Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
The Kurihara family allegedly owns three of the disputed “Senkaku Islands” and is reported to sell or have sold them to Japan for $26 million dollars. The problem? They’re disputed by China and are called, “Diaoyu Islands” (WSJ – Senkaku Islands)
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I’ve seen most of the films on this list, and what strikes me the most is how not one filmmaker can have two films in it. I’d think Zhang Yimou could easily have more than a single film in it, same with Chen Kaige and since it’s dipping into Hong Kong, how about another Wong Kar Wei film? Although they take on another tone, not one John Woo film which revolutionized action films? Drunken Master? Once Upon a Time in China? The list is ambitious in idea, but overall, this should just be a top 20, or don’t bother including Hong Kong and Taiwan. They could easily have their own lists. (whatsonxiamen – Top 10)
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Just last week I corrected my Mongolian in-law’s 11 year old girl who showed me her bootleg Louis Vuitton hair bow. She read “VL”. She was showing off her English alphabet reading skills, but I corrected her and said “LV for Louis Vuitton”. She repeated it back to me once or twice, but got bored with trying to pronounce “Vuitton”. There’s a Louis Vuitton store in Mongolia, in an upscale shopping center sandwiched between Sukhbaatar Square and the Ulaanbaatar Hotel. Sukhbaatar square is home to a giant monument to Sukhbaatar Damdin, a Mongolian revolutionary who fought for independence from China, which later led to Communist Soviet governance. The Ulaanbaatar Hotel has been around since 1961 and plays host to dignitaries, politicians and world leaders visiting Mongolia. Out in front is a beyond life-sized statue of Lenin, who is rumored to have some Mongolian blood in him on his father’s side, and is a loved figure in Mongolian political history. The hotel is a 5 star joint that is way beyond the price range of the average tourist looking for a nomadic adventure with the convenience of a hot shower, and its typical customer is still of the elite, diplomatic variety. Economic diplomats are more common here than political ones these days. The store has been the perfect centerpiece for any story about “Minegolia” and the boom-town economy, that has been written for the last 2-3 years. When the Louis Vuitton store opened here, Mongolia was upgraded from country with lots of velour LV car seat covers being sold on the roadside, to a country with an actual boutique, complete with security guards at the door and sales people taught to size up the spending power of each customer that walks through the door. Books have been written about the fervent efforts to grow luxury brands around the globe, and studies have been done about who is consuming these items in these new marketplaces, and how they are able to consume them. The question I get asked most often about the LV store in UB is “Who can afford to shop there?”. I’ve been in the shop twice, and the only paying customers I’ve ever seen have been Chinese. Probably businessmen passing through, based on my years of experience people-watching in high end duty-free department stores around Asia. The Wall Street Journal wrote about Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Christian Dior and others working hard to build a Chinese clientele and keep them. VIP customers are being treated to perks galore. Beyond personal shopping and private tours of flagship stores, some Chinese Louis Vuitton clients were flown by private helicopter to watch a camel polo match in Mongolia. I’m not sure if this is the future that Sukhbaatar had in mind for an independent Mongolia — day-trip playground for the newly wealthy Chinese label whore *cough-sputter*– I mean, “brand conscious” consumer. This is however the future that has been projected for luxury brands for the last five years. As the strongholds of the...
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4.7 billion dollars to create a tourism spot, but for what? It seems odd to announce a theme park project amidst the problem that exist between China and Tibet. What will be there? Genocide World? Dying Monks Mountain? As written in (VOA News – Tibet) “…Exiles, like Tenzin in New York, do feel free to speak out. He is calling for worldwide campaign to block the project. “This is going to destroy our history,” he said, “and this will not benefit the Tibetan people in the long-run.”
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It looks like an island paradise, but it’s not. China says it’s been theirs since the 14th century, Japan says it’s been theirs since 1895. China and Japan are fighting over them, and here’s one breakdown by the Christian Science Monitor that explains some typical questions. (CSM – Senkaku)
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