Fili’s world

Here is a quick roundup of great blog and media articles I read today regarding China and Israel.

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Haaretz has an interesting story about "Harbin’s Jews: Isle of calm for embattled nation"

At the end of January, a group of Israeli journalists arrived at the sub-provincial city of Harbin, capital of the Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China. [...] The invitation to the Israeli journalists was not accidental. The Chinese wish to expand cooperation between Israel and China and to place Harbin on the map for Israeli and Jewish tourists.

Yael Islam, an Israeli in China, who writes at the Israeli China forum is going to Harbin-China to visit her grandfather’s hometown :

[...] I’m interested because my grandfather was born in Harbin and studied in Shanghai [...] Next week I’m off for a week at the north (for the upcoming Chinese new years), a few days for skiing in Yaboli, and then the ice festival in Harbin.

Danwei write about "When Mongolians ruled the Middle East" pointing to "Middle Eastern History" 90-sec map :

All of which is just an excuse to introduce an animated timeline and map of the Middle East that shows the different powers that have controlled the area since 1400 BC.

There’s also YNet reporting about "Shanghai restores historic synagogue" (which I discuss in "Shanghai’s Jewish Area 1 Billion USD Redevelopment") :

Shanghai is restoring one of the city’s two remaining synagogues as part of a growing celebration of the city’s Jewish heritage, the government said on Thursday.

China Law Blog has a great summary of the Washington Post article about the "Jewish Way" in China with a few Chinese-Jews jokes on "China: Where Even The Jews Are Fake" :

A Jew traveling in China goes into a diner. Having noticed Jewish symbols on his travels, he asks the proprietor, "Do you have Chinese Jews here?" The proprietor responds, in appropriately accented English, "Apple juice, tomato juice, orange juice, no Chinese Jews."

Herald Tribute discusses China’s military power with "China builds a superpower fighter" (which is interesting because the previous arms cooperation between China and Israel has resulted in US veto, costing Israel 300million$ in compensation):

[...] They say that Chinese engineers, with help from Israel and Russia, had refined a design aimed at matching advanced aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin F-16, the frontline U.S. Air Force fighter that has also been sold to more than 20 countries.

Sinocidal, powered by Yellow wings, wraps this one up with the hilarious and oddly titled "The Protocols of the Elder Sisters of Lyons" :

People come to China for different reasons.  I came to China to escape my impoverished surroundings, so the little luxuries like bread and shoes which I can now enjoy make the difficulties of living in an alien land more bearable.  Some come to China because back in their own countries their careers have gone downhill faster than a rabbit on a promise.  Others, however, come for sex.