"Why did
you cut my punch line, 'Revenge is a dish best served cold'?" asked
Australian Patrick Whiteley, a former editor. I
replied: "I just thought cold dishes are delicious, and why shouldn't
anyone like them?" Exasperated, he explained: "But in the West,
'Revenge is a dish served cold' means to treat someone badly in
retaliation."
Oops.
It's not easy
job being the editor of China Daily's "Hotpot" column. After taking
charge in January 2007, I've bumped into many barrier reefs beneath the
seemingly placid surface of the sea of English-language writing about
From Tuesday
to Thursday, the Hotpots have regularly appeared on Page 20.
Scores of
contributors from various corners of the globe have discussed their first impressions
of transportation, shopping and traveling in this country, while others have
pondered cultural differences, giving rich and vivid examples.
This month,
the cream of the column has been published by the China Intercontinental Press:
101 Silly Stories from Cheerful China - China Daily Hotpot Column Collection,
which is available in major foreign language book stores across the country.
Working on
this collection, I came to realize that love, weddings
and marriage seem to be a favorite theme. American Erik Nilsson, a quiet young
colleague whose stories never fail to get a guffaw from us, has
"married" - yet never "divorced" - a number of girls from
various ethnic groups during his journeys throughout the country.
During
Christmas in 2009, he limped around the capital in a Santa suit with a
fractured foot along with other Kris Kringles.
Everyone in the office thought dear Erik truly needed a break. What a surprise
it was, then, to read in his next Hotpot that on New Year's Day, he had hobbled
on crutches cut from saplings along a cliff into a mountain-locked village in
While the
Hotpot column was designed to allow any good writing to be thrown into the soup
- much like various tasty tidbits are tossed into the bubbling cauldron that is
real hotpot - conflicts erupted among editors several times over certain
stories, making it necessary to draw up some guidelines.
They should
not be merely a statement of facts but, rather, ought to be written in a witty,
quirky and descriptive way. Unlike the editorials in the opinion section,
Hotpots should be personal - amusing experiences or thought-provoking
observations of human nature and reality. The column should never offend or
poke fun at the weak and disadvantaged.
And as the
"dish served cold" versus "cold dish" incident illustrates,
there's so much more to learn about a culture than its language. Respecting
others, especially those from different backgrounds,
will lead to real understanding and communication.
In this
sense, perhaps China Daily's Hotpot serves as a melting pot in which our
thoughts and actions boil over, enabling all of us to share our different
tastes for the spice of life.
I am grateful
to all the authors who have taken my suggestions seriously and rewritten their
fine stories up to five or six times before this picky editor would give them
the thumbs up.
If you want
to contribute - and are willing to put up with the fastidious editor's endless
suggestions - please drop us a line or two.