Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

The venue of the wedding ceremony probably typifies what constitutes a successful case of urban gentrification. The concrete, greyish former factory building hosted a modern ceremony hall, full of flower-filled waiting rooms and dining halls awaiting the entrance of tuxedoed guests and the happy newlyweds. At first sight, it would be difficult to believe that the vegetation-inundated venue is located smack in the middle of Shibuya, one of metropolitan Tokyo's most heavily trafficked, densely built urban jungles. The contrast between the inside and the outside is just too surreal.

The Nanjing Funeral Homes feels more like a bustling event space than a solemn location to say the last goodbyes to one's loved ones. Located in the confines of a tree-filled park in the southern fringes of the city, the city's government-run institution for funerals combine last rites, cremation, and burial services under one roof in several grandiose monumental buildings. But despite the massive size of the institution, demand far outstrips demand. At 7am on a Thursday, grieving family members and friends are lining up just to get their few minutes of seeing the washed bodies of the deceased for one last time.

As protestors on the streets of Hong Kong continued their street battles with the police to demand the withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill, there have been some extraordinarily cynical comments about the ongoing events and their limited impact on the forcefulness of the Chinese government. The gist of the cynics' argument is that the protests are only likely to halt the inevitable passing of the bill by a few years, as the Chinese government and its puppet-like representatives in Hong Kong back off temporarily, only to move forward again more discreetly and in another form, under new leadership.

Hong Kong is burning, once again. After hundreds of thousands of yellow umbrellas accompanied protesters seeking greater rights inundated the city in 2014, the city is once again on lockdown, as some say more than one million people came out to protest the proposed bills allowing criminals to be extradited to the Chinese mainland. As businesses close down in support of the protests and 1 in 7 of the city's residents taking to the streets to demand the resignation of the Chief Executive Carrie Lam, the city seems to be at its political crossroads.

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the Normandy landings that marked the beginning of the end for the Axis powers in World War II. As one of the Allied powers, China undoubtedly celebrates this occasion in its own muted ways. The sacrifice of more than 150,000 soldiers who landed on the murderous beaches of northern France was the first step in ending the more than a decade of warfare China was fighting, largely by itself, against Japan on the other side of the world. D-Day, for China, is the necessary precursor to the end of the war celebrations, of which is certainly goes all out for every year.

"Make America Great" and the "China Dream" are both toxic concepts. As the US and China slug it out in a trade war that is shaking up the way the entire world does business, the defining slogans of Trump and Xi are putting on a nationalistic, patriotic spin on blatantly prioritizing the interests of their own countries, citizens, and businesses. The success of the slogans has made the trade war not just about economic logic; it is now a battle of emotions, glory, and perceptions of national greatness, summed up in neat little shorthands that hide how international exchanges are being sacrificed.