PIKUNIKU IS AN ONLINE PICNIC BETWEEN TWO DESIGNERS WHO LIKE CUTE STUFF, NASTY STUFF, AND JAPANESE STUFF TOO
Displaying all posts tagged as 'chinese'.
For years, Jews and Chinese Restaurant owners have come together on Dec. 25 to celebrate food, family, and fellowship in the midst of what is otherwise an eerily abandoned ghost town. It’s nice to see that this place really appreciates that relationship — even if they seem to be under the impression that chicken lo mein is mandated in the Torah.
Chinese restaurant sign offers long-overdue thank you to Jews.
New design I’m working on for the Beijing street food menu. With big sesame ball. Thoughts?
Finally! China and Russia (as well as the US and South Africa) sit down to break bread together. From left, we see Jintao, Bush, Putin and Mbeki fine dining at the Ka-ching! G8 summit in Russia, 2006. Photo found here. MC
From the “flags and hand shaking,” to “formal tea” and “intimate tea.” Now we have “relaxed tea, coffee and snacks” approach to diplomatic photo opportunities. Here, Putin (right) and Jintao (2nd left) meet in the presidential residence Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow in 2009. Photo found here. MC
The “intimate tea” approach to diplomatic photo opportunities, with Putin and Jintao at the Beijing Olympics. But there’s no breaking bread yet… Photo found here. MC
Not quite the breaking bread approach either, but it’s getting even closer. Here’s a sit-down meeting with tables, microphones and tea. During the Russian state visit to China in September 2010, Gazprom signed a deal extending the terms of Russian gas supply to China. Photo found here. MC
Not quite the breaking bread approach to diplomatic photo opportunities, but a nice glass of bubbly is getting closer. Here’s a toast with Wen Jiabao, Premier of the People’s Republic of China, and Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, as they celebrate Ka-ching! a series of billion-dollar commercial accords. Photo found here. MC
We’ve talked about the flags and hand shaking approach to diplomatic photo opportunities. Here’s one with Dmitry Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation, and Hu Jintao, President of the People’s Republic of China. Photo found here. MC
Another example of this “diplomatic breaking bread” phenomenon:
As tensions between Japan and China remain unresolved it’s curiously amusing that sushi, the cultural food staple synonymous with Japanese cuisine, is serving as a dish that might just calm China’s diplomatic tensions elsewhere. Read more…
BEAUTIFUL BUSINESS PASTA
America and China make beautiful business pasta together. They also make beautifully designed photo opportunities together. Most diplomatic photo opportunities involve flags and hand shaking, but here at Pikuniku we’ve been obsessed with how food and dinners are used too.
Making pasta, in this example, is akin to breaking bread. To break bread, as a cultural expression, means many things. In Christian ideology, breaking bread is a symbol for peace, partnership and sharing to give thanks (when Jesus shared bread and wine with his disciples during The Last Supper). Sounds nice, cute and friendly doesn’t it? And so, this is typically how Westerners understand images of food sharing or making in the media.
In diplomatic circles—in international political-economic circles—breaking bread means the same. Or so it seems. One could argue breaking bread is more akin to the social interaction of exchange, like the exchange of money, wealth and assets. It occurred to us that photographs meant to express sharing and gratitude, are more likely to be symbols for some sort of financial exchange. Ka-ching! is how the photograph really reads. The question then is, ka-ching for whom?
—MC
…contemporary capitalist dynamics have led to the creation of a regional production network in East Asia, with China serving as the region’s final assembly base for exports to the U.S. The primary beneficiaries of this development are the many multinational corporations that have created the network, and the primary losers are the majority of workers in China and the United States.
Translation: “We welcome China’s competition,” Mr. Obama said. “We just want to make sure that that competition is done in a way that does not really compete; that it reinforces American norms and American rules, and enhances American military profits and protectionist-free-trade.”
U.S.-Chinese tensions visible as Obama, Hu meet
“We welcome China’s rise,” Mr. Obama said. “We just want to make sure that that rise is done in a way that reinforces international norms and international rules, and enhances security and peace.”See all of Gary Clement’s cartoons.
Food extravaganza graphics, Beijing, China, October 2010. —MC
Food extravaganza graphics in a hutong shop, Beijing, China, October 2010. —MC
This theme is Oedipa Maas by PH.
