Refugee TikTok fled by the tens of millions to RedNote, a Chinese app, in response to the TikTok ban that went into effect on January 19, 2025. The company Quit the app just before midnight on January 18th.

With cat memes, shared jokes concerning the ban, and honest conversations about normally avoided topics, former TikTokers and RedNote natives are bridging the years of digital divide between the U.S. and China. This spontaneous convergence is harking back to the Internet's original dream of a worldwide village. It is a beacon of hope for connection and communication in a divided world.

I’m a researcher who studies Chinese and transnational digital media. I’m also a Chinese living within the USA. I actually have been a RedNote user since 2014.

On Tuesday morning, January 14, 2025, my usual RedNote morning scroll revealed a modified “For You” page. Among my typical TV drama, celebrity and makeup content got here recent posts from self-proclaimed “TikTok refugees” with US IP addresses. As I scrolled further, the advice algorithm flooded my feed with increasingly of those posts from recent US users trying to rebuild their community on RedNote.

Rapid influx

The phenomenon exploded rapidly: inside 24 hours, the hashtag #TikTok Refugee# on RedNote had collected 36.2 million views and sparked tens of millions of discussions. RedNote took first place in Apple's App Store free app charts.

According to those TikTok refugees with the Jan. 19, 2025, Board of Directors threatensUsers feared losing not only their platform access but in addition their content Income streams in addition to.

Instead of switching to US-based alternatives like Metas Instagram or X, they decided to flee to a different Chinese platform Protest against it US tech giants they blamed Lobbying for the ban. Her platform of alternative was RedNote.

This unexpected change mostly stems from TikTok influencers like @whattheish I like to recommend RedNote as the brand new TikTok. Given that the Douyin app is China's version of TikTok, the move to RedNote could appear surprising. However, most other Chinese apps, including Douyin, are only available in Chinese app stores and require Chinese phone numbers to register. RedNote is exclusively accessible to users outside of China through app stores in various regions, without the necessity for a Chinese phone number.

Instead of separating users by geographic region with different versions, as TikTok's parent company ByteDance Ltd. has done, RedNote – called Xiaohongshu in Chinese – offers access to the identical platform worldwide. ByteDance is predicated in China but has launched TikTok as a US subsidiary in 2015. TikTok partnered with Oracle in 2022 to process Americans' user data Address data security concerns. In contrast, RedNote owner is Xingyin Information Technology Ltd a Shanghai-based company and thus stays free from direct US supervision.

RedNote's global accessibility

This global accessibility is according to Xiaohongshu's original vision. The name Little Red Book – its literal English translation – often leads people within the West to this Draw parallels to Mao's revolutionary textsuggesting a communist focus. But the true demands of the platform couldn’t be more different.

The app, created in 2013was created with a more bourgeois orientation. The app's founders, Qu Fang and Mao Wenchao, met while shopping In the US, they positioned Xiaohongshu as a platform that mixes social media, lifestyle content and e-commerce about global travel and shopping.

Although RedNote has evolved to appeal to a broader demographic, its primary user base stays international students, overseas Chinese communities, and international travelers. The name illustrates the platform's promise to be a “red” – meaning “popular” in Chinese – guide to foreign travel and shopping. It acts as each a travel bible for Chinese tourists and a fashion curator of glamorous foreign lifestyles.

The app has been instrumental in transforming lesser-known places to Chinese tourist destinations. It turned Düsseldorf into a destination for foodies for Chinese tourists in 2023 and illuminated trendy scenes and public toilets in Paris through the 2024 Olympics.

For me, as a Chinese native living abroad, RedNote has grow to be an important each day platform to go looking reviews, share life moments, and stay connected with Chinese communities. Even before the influx of TikTok refugees, Xiaohongshu had attracted users from Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and other Chinese-speaking communities.

From memes to open dialogues

I nervously lurked within the discussion sections, alert for possible tensions and conflicts between TikTok refugees and RedNote natives, or “red yams” as they call themselves. But the primary encounters were surprisingly heartwarming and playful.

Following word of mouth, TikTok newbies began posting cat pictures as their first step after opening recent accounts. They jokingly call it paying their cat tax. Chinese RedNote users responded with compliments or by sharing their very own cat photos in return. This is how they broke the ice despite language and cultural barriers.

When TikTok refugees posted ideas without pets, RedNote users responded with a meme: a cat with a gun and the caption, “Hello, I'm a spy. Show me your cat.” That joke quickly caught on. “Chinese spy” soon became one other way of claiming “Chinese friend.” TikTok refugees even asked, “Do you want to be my Chinese spy?” as a playful conversation starter.

Both groups ridiculed the TikTok ban with cute memes and funny jokes. They scoffed that the ban turns privacy issues into outdated narratives of Cold War rivalry and espionage, reasonably than treating them as common challenges of the digital age that each one people face together.

After these greetings, RedNote natives and TikTok refugees ceaselessly exchanged questions on various topics. Some of those topics fearful me because they might easily result in interruptions in conversation. For example, a TikTok refugee asked about LGBTQ life in China, and a RedNote native asked about incomes within the United States.

But reasonably than creating unpleasant tensions as feared, this exchange led to meaningful dialogue. Chinese users explained their questions on US income: They were curious because Chinese “American dreamers” – Chinese individuals who discuss moving to the US – often paint an exaggerated picture of American salaries and living standards. Americans were surprised to learn that while same-sex marriage stays illegal in China, town of Chengdu is taken into account “the”gay capital.”

Let's remember the lost promise of the Internet

As I documented these interactions, they grew and developed. What began as text discussions evolved into livestreamed conversations. This rare moment of direct interaction between American and Chinese social media users shows that they aren’t as different as they may have thought. Online, they shared the identical interests: cute memes, “Thirst traps” and funny comments. Offline, they need to struggle with similar problems day-after-day to make ends meet.

How could this end? Will the TikTok refugees leave once their enthusiasm wanes, or will regulators on each side step in? As someone who has spent years researching U.S.-China media exchanges, I’m struck by the importance of this moment, temporary as it could be. This represents a meaningful reconnection between U.S. and Chinese web users after years of digital separation.

This separation was caused and reinforced by Google's retreat from China, China's Great Firewall and the US forced the separation of ByteDance's US and Chinese platforms. In addition, digital platforms and advice algorithms are increasingly trapping people in their very own situation Information bubbles.

For me, this moment is harking back to the utopian vision that was once shared California's Internet Pioneers And Chinese technology innovators and adopters: digital now and global village.

It can be a vivid spot within the cloud of world divisions. Even in a world increasingly fractured by platforms, misinformation and political divisions, unexpected connections can still emerge. Seemingly inconceivable linguistic, cultural and digital barriers may be overcome when people treat one another with respect, sincerity and a touch of humor – and maybe with the assistance of AI translators.

The Bay Area has long represented a vibrant and ever-evolving mosaic of individuals, traditions and heritage. From traditional Japanese hanami celebrations to Scottish festivities, the region's cultural festivals invite locals and visitors alike to step into one other world and experience the traditions that shape our communities. Here is just a variety of what is going to occur in 2025.

St. Patrick's Day celebration in Dublin

We can connect the historic waves of Irish-American immigration to this country to Massachusetts and its neighbors in New England. But sunny California actually has more Irish Americans — 2.2 million — than some other state, due to a Gold Rush-inspired influx of Irish. Immigrants Michael Murray, Jeremiah and Eleanor Fallon arrived in 1846 looking for farmland and shortly gold. There is a faculty in Dublin named after Murray, and Eastern Alameda County was originally called Murray Township.

It's only fitting that the Bay Area city of Dublin—with a reputation and rolling green hills harking back to the Emerald Isle—honors its namesake yearly with a energetic parade, Irish dancing, traditional food, and a plethora of family-friendly festivals every weekend , which is closest to St. Patrick's Day. The festival features three stages featuring every part from Irish folk bands to Celtic rockers, in addition to food stalls serving corned beef sliders, boxty and other festive fare. As the parade winds through downtown Dublin, it provides a joyful display of Irish culture and community pride.

Details: The 2025 celebrations – Dublin's forty first – happen on March 15-16; dublinstpats.com.

Cherry Blossom Festival in Northern California

This festival, which honors the ephemeral fantastic thing about cherry blossoms, attracts lots of of hundreds of tourists to San Francisco's Japantown, one in every of only three remaining within the United States. Nearly a 3rd of the country's Japanese-American population lives in California, and this festival, which began in 1968, has deep cultural significance. It was founded after World War II to preserve Japanese traditions, revitalize the local economy and strengthen cultural ties between Japan and the United States

The event relies on the tradition of Hanami – viewing blooming flowers – and is a reminder of the transience of life. It also showcases the dynamic, modern Japanese American experience. Visitors can enjoy taiko drumming, koto music and Nihon Buyo dancing, explore stalls selling bonsai and handmade ceramics, and sample quite a lot of culinary delights, from sushi and ramen to mochi.

Details: Typically held over two weekends in April; https://www.sfcherryblossom.org/.

Oakland Greek Festival

For three days every spring, the center of this city beats to the sounds of Greek music, the smell of grilled lamb and baklava and the rhythms of traditional folk dances. This festival began in May 1972 as Greek Week, a modest gathering that quickly grew into one in every of the most important and oldest Greek festivals in Northern California.

With greater than 100,000 Greek-Americans living in California, the sense of community here is palpable. The festival is organized by Ascension Cathedral parishioners, a lot of whom are first- to third-generation Greek Americans. There's food, music and a craft market, in addition to the possibility to tour this stunning Greek Orthodox church and its Byzantine architecture.

Details: Sixteenth-18th May 2025; Oaklandgreekfestival.com

San Jose Day Festival of Portugal

The Dia de Portugal Festival in San Jose is one in every of Northern California's largest and most vibrant cultural festivals and a festive commemoration of the death of the famous Portuguese poet Luís de Camões in 1580. The festival, held each June at History San José, honors the Contributions from the Portuguese-American community, offering a taste of home through delicious food, traditional music and energetic folk dances.

Festival highlights include performances of breathtakingly beautiful fado and a stunning parade of colourful costumes, spirited dancers and majestic cavalhadas – riders in medieval-inspired clothing. The event also provides a singular opportunity to learn more concerning the greater than 1.5 million Americans of Portuguese descent, a lot of whom trace their roots to the Azores and Madeira Islands.

Details: June 14, 2025; https://diadeportugalca.org/

San Jose Obon Festival

One of the country's largest Obon Buddhist festivals is transforming San Jose's Japantown
turns right into a festive street festival every summer. There is live music, taiko drumming, games, food stalls, cultural stalls and on Saturday evening a cheerful Bon Odori dance for joy and remembrance. Last yr, the dance broke festival records when 1,725 ​​dancers and festival-goers took to the streets to folk music – “Shiawase Samba” – by Chidori Band and San Jose Taiko.

Details: Thirteenth-14th July, Japantown San Jose, www.sjbetsuin.org/

Meetings and Games within the Scottish Highlands

At least ten Scottish cultural societies are scattered throughout the Bay Area and Northern California, including the Caledonian Club of San Francisco, founded in 1866, and the St. Andrew's Society of the East Bay (1878). These benevolent clubs have fun their Caledonian heritage and work to maintain their culture, customs and humanities alive for the 677,000 Californians of Scottish ancestry – and for the throngs of Scots and non-Scots who come to the incredibly popular Scottish Highland Gathering & Games flock to Pleasanton every summer.

The Caledonian Club – Caledonia was the Roman Empire's name for much of Scotland – has held its famous meeting yearly since 1866 to showcase traditions and exploits, a few of which date back to the eleventh century. The big festival has modified locations over time – a stay in Sausalito in 1868 was celebrated with the naming of Caledonia Street. For 30 years, the festivities, which include Highland dancing, fife and drumming, kilt racing, whiskey tasting, hammer throwing and log tossing, have been held over Labor Day weekend on the Alameda County Fairgrounds.

Details: 30-31 August 2025; https://thescottishgames.com/

Aloha Festival within the Bay Area

The Bay Area has long had a vibrant Hawaiian community, a connection that dates back to 1839, when John Sutter brought a small group of Hawaiians to what was then the Mexican colony of Alta California, where they worked within the early years of gold mining from Sutter worked rushes. Today, the Golden State has the most important Hawaiian population on the mainland, and their wealthy cultural heritage is well known on the Bay Area Aloha Festival, organized by the Pacific Islanders' Cultural Association.

Held every year on the San Mateo County Event Center, this family-friendly event awakens the spirit of the islands with a weekend of hula, traditional Hawaiian music and delicious island cuisine. Visitors can sway to the sounds of the ukulele and steel guitar, enjoy poke, kalua pig and loco moco, and explore a Polynesian art market.

Details: August 2025; www.pica-org.org/

Clayton Oktoberfest

You've heard the saying that everyone seems to be Irish on St. Patrick's Day. In mid-September we’ll all be Bavarian. With 2.7 million German-Americans in California, perhaps we’re. Oktoberfest, which began in Munich as a harvest festival in honor of a royal wedding in 1810, has grown right into a ubiquitous festival that spans nearly six weeks. Every fall, Oktoberfests happen from Redwood City to Clayton, where the party combines small-town charm with German coziness, authentic food, oom-pah music and, after all, beer.

In Clayton, guests gather within the festival beer garden to enjoy German lagers and beers at picket benches and tables – imported from Munich – and tuck into bratwurst, pretzels and schnitzel. Polkas, folk dances, craft vendors, rides and kid-friendly activities make it an ideal community celebration of German culture and native pride.

Details: October 2025; claytonoktoberfest.com

Originally published: January 16, 2025 at 11:55 am PST

Once positioned 250 meters east of the Art Gallery of South Australia, the massive Beaux Arts-style Jubilee Exhibition Building was constructed to deal with the 1887 Adelaide Jubilee International Exhibition and rejoice the fiftieth anniversary of South Australian settlement.

The exhibition, which hosted each national and international participants, showcased various items including machinery, art, textiles and products.

In the South Australian area, the Protector of Aborigines is liable for the control of Aborigines in South Australia and the Northern Territory. issued cultural devices and artifacts.

These items included bags and wallets comprised of “native hemp” from the Northern Territory.

This colonial depiction of forced and unpaid First Nations fashion labor was a practice that had begun a long time earlier.

In 1866 the Central Board for the Protection of the Aborigines issued baskets, bags and bonnets Melbourne Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia.

In the Queensland Court of the 1888 Melbourne Centennial ExhibitionPearl jewelry from the Torres Strait Islands was exhibited.

By the mid-Twentieth century, these goods were not featured in Native American exhibitions more autonomy of their craft production. This rise of self-determination led to the primary wave of First Nations fashion design, contemporary clothing manufacturers and textile designers.

A marketplace for design

First Nations women in Coffs Harbor within the mid-Sixties made clothes for tourists at Big Banana. Although the clothes didn’t feature their very own designs, the ladies earned income from making the dresses and sarongs.

In the late Sixties, textiles from the Tiwi Islands appeared and were later demonstrated small fashion shows.

Soon other craft centers joined the textile movement and there was an explosion of designs available in the market.

By the Eighties, First Nations fashion design had established itself as a movement.

This was the time when individual designers presented and presented their designs alongside the established craft centers on international catwalks.

Their designs and silhouettes were latest: they told contemporary stories about colonization, community, family and culture.

Self-determination

Today they’re First Nations artists and designers self-determining ownership of their cultural histories and corresponding fashion, gallery, library and museum practices.

Many First Nations artists and designers present in quite a lot of media, ensuring their designs and practices are culturally, environmentally and economically sustainable.

The First Nations pieces featured within the exhibition Radical textiles Traverse art and fashion design by taking the item off the body and placing it on a mannequin or frame. These artworks have the common denominator of honoring and celebrating tradition, ancestors, family, community and country.

The pieces embody wearable art from a purely experimental or industrial approach.

Dilly Bags Everywhere (2021) contains a modern, vibrant bag and an attention grabbing, eye-catching dress print with women and animal motifs.

Sustainable and recycled materials, including used wool blankets, discarded metal and plant-dyed cotton, are on the forefront of this work.

Trudy Inkamala was a respected elder and knowledge keeper who created fiber art and painted by hand artwork depicting and depicting people and wildlife. Her younger relative, Sheree Inkamala, is an aspiring textile and print artist.

Her designs embody the type of Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, an Aboriginal-run art center in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) known for its colourful and playful soft sculptures, works on paper, textiles and film.

Annabell Amagula's (Anindilyakwa people) (b. 1965) representation of land, culture and sustainability in her Ghost Net Bag and Dress (2020) highlights technical skill and complex details in multiple layers of expertise.

Amagula's dress and bag are comprised of fair trade silk, a hand-woven ghost net and recycled miners' high-visibility uniforms.

The silk pattern features an existing image of Amagula's ghost net crab sculpture, which has been repeatedly and digitally printed. A recycled miner's uniform is used to hem the dress and together with the ghost net to construct and form the bag.

Amagula is an experienced artist from Groote Eylandt within the Northern Territory and a member of Anindilyakwa Arts, whose family has been instrumental in supporting her within the art of painting and bag making.

Always has been, all the time will likely be

Clothing The Gaps' iconic power t-shirt boldly echoes the colours of the Aboriginal flag and bears the historically significant message “Always Was, Always Will Be”, a robust recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals are the are the rightful guardians of this land and sovereignty has never been relinquished.

Clothing The Gaps is a majority Aboriginal-owned social enterprise based in Victoria, co-founded by Laura Thompson (Gunditjmara people) and Sarah Sheridan. The organization designs wearable clothing for First Nations peoples and allies and uses colours and slogans to spotlight the critically vital issues affecting First Nations people.

Their clothing is ethically made in Australia in Wurundjeri Country, Victoria and embodies wearable activism that demands and influences social change.

Paul McCann's (Marrithiyel people) (*1984) Sovereignty Never Ceded Gown and Suit (2023) speaks of the trauma and resilience of First Nations and the importance of sovereignty and self-determination.

A commissioned set for the 2023 Melbourne Fashion Festival, McCann's dress features cream satin, blue organza and painted by hand gold patterns. The black vintage suit is decorated with hand-painted motifs in blue and gold.

A fashion design graduate, McCann was inspired by his grandmother's vintage outfits and his family's cultural stories and art. His design ethos is one in all culture and glamour, and he often adds hand-painted art and embellishments to garments and jewellery that tell stories of tradition and country.

These 4 artworks and fashion have diverse interwoven messages, themes and artistic practices. Some are wildly colourful while others are muted. Some represent contemporary graphics, others traditional art. Some speak openly about sovereignty, while others are subtle of their message.

Their commonality advocates and showcases culture, craftsmanship, sustainability and the will to inform the reality.

The fashion industry is mobilizing its marketing machine to encourage Americans to vote in November's presidential election, and it's clear they need Kamala Harris to win.

Industry involvement within the race for the White House has increased since 2016, when US Vogue endorsed Hilary Clinton. That was that For the primary time In its 100-year history, the style bible had thrown its weight behind a presidential candidate.

In this 12 months's tight and polarized contest between Harris and former President Donald Trump, fashion designers and types are stepping up bolder and even louder to make sure the current vp becomes “47” – a numerical nickname for the forty seventh President of the United States. These policy interventions are significant because they show that the style industry is able to use its cultural influence to guide consumer behavior and advance social responsibility.

At the beginning of New York Fashion Week in September, Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of US Vogue, said: led a march and rally in the town's Herald Square to encourage Americans to vote for his or her next president. The “unprecedented” The event was organized by Vogue and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).

Wintour was joined by greater than 1,000 people, including models, designers and influencers. Dressed alike in white T-shirts with the slogan “Fashion for our Future,” participants’ call for Americans to take part in the democratic process seemed neutral enough. The CFDA described the event as “non-partisan”.

The reality was completely different. Two months ago, Vogue had publicly supported Harris for president after Joe Biden suddenly withdrew from the race. The New York event was an try to drum up support for her campaign.

In case of doubt, Wintour was accompanied by the First Lady of the United States. Dr. Jill Biden wears one other slogan T-shirt spoke of her appreciation for Wintour: “No one has shaped this industry more than you… But you haven’t stopped there.” Now shape the world. The President and I value your advice and friendship.”

The influence of Wintour and US Vogue was evident a month later when the October 2024 digital issue of Vogue featured Kamala Harris in a photograph shoot with Annie Leibowitz. The Cover photo The Vice President’s title was clearly captioned: “The Candidate of Our Time.”

Designers for Democracy (and Harris)

The T-shirts worn by Wintour and Biden in Herald Square were designed by Zac Posen, chief creative officer of the Old Navy brand. Posen attended the New York rally alongside other fashion designers resembling Michael Kors and Tory Burch, in addition to current CFDA President Thom Browne.

Recognizing the facility of clothing to precise personal messages and political affiliations, Browne and Burch – together with at the least a dozen other well-known names in American fashion – collaborated with the Harris campaign team to provide a spread of clothes Choice-themed clothingwho call themselves “designers for democracy”.

In the red, white and blue of the American flag, scarves, tops, totes and hats have turn out to be canvases for campaign slogans that mix upholding democracy, women's reproductive rights and the environment with a vote for Harris: “History is Watching,” “Democracy – Women’s Rights – Climate” and “We’re not going back”. The Designers For Democracy initiative continues the collaborative efforts of designers who produced goods in support of Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.

Some industry brands are taking their very own steps to encourage people to vote for Harris. Beauty brand Glossier has collaborated with The New York Times to launch a series of digital, print and billboards. It uses a cropped photo of an unclothed white woman's torso to encourage Americans to accomplish that “Vote for you”. The slogan is a nod to the brand's You fragrance collection. However, the campaign isn’t any laughing matter. It is meant to make a sober statement. The picture has one other caption: “Vote for your daughter's future, vote for your grandmother's legacy.”

Both statements are thinly veiled criticism of Donald Trump's position on women's reproductive rights. The US Supreme Court will make a call in June 2022 overthrew Roe vs. Wadea landmark 1973 Court ruling that established abortion as a constitutional right for girls throughout the United States. The decision to repeal this law got here during Joe Biden's presidency, but three conservative judges were appointed by Trump, who was president between 2016 and 2020 accused of supporting this controversial step.

In discussing its campaign, Glossier, a women-owned company, said it felt “compelled to go a step further than our previous efforts to know what's going on.” [this year’s] Vote.” In a strategic move, Glossier's billboards appear in seven key swing states where polls show Harris is struggling to distinguish herself from her Republican rival.

Shaping a brand new political future

The fashion industry's intervention on this 12 months's presidential contest is critical since it shows that brands, designers and editors are increasingly willing to make use of their industrial and cultural influence to spread narratives that demand social change.

Bold campaigns that remind people of their obligations to past, present and future generations suggest that the style industry recognizes consumers' concerns concerning the state of the world. In response to increasing political polarization and decreasing social cooperation inside and outdoors the US, people want fashion brands to do that show more responsibility and authenticity.

In some cases, political intervention from the style industry might be expected. Brands and designers used their platforms for criticism Trump and his policies during his presidency. There are also concerns that a second Trump term would negatively impact the style industry through higher tariffs, labor deregulation, etc Review of sustainability initiatives.

The fashion industry's motives usually are not entirely altruistic – and we ought to be careful about how and by whom its influence is exerted. Still, these initiatives suggest that we will take some comfort. Whoever becomes America's next president, the style industry appears to have realized that the pursuit of commerce might be balanced with the demands of 1's own conscience.

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With San Jose's latest Little Italy Museum and Cultural Center now open to the general public, people at Sunday's Little Italy Festival had their first probability to explore the restored home on West St. John Street.

Anyone who toured the old Beltramo House during its groundbreaking ceremony in 2020 can attest that architect Sal Caruso — and a team of builders — pulled off a miracle by bringing the early Twentieth-century home back to life woke up. The spaces have been converted into galleries with exhibits that pay tribute to the Santa Clara Valley's agricultural past and community leaders similar to Bank of America founder AP Giannini, in addition to showcasing the house regions of Italian immigrants who got here to the valley, similar to Sicily and Venice .

An entire wall is devoted to a set of Venetian Carnival masks, and Joshua DeVincenzi Melander, executive director of Little Italy San Jose, made the smart move so as to add to the atmosphere by covering the windows within the Italy Room with protective film featuring images from the world has covered.

Of course, as in any good Italian home, the kitchen is the centerpiece, where cooking classes and demonstrations happen. (For last Friday's grand opening dinner and concert, Rollati and Eataly used the kitchen for dinner and appetizers.) The liveliest spot in the home, nonetheless, is the basement, home to the Italian Cellar speakeasy bar Little Italy members and their guests, open Wednesday through Sunday. Further information might be found at www.littleitalysj.com.

IMPRESSIVE IMPORTS: One of the large draws at Sunday's Little Italy Festival — besides the shade — was the “Supercars of Italy” exhibit, featuring greater than 100 Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Italian motorcycles at Guadalupe River Park. “Every driveway in Los Gatos must be empty today,” one passerby remarked.

SYMPHONY SUCCESS: Jon Nakamatsu, George Gershwin and air-con proved to be a winning combination for San Jose Symphony on the weekend. Acting artistic director Robert Massey said the “Jon Nakamatsu and the Jazz Age” program was the biggest opening weekend within the symphony’s 23-year history. It was so big that ushers within the packed California Theater on Sunday ran out of programs at hand out to patrons.

What a vigorous atmosphere, with a jazz band and dancers in flapper dresses entertaining the audience within the lobby before the concert. But Nakamatsu also had lots to do with it. The San Jose native and Van Cliburn Prize-winning pianist performed Aaron Copland's “Piano Concerto” and Gershwin's “Rhapsody in Blue” with the orchestra led by conductor Elinor Rufeizen. Observers noted that Nakamatsu played the complicated Gershwin piece, which celebrates its one centesimal anniversary this yr, without music in front of him.

These pieces were joined by Gershwin's “An American in Paris” and Maurice Ravel's “Bolero” for a program consisting entirely of music from the Nineteen Twenties. Next, Symphony San Jose will welcome you back Conductor Peter Jaffe for his “Symphonic Spooktacular” on October twenty sixth and twenty seventh with classical, atmospheric music that the audience will definitely know from movies and stages (including Alfred Hitchcock's “Psycho” and Andrew Lloyd Webber's “The Phantom of the Opera”).

SPECIAL DELIVERY: Sculptor Ken Matsumoto, who owns the Art Object Gallery in Japantown, knew for months that he would receive the City of San Jose's Cornerstone of the Arts Award, presented last Thursday on the Hammer Theater Center.

Matsumoto – who was honored alongside the late Rick Holden; Scott and Shannon Guggenheim of 3Below Theaters and muralist Paul J. Gonzalez – have a protracted history with the award itself, having designed a singular stone sculpture for every award presented for the reason that program began in 2013. That meant Matsumoto would receive an award of his own making, which is pretty cool (but not unprecedented: Cedric Gibbons, who designed the Oscar statuette, won 11 Oscars as art director).

But as Art Commission Chairman Shelby Takeda explained at Thursday's ceremony, the Art Commission felt Matsumoto should receive one other unique award, so it surprised him with a second award, a sculpture called “The Last Stone.” which was created by Santa Clara artist Terry Kreiter. Works have been shown at Matsumoto's gallery and other local venues similar to Works/San Jose.

Originally published: October 8, 2024 at 11:17 am

It is a widely accepted view amongst economists that cultural differences is usually a significant barrier to trade. The greater the cultural gap between two countries – measured by differences in language, customs, values ​​and business norms – the demanding and expensive trade relations. This is a recurring Theme in research.

But there’s one big exception to the rule: China.

As an applied economist Since I’m very involved in how culture influences trade, I actually have conducted several studies on this dynamic. In one among these studies, two colleagues and I rigorously analyzed China’s trade relations with almost 90 countries over 16 years.

Our research revealed a characteristic pattern: Unlike in lots of other countries, cultural differences have little influence on the extent of China's trade activities.

Bridging cultural differences: strategies and successes

Countries have various tools at their disposal to attenuate the impact of cultural differences on their trade. Cultural exchange programsbilateral Trade agreements And International trade fairs have proven to be a remarkable success in promoting mutual understanding, facilitating trade negotiations and overcoming cultural barriers.

However, these options can be found to all countries. What makes China unique?

I think that China’s national trade strategy, which state-supported Export industries and considerable global infrastructure investmentsis an enormous a part of the reply.

By aligning itself with the economic development needs of its trading partners, China has been capable of minimize the negative impact of cultural differences on its trade. This strategy has proven surprisingly effective.

A more in-depth take a look at Chinese trade activities in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America – all regions with significant cultural differences from China – paints a vivid picture of this remark.

Despite its cultural differences with the nations of the African continent, each of which has its own traditions, languages ​​and customs, China has a Multi-billion dollar trading network within the region, which incorporates industries from mining to telecommunications. China's engagement in Africa is enabled by a mix of local infrastructure investment, reasonably priced technology provision and favourable credit conditions. These partnerships are more about symbiotic relationships And less about efficiency. The facilitates market access and helps China overcome cultural barriers.

China has also made significant progress within the Middle East by aligning itself with the region’s development goals, comparable to those set out in Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the United Arab Emirates Centenary 2071. China's Belt and Road Initiative complements these long-term development plans and provides the capital investment and construction expertise required to deliver ambitious infrastructure projects.

China's presence in Latin America has also increased significantly within the last decade. Despite the geographical and cultural distance, China has turn into one among the Top trading partners for countries comparable to Brazil, Chile and Peru. This relationship relies on reciprocity: Latin American countries supply raw materials and agricultural products in exchange for Chinese investments within the infrastructure and manufacturing sectors.

This can be a technique based on pragmatic economic interactions focuses on mutual profit and development goals.

The need for strategic adaptability

Some may argue that trading with China is an obvious alternative due to its Size and influence. Economic incentives include access to China’s population of over 1.4 billion and its significant role in Global value chainsparticularly within the electronics, textiles and mechanical engineering sectors. As China’s influence in global markets grows, US corporations also face Competitive pressure to keep up their market positions.

However, China’s trade practices, which regularly involve government intervention, may endanger Market efficiency — a longtime economic goal — in some ways.

In international trade, market efficiency refers back to the extent to which prices on the world market reflect all available information in order that resources could be optimally allocated amongst countries.

China is understood to demand foreign corporations should transfer technology to local corporations as a condition for market access. This practice can undermine market efficiency by forcing corporations to share proprietary technologies fairly than compete on equal terms.

Theft of mental property and inadequate protection of mental property rights in China are also a serious problem for Western corporations. The lack of strict mental property enforcement can result in inefficiencies by discouraging innovation and investment by foreign corporations that fear that their inventions and technologies could possibly be copied without adequate legal means.

Western corporations also face various market access barriers in China, comparable to Joint enterprise requirements, Restrictions on foreign ownership and regulatory hurdles. These barriers can prevent efficient allocation of resources and limit competition and innovation, leading to a less efficient market overall.

Despite these concerns, Western corporations proceed to do business with China.

China's ability to beat cultural barriers and the continued engagement of Western corporations pose a big challenge to Western economies, particularly the United States. The challenge is magnified because the United States continues to depend on traditional efficiency approaches to constructing trade relationships in diverse regions comparable to Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

Since traditional market efficiency approaches may not at all times be sufficientWestern economies may have to rethink their strategies.

Almost 50 years have passed since Elvis Presley died; aside from an annual memorial service in August on the anniversary of the singer's death, there may be little news most days about Presley or his Graceland estate, which a national historic landmark in 2006.

So fans weren’t prepared when, in late May 2024, a mysterious private investment company issued a public notice of foreclosure on Graceland. The property seemed were used as security for an unpaid loan of nearly $4 million.

Suddenly it seemed as if a chunk of history could disappear with the blow of an auctioneer's gavel.

Many details of the episode are still unclearalthough the courts suspected fraud and immediately stopped the sale. An identity thief later claimed responsibility for the attempted fraud from the shadows of the dark web.

But the fear of The possibility of the family losing control of Presley's home raises a crucial query: Why is Graceland essential?

It is the second most visited house within the USAonly surpassed by the White House. According to the US Department of the Interiorthat made Graceland a landmark, “American culture and music were irrevocably changed by Elvis. It would be difficult to tell the story of the 20th century without mentioning the many contributions of this legendary, iconic artist.”

The department's report is definitely correct, but Graceland's story is more nuanced than the decree suggests.

In my two Books about PresleyI argue that the singer did indeed make significant contributions to American society. At the identical time, nevertheless, many have looked upon the singer's life, output, and legacy with derision.

Nowhere is that this condescension more evident than in condescending references to his homeland.

From East Memphis to Whitehaven

Graceland was not the primary house Elvis bought.

In 1956, he bought a house for his parents in an upper-middle-class suburb of East Memphis. The family had moved at the least 16 times since Elvis' birth, most of them in Pensions, social housing and rental houses.

The Presleys were accustomed to bringing their cultural customs with them to each stop.

At their latest address in East MemphisThis didn’t go down well with the neighbors, regardless that Elvis had turn into a superstar through his music, television appearances and film roles.

After receiving notification from his wealthy neighbors that they didn’t approve of his mother hanging laundry out to dry and raising chickens within the backyard, Elvis began to search for a house where he and his family wouldn’t suffer the violations of social class.

In 1957, when he was just 22 years old, he settled in Graceland.

Graceland was in-built 1939 as a ten,266-square-foot, two-story, Colonial-style “mini-mansion” with five bedrooms and 4 and a half bathrooms, 4 years after Elvis was born in a two-bedroom apartment. East TupeloMississippi, shotgun shack, a number of steps from the family outhouse.

The property was not a plantation, nevertheless it comprised 13 acres of a former large cattle ranch in Whitehaven, a hamlet several miles from downtown Memphis and named after Colonel Francis Whitewho helped construct the Mississippi and Tennessee Railroad.

The Whitehaven neighborhood had developed within the late nineteenth century, attracting Memphis' gentry as residents. In the mid-Fifties, real estate developers arrived and commenced to parcel out formerly large estates. Although it was still considered “rural,” it began to resemble a traditional middle-class suburb. By the top of the last decade, Whitehaven and the adjoining Levi neighborhood were were about two thirds white and one third black.

In 1970, Memphis annexed Whitehaven. When the Memphis City Council renamed the section of US Route 51 that ran through the community in 1971 to Elvis Presley BoulevardDesegregation and faculty buses encouraged the arrival of latest black students, residents and businesses. This activated the white flight, which eventually saw Whitehaven becomes a predominantly black suburb.

When tourists visit Graceland today, they find the “mini-mansion” in a predominantly black community. Many of the staff who work within the tourist complex are black.

A mood board with American motifs from the Fifties

Immediately after moving into Graceland in 1957, Elvis began renovations. He added rooms, a swimming pool, a stone fence and the now iconic wrought iron gates decorated with musical notes.

As along with his alternative of garments, Elvis approached interior design with the verve of a real postwar American consumer. If he liked something he saw in a magazine, movie or TV show, there was a superb probability a version of it could appear in one in all the home's 23 rooms.

Inspired by President Lyndon Johnson’s three televisions In the Oval Office, the singer placed the identical number in his media center within the basement. After spending plenty of time in Hawaii working and vacationing, Elvis redecorated a study with stone tile waterfalls, artificial ferns and tiki-style furniture, while Floor and ceiling covered with green shaggy carpet.

The overall results of Presley's intuitive house design was a mishmash of furniture, decor and art of varied styles and quality. Visitors expecting celebrity splendor were surprised by the house's relatively modest size and its unreserved acceptance of popular culture trappings. (Prince Harry, apparently, was not impressed when he visited Graceland.)

He never got beyond his raisins

Graceland – flashy and uninhibited – embodied Elvis.

He can have been essentially the most successful artist of his generation, however the cultural establishment all the time saw him as an outsider: he was too provincial, too Southern for a mainstream that was conditioned – rightly or wrongly – to see the South in a negative light. Every success he achieved was accompanied by an asterisk labelling him as “Horatio Alger with a drawn-out voice.”

Graceland was Elvis's sanctuary. It reminded him of his mother Gladys, who died in 1958. Here he felt most comfortable in his Southern identity, here he could simply be himself without having to fear being belittled.

But he was also isolated. Elvis and Graceland embodied a duality. They each reflected the rags-to-riches journey of the American dream, but each also had cultural qualities that were never perceived as dignified enough.

Perhaps this duality can make clear the cultural tensions that dominated the twentieth century – and proceed to accomplish that within the twenty first.

Many critics judge Elvis' refusal to offer up a rural working-class culture as backward and ignorantwhich dampened his artistic success. In a nation whose history – at the least that of polite society – emphasizes progress, Presley's unwillingness to alter was inexcusable, his penchant for the most recent gadgets or trends was derided as ostentatious and tasteless.

But for a lot of others, each inside and out of doors the United States, who should cope with the balance between tradition and modernity, between past and present, Elvis meant something else. They admire his connection to home and family and an ethic that Never get beyond your raisins – and all this when selling over a billion records.

Oh yeah, and he could sing pretty much too.

The Northeast Corridor is America's busiest railroad. Every day has its own features Carrying 800,000 passengers to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington and points in between.

The Northeast Corridor can also be a reputation for the place these trains serve: the coastal plain, which stretches from Virginia to Massachusetts, where over 17% of the country's population lives lives on lower than 2% of its land. People from the Northeast travel through the corridor and live there too.

Like “Rust Belt,” “Deep South,” “Silicon Valley,” and “Appalachia,” “Corridor” has change into shorthand for what many individuals consider the Northeast's defining characteristics: its energetic pace of life, its high average income, and its… liberal politics. In 1961, Republican Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona wished that somebody “sawed off the east coast and let it float out to sea.” In 2016, the conservative FH Buckley denigrated “lawyers, academics, trust fund babies and high-tech workers, bundled in the Acela corridor.”

As a Linguistics and literature scholarI'm excited about what words can teach us about places. My recent book “The Northeast Corridor“shows how America's most important railroad has shaped the cultural identity and national reputation of the Northeast for nearly 200 years. In my opinion, this connection between transit and territory will only strengthen new federal investments in passenger transport, more people from the northeast are interested in the trains.

Makes a terrific chain

The first American railroads were stubs—iron-clad curiosities that carried marble, granite, and coal in the course of the winter months when the canals froze over. It wasn't until 1830 that the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad opened the country's first public passenger line.

A railway craze ensued. Within a number of years, trains crisscrossed the East Coast. A brand new magazine, The Railway Journalpredicted that the railroads would at some point form a “great chain, which in our time will extend along the Atlantic coast, bringing its capitals into a rapid, constant, and mutually beneficial relationship.”

The Boston & Providence Railroad forged a link on this chain in New England. The Philadelphia & Trenton threw one other in Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore scored a 3rd through Delaware and Maryland. Named after the cities they connected, these helped transform a set of competing ports right into a cohesive economic entity.

Despite their rapid growth, each railroad company remained its own fiefdom, burdened with its own government mandates, financial constraints, and technological limitations. A prewar train ride from Baltimore to New York would have required several transfers and two ferry rides and would have taken many of the day.

The “great chain” took modern form within the late nineteenth century, when corporate consolidations created two resourceful supertransportation corporations: the New Haven and Pennsylvania Railroads. Technological advances made it possible to construct recent bridges, dams and terminals. With the opening of 1 Tunnel under the Hudson River from New Jersey to Manhattan in New York City in 1910 and a Bridge over Hell Gate Strait Between the New York boroughs of Queens and the Bronx in 1917, trains were in a position to run uninterrupted between New England and the Chesapeake region.

Connecting an enormous city

For the people of the Northeast, the railway became a lifestyle. During his time on the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, within the Nineteen Thirties and Forties, physicist Albert Einstein enjoyed watching trains clatter through Princeton Junction.

Composer George Gershwin, traveling by train from New York to Boston, claimed: “On the train, with its steely rhythms and rattling bangs, I suddenly heard the complete structure of 'Rhapsody' – and even saw it on paper.” [in Blue]' From start to complete.”

Her fellow travelers included luminaries corresponding to Poet Marianne Moore, Jazz composer and pianist Duke Ellington And Orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowskitogether with countless peculiar drivers whose lives spanned the complete region.

In 1961 French-Ukrainian geographer Jean Gottmann called the Northeast a “recent order within the organization of inhabited space.” Gottmann noted that, unlike European nations that developed around dominant capitals such as London and Rome, the United States emerged from a “polynuclear” fusion of cities and suburbs, which he called a “megalopolis.”

The relative proximity of major cities created a “tidal flow of commuting” between them, which Gottman experienced firsthand as he rode the train between academic appointments in Baltimore, Princeton, and Manhattan.

One of Gottman's supporters, Rhode Island Senator Claiborne Pell, envisioned the Northeast in 1962 as “an extended metropolitan industrial complex.” A frequent traveler, Pell believed that trains played a necessary role within the region's interconnected economy.

Amtrak takes over

As railroads lost passengers to cars, buses and airplanes within the Sixties, Pell called on President John F. Kennedy to create a government agency to operate passenger trains for the general public good. He called the tracks between Boston and Washington a “passage for gigantic waves of movement along our northeast coast“ – or “corridor” for brief.

The name stuck. If Amtrak took over US intercity passenger rail transport In 1971, the preferred trains were on the Northeast Corridor – including the fashionable, if breakdown-prone Metrolinerswhich carried business class passengers between New York and Washington at speeds of over 100 miles per hour.

By 1978, the Northeast accounted for greater than half of Amtrak's ridership. The region's railroad revival convinced Congress to spend money $1.75 billion within the Eighties as a part of the Northeast Corridor Improvement Project, a multi-year project to modernize the road, renovate stations and reduce schedules.

In 2000, Amtrak introduced the Acela Express, a sleek and expensive train dubbed the first U.S. high-speed passenger rail service. Acela became synonymous with its well-heeled customers, but rarely reached its top speed of 150 miles per hour on the corridors Curvy and congested tracks.

The train still became an emblem of the Northeast. Experts called the presidential nomination contests held on the identical day in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland the “This elementary school“Conservatives railed against it.”Acela Corridor” mindsets.

Today, President Joe Biden — a longtime corridor commuter — is proposing a “second great railway revolution,” with Billions of dollars in funding to strengthen and expand the Amtrak network.

High-speed rail projects in California, Nevada And Texas, meanwhile, promise to bring world-class service to the West and South. Construction has begun on Brightline West High-speed connection from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. What these ventures will do with their regions stays unclear. But if the Northeast Corridor is any indication, recent passenger trains will redefine each working lives and the cultural perceptions of those that use them.

This article has been updated to reflect that the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey will not be affiliated with Princeton University.

Many people around the globe make and eat fermented foods. million in Korea You make kimchi alone. These picklers' cultural heritage shapes not only what they eat each time they open a jar, but additionally something much, much smaller: their microbiome.

At the microbial level, we’re what we eat, in a really possible way. Your body is teeming with trillions of microbes. These complex ecosystems exist in your skin, in your mouth, and in your gut. In particular, you’re influenced by your environment, especially the food you eat. Like some other ecosystem, your gut microbiome needs the next Diversity to be healthy.

People cook, fry, bake, and season meals, transforming them through cultural notions of “good food.” When people ferment foods, they directly impact the microbiome of their meals. Fermentation offers the chance to learn do it Taste and heritage shape microbiomes: not only from culturally significant foods like German sauerkraut, kosher pickles, Korean kimchi, or Bulgarian yogurt, but additionally from our own guts.

Our work as anthropologists focuses on how culture changes food. In fact, we first outlined our plan to mix cultural values ​​and microbiology after we were writing our doctoral thesis. Dissertations at our local deli in St. Louis, Missouri. As we stared at our cucumbers and salmon, we wondered how the salty, crunchy spice of those dishes could symbolize the wedding of the 2 Culture and microbiology.

Armed with the tools of microbial genetics and cultural anthropology, we were determined to seek out out.

Science and art of fermentation

Fermentation is the creation of an extreme microbiological environment through an absence of salt, acid and oxygen. It is each one ancient technology for food preservation and a strategy to do it Create distinctive flavorsSmells and textures.

The flavor could be very variable and something you experience through taste Layers of your social experience. What could also be disgusting in a single context is a delicacy in one other. Fermented foods are notoriously unrefined: they fizz, smell and tingle. Whether and the way these spicy foods taste could be a moment Group pride or a probability to accomplish that heal social divides.

In each case, cultural ideas about good food and traditional recipes mix to create a microbiome in a jar. From this angle, sauerkraut is a special ecosystem influenced by German food traditions, kosher dill pickles by Ashkenazi Jewish traditions, and pao cai by Southwest Chinese traditions.

Where culture and microbiology intersect

To understand the impact of culinary traditions and individual creativity on microbiomes, we teamed up with Sandor Katz, a fermentation practitioner based in Tennessee. During one in every of Katz's workshops, we spent 4 days preparing, eating, and sharing fermented foods with nine other participants. Through conversations and interviews, we learned concerning the unique flavors and meanings each of us delivered to our love of fermented foods.

These stories provided context to the 46 food samples we collected and froze to capture a snapshot of the life swimming through kimchi or miso. Participants also collected stool samples every day and mailed a sample every week after the workshop to take care of a record of the gut microbial communities they formed with each bite.

The fermented foods all of us made were wealthy, complex and microbially diverse. While many store-bought fermented foods are pasteurized to remove any live microbes after which re-inoculated with two to 6 specific species of bacteria, our research has shown that homemade ferments contain dozens of strains.

At the microbiome level, various kinds of fermented foods have different profiles. Just as forests and deserts share ecological characteristics, sauerkraut and kimchi are more similar than yogurt and cheese.

But just as different habitats have unique combos of plants and animals, each pot and jar also had its own microbial world attributable to slight differences in preparation or ingredients. The cultural values ​​of taste, creativity, and magnificence that produce a kimchi or a sauerkraut proceed to support diverse microbiomes on these foods and within the individuals who eat them.

Through variations in recipes and cultural preferences toward an additional pinch of salt or a disdain for dill, fermentation traditions lead to distinctive microbial and flavor profiles that your culture teaches you to acknowledge pretty much as good or bad to eat. That means our sauerkraut shouldn’t be your sauerkraut, despite the fact that each could also be good for us.

Fermented foods as cultural medicine

Microbe-rich fermented foods can influence the composition of your gut microbiome. Because your tastes and recipes are culturally influenced, these preferences can have a big impact in your gut microbiome. You can eat these foods in other ways introduce microbial diversityincluding potentially probiotic microbes that provide Human health advantages Such as killing bacteria that make you sick, improving your cardiovascular health, or restoring a healthy gut microbiome after taking antibiotics.

Fermentation is one old craft, and like all crafts, it requires patience, creativity and practice. Cloudy brine is an indication of tasty pickles, but could be a problem for salmon. If fermented foods smell foul, taste too soft, or turn red, it could possibly be an indication of contamination by harmful bacteria or mold.

Fermenting foods at home can seem daunting if the foods are products that come from the shop with a legal guarantee. People who wish to take a more energetic role in preparing their food or embrace the standard foods of their very own culture only need time, water and salt to make easy fermented foods. As friends share sourdough starters, yogurt cultures, and kombucha mothers, they socialize.

Through a singular combination of culture and microbiology, old eating traditions can support microbial diversity in your gut. These cultural practices provide environments for yeasts, bacteria, and native fruits and grains, which in turn preserve traditional foods and flavors.