Fenster writes:

I am back in China again, this time to teach a class about American nonprofit organizations at a Chinese university.  The Chinese experience with nonprofits is of relative recent vintage and the sector is small.  Plus, many of the nonprofits out there are essentially appendages of the State, a function of the totalizing nature of the official ideology since Mao.  Old habits die hard.

I was having a conversation with a Chinese friend who lives in Beijing’s central business district.  Rem Koolhas’s CCTV building is right near where he lives, and, believe me, you can’t miss it, even with the haze.  In fact, the haze makes it a tad more surreal than if you were to see it in the clear light of day, which is unlikely.

For proper effect, view image through cheesecloth

Here is our conversation:

Him: We call that building Big Pants.

Me: I can see why.

Him: Designed by Frenchman . . . can’t remember name.

Me:  Koolhas?  Dutchman?

Him: No, not him.

Me: Okay.  Do people like the building?

Him: Not like.  Not not like.  Just Big Pants.