North Burnaby's New Shopping Malls

The mall at Gilmore Place is taking shape

Today I visited a friend who lives in Burnaby, which is the land of skyscrapers in Metro Vancouver. There are several towers that are over 60 stories high, many are walking distance to two SkyTrain stations, Gilmore and Brentwood. 

Like the MTR stations in Hong Kong, Gilmore and Brentwood both have shopping malls attached to them. Brentwood has The Amazing Brentwood, a large, partially open-air shopping mall, which has an airy food court offering mostly Asian food, from Japanese and Chinese to Korean, and Persian. 

It also has free-standing restaurants, and tonight I visited Bow & Stern, which is celebrating its first anniversary later this month. It offers mostly seafood dishes, and for Happy Hour (2pm-5pm, and 9pm to closing), freshly shucked oysters are $2 each! 

Meanwhile Gilmore Place is coming together now, with a few shops open like KFC, and Big Way Hot Pot will open, as well as a Thai spa, and Subway too. But my friend is really excited to hear that a T&T supermarket will open within a five-minute walk from her place!

I joked that with this Asian supermarket near here, she will never have to cook, as T&T offers not only uncooked ingredients, but cooked foods as well, including congee, roast meats, and noodles, so she has her "neighbourhood canteen" set up!

With so many people living and working in the area, and located next to the Skytrain station, it's no wonder that T&T has planned to open here, with many Asians living in the area.

However, while I was at tonight's dinner, one of the guests I ate with told me one of her friends lives in one of the nearby towers and said it was a nightmare getting up and down the elevator -- it takes 30 minutes just to get one, and when you have a dog that needs to go to the bathroom, and a wailing child, it can be pretty stressful!

Having a shoebox in the sky here doesn't sound fun at all, if there are only two elevators for so many units...

Hong Kong Can't Compete with Shenzhen

Many restaurants were quiet in Hong Kong this long weekend

This Easter weekend Hong Kong was eerily quiet. 

Over 680,000 people left the city to either go to other countries, or crossed the border into the mainland.

Many who did the latter headed to Shenzhen, the "it city" where options are plentiful but the key word is cheap.

How cheap, you ask?

Cheap food in Shenzhen, though quality not high

An acquaintance just came back from Shenzhen yesterday. He said four adults and three children went out for dinner and the total bill was around HK$600.

What did they eat, you may ask?

A whole grouper cost HK$68. In Hong Kong that same grouper would cost HK$500. Granted he said the Shenzhen fish didn't taste very good, but hey, it was super cheap.

Same goes for half a chicken, HK$68. Even four pieces of KFC in Hong Kong costs HK$89.

How can Hong Kong even compete with prices that are a fraction of those 45 minutes away by train?

It's impossible because rents in Hong Kong are so high, as well as labour and food costs.

It's not about eating good food in Shenzhen, but it's really cheap. And with people in Hong Kong struggling to make money post-pandemic, they love the cheap thrills they can get across the border. 

Is it any wonder restaurants and shops are struggling in Hong Kong these days? 

60 Years of Lei Feng Propaganda

It is the 60th anniversary of Lei Feng Day

Today March 5 is the 60th anniversary of "Lei Feng Day" in China.

Lei Feng was a model soldier that the Chinese Communist Party likes to trot out once a year to remind people of his selflessness and altruism. 

For example he was reported to have hand washed his fellow comrades' uniforms and even exposed counterrevolutionaries.

Lei was apparently a model selfless soldier

But ironically he was not known until after his death at the age of 21 when a telephone pole, struck an army truck, hit him as he was directing the truck in backing up.

He kept a diary, recording all his good deeds, which made him a perfect example for generations of CCP members to follow. But some scholars believe his diary was forged under the direction of Lin Biao to improve Mao Zedong's image following the disastrous Great Leap Forward.

Then in 1963 Mao declared March 5 Lei Feng Day, urging people to "Learn from Lei Feng".

Last year a Chinese state media crowed: "Lei likened himself to a small yet indispensable 'screw' inside a machine, and vowed to 'never rust'." 

How poetic.

Even Western companies got into the game. Kentucky Fried Chicken branded one of its China-based outlets with a Lei Feng theme four years ago, featuring Lei's quotes on the walls and "words from his poems playing as background music".

Hilarious.

Even superheroes need to learn from Lei (Cowhig)

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is perpetuating Lei's image, describing him as a "role model of an era." Last week Xi announced that "learning from Lei Feng" was essential to "building a modern socialist country."

However, the public may not be following Xi's lead -- three official Lei Feng biopics in 2013 played to "near empty" theatres, state media reported.

Why?

Han Rongbin, associate professor of international affairs at the University of Georgia and expert on authoritarian propaganda says Lei's relevance "has withered over time."

However, while Lei "doesn't generate a huge resonance, especially among the middle class... but it's still a propaganda symbol, so I don't think the [CCP] is going to give it up anytime soon," Han said.

So... Happy Lei Feng Day to you!