A few days ago, I enjoyed having an extensive lunch in one of Changchun’s restaurants. It’s worth chatting about that restaurant a little. The restaurant’s situated in Changchun’s city centre. It’s named Shi Jian. To make a long story short, Shi Jian’s mainly worth chatting about because it serves both Chinese and Western cuisine. That’s arguably the reason why the restaurant jumps to the cutting edge among other restaurants in Changchun.

You can’t gatecrash into Shi Jian. You’ve got to buzz at the door to be let in. The restaurants radiates a cool and dark ambience inside. The dark interior contributes to making Shi Jian an out of the ordinary experience. The waitress will hand you a bilingual menu, in Chinese and English. The bilingual menu forms the exception to the rule in Changchun. Plenty of traditional Chinese restaurants offer their guests a pot of free tea. Shi Jian comes up with a glass of water. In loads of traditional Chinese restaurants there’s no coffee on offer. Shi Jian, however, serves coffee in all shapes and sizes ranging from cappuchino and mocca to espresso.

Similar to restaurants in the United States, Chinese restaurants come across as rather noisy spots. In both countries, guests in restaurants don’t talk in low voices. Shi Jian strikes you as very quiet when put into context. The restaurant’s split up in various sections. Within the respective sections, there’s plentiful space among the tables. All this presumably keeps the noise level low. Which I do appreciate. Friends across the globe ask me again and again and…..to speak louder. I refuse to do so. Last but not least, whilst having lunch or dinner in Shi Jian you can listen to low key piano music. The music is where it belongs - in the background. Which means that I don’t have to raise my voice.

Renminbi Or Euro

Even currencies won’t make me raise my voice. Yet it may be worth briefly touching on the topic which currency may replace the US dollar as the present reserve currency, at the end of the day. It must’ve dawned by now on almost everybody and her sister that the US dollar resembles an awfully flawed currency. It’ll bite the dust, sooner or later. Common sense tells me that it depends which currency will step in. By the way, I’m fond of recommending students the response “it depends” when they’re queried and don’t know what to reply. “It depends” sounds plenty brighter than I dunno. And the person asking them is most unlikely to expect that response. That response will give students a few seconds to mull what it may depend on.

Be that as it may. In our context the decision may depend on the time frame. If the US dollar will be replaced as the reserve currency by tomorrow morning, I’d go for the Euro to step in. However, if memory serves it was Doug Casey who noted that “if the US dollar is an I owe you nothing, then the Euro’s an who owes you nothing”. That phrase nutshells my doubts about the Euro. I wouldn’t put an ounce of gold on the bet whether or not the Euro will still be around in twenty years time or so. The European Union looks structurally flawed to me. The European Union introduced the Euro years after I left old Europe. I’ve never ever used the Euro. As a point of reference to make up my mind whether or not something’s a bargain I resort to the New Zealand dollar. But the New Zealand dollar won’t shake out as the future reserve currency, neither tomorrow morning nor in twenty years time.

In twenty years time, I’d go for the Chinese Renminbi to step in. Even though China faces a few challenges - e.g. a shortage of water - for the long haul the Renminbi can solely climb to the stars. The Chinese currency’s most likely to start a new chapter in financial history. The Euro’s unlikely to stand the test of time.

Who knows? Let’s wait and see as to the shape of things ahead. Perhaps there’s a reason why I’ve got a suitcase in China.

* More Articles on Living in China
* Real Estate in China
* Banks in China - Worldwide Banking Directory
* Universities in China - Colleges & Universities listed by Country
* Embassies and Consulates of China