Apple Inc. logos are everywhere in Zhengzhou, even though there is no official Apple Store here and iPhones are too pricy for most people.

You see the Apple logo on the front of many stores that sell mobile phones and other electronic devices. One store calls itself an “Authorised Reseller,’’ though I’m not sure exactly what that means in a country where fake Apple Stores pop up every day and knockoff Apple products are as common as bicycles.

Even the white table in my apartment is decorated with a slight variation of Steve Jobs’s iconic symbol. Last time I checked, Apple wasn’t in the furniture business.

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My female students are crazy about dogs. Having a dog as a pet is a relatively new trend in China, where they’re still viewed as food in some places.  Many of my female students either have a dog (at home, not at school), want a dog or want to take care of dogs for a living. Several girls have shown me pictures of their pooches on their cell phones. I, of course, have returned the favor by showing them photos of my golden retrievers Solo and Koji. One girl in my class is particularly fond of the breed.

“Among the various dogs, there is no doubt that golden retriever is my only love,’’ Catherine wrote in her introduction essay. “Its golden soft fur shines sparkly in the sun and you can often see its tail shaking from left to right when it is happy. What attracts me a lot is its kindness, intelligence and faith. No matter what happened, it is always together with its host.’’

Another student, Winnie, wrote movingly about the unbreakable bond between dogs and humans.

“We all know that a dog is loyal to his host forever,’’ she wrote. “When I was in the middle school, I had a dog. Anywhere I went, he would follow me. He was liking sitting beside me when I watch TV. Sometimes I found him staring at TV. I was curious that if he can understood what the actors said. it was so fun. But when I had senior school, I left him alone. I rushed home. However he was lost, made me sad. From now, I get an idea, I will raise a dog in my life after I graduate from college. Whatever big or small. Because I think I will take care of him when he was so young, but in turn he will take care of me when me grow older. He will be my friends.’’

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The Chinese are very superstitious people, even when it comes to chopsticks.

I recently learned that it’s disrespectful to stick your chopsticks in rice so they stand up straight. It’s because it looks like the joss sticks that the Chinese place next to their loved one’s graves during the Qingming Festival in April. The event, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, celebrates the start of spring and honors the dead by tending to their graves.

So next time you stick chopsticks in your rice, remember that you are dissing the dead.

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Many Chinese companies use names that literally describe their products. The heater/air conditioner in my apartment is called Enjoy Wind.