every piece in the dish will have some bone in it. The beef will have tendon in most pieces. And if you accidentally eat one of the chili peppers they throw in there ever liberally you'll be ordering three or so bottles of shuǐ immediately. The jiǎozi (dumplings) are seriously good and ridiculously cheap, but you don't want to get them for every meal. Consequently my rules have been relaxed and though I make sure to get at least one legit Chinese meal in per day (usually jiǎozi) we also end up at places that serve western food occasionally now.
McDonalds is easy and with my vegetarianism on hold for the time being a Big Mac is a welcome reminder of home and of the American cultural hegemony I take pride in. McDonalds is a different situation here though. It generally looks the same. Other people tell me the beef is better quality, but from my last experience with a Big Mac it tastes pretty much the same as well. However, the people working at McDonalds are different, the people eating at McDonalds are different and I get the distinct impression that it is viewed as a different type of establishment as well. In terms of decor one distinction is that they'll usually have at least one wall with a very large picture of something western on it. The second closest McDonald's to campus has a picture of four white people riding down the beach in a '57 Chevy, toothy grins from ear to ear, hands thrust into high above them into the freeing wind. At the one closest to campus there's a picture of a twenty something white woman eating a bright red tomato next to the word "health". Micky D's here advertise the good life, and the American good life at that.
McDonalds also symbolize China's new found love affair with a certain western economic system, the name of which may or may not cause my blog to hit the firewall. If you go up the back escalator at Century Mart, a Chinese WalMart type store, you are tempted by rows of Nabisco treats. Get to the top floor and women are instantly made to feel inferior by the same oversized pictures of supermodels in lingerie you would see in a US WalMart. Luckily if you buy the lingerie you won't be average anymore. Whew! There's a constant theme at McDonalds which the Chinese would probably never notice, but a savvy American consumer used to the concept of subliminal advertising might pick out: "up". One McDonalds has a TV monitor playing loops of their TV ads. The "up" theme was a constant, but it was particularly blatant in one commercial. An attractive looking woman is sitting at the table looking tired. A man in a sharp suit notices, goes over to the counter, takes out 5 yuan then comes over and taps her on the shoulder and gives her a piping hot cup of coffee. She smiles, he smiles back and then he gets in the elevator of a glistening skyscraper and shoots straight to the top. Even in the “health” picture, the woman's eyes are looking toward the ceiling. McDonalds here are a symbol of wealthy western countries. Eat there and you will be a part of the western way of life, of rising to the top just like China is doing (or so the standard line hgoes).
McDonalds is easy and with my vegetarianism on hold for the time being a Big Mac is a welcome reminder of home and of the American cultural hegemony I take pride in. McDonalds is a different situation here though. It generally looks the same. Other people tell me the beef is better quality, but from my last experience with a Big Mac it tastes pretty much the same as well. However, the people working at McDonalds are different, the people eating at McDonalds are different and I get the distinct impression that it is viewed as a different type of establishment as well. In terms of decor one distinction is that they'll usually have at least one wall with a very large picture of something western on it. The second closest McDonald's to campus has a picture of four white people riding down the beach in a '57 Chevy, toothy grins from ear to ear, hands thrust into high above them into the freeing wind. At the one closest to campus there's a picture of a twenty something white woman eating a bright red tomato next to the word "health". Micky D's here advertise the good life, and the American good life at that.
McDonalds also symbolize China's new found love affair with a certain western economic system, the name of which may or may not cause my blog to hit the firewall. If you go up the back escalator at Century Mart, a Chinese WalMart type store, you are tempted by rows of Nabisco treats. Get to the top floor and women are instantly made to feel inferior by the same oversized pictures of supermodels in lingerie you would see in a US WalMart. Luckily if you buy the lingerie you won't be average anymore. Whew! There's a constant theme at McDonalds which the Chinese would probably never notice, but a savvy American consumer used to the concept of subliminal advertising might pick out: "up". One McDonalds has a TV monitor playing loops of their TV ads. The "up" theme was a constant, but it was particularly blatant in one commercial. An attractive looking woman is sitting at the table looking tired. A man in a sharp suit notices, goes over to the counter, takes out 5 yuan then comes over and taps her on the shoulder and gives her a piping hot cup of coffee. She smiles, he smiles back and then he gets in the elevator of a glistening skyscraper and shoots straight to the top. Even in the “health” picture, the woman's eyes are looking toward the ceiling. McDonalds here are a symbol of wealthy western countries. Eat there and you will be a part of the western way of life, of rising to the top just like China is doing (or so the standard line hgoes).
RSS Feed