Flatbread and mutton skewers

Such, I learn, is the intended meaning of the cyber-alias 'Nanheyangrouchuan' (or NH, for short) - the guy finally explained it in a comment on ChinaLawBlog a few days ago (it had been a tad obscure, partly because he's wilfully using a non-standard romanization of the 'bread' word, and partly because just about any word/syllable in Chinese can mean about 20 different things anyway).

Anyway, he was "in the news" over on CLB because he's finally started a blog of his own - Bad Bad China (or 'China, eat my lamb kebab!', as he captions it) - after some years of existing in cyberspace only as a guerilla commenter (a cackling, maniacal, 'Phantom of the Opera' figure) on several of the most popular 'China blogs'.

Now, I am a little hesitant to recommend this chap. He is extreme in his opinions: relentlessly curmudgeonly, unforgivingly vehement in his denunciation of the Chinese government, an arch-pessimist in his prognostications on China's immediate prospects. He's also outrageously confrontational, generally inclined, I think, to be scathingly contemptuous of his more China-friendly interlocutors. And I have a feeling that at times I may have detected currents of outright racism or sexism in some of his comments; although I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt on that, because I can't now recall exactly when, where, or what he said to piss me off.

The scary thing is..... he's like my Evil Twin, a completely disinhibited alter ego who'll never pull his punches. Although I suspect he is a little too credulous of conspiracy theories, on most topics I find myself broadly in agreement with him. And, while I'm pretty outspoken on most things most of the time.... well, here in China, I do bite my tongue occasionally to avoid offending people or getting into messy arguments. So, watching The Lamb Kebab Boy LET RIP can be quite a cathartic experience for me. (There are far too many naive 'optimists' out here, or commenting from afar, who really need to have their rose-tinted spectacles knocked to the ground and stamped upon - and Nanheyangrouchuan is just the man to do that!)

Anyway, he kicked off his new blog in typically in-your-face fashion with a post about the imagined imminent collapse and fragmentation of China. NOTE: The meat of this piece is actually in the comments. (My own response was that I can also see this happening, and that it might well be a good thing in many ways - but that I see it as likely to unfold over a much longer timeframe than he seems to be envisioning.)

I think this is probably going to be a pretty stimulating read, so keep an eye on it. (Of course, if he carries on like this, he'll probably get himself properly 'blocked' - or deported! - before long. So enjoy - or be riled by - him while you can.)