标题: BRIEF CASE: Dare The Dragon 印度时报：中国龙牢牢地抓住我们（中英双语） [打印本页] 作者: MarsIiang 时间: 31.12.2007 07:46 标题: BRIEF CASE: Dare The Dragon 印度时报：中国龙牢牢地抓住我们（中英双语） A couple of months back we switched over to Chinese green tea for the morning cuppa, in preference to the erstwhile favourite of home-grown Assam black CTC or Darjeeling Oolong. This was a well-intentioned move, to reduce our sugar intake and hopefully knock a couple of inches off the midriff.
As one sips the fragrant brew, the mind traipses back a year or so, recalling with some trepidation the stealthy inroads the Chinese dragon has been making in the day-to-day aspects of our lives. The synthetic Christmas tree put up by the kids a fortnight back was a Shenzhen product. So too were the myriad gold and silver balls, stars, buntings, candy sticks, glimmering fairy lights, criss-crossing the branches, twinkling mischievously in a million hues. Most of the gifts, both given and received, sported a Chinese label as well. Why, our very own Diwali, celebrated a few months earlier, had a decidedly Chinese flavour.
Chinese lights and lanterns as illumination, being much cheaper, made perfect sense. The Lakshmi-Ganesh idols, my shimmering maroon and gold ''Kanjeevaram’’ sari with the delicate paisley motifs - all bought at a fourth of the usual price - made in you know where, reflected the powerful forces of a free market economy. From the electric kettle to the hair-dryer, shaver, the electronic toothbrush, the geyser whose innards sport a Chinese element to the gorgeous light fittings in our newly renovated flat, it is clear the dragon has us in its clutches, good and firm.
In the gastronomic sphere too, crisp stir-fry veggies with steaming haaka noodles, melt-in-the-mouth dim-sums washed down with piping hot soup win our vote over greasy Mughlai fare. Ever tried the canary yellow Chinese musk melon? Do so. It gives our local Baghpat "honeydew" a fair run for its money. However, the large, pale pink Chinese apples still have to vie very hard for shelf space along with the infinitely more flavourful desi varieties from Kashmir and Kulu. We win this round at last, thank goodness! But for the real scent of victory dare one suggest this? Observe the rows of imitation Ming dynasty vases that line the highway en route to Gurgaon. They are made, not in mainland China, but in unpretentious Chinhat, closer home.