Double Handshake

A few noteworthy links out there:

China becomes Brazil’s top trade partner – AP reports that China has surpassed the US as Brazil’s biggest trade partner, with trade last month reaching US$3.2 billion, compared to US$2.8 billion between the US and Brazil. Brazil is China’s biggest trade partner in Latin America, with soy and iron being the top Brazilian exports.

The Beijing-Havana connection – Yinghong Cheng at the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington DC think tank, published a good piece on China and Cuba: Beijing and Havana: Political Fraternity and Economic Patronage. Cheng describes China’s investment in the island “a massive economic blood transfusion” to ensure it has a strategic partner in the region.

China: Quarantines ‘proper and necessary’ – China Daily has the country’s latest reaction in its ongoing row with Mexico over the quarantine measures it began taking over the weekend (H/t Danwei). Chinese netizens have made their opinon known on the matter:

A poll by major information portal Sina.com showed that 92.5 percent of 4,263 online users said the quarantine was “a necessary preventive method and had nothing to do with discrimination”.

Lima’s El Comercio has a nice profile of China’s No. 1 salsa-dancing maestro Huo Yaofei, aka David Huo. (Alternative headline via Google Translate: “Meet the First Chinese Teacher in Beijing Sauce”).

David began his sauce career in 1999, when he first saw a couple dancing at a Latino restaurant in Beijing. He cut his teeth learning steps from Latin American students in the capital, and eventually began teaching salsa dancing on Chinese TV in 2003. This caught the eye of the Cuban embassy in Beijing.

He set out for Havana, spent a month there, came back to China, quit his TV gig, and headed back to Cuba for a longer spell. After studying at the Instituto Superior de Arte, he broadened his repertoire to the rhumba, cha-cha and the danzón. In 2005, David won the International Salsa Festival in Havana (see video above). He then returned to China and opened Casa de David, a dancing school, in 2007.

And, here comes the Chinese Characteristics bit:

David es especialista en rueda de casino, una manera de bailar salsa en círculo, rotando las parejas y formando figuras. Según dice, es lo más adecuado para los chinos que acostumbran, por tradición, bailar en grupo. Ha preparado un plan de enseñanza especial para sus compatriotas, basado en los consejos de sus profesores latinos y su experiencia como chino que se inicia en este baile. Revela que la mayor dificultad que enfrentan sus estudiantes no radica en dominar los pasos por complicados que estos sean, sino en sentir la música.

Or, in very rough translation:

David specializes in wheel casino-style dancing, a type of dancing salsa dancing in a circle, rotating partners and forming shapes. He says, this is best for the Chinese, who usually, by tradition, dance in groups. He has prepared a special plan for his compatriots, based on advice from [his and other instructors'] teachers and the experiences Chinese beginners. He reveals that the greatest challenge facing their students lies not in mastering the complicated steps, but in feeling the music.

Has anyone been to or, per chance studied, at Casa de David in Beijing? I remember friends in Shanghai going for weekly salsa dancing, but didn’t realize the scope. Casa de David’s possibly out-of-date website claims over 700 members!