Happy New Year!
So, Beijing isn't anywhere close to Vietnam, and most people probably won't get the reference, but there you have it.
Today I left Guangzhou and came to Beijing. I had my first experience with Chinese air travel, and I came away rather impressed. The Guangzhou airport (which I took a picture of) is one of the most impressive buildings I have ever seen, and getting my ticket and finding my gate was extremely straightforward. I had about the same amount of difficulty I would have in the Vancouver Airport, which is to say, not much.
The plane ride was pretty excellent as well, except for the wait we had for air traffic control to let us in. I sometimes get very nervous in planes, and this happened to be one of those times. You see, despite the fact that everything was exceptionally well taken care of, and that I was in a Boeing 757, I had some wild suspicions about the quality of maintenance on the aircraft. I've noticed how insane the Chinese are when it comes to driving, and what sorts of risks they take (the Taxi driver today turned left across three lanes of traffic, even though he was in the right lane, for example), so I wondered if perhaps the same went for aircraft. I tried to console myself with the fact that I had never HEARD of plane crashes in China, but then again, the state controlled media doesn't like to report on disasters that happen within China. Tends to dissuade people from spending their moneys = dampening the economy.
Anyways, we arrived safe and sound at the Beijing airport. Let me just say that Beijing is huge. Absolutely enormous. We flew over most of it on the way to the airport, and it just goes on and on and on. We must have been at several thousand feet, and I could not see an end to the city in any direction. I tried to take some pictures, but I did not have a window seat, so all I got were some lovely pictures of the sun.
Then, I met my tour guide and he took me to my hotel. My hotel is AWESOME. Not the hotel itself, it is pretty regular, and a major step down from the five star treatment I have been used to. But its location is amazing. I am about a five minute's walk from the Forbidden City, which is directly connected to Tiananmen Square. In the other direction (which happens to be the direction I randomly walked when I went exploring), is a famous market street, which I wandered around in, and ate supper in. I went to a Chinese fast food restaurant, which is much like a Chinese Restaurant in Canada, and had supper. I had supper for $2.50. I love the price of food here.
The street my hotel is on is also some kind of crazy marketplace. It is basically a bunch of street vendors who yell at people to get them to buy things. Unfortunately, it seemed the only people on the street were me and other vendors.
The other awesome thing about my hotel is the Guest Directory. This book is such a goldmine of Engrish (poorly translated Chinese, that is) that I might just need to steal it. I'm OK with paying for it if they want me to. Some highlights:
"Mails: If you want to post the mails, express mails or packages, please contact the business center at ****. You can get your mail or package at the front desk, or inquire it at 11 or 12."
"Catering services: Located on the -1st floor..."
"Visitors: If he is not accompanied with the guest, the visitor is not permitted to enter the guest's room."
"Rule 4: It is forbidden to install the copycat and fax machine in the bedroom."
"Rule 8: The gambling, drug, bawdry and whoring and other illegal acts and forbidden at the hotel."
I love the use of the word bawdry. It is so archaic that my spell checker (yes I have one) doesn't know it exists. The only place I've seen it before was in a class on 17th century drama. It means lewd or obscene acts, for those of us who are not complete dorks.
Lastly, although I can't read my own blog most of the time (as blogspot mysteriously doesn't work inside the walls of China), I still get the comments. They are sent to me via email. And also: I really enjoy getting them. More than once, a single comment has pulled me out of some pretty intense homesickness. So, if you have something to say, I'm happy to hear it.
Oh, and on the topic of comments, I got this one on my last post:
"建伟 has left a new comment on your post 'Lazy days in Guangzhou':
.As China increasingly is seen as a growing business power, interest in learning the Chinese language had rocketed, and dominance of Chinese over English will be a long time coming. More and more people begin to learn Chinese, because here is clear career potential for the future. Chinese language education market will be prosperous. Check the site http://www.********.cn/ to learn more about learning Chinese."
Dominance of Chinese over English, huh? Could happen. But those wacky Chinese are jumping the gun a little bit. 15 years of phenomenal growth does not a certainty make. Remember the lessons of the Americas during the 1920's. Or more recently, Japan in the 1990's. Although I admit that a lot of that is the fact that I'm rather fond of certain western values (like freedom of information. I like reading my own blog), which I don't want to lose, should a censoring dictatorship rise to dominance.
OK, here are the pictures. I've had to switch to Flickr, because they've decided in their great wisdom that Picasa is too seditious to be allowed in China. Also, I am now on my fifth set of batteries since getting here.
View pictures here
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Lazy days in Guangzhou
For some reason, I can't stop using the name of the city I'm in as part of my title. You would think that after a week, everyone would get the idea that I am in Guangzhou.
The last two days have been exceptionally unproductive. Dr. Chen and Dr. Lo left yesterday, leaving me all alone. Actually, in at least one way this is nice, because Dr. Chen had started to snore. On the downside, I no longer have anyone around to translate. I figured that would be OK, since I would take a tour with an English speaking guide, but after evaluating my finances, decided not to.
Instead, I explored the area around my hotel. I was hoping to find a store of some kind, but I was completely unable to do so. There is a big block of apartment buildings near my hotel, but I have no idea where they are buying their food and so on from. They can't possibly all have cars or they wouldn't fit, so there must be some hidden grocery store I couldn't find.
I did, however, manage to have a pleasant walk through a beautiful neighborhood, and found something called "The Guangzhou Gym", which is undoubtedly the largest gym I have ever seen. I'm wondering if "Stadium" got mis-translated. I didn't go inside this gym, but I did take some pictures from the outside.
I wouldn't want people to get the idea that all I did was go for a walk in two days. Although this may not be such a terrible idea to get, I have been busily pursuing academic interests, ranging from cryptography to architecture. I have also been learning some of the Chinese language.
On the topic of language, it has been a huge barrier for me here. I never expected everyone here to speak English, as that would be Western arrogance at its height. However, considering this is a hotel which targets English speaking people, I have had a number of problems, the worst of which was me losing 5 yuan because I couldn't tell the room service girl that it belonged to me, and not her. Should I ever come back to China (which will depend entirely on the amount of money I have), I will try very hard to have a degree of proficiency with conversational Chinese.
It seems to me that I have been awfully hard on the Chinese here in my blog. Anyone reading (hi government censors!) could easily get the impression I was not enjoying myself, or I was disgusted with the country. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Although there are some areas of intense poverty, as I have mentioned earlier, the areas which are NOT impoverished are astoundingly sophisticated. I would consider, say, Vancouver, a sophisticated, world class city. But the impressive parts of Guangzhou put it to shame. First of all, there is the architecture. The Chinese are not content with straightforward, boring buildings. Within the wealthier, and ever middle class sections of the city, every building has a unique and interesting design, which is not showy just to be showy, but just plain elegant.
Furthermore, the transit system is phenomenal. There are comfortable, fast trains going everywhere. The highway system, although plagued by toll booths is extremely well maintained and very efficient. The largest cities have subways, with easy to use access cards that the PG bus system could learn a thing or two from.
In addition to all that, in the midst of the city (which is where I am), there is greenery everywhere. Even the lampposts have a compelling design. Each thing may sound somewhat trivial, but when you put it all together, you end up with a city that is beautiful and extremely convenient. The only thing stopping me from declaring it the best city I have ever seen is my dislike for the food and my lack of knowledge of the language.
You wouldn't think food would be that big a deal, but I would say that it has become a metaphor for all of the things I miss constantly about Canada. There's nothing like feeling disappointed every time it's meal time. Next time, I am bringing a chef with me.
Here in the hotel, they have a Western Restaurant. This "Western" Restaurant is about as close to Moxie's as the China Cup is to a Chinese restaurant over here, which is to say, not at all the same. "Western" food generally consists of noodles or rice, typically with beef, seafood or chicken. This COULD be western, except everything is prepared in a Chinese way, and it really just tastes the same as Chinese food, except in this case I know what it is before I eat it. In fact the "Western" restaurant here is much closer to a Chinese restaurant in Canada than it is to Earl's. I would even be happy with Denny's.
(On a side note: every time an establishment plays Western music, it is invariably soft rock from the 70's, 80's or early 90's. I have heard Celine Dion, Paul Simon and Elton John. Considering in a Canadian Chinese Restaurant they play that hokey Chinese stuff that everyone associates with China, is this what they think of our music? Do they know about things like heavy metal or punk? Have they ever heard of an indie song? I have heard some modern Chinese music, and it was all pop. Not like J-Pop, but Backstreet Boys/Britteny Speares kind of pop. Some of it was quite good. Some of it was not.)
Tomorrow I fly to Beijing and start my tour, so I won't have time to wind my lazy way along a cultural rant like this. Instead, I will have actual things I have done to talk about. Won't THAT be exciting.
The last two days have been exceptionally unproductive. Dr. Chen and Dr. Lo left yesterday, leaving me all alone. Actually, in at least one way this is nice, because Dr. Chen had started to snore. On the downside, I no longer have anyone around to translate. I figured that would be OK, since I would take a tour with an English speaking guide, but after evaluating my finances, decided not to.
Instead, I explored the area around my hotel. I was hoping to find a store of some kind, but I was completely unable to do so. There is a big block of apartment buildings near my hotel, but I have no idea where they are buying their food and so on from. They can't possibly all have cars or they wouldn't fit, so there must be some hidden grocery store I couldn't find.
I did, however, manage to have a pleasant walk through a beautiful neighborhood, and found something called "The Guangzhou Gym", which is undoubtedly the largest gym I have ever seen. I'm wondering if "Stadium" got mis-translated. I didn't go inside this gym, but I did take some pictures from the outside.
I wouldn't want people to get the idea that all I did was go for a walk in two days. Although this may not be such a terrible idea to get, I have been busily pursuing academic interests, ranging from cryptography to architecture. I have also been learning some of the Chinese language.
On the topic of language, it has been a huge barrier for me here. I never expected everyone here to speak English, as that would be Western arrogance at its height. However, considering this is a hotel which targets English speaking people, I have had a number of problems, the worst of which was me losing 5 yuan because I couldn't tell the room service girl that it belonged to me, and not her. Should I ever come back to China (which will depend entirely on the amount of money I have), I will try very hard to have a degree of proficiency with conversational Chinese.
It seems to me that I have been awfully hard on the Chinese here in my blog. Anyone reading (hi government censors!) could easily get the impression I was not enjoying myself, or I was disgusted with the country. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Although there are some areas of intense poverty, as I have mentioned earlier, the areas which are NOT impoverished are astoundingly sophisticated. I would consider, say, Vancouver, a sophisticated, world class city. But the impressive parts of Guangzhou put it to shame. First of all, there is the architecture. The Chinese are not content with straightforward, boring buildings. Within the wealthier, and ever middle class sections of the city, every building has a unique and interesting design, which is not showy just to be showy, but just plain elegant.
Furthermore, the transit system is phenomenal. There are comfortable, fast trains going everywhere. The highway system, although plagued by toll booths is extremely well maintained and very efficient. The largest cities have subways, with easy to use access cards that the PG bus system could learn a thing or two from.
In addition to all that, in the midst of the city (which is where I am), there is greenery everywhere. Even the lampposts have a compelling design. Each thing may sound somewhat trivial, but when you put it all together, you end up with a city that is beautiful and extremely convenient. The only thing stopping me from declaring it the best city I have ever seen is my dislike for the food and my lack of knowledge of the language.
You wouldn't think food would be that big a deal, but I would say that it has become a metaphor for all of the things I miss constantly about Canada. There's nothing like feeling disappointed every time it's meal time. Next time, I am bringing a chef with me.
Here in the hotel, they have a Western Restaurant. This "Western" Restaurant is about as close to Moxie's as the China Cup is to a Chinese restaurant over here, which is to say, not at all the same. "Western" food generally consists of noodles or rice, typically with beef, seafood or chicken. This COULD be western, except everything is prepared in a Chinese way, and it really just tastes the same as Chinese food, except in this case I know what it is before I eat it. In fact the "Western" restaurant here is much closer to a Chinese restaurant in Canada than it is to Earl's. I would even be happy with Denny's.
(On a side note: every time an establishment plays Western music, it is invariably soft rock from the 70's, 80's or early 90's. I have heard Celine Dion, Paul Simon and Elton John. Considering in a Canadian Chinese Restaurant they play that hokey Chinese stuff that everyone associates with China, is this what they think of our music? Do they know about things like heavy metal or punk? Have they ever heard of an indie song? I have heard some modern Chinese music, and it was all pop. Not like J-Pop, but Backstreet Boys/Britteny Speares kind of pop. Some of it was quite good. Some of it was not.)
Tomorrow I fly to Beijing and start my tour, so I won't have time to wind my lazy way along a cultural rant like this. Instead, I will have actual things I have done to talk about. Won't THAT be exciting.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Quick Update
It occurred to me as I was going to sleep today that I hadn't written
a blog update. This is largely because I did nothing at all today.
So, here I am, checking in, so no one is worried I have died. I will
sum up what I did for tomorrow's blog entry.
a blog update. This is largely because I did nothing at all today.
So, here I am, checking in, so no one is worried I have died. I will
sum up what I did for tomorrow's blog entry.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Whirlwind Guangdong Tour
Today was the last day of the conference. So naturally, we skipped town and zoomed around the countryside instead of attending.
We got picked up by Dr. Lo's sister-in-law, to take a tour of her husband's company, and also to be shown around the countryside. The business was sort of neat. They make a device that takes cars with a bent frame and straightens them. We got to see it in operation. Dr. Chen detected a flaw in in the way they set it up, and they had a big discussion about physics, in which it turned out he was right.
After that, we went for lunch. I was able to experience more delightful Chinese cuisine. Like snake. And Chicken's head. I took some pictures of the other things the restaurant had. Any animals you see in the pictures are designed to be eaten. G.R.O.S.S.
Time to talk about the Chinese road system. I have divined the reason why Chinese people in Canada walk across roads without paying attention to cars. It is because in China, cars wander across sidewalks without paying attention to pedestrians. There don't appear to be any such thing as traffic laws, only traffic suggestions. Cars travel at an arbitrary speed, at an arbitrary place on the road (sometimes on the right side), arbitrarily honking their horns. Traveling anywhere is exceptionally terrifying.
Furthermore, it isn't just cars on the roads. There are people in mopeds, bicycles, pedestrians and motorized carts, who all feel that they have every right to be in the middle of the road doing whatever speed they like. Unlike in Canada, where when you are on a bike and a car is bearing down on you, you move to the side of the road, here, they just continue blithely along inches from the car's bumper. Why everyone in China hasn't died in a car accident is completely beyond me. I'm not sure how it is that I haven't died in a car accident yet.
We saw some beautiful countryside. I love mountains, and China has some absolutely gorgeous ones. We went to Bai Shui Xi mountain, which has China's largest waterfall falling off of it. The waterfall appeared to be coming out of the top of the mountain. I have no idea how that was happening. It was crazy. And very lovely.
Once we got outside of Guangzhou, it was very interesting to see the complete change in terms of quality of life. Every building is run down, dirty and small, unlike the clean, sparkling skyscrapers of the city. The people wear rags, and carry stuff around on their carts, instead of cars. What's worse is the attitude of the upper class Chinese towards these people. It is like they are a lesser form of people. They are not respectful to their waiters (no tipping in China) and interact with the lower classes only when it is necessary to get a service from them. The workers in the factory I visited make about $1000 yuan per month. That's about $130 CAD. Per month. I make 4-5 times that, and I am a student. It is quite frankly appalling.
Furthermore, the Chinese have an unfortunate attitude towards women. It is not that the society is misogynistic. It is the incredible weight that Chinese place on physical appearance, especially for women. I have never once heard a Chinese person praise a woman for her brain, although they are constantly talking about how smart and competent the men are. It is not the men's fault, it is everyone's fault.
China's problem, I think, is that they have an upper class living in the 20th century (not the 21st, despite their modern looking cities), and a lower class living in the 19th century, or earlier. The peasants are just that: peasants. They are not like Western farmers, who are respected, they are like the peasants of feudal Britain.
That said, knowing what I do about Chinese history (which I will not wax eloquent about at this stage), it is absolutely incredible how far China has come in the last century. 100 years ago, China was an empire ruled by a 3 year old child, which was completely unable to fend off the British or Portuguese, and which was hardly respected at all throughout the world. Shortly after, China descended into a dark ages, with Warlords ruling their own little Kingdoms. 75 years ago, China was engaged in a civil war. 50 years ago, China surprised the world with its incredible strength during the Korean war. 30 years ago, the starvation and poverty that was rampant at the time started to be solved. Today, China is a leader in the world economy, and is poised to become the next superpower. From a disintegrating fuedal empire to an economic powerhouse in 100 years is phenomenal. I suspect that the attitudes which are holding it back will change soon enough, because China has shown itself to be adaptive in the past, and I think it will do so again.
I believe that at least part of the reason I feel this way is that I have been steeped in Western values from the time I was very young, and I find it very hard not to judge according to them. The Western Values of equality and respecting people's differences are not so well supported here, and I won't deny it is hard to get past. However, I also think the Chinese could teach us some things about patience, and about the importance of industriousness. The Chinese love hard work. It's a big part of their culture that working hard will bring you rewards, and who can't agree with that?
We got picked up by Dr. Lo's sister-in-law, to take a tour of her husband's company, and also to be shown around the countryside. The business was sort of neat. They make a device that takes cars with a bent frame and straightens them. We got to see it in operation. Dr. Chen detected a flaw in in the way they set it up, and they had a big discussion about physics, in which it turned out he was right.
After that, we went for lunch. I was able to experience more delightful Chinese cuisine. Like snake. And Chicken's head. I took some pictures of the other things the restaurant had. Any animals you see in the pictures are designed to be eaten. G.R.O.S.S.
Time to talk about the Chinese road system. I have divined the reason why Chinese people in Canada walk across roads without paying attention to cars. It is because in China, cars wander across sidewalks without paying attention to pedestrians. There don't appear to be any such thing as traffic laws, only traffic suggestions. Cars travel at an arbitrary speed, at an arbitrary place on the road (sometimes on the right side), arbitrarily honking their horns. Traveling anywhere is exceptionally terrifying.
Furthermore, it isn't just cars on the roads. There are people in mopeds, bicycles, pedestrians and motorized carts, who all feel that they have every right to be in the middle of the road doing whatever speed they like. Unlike in Canada, where when you are on a bike and a car is bearing down on you, you move to the side of the road, here, they just continue blithely along inches from the car's bumper. Why everyone in China hasn't died in a car accident is completely beyond me. I'm not sure how it is that I haven't died in a car accident yet.
We saw some beautiful countryside. I love mountains, and China has some absolutely gorgeous ones. We went to Bai Shui Xi mountain, which has China's largest waterfall falling off of it. The waterfall appeared to be coming out of the top of the mountain. I have no idea how that was happening. It was crazy. And very lovely.
Once we got outside of Guangzhou, it was very interesting to see the complete change in terms of quality of life. Every building is run down, dirty and small, unlike the clean, sparkling skyscrapers of the city. The people wear rags, and carry stuff around on their carts, instead of cars. What's worse is the attitude of the upper class Chinese towards these people. It is like they are a lesser form of people. They are not respectful to their waiters (no tipping in China) and interact with the lower classes only when it is necessary to get a service from them. The workers in the factory I visited make about $1000 yuan per month. That's about $130 CAD. Per month. I make 4-5 times that, and I am a student. It is quite frankly appalling.
Furthermore, the Chinese have an unfortunate attitude towards women. It is not that the society is misogynistic. It is the incredible weight that Chinese place on physical appearance, especially for women. I have never once heard a Chinese person praise a woman for her brain, although they are constantly talking about how smart and competent the men are. It is not the men's fault, it is everyone's fault.
China's problem, I think, is that they have an upper class living in the 20th century (not the 21st, despite their modern looking cities), and a lower class living in the 19th century, or earlier. The peasants are just that: peasants. They are not like Western farmers, who are respected, they are like the peasants of feudal Britain.
That said, knowing what I do about Chinese history (which I will not wax eloquent about at this stage), it is absolutely incredible how far China has come in the last century. 100 years ago, China was an empire ruled by a 3 year old child, which was completely unable to fend off the British or Portuguese, and which was hardly respected at all throughout the world. Shortly after, China descended into a dark ages, with Warlords ruling their own little Kingdoms. 75 years ago, China was engaged in a civil war. 50 years ago, China surprised the world with its incredible strength during the Korean war. 30 years ago, the starvation and poverty that was rampant at the time started to be solved. Today, China is a leader in the world economy, and is poised to become the next superpower. From a disintegrating fuedal empire to an economic powerhouse in 100 years is phenomenal. I suspect that the attitudes which are holding it back will change soon enough, because China has shown itself to be adaptive in the past, and I think it will do so again.
I believe that at least part of the reason I feel this way is that I have been steeped in Western values from the time I was very young, and I find it very hard not to judge according to them. The Western Values of equality and respecting people's differences are not so well supported here, and I won't deny it is hard to get past. However, I also think the Chinese could teach us some things about patience, and about the importance of industriousness. The Chinese love hard work. It's a big part of their culture that working hard will bring you rewards, and who can't agree with that?
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Hiking
Today, I woke up late, had my breakfast and took off on a hike of epic proportions. I knew the trail was about 3 km long, with a rise of about 350 m (1100 ft), which is about twice the size of cranbrook hill. So, not too bad, I thought.
I started out my hike by getting lost around the hotel, and trying to break through the police perimeter in the process. Neither of those things were on purpose, but nevertheless, I ended up having to walk all the way around the hotel, which might not sound like that big a deal, but we're talking a huge hotel. I just checked, and it is a mile around the perimeter of the hotel, which I walked entirely.
Once I managed to get on the correct trail (after accidentally trying to break through a different secure perimeter), I found it to be quite beautiful. The path was entirely paved, and not with pavement, but with cemented stones. It was very pretty. There were nice flowers, running brooks, pools of water, and everything you might want on a hike (except for potable water, which I forgot to bring). However, as I advanced, I began to wonder exactly how this whole "mountain climbing" thing was going to happen, since the first kilometer or so of trail had an overall rise of about 50 feet. Then things started to pick up, but not very much.
Then suddenly, the trail got to the actual mountain, and things got intense. You see, unlike our uncivilized, unpaved trails back in Canada that have to wind their way up a steep incline, the Chinese just build stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. The last set of stairs was about 630 long, which at the conservative estimate of 15 stairs per floor, is equivalent to 42 stories of stairs. And that was just the last bit.
Actually it was not. The trail that I had taken so far only got me to the peak area; I was still a couple hundred feet lower than the peak itself. So, after buying some water and ice cream at the nice store, I attempted to walk up the next set of stairs. However, the park ranger told me no. Seeing as "yes" "no" "hello" and "thank you" were the only words we had in common in either language, I had no idea why this might be the case. Only after walking around the ring road (the peak had a ring road!) to a place where the lady also knew English numbers did I find out I had to pay an additional 5 yuan to climb to the summit, on top of the 5 I had paid to access the previous trail.
I set off, passed the tower where you could ring the very loud bell, and got to the top (where they had another store, of course). I took some excellent pictures, and rested for a while, as I was now very tired. The peak is at 382 m, the hotel at 26, the difference between which is just taller than the top floor of the empire state building. I compare it to a building, because EVERYTHING was stairs. Steep, stoney stairs. I then began my descent, and discovered that my legs were rather a lot like pool noodles at this point. I was hoping they didn't give out on me, as it would be a fairly long roll to the bottom of the stairs, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't end up OK at the end.
I dragged myself down the hill, and eventually made it back to the hotel. I must be getting old, because I found walking down hills (and stairs) to be vastly more tiring than walking up. I was actively relieved when there was a bit of the trail that was uphill towards the end.
So, I finally ran into Chinese bugs (which look like some weird combination of wasp and fly) and I also had my first encounter with a wild animal. It was a ferocious cat! And I don't mean like a leopard or something. No, I mean a house cat. But it was wild. And very scared of me. (Course I'd be scared of people too, if I were a cat in China).
I saw a lot of really awesome things today. In fact, I don't think I've seen so many picturesque, and photo-worthy things on my whole trip so far. UNFORTUNATELY, not only was my camera out of batteries, but I forgot my memory stick. So I could only take a few pictures before I ran out of space. So, here they are:
And here is a rough map of where I walked: All told it was about 7 km.
I started out my hike by getting lost around the hotel, and trying to break through the police perimeter in the process. Neither of those things were on purpose, but nevertheless, I ended up having to walk all the way around the hotel, which might not sound like that big a deal, but we're talking a huge hotel. I just checked, and it is a mile around the perimeter of the hotel, which I walked entirely.
Once I managed to get on the correct trail (after accidentally trying to break through a different secure perimeter), I found it to be quite beautiful. The path was entirely paved, and not with pavement, but with cemented stones. It was very pretty. There were nice flowers, running brooks, pools of water, and everything you might want on a hike (except for potable water, which I forgot to bring). However, as I advanced, I began to wonder exactly how this whole "mountain climbing" thing was going to happen, since the first kilometer or so of trail had an overall rise of about 50 feet. Then things started to pick up, but not very much.
Then suddenly, the trail got to the actual mountain, and things got intense. You see, unlike our uncivilized, unpaved trails back in Canada that have to wind their way up a steep incline, the Chinese just build stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. The last set of stairs was about 630 long, which at the conservative estimate of 15 stairs per floor, is equivalent to 42 stories of stairs. And that was just the last bit.
Actually it was not. The trail that I had taken so far only got me to the peak area; I was still a couple hundred feet lower than the peak itself. So, after buying some water and ice cream at the nice store, I attempted to walk up the next set of stairs. However, the park ranger told me no. Seeing as "yes" "no" "hello" and "thank you" were the only words we had in common in either language, I had no idea why this might be the case. Only after walking around the ring road (the peak had a ring road!) to a place where the lady also knew English numbers did I find out I had to pay an additional 5 yuan to climb to the summit, on top of the 5 I had paid to access the previous trail.
I set off, passed the tower where you could ring the very loud bell, and got to the top (where they had another store, of course). I took some excellent pictures, and rested for a while, as I was now very tired. The peak is at 382 m, the hotel at 26, the difference between which is just taller than the top floor of the empire state building. I compare it to a building, because EVERYTHING was stairs. Steep, stoney stairs. I then began my descent, and discovered that my legs were rather a lot like pool noodles at this point. I was hoping they didn't give out on me, as it would be a fairly long roll to the bottom of the stairs, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't end up OK at the end.
I dragged myself down the hill, and eventually made it back to the hotel. I must be getting old, because I found walking down hills (and stairs) to be vastly more tiring than walking up. I was actively relieved when there was a bit of the trail that was uphill towards the end.
So, I finally ran into Chinese bugs (which look like some weird combination of wasp and fly) and I also had my first encounter with a wild animal. It was a ferocious cat! And I don't mean like a leopard or something. No, I mean a house cat. But it was wild. And very scared of me. (Course I'd be scared of people too, if I were a cat in China).
I saw a lot of really awesome things today. In fact, I don't think I've seen so many picturesque, and photo-worthy things on my whole trip so far. UNFORTUNATELY, not only was my camera out of batteries, but I forgot my memory stick. So I could only take a few pictures before I ran out of space. So, here they are:
And here is a rough map of where I walked: All told it was about 7 km.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Monkey Story
Turns out I was wrong about the Chinese Acrobatics. It was tonight, not yesterday, not that it matters much to anyone over there. It matters to me though, because without that, I would have done exactly nothing today.
There was an exhibition for some big party officials today, but they wouldn't let me in. At first, I had no idea why this might be, since the nice Police Officers didn't speak English, and I don't speak Chinese. However, someone soon explained to me that it was because I wasn't technically one of the Chinese Scholars the event is for. Even when Dr. Chen tried to talk me in, it didn't work. Then he tried to tell me to sneak in, but I refused, since one of my major goals for this trip is not getting arrested.
So, they had to exhibit without me, so I sat in the hotel room and read. Not that I don't enjoy reading, but I did that most of the day. Dr. Chen mentioned a few days ago that there was no reason someone couldn't get their graduate degree in one year, as long as they got their thesis done. So, I also started in on what might eventually become my thesis. Or just some paper I try to get published.
Anyways, after sitting around and doing nothing all day, I was pretty excited to go see some acrobatics. The name of the show was "Monkey Story: Journey to the West" and I don't think I'm overstating it to say that it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Now I know I say that a lot, about a lot of things ranging from webpages to haircuts, but this is no hyperbole. I came in expecting some neat tricks, I came out with my jaw on the floor.
The basic story (which I only found out afterwards, because the introductory text and programme were both in Chinese) is there is a monkey with super powers who joins a monk and some other animals on a journey to India to recover the Sutras from Vulture Peak. Along the way they encounter various mythical demons and creatures who want to eat the monkey's flesh, because they think it will make them immortal. They eventually get there, and it is over.
So, the story is not very innovative, but I didn't understand it anyhow so it wasn't important. These acrobats were doing everything you ever imagined possible, and then more. Perhaps you thought you were good at something. You were wrong. These guys were good at everything ever invented, including (but not limited to) juggling, basketball, flying and puppets. It is one thing to walk across a tightrope, and maybe to stand on one foot on it. It is another thing entirely to bounce off a rubber pole held 5 feet off the floor, do a flip forwards and sideways, and then land back on that pole.
Everything about the show was incredible, from the costumes to the sets to the acrobats themselves. At one point they had a staff fight on stage in midair. I just don't see how you can get any cooler than that. The show lasted about an hour and a half, and I wanted it to go on and on forever. I couldn't understand anything about plot, character or theme, which are the three things I usually look for in a story. But it didn't matter because it was so very beautiful to look at. No WONDER Chinese cinema looks so amazing. They have a long history of making pretty things. The West may have Shakespeare, but China has this, and I would put them on par. They are entirely different approaches to art, but this was at least as deeply moving as a well done Shakespeare, and I know a thing or two about well done Shakespeare.
So, if you ever have a chance to see Chinese acrobats do a show, take it. It is worth any price to see. I took some pictures, and a movie at the end, but it really doesn't get across the sheer impossibility of what these people are doing.
There was an exhibition for some big party officials today, but they wouldn't let me in. At first, I had no idea why this might be, since the nice Police Officers didn't speak English, and I don't speak Chinese. However, someone soon explained to me that it was because I wasn't technically one of the Chinese Scholars the event is for. Even when Dr. Chen tried to talk me in, it didn't work. Then he tried to tell me to sneak in, but I refused, since one of my major goals for this trip is not getting arrested.
So, they had to exhibit without me, so I sat in the hotel room and read. Not that I don't enjoy reading, but I did that most of the day. Dr. Chen mentioned a few days ago that there was no reason someone couldn't get their graduate degree in one year, as long as they got their thesis done. So, I also started in on what might eventually become my thesis. Or just some paper I try to get published.
Anyways, after sitting around and doing nothing all day, I was pretty excited to go see some acrobatics. The name of the show was "Monkey Story: Journey to the West" and I don't think I'm overstating it to say that it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Now I know I say that a lot, about a lot of things ranging from webpages to haircuts, but this is no hyperbole. I came in expecting some neat tricks, I came out with my jaw on the floor.
The basic story (which I only found out afterwards, because the introductory text and programme were both in Chinese) is there is a monkey with super powers who joins a monk and some other animals on a journey to India to recover the Sutras from Vulture Peak. Along the way they encounter various mythical demons and creatures who want to eat the monkey's flesh, because they think it will make them immortal. They eventually get there, and it is over.
So, the story is not very innovative, but I didn't understand it anyhow so it wasn't important. These acrobats were doing everything you ever imagined possible, and then more. Perhaps you thought you were good at something. You were wrong. These guys were good at everything ever invented, including (but not limited to) juggling, basketball, flying and puppets. It is one thing to walk across a tightrope, and maybe to stand on one foot on it. It is another thing entirely to bounce off a rubber pole held 5 feet off the floor, do a flip forwards and sideways, and then land back on that pole.
Everything about the show was incredible, from the costumes to the sets to the acrobats themselves. At one point they had a staff fight on stage in midair. I just don't see how you can get any cooler than that. The show lasted about an hour and a half, and I wanted it to go on and on forever. I couldn't understand anything about plot, character or theme, which are the three things I usually look for in a story. But it didn't matter because it was so very beautiful to look at. No WONDER Chinese cinema looks so amazing. They have a long history of making pretty things. The West may have Shakespeare, but China has this, and I would put them on par. They are entirely different approaches to art, but this was at least as deeply moving as a well done Shakespeare, and I know a thing or two about well done Shakespeare.
So, if you ever have a chance to see Chinese acrobats do a show, take it. It is worth any price to see. I took some pictures, and a movie at the end, but it really doesn't get across the sheer impossibility of what these people are doing.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Guangzhou Christmas
So today, I have an amazing Christmas present for everyone. It is ME. Or at least a video of me. Today (and today only) my blog is a video blog. Enjoy.
P.S. Man, I would have killed for a copy of Premiere. Windows Movie Maker seems to have been designed by opossums. And they don't even have opposable thumbs.
P.S. Man, I would have killed for a copy of Premiere. Windows Movie Maker seems to have been designed by opossums. And they don't even have opposable thumbs.
Monday, December 24, 2007
An Unconventional Day
Today has been pretty crazy. I have had an enema of Chinese culture potent enough to drop a hippo.
To begin with, there was the convention, which is the whole reason I am here. We exhibited our device all day, and we had lots of interest -- from fellow exhibitors. Many people came by and I showed them how it worked, often via pantomime, since Dr. Chen had his own booth for face recognition, and Dr. Lo was too busy wandering around to help out. But they seemed impressed.
Unfortunately, the representatives from industry were only there because the government forced them to be, so they were not very interested in much. They meandered around and then left, without ever really talking to anyone.
That was the boring part of the day. Then came dinner. I am getting much better at determining the sorts of foods that I like, and those I do not. But, during dinner, a bunch of guys came and sat at my table and talked, in English(!) about politics and economics. One guy in particular had a lot to say. He looked like a Buddhist Monk, but he most definitely was not. Indeed, he had a Chinese Russian accent (+2 to communism, although he was very very capitalist) He was full of all sorts of useful information (which I have since verified). For example, the GDP (the amount of money a place makes in a year) of the USA is about 12 trillion. The annual tax revenue is around 1 trillion, or 1/12. The GDP of Guangzhou, where I am, is ¥600 billion. The annual tax revenue is ¥200 billion, or 1/3. Think of that. 1/3 of the money made last year went to the government. Add into that the fact that the economy is BOOMING, and you've got yourself one rich government. The sort of government that can afford to pay for hundreds of Chinese scholars to come to a conference, fly for free, stay at a 5 star hotel, with all costs paid for.
It was also this Chinese gentleman's opinion that this entire convention was nothing more than some party official's attempt to pad his resume and get promoted. I do not share his cynical view, but I think it is quite clear that the function of this conference is not to bring together research and industry, as was claimed. No, the point of this conference is to show off how wonderful China is to all of its scholars who know better, and have left. It is good for me, since I get to tag along and see the best that China has to offer, but it is pretty useless for everyone else, who came seeking investment.
It is also interesting to note that every single one of the people at the table were of the opinion that America is going to fall, economically speaking, and China will rise in its place. It wasn't if, it was when. Most of them pegged it between 20-50 years. Now, I admit it seems likely that America will slide into a recession, and it is hard to deny China's economic prowess. But nothing ever goes as planned. I have quite a bit of faith in the American's ability to pull themselves out of a slump (especially a slump they can see coming), and China's economy is built entirely on the fact that they have 1.2 billion people, large amounts of whom are willing to work for almost nothing.
At any rate, after dinner there was a movie, which I decided to go to, because the only Chinese movies I have ever seen are Martial Arts movies, a la Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. First, the theatre. Imagine the commercialism in famous players exaggerated to a ridiculous degree. The ads ran for about 25 minutes. And they were almost entirely ads, there were only three movie trailers. One of the ads was this: the main character from the movie we were about to watch crawled out of the trenches (it was a period piece) and held out a cell phone. Apparently, no one pointed out that they didn't use cell phones during the Korean war.
After a lot of advertisements I didn't really understand, since they weren't in English, the movie started. I was in luck: there were English subtitles, so I was able to understand what was going on. Now, I have heard people complain that some Hollywood movies are too patriotic. To that, I say piffle! I can't imagine something more ridiculously patriotic than the movie I watched tonight. First though, some history.
I imagine most people don't know that the Chinese were fighting a civil war for most of the first half of the twentieth century. From 1927 until 1950 the Communists and the Nationalists fought it out. They did take a brief break during World War II to fail at fending off the opportunistic Japanese. Essentially, in the Early 1900's, the last emperor died, and warlords took over. A man called Sun Yat-sen wanted to re-unite China, and asked both the west, and the USSR for help. The west ignored him, but the USSR supported him, while at the same time supporting the Communist party that was trying to do the same thing. After attempting to work together for a while, the Nationalists and the Communists declared war on each other, and started fighting, while at the same time trying to fight the warlords. For a long time, the Nationalists were winning, until the Japanese showed up and wiped out their entire army.
Then, after WWII was over, the clever Communists, led by Mao Zedong, applied to Russia for help, and got the Russians to tell the Japanese (who were no longer allowed to be in the army) to come on over and help them. So, with the aid of the Japanese and the North Koreans, the Communists were able to beat down the Nationalist forces and establish the reigning party they have today. It's worth noting that once the west realized that the nationalists were fighting communists, they tried to help out, but it was to no avail. Furthermore, the nationalists liked to say they were going to establish a democracy, just as soon as they beat those communists, but in the meantime, it was martial law. Point is, it's pretty hard to say which side had the moral high ground.
So, the movie was about a psychopath named Gu Zidi, who was a captain in the Communist Army. The first scene of the movie, which was a battle, involved him shooting a nationalist POW in the head, because earlier the nationalists had the audacity to fire an artillery shell into his forces. But apparently he was emotional, so it was OK. They were stinking capitalists anyhow.
Then he is ordered by the Colonel to hold a mine, until he hears the retreat bugle. However, because those poor communists were out of troops, he had only the remainder of his regiment, 47 men. So, he goes to the mine, fights off countless numbers of Nationalist troops, until they eventually kill off all of his men. He, being not at all a coward, decides this is a good time to run away and hide, which he does, putting on an enemy's uniform so he doesn't get caught. This is how he's caught, so when the Communists pick him up, they think he's one of them.
The rest of the movie is him being angry at people because they don't believe his story, and his entire regiment basically gets lost in paperwork. There was about 10 minutes where he was digging on the side of a mountain, trying to find the bodies of his men where the mine had collapsed on them. Then, miraculously, they believe him, they find the bodies and everyone is happy. All in all, it was the most ridiculous excuse for a propaganda film I have ever seen. Although it did look pretty.
On the way home, I noticed we had a police escort, and I realized that I had seen police cars and police boats the previous night as well. Yes, they decided that we were so important we needed a police escort. Not that it mattered. The people here drive like lunatics, and don't pay any attention to laws, or other cars. They also don't believe in seatbelts, as no vehicle I have been in has any.
Anyhow, I got some pictures from last night from Dr Lo.
And these are the ones I took today, after I negotiated the purchase of some batteries. It was harder than it sounds.
To begin with, there was the convention, which is the whole reason I am here. We exhibited our device all day, and we had lots of interest -- from fellow exhibitors. Many people came by and I showed them how it worked, often via pantomime, since Dr. Chen had his own booth for face recognition, and Dr. Lo was too busy wandering around to help out. But they seemed impressed.
Unfortunately, the representatives from industry were only there because the government forced them to be, so they were not very interested in much. They meandered around and then left, without ever really talking to anyone.
That was the boring part of the day. Then came dinner. I am getting much better at determining the sorts of foods that I like, and those I do not. But, during dinner, a bunch of guys came and sat at my table and talked, in English(!) about politics and economics. One guy in particular had a lot to say. He looked like a Buddhist Monk, but he most definitely was not. Indeed, he had a Chinese Russian accent (+2 to communism, although he was very very capitalist) He was full of all sorts of useful information (which I have since verified). For example, the GDP (the amount of money a place makes in a year) of the USA is about 12 trillion. The annual tax revenue is around 1 trillion, or 1/12. The GDP of Guangzhou, where I am, is ¥600 billion. The annual tax revenue is ¥200 billion, or 1/3. Think of that. 1/3 of the money made last year went to the government. Add into that the fact that the economy is BOOMING, and you've got yourself one rich government. The sort of government that can afford to pay for hundreds of Chinese scholars to come to a conference, fly for free, stay at a 5 star hotel, with all costs paid for.
It was also this Chinese gentleman's opinion that this entire convention was nothing more than some party official's attempt to pad his resume and get promoted. I do not share his cynical view, but I think it is quite clear that the function of this conference is not to bring together research and industry, as was claimed. No, the point of this conference is to show off how wonderful China is to all of its scholars who know better, and have left. It is good for me, since I get to tag along and see the best that China has to offer, but it is pretty useless for everyone else, who came seeking investment.
It is also interesting to note that every single one of the people at the table were of the opinion that America is going to fall, economically speaking, and China will rise in its place. It wasn't if, it was when. Most of them pegged it between 20-50 years. Now, I admit it seems likely that America will slide into a recession, and it is hard to deny China's economic prowess. But nothing ever goes as planned. I have quite a bit of faith in the American's ability to pull themselves out of a slump (especially a slump they can see coming), and China's economy is built entirely on the fact that they have 1.2 billion people, large amounts of whom are willing to work for almost nothing.
At any rate, after dinner there was a movie, which I decided to go to, because the only Chinese movies I have ever seen are Martial Arts movies, a la Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. First, the theatre. Imagine the commercialism in famous players exaggerated to a ridiculous degree. The ads ran for about 25 minutes. And they were almost entirely ads, there were only three movie trailers. One of the ads was this: the main character from the movie we were about to watch crawled out of the trenches (it was a period piece) and held out a cell phone. Apparently, no one pointed out that they didn't use cell phones during the Korean war.
After a lot of advertisements I didn't really understand, since they weren't in English, the movie started. I was in luck: there were English subtitles, so I was able to understand what was going on. Now, I have heard people complain that some Hollywood movies are too patriotic. To that, I say piffle! I can't imagine something more ridiculously patriotic than the movie I watched tonight. First though, some history.
I imagine most people don't know that the Chinese were fighting a civil war for most of the first half of the twentieth century. From 1927 until 1950 the Communists and the Nationalists fought it out. They did take a brief break during World War II to fail at fending off the opportunistic Japanese. Essentially, in the Early 1900's, the last emperor died, and warlords took over. A man called Sun Yat-sen wanted to re-unite China, and asked both the west, and the USSR for help. The west ignored him, but the USSR supported him, while at the same time supporting the Communist party that was trying to do the same thing. After attempting to work together for a while, the Nationalists and the Communists declared war on each other, and started fighting, while at the same time trying to fight the warlords. For a long time, the Nationalists were winning, until the Japanese showed up and wiped out their entire army.
Then, after WWII was over, the clever Communists, led by Mao Zedong, applied to Russia for help, and got the Russians to tell the Japanese (who were no longer allowed to be in the army) to come on over and help them. So, with the aid of the Japanese and the North Koreans, the Communists were able to beat down the Nationalist forces and establish the reigning party they have today. It's worth noting that once the west realized that the nationalists were fighting communists, they tried to help out, but it was to no avail. Furthermore, the nationalists liked to say they were going to establish a democracy, just as soon as they beat those communists, but in the meantime, it was martial law. Point is, it's pretty hard to say which side had the moral high ground.
So, the movie was about a psychopath named Gu Zidi, who was a captain in the Communist Army. The first scene of the movie, which was a battle, involved him shooting a nationalist POW in the head, because earlier the nationalists had the audacity to fire an artillery shell into his forces. But apparently he was emotional, so it was OK. They were stinking capitalists anyhow.
Then he is ordered by the Colonel to hold a mine, until he hears the retreat bugle. However, because those poor communists were out of troops, he had only the remainder of his regiment, 47 men. So, he goes to the mine, fights off countless numbers of Nationalist troops, until they eventually kill off all of his men. He, being not at all a coward, decides this is a good time to run away and hide, which he does, putting on an enemy's uniform so he doesn't get caught. This is how he's caught, so when the Communists pick him up, they think he's one of them.
The rest of the movie is him being angry at people because they don't believe his story, and his entire regiment basically gets lost in paperwork. There was about 10 minutes where he was digging on the side of a mountain, trying to find the bodies of his men where the mine had collapsed on them. Then, miraculously, they believe him, they find the bodies and everyone is happy. All in all, it was the most ridiculous excuse for a propaganda film I have ever seen. Although it did look pretty.
On the way home, I noticed we had a police escort, and I realized that I had seen police cars and police boats the previous night as well. Yes, they decided that we were so important we needed a police escort. Not that it mattered. The people here drive like lunatics, and don't pay any attention to laws, or other cars. They also don't believe in seatbelts, as no vehicle I have been in has any.
Anyhow, I got some pictures from last night from Dr Lo.
And these are the ones I took today, after I negotiated the purchase of some batteries. It was harder than it sounds.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Cruising for Pearls
Today was the first day of the conference proper. The conference is called "The 10th Guangzhou Convention of Overseas Chinese Scholars in Science and Technology". It is basically an excuse for the Chinese government to show off how wonderful it is to live and work in China. So, the conference today was a series of presentations about what it's like to work in China (hint: they say it's grand). Unfortunately these presentations were all in Mandarin, so there was little point in me attending. So, I spent most of today being intensely useless.
It turns out being left on my own all day was pretty good, because it let me get over the rather extreme level of crankiness I had going on yesterday. I'm not sure exactly what caused it, but I suspect it was being in a city where I can't be sure that any given person, or even some given people will have any understanding of English, which is pretty scary. But I have had all day to deal with it, and I feel much better now.
So, until about 5 pm, I did pretty much nothing, except finish reading Arthur & George (which is a fantastic novel by Julian Barnes that I would highly recommend), and begin to learn some Mandarin, so I at least would not be completely in the dark.
However, after 5, we got ready to go out on the Pearl River for dinner. We hopped in a bus that took us around Guangzhou, while a guide talked about the various things we were looking at. Unfortunately, it was in Mandarin, and Dr. Chen fell asleep, so I have no idea what they were saying. But Guangzhou's downtown is pretty impressive. It is even more impressive from the water. Turns out our dinner was on a river boat that went up and down the Pearl (which is the third largest river in China, and about the size of the Fraser at Vancouver).
The Chinese have this fascination with neon and LCD displays. For no reason I could discern, except possibly that it looked cool, the entire river wall was lined with an LCD strip that had blue blocks of light running along it. It was pretty impressive. Also, there were numerous buildings which were advertisements themselves. The entire side of the building was one big LCD display, used to show advertisements, and in one case to show a neat pattern of lights that was either meant to be pretty or hypnotic.
Along with this rather excellent view (which was explained, once again, in Mandarin), was the first dinner I have had in almost a week where I didn't once feel like gagging. (Perhaps you think this is an exaggeration. It is not). I have talked a fair amount about what I've been eating, but how it is served bears mentioning as well.
The Chinese loves them some buffets. Practically every meal has been a buffet of one sort or another. Even when they serve your table, they serve it in a Buffet style. This is pretty cool, let me tell you. What they do is they bring you some stacks of bowls. The bowls are cylindrical, so they stack without mashing what's inside. You take things out of the top bowl put them on your plate, and then move it to the bottom, revealing what was underneath, which may or may not be the same thing. The waiters constantly come to the table to take away old bowls and bring in new ones. If the things in the bowls were more edible, I would have really really liked this idea.
The other thing, which is pretty obvious, is that they use chopsticks for everything. I'm getting fairly adept with them, since I have to use them three times a day or I'll starve, but you will never, ever convince me that they are better than a fork. In fact, using chopsticks basically requires you to eat in a disgusting manner, slurping the food into your mouth, if you want to get all of it. I COULD request a fork, since we are at a hotel that caters to westerners, but I don't want to appear a boorish foreigner, even if that is what I am.
Anyhow, after the tour we (Dr. Chen, Dr. Lo, some other Prof from PG and myself) decided to take a walk down the river. This walk was one of the most awesome things I have done so far, for two reasons. First of all, under a bridge there were a group of street people who have monkeys they make do tricks for money. Now, I am saying it is awesome because I saw monkeys. But for these monkeys, things are not so awesome. I saw them while they were on their break, and they are kept on a rope about 18 inches long, tied to a railing, and given the condition of them and their owners, I suspect they are not fed very well. On the upside, they can console themselves with the fact that they are monkeys, and monkeys are awesome.
Secondly, as we were leaving the dock after the cruise, three women who were standing in a group saw me and ran up to me to push a card each into my hand. This is pretty standard around here, but usually if you don't hold your hand out, they won't give you anything. These ones chased me down and shoved it into my hand. I figured it was an advertisement for something or other. So, I was somewhat shocked when I looked down at what was in my hand and discovered a naked lady (whose name, it turns out, is Lily Mike. The card reads as follows: (warning, this is racy. So if you are say, my parents, you have been warned)
"Virgin Pink Lady Russian lady Boy Service: You Want beautiful Young Chinese girls for Massage and sex? Yes, that's What we have. We are Providing Professional Massage service. Excellent quality Of our girls is guaranteed and fast delivery is our promise. We Will Assign girls according to your special requirements, your comfort, our Pleasure! Do not hesitate, call now!"
It then goes on to list the various types of "masseuses" you can have: Virgin, Sparetime Model, Beautiful women, Student Girls, Young girls, Russian girls, Office girls and Factory girls.
Now I find this entire idea hilarious. Also sad, since it must work, or they wouldn't be doing it. But I find myself wondering what "Boy Service" is. And why "Russian girls" is its own special category. What about Hungarian girls, hmmm? What's interesting here is that they didn't try to give cards to any of the other people I was with. Just me, and they actively sought me out. I'm hoping it's because I'm foreign, and not because I'm radiating desperation or something like that.
Anyhow, although I saw lots of interesting things today, my camera is out of batteries, and I am having trouble finding some new ones (since the hotel is about a half kilometer away from anything else). So I have no pictures to share. Dr. Lo took a bunch, but he took off before I could steal his memory card. So, tomorrow I will put them up, since the only real exciting thing I'll be doing is seeing a movie or something. Oh and going to the exhibition. So, we'll see how that goes.
P.S. If anyone wants the number of a "Beautiful Girl Boy Virgin Service" (another of the cards I got) the number is 135387 58786. It says right on the card it'll be "SEXy".
It turns out being left on my own all day was pretty good, because it let me get over the rather extreme level of crankiness I had going on yesterday. I'm not sure exactly what caused it, but I suspect it was being in a city where I can't be sure that any given person, or even some given people will have any understanding of English, which is pretty scary. But I have had all day to deal with it, and I feel much better now.
So, until about 5 pm, I did pretty much nothing, except finish reading Arthur & George (which is a fantastic novel by Julian Barnes that I would highly recommend), and begin to learn some Mandarin, so I at least would not be completely in the dark.
However, after 5, we got ready to go out on the Pearl River for dinner. We hopped in a bus that took us around Guangzhou, while a guide talked about the various things we were looking at. Unfortunately, it was in Mandarin, and Dr. Chen fell asleep, so I have no idea what they were saying. But Guangzhou's downtown is pretty impressive. It is even more impressive from the water. Turns out our dinner was on a river boat that went up and down the Pearl (which is the third largest river in China, and about the size of the Fraser at Vancouver).
The Chinese have this fascination with neon and LCD displays. For no reason I could discern, except possibly that it looked cool, the entire river wall was lined with an LCD strip that had blue blocks of light running along it. It was pretty impressive. Also, there were numerous buildings which were advertisements themselves. The entire side of the building was one big LCD display, used to show advertisements, and in one case to show a neat pattern of lights that was either meant to be pretty or hypnotic.
Along with this rather excellent view (which was explained, once again, in Mandarin), was the first dinner I have had in almost a week where I didn't once feel like gagging. (Perhaps you think this is an exaggeration. It is not). I have talked a fair amount about what I've been eating, but how it is served bears mentioning as well.
The Chinese loves them some buffets. Practically every meal has been a buffet of one sort or another. Even when they serve your table, they serve it in a Buffet style. This is pretty cool, let me tell you. What they do is they bring you some stacks of bowls. The bowls are cylindrical, so they stack without mashing what's inside. You take things out of the top bowl put them on your plate, and then move it to the bottom, revealing what was underneath, which may or may not be the same thing. The waiters constantly come to the table to take away old bowls and bring in new ones. If the things in the bowls were more edible, I would have really really liked this idea.
The other thing, which is pretty obvious, is that they use chopsticks for everything. I'm getting fairly adept with them, since I have to use them three times a day or I'll starve, but you will never, ever convince me that they are better than a fork. In fact, using chopsticks basically requires you to eat in a disgusting manner, slurping the food into your mouth, if you want to get all of it. I COULD request a fork, since we are at a hotel that caters to westerners, but I don't want to appear a boorish foreigner, even if that is what I am.
Anyhow, after the tour we (Dr. Chen, Dr. Lo, some other Prof from PG and myself) decided to take a walk down the river. This walk was one of the most awesome things I have done so far, for two reasons. First of all, under a bridge there were a group of street people who have monkeys they make do tricks for money. Now, I am saying it is awesome because I saw monkeys. But for these monkeys, things are not so awesome. I saw them while they were on their break, and they are kept on a rope about 18 inches long, tied to a railing, and given the condition of them and their owners, I suspect they are not fed very well. On the upside, they can console themselves with the fact that they are monkeys, and monkeys are awesome.
Secondly, as we were leaving the dock after the cruise, three women who were standing in a group saw me and ran up to me to push a card each into my hand. This is pretty standard around here, but usually if you don't hold your hand out, they won't give you anything. These ones chased me down and shoved it into my hand. I figured it was an advertisement for something or other. So, I was somewhat shocked when I looked down at what was in my hand and discovered a naked lady (whose name, it turns out, is Lily Mike. The card reads as follows: (warning, this is racy. So if you are say, my parents, you have been warned)
"Virgin Pink Lady Russian lady Boy Service: You Want beautiful Young Chinese girls for Massage and sex? Yes, that's What we have. We are Providing Professional Massage service. Excellent quality Of our girls is guaranteed and fast delivery is our promise. We Will Assign girls according to your special requirements, your comfort, our Pleasure! Do not hesitate, call now!"
It then goes on to list the various types of "masseuses" you can have: Virgin, Sparetime Model, Beautiful women, Student Girls, Young girls, Russian girls, Office girls and Factory girls.
Now I find this entire idea hilarious. Also sad, since it must work, or they wouldn't be doing it. But I find myself wondering what "Boy Service" is. And why "Russian girls" is its own special category. What about Hungarian girls, hmmm? What's interesting here is that they didn't try to give cards to any of the other people I was with. Just me, and they actively sought me out. I'm hoping it's because I'm foreign, and not because I'm radiating desperation or something like that.
Anyhow, although I saw lots of interesting things today, my camera is out of batteries, and I am having trouble finding some new ones (since the hotel is about a half kilometer away from anything else). So I have no pictures to share. Dr. Lo took a bunch, but he took off before I could steal his memory card. So, tomorrow I will put them up, since the only real exciting thing I'll be doing is seeing a movie or something. Oh and going to the exhibition. So, we'll see how that goes.
P.S. If anyone wants the number of a "Beautiful Girl Boy Virgin Service" (another of the cards I got) the number is 135387 58786. It says right on the card it'll be "SEXy".
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Hello Guangzhou
This morning, I had my first real encounter with racial discrimination. Or at least, I suspect that was the case. I was still trying to sleep when Dr. Chen and Dr. Lo went out for breakfast, so I had to go out by myself. I went to the same restaraunt as I have the last two mornings in a row, so I feel I have a pretty good understanding of how things are supposed to work. I sat down, expecing someone to bring me a menu. No one did. I had to flag a waitress down. I also had to flag a waitress down to order my food, get more water and get the bill. This is exceptionally odd, since they usually bring you the bill right after your food. On the upside, the food was pretty excellent. It did however make me very behind for packing.
I frantically packed, and then left the room very quickly, in the process forgetting a thing or two. In fact, when I got to the train station, I suddenly realized I did not have my $300 worth of Rembini. I frantically phoned the hotel, and they said they would look for it, but since I was trying to board a train, it was difficult to hear what was going on, so I promised I would phone them back. I was not very impressed with myself losing this. If you know me very well at all, you know I don't really have $300 to throw around.
We then boarded the train for Guangzhou, which was very, very nice. I would take the train over a plane any day of the week. The only real problem was the screaming babies. They really ought to gas them. This is China after all.
I don't want to be accused of being seditious, but the biggest thing I noticed after leaving Hong Kong is how poor everything looks. Except for in the centres of cities we passed, the buildings were all in shambles, and the people just looked poor. It was very unfortunate.
In fact, when we got to Guangzhou, I was accosted by a homeless man who wanted to carry my suitcase for money. However, as you might remember I didn't have any money. So he was rather out of luck. Also, he kept hounding me, as opposed to anyone else who might have been able to tell him off in a language he understood, although you would think headshaking is rather universal.
All the poverty stopped the minute we entered the Guangzhou Baiyun International Convention Center. This is about the most fancy pants place I have ever been. However, as with the rest of China, they seem opposed to automation (the theory being, I suspect that they have 1.2 billion hanging about, why waste work on machines). So, checking in was done entirely through paper (with carbon copies and everything). This took something like half an hour, for reasons that had something to do with me not being Chinese. Eventually everything was sorted out and we got to our room, which is very VERY nice. Plus: free chocolate.
Interestingly enough, even though I was already IN China, I had to go through Customs again at the train station in Guangzhou. I guess they want to make sure you don't import any capitalist ideas from Hong Kong. What I thought was neat is that they had a big sign behind immigration scrolling through Customs law, in big letters you couldn't miss:
Then they had the table of contents:
Then the law, paragraph by paragraph:
Once in Guangzhou, I called the Hong Kong hotel back, and they said they had not found my cash. So, I did a frantic search of my baggage, and it turns out I had very cleverly stashed it in a locked pouch of my suitcase. Hooray for me!
Then we went to dinner. If you are the sort of person who doesn't like meat, or who doesn't like gross things, I would skip right on over this paragraph. It is about to get very disgusting. Because you see, the Hotel is very fancy, so they had all sorts of Chinese Delicacies, which I decided I would like to try. I had beef tendon, leg of duck, pig's foot and duck's head. This last was very difficult to eat, because it basically looked like they had plucked the head, cooked it, and given it to me. Plus, it was largely bone, since there is very little meat inside a duck's head. Tomorrow they threatened me with cat and snake, but I adamantly refuse to eat cat or dog, on the grounds that I like cats and dogs. I don't really like any other animals. I'm always suspicious they are plotting a revolution.
On an interesting note, I am able to connect directly to this website, facebook, myspace and google, even though I am within the great firewall. However, Dr. Chen had some troubles accessing Yahoo Taiwan, as the CCP doesn't want anyone inside China to hear Taiwan's heretical claim that they are an independent state. (Interesting note: Taiwan calls itself the Republic of China. No one else does though) I'm almost tempted to do a search for certain banned keywords. But I don't think I will. I don't want the nice young people in the People's Liberation Army to come knocking on my door.
Tomorrow the conference starts, which means I'm going to be spending a lot of time staring off into space, seeing as everyone here speaks Mandarin. I am the only white person in the conference, I think. Perhaps I will learn Mandarin for tomorrow. Perhaps I will go to sleep because I am exhausted.
I frantically packed, and then left the room very quickly, in the process forgetting a thing or two. In fact, when I got to the train station, I suddenly realized I did not have my $300 worth of Rembini. I frantically phoned the hotel, and they said they would look for it, but since I was trying to board a train, it was difficult to hear what was going on, so I promised I would phone them back. I was not very impressed with myself losing this. If you know me very well at all, you know I don't really have $300 to throw around.
We then boarded the train for Guangzhou, which was very, very nice. I would take the train over a plane any day of the week. The only real problem was the screaming babies. They really ought to gas them. This is China after all.
I don't want to be accused of being seditious, but the biggest thing I noticed after leaving Hong Kong is how poor everything looks. Except for in the centres of cities we passed, the buildings were all in shambles, and the people just looked poor. It was very unfortunate.
In fact, when we got to Guangzhou, I was accosted by a homeless man who wanted to carry my suitcase for money. However, as you might remember I didn't have any money. So he was rather out of luck. Also, he kept hounding me, as opposed to anyone else who might have been able to tell him off in a language he understood, although you would think headshaking is rather universal.
All the poverty stopped the minute we entered the Guangzhou Baiyun International Convention Center. This is about the most fancy pants place I have ever been. However, as with the rest of China, they seem opposed to automation (the theory being, I suspect that they have 1.2 billion hanging about, why waste work on machines). So, checking in was done entirely through paper (with carbon copies and everything). This took something like half an hour, for reasons that had something to do with me not being Chinese. Eventually everything was sorted out and we got to our room, which is very VERY nice. Plus: free chocolate.
Interestingly enough, even though I was already IN China, I had to go through Customs again at the train station in Guangzhou. I guess they want to make sure you don't import any capitalist ideas from Hong Kong. What I thought was neat is that they had a big sign behind immigration scrolling through Customs law, in big letters you couldn't miss:
Then they had the table of contents:
Then the law, paragraph by paragraph:
Once in Guangzhou, I called the Hong Kong hotel back, and they said they had not found my cash. So, I did a frantic search of my baggage, and it turns out I had very cleverly stashed it in a locked pouch of my suitcase. Hooray for me!
Then we went to dinner. If you are the sort of person who doesn't like meat, or who doesn't like gross things, I would skip right on over this paragraph. It is about to get very disgusting. Because you see, the Hotel is very fancy, so they had all sorts of Chinese Delicacies, which I decided I would like to try. I had beef tendon, leg of duck, pig's foot and duck's head. This last was very difficult to eat, because it basically looked like they had plucked the head, cooked it, and given it to me. Plus, it was largely bone, since there is very little meat inside a duck's head. Tomorrow they threatened me with cat and snake, but I adamantly refuse to eat cat or dog, on the grounds that I like cats and dogs. I don't really like any other animals. I'm always suspicious they are plotting a revolution.
On an interesting note, I am able to connect directly to this website, facebook, myspace and google, even though I am within the great firewall. However, Dr. Chen had some troubles accessing Yahoo Taiwan, as the CCP doesn't want anyone inside China to hear Taiwan's heretical claim that they are an independent state. (Interesting note: Taiwan calls itself the Republic of China. No one else does though) I'm almost tempted to do a search for certain banned keywords. But I don't think I will. I don't want the nice young people in the People's Liberation Army to come knocking on my door.
Tomorrow the conference starts, which means I'm going to be spending a lot of time staring off into space, seeing as everyone here speaks Mandarin. I am the only white person in the conference, I think. Perhaps I will learn Mandarin for tomorrow. Perhaps I will go to sleep because I am exhausted.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Daniel vs. Hong Kong
On this, my third day here, I finally feel like I have this city understood. As in, if you told me where something was, I could get there, and do whatever it is I needed to do. Or, alternately, I wouldn't die if I was left on my own here. This is good, since I will be on my own in just over a week, in Guangzhou. I am also picking up the pronunciation of the language, if not the language itself.
Today I did many exciting things. To begin with, we went to Hong Kong Polytechnic University to present our research. Dr. Lo gave a talk to the Optometry department there, after which I demonstrated the program. It seemed very well received and they asked me lots of questions about how it works, since neither Dr. Chen nor Dr. Lo is very good at explaining it.
Afterwards, we all went out to lunch. We all are include several professors, the chair of Optometry and the Dean of Health Sciences. Some pretty important people, in other words. They talked about some interesting things, or at least I assume they were interesting. It's hard to say because half of what they were saying was in Cantonese. And it wasn't as if they would have a conversation in English and then switch to Cantonese, they were switching mid sentence, for no reason at all. It seems that there is a war among eye doctors here. The ophamologists (eye surgeons) and optometrists fight over patients and will not refer to each other, which is a pretty big deal. That's basically what I got out of the conversation. Oh and since they thought I was a grad student, the Dean offered me a sort of joint PhD between his department and the Comp Sci program. There was that.
At this lunch, I discovered something. I despise basically all chinese food. I vastly prefer westernized Chinese food to real Chinese food. Although real Chinese food is fresh and much better for you, fake Chinese food tastes like Canada. I spent the rest of the day feeling ill after ingesting that much Chinese food. It just kept being dumped on my plate over and over again, and to be polite I had to keep on eating things I could not and cannot identify.
After that lunch, we went to a place called the Golden Computer Arcade in Sham Shui Po district, which is a big shopping mall filled with, you guessed it, computer stuff. You name a computer stuff and you can buy it there, for about 80% of the price in PG. Plus, there is no tax. I may or may not have bought further Christmas gifts there. It was pretty exciting for me. Instead of having a couple of computer stores, here in Hong Kong they have 5 thousand tiny ones, all selling the same things at randomly different costs. An iPhone (a real one) varies between $4500 and $5400 HKD ($575 - $690 CAD). However, these iPhones are unlocked. Apparently, the golden days of cheap electronics in Hong Kong is over. I'm still holding out for mainland China.
Sham Shui Po is awesome. It is this huge area of markets that looks exactly like every Chinese Martial arts movie. You know when the hero is being chased by the bad guys past a bunch of booths and such? That's Sham Shui Po. (This reminds me. On the night I got here, Dr. Chen and Dr. Lo went out for dinner, and saw a Chinese man and an East Indian man having a martial arts fight on the street. And it was not friendly sparring. It was drunken, 2 am fighting. I intend not to ever challenge someone Chinese to a martial arts fight. Unless AJ is there.)
We then went to yet ANOTHER shopping district (the theme of Hong Kong seems to be "Why yes, that is for sale") because Dr. Chen wanted to go to the Nokia Outlet, to buy his brother a sweet cell phone. I dunno what it was, but it cost about $800 CAD. The most expensive phone in the store (the 8800 Sirocco Edition) cost over $1000 CAD, which is pretty hardcore for a phone with no touch screen or keyboard.
I bought myself a phone (the 2760), for about $100, and it is pretty cool. Major problem I had: the menus were in Chinese. Lucky for me, I happen to be with some people who also speak Chinese. Now it is all Englishified. I bought myself a SIM chip, so anyone can call me. In fact, because my sleeping schedule is so erratic, people can call me basically any time, and I will probably answer. The number is 011 852 90198942. You can read this for some information about why my phone number is so crazy. In China you can do this really cool thing where you buy a SIM chip, plug it into the back of your phone, and it has a certain number of minutes on it. Once you run out of minutes, you buy a new SIM chip. It is like pay as you go, except you have no specific carrier, and you can change whenever you like, AND your minutes don't expire. Plus, the cost is only 4 cents per minute for local calls (for all the Hong Kong numbers I need to call) and about 10 times that for long distance. Anyhow, I'm pretty stoked about my Hong Kong phone.
I was hoping after this that I could sneak off and go to McDonalds or something to scour the taste of lunch from my mouth, but no, "we" decided to get Japanese food as well. So, I had Sushi for the first time. Verdict: I would far rather eat Chinese food. I ate exactly one of something (some kind of fish wrapped in seaweed and rice) and then feigned fullness. Dr. Lo is catching on though.
When I got back to the hotel, I ordered a grilled ham and cheese sandwich from room service. I am here to tell you that was the best $15 I have ever spent in my entire life. It came with french fries! I have nothing against Chinese food, except that I do not like the taste. I rather wish I did, as it seems very interesting, and largely healthy. But I do not. That said, I'm going to have to get used to it. However, once I get home, I am eating pizza for a week. And it will be wonderful.
Also, Dr. Chen mentioned an internship with Microsoft in France. The only way that deal could possibly be sweeter is if you replaced Microsoft with Google. But I'm pretty alright with MS. We'll see how that goes.
There are more pictures from today, but they are on Dr. Lo's camera. I will get them from him tomomrrow, when we go to Guangzhou on the train. I'm pretty excited. So far I have loved the transit systems here.
Today I did many exciting things. To begin with, we went to Hong Kong Polytechnic University to present our research. Dr. Lo gave a talk to the Optometry department there, after which I demonstrated the program. It seemed very well received and they asked me lots of questions about how it works, since neither Dr. Chen nor Dr. Lo is very good at explaining it.
Afterwards, we all went out to lunch. We all are include several professors, the chair of Optometry and the Dean of Health Sciences. Some pretty important people, in other words. They talked about some interesting things, or at least I assume they were interesting. It's hard to say because half of what they were saying was in Cantonese. And it wasn't as if they would have a conversation in English and then switch to Cantonese, they were switching mid sentence, for no reason at all. It seems that there is a war among eye doctors here. The ophamologists (eye surgeons) and optometrists fight over patients and will not refer to each other, which is a pretty big deal. That's basically what I got out of the conversation. Oh and since they thought I was a grad student, the Dean offered me a sort of joint PhD between his department and the Comp Sci program. There was that.
At this lunch, I discovered something. I despise basically all chinese food. I vastly prefer westernized Chinese food to real Chinese food. Although real Chinese food is fresh and much better for you, fake Chinese food tastes like Canada. I spent the rest of the day feeling ill after ingesting that much Chinese food. It just kept being dumped on my plate over and over again, and to be polite I had to keep on eating things I could not and cannot identify.
After that lunch, we went to a place called the Golden Computer Arcade in Sham Shui Po district, which is a big shopping mall filled with, you guessed it, computer stuff. You name a computer stuff and you can buy it there, for about 80% of the price in PG. Plus, there is no tax. I may or may not have bought further Christmas gifts there. It was pretty exciting for me. Instead of having a couple of computer stores, here in Hong Kong they have 5 thousand tiny ones, all selling the same things at randomly different costs. An iPhone (a real one) varies between $4500 and $5400 HKD ($575 - $690 CAD). However, these iPhones are unlocked. Apparently, the golden days of cheap electronics in Hong Kong is over. I'm still holding out for mainland China.
Sham Shui Po is awesome. It is this huge area of markets that looks exactly like every Chinese Martial arts movie. You know when the hero is being chased by the bad guys past a bunch of booths and such? That's Sham Shui Po. (This reminds me. On the night I got here, Dr. Chen and Dr. Lo went out for dinner, and saw a Chinese man and an East Indian man having a martial arts fight on the street. And it was not friendly sparring. It was drunken, 2 am fighting. I intend not to ever challenge someone Chinese to a martial arts fight. Unless AJ is there.)
We then went to yet ANOTHER shopping district (the theme of Hong Kong seems to be "Why yes, that is for sale") because Dr. Chen wanted to go to the Nokia Outlet, to buy his brother a sweet cell phone. I dunno what it was, but it cost about $800 CAD. The most expensive phone in the store (the 8800 Sirocco Edition) cost over $1000 CAD, which is pretty hardcore for a phone with no touch screen or keyboard.
I bought myself a phone (the 2760), for about $100, and it is pretty cool. Major problem I had: the menus were in Chinese. Lucky for me, I happen to be with some people who also speak Chinese. Now it is all Englishified. I bought myself a SIM chip, so anyone can call me. In fact, because my sleeping schedule is so erratic, people can call me basically any time, and I will probably answer. The number is 011 852 90198942. You can read this for some information about why my phone number is so crazy. In China you can do this really cool thing where you buy a SIM chip, plug it into the back of your phone, and it has a certain number of minutes on it. Once you run out of minutes, you buy a new SIM chip. It is like pay as you go, except you have no specific carrier, and you can change whenever you like, AND your minutes don't expire. Plus, the cost is only 4 cents per minute for local calls (for all the Hong Kong numbers I need to call) and about 10 times that for long distance. Anyhow, I'm pretty stoked about my Hong Kong phone.
I was hoping after this that I could sneak off and go to McDonalds or something to scour the taste of lunch from my mouth, but no, "we" decided to get Japanese food as well. So, I had Sushi for the first time. Verdict: I would far rather eat Chinese food. I ate exactly one of something (some kind of fish wrapped in seaweed and rice) and then feigned fullness. Dr. Lo is catching on though.
When I got back to the hotel, I ordered a grilled ham and cheese sandwich from room service. I am here to tell you that was the best $15 I have ever spent in my entire life. It came with french fries! I have nothing against Chinese food, except that I do not like the taste. I rather wish I did, as it seems very interesting, and largely healthy. But I do not. That said, I'm going to have to get used to it. However, once I get home, I am eating pizza for a week. And it will be wonderful.
Also, Dr. Chen mentioned an internship with Microsoft in France. The only way that deal could possibly be sweeter is if you replaced Microsoft with Google. But I'm pretty alright with MS. We'll see how that goes.
There are more pictures from today, but they are on Dr. Lo's camera. I will get them from him tomomrrow, when we go to Guangzhou on the train. I'm pretty excited. So far I have loved the transit systems here.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Shopping Hong Kong
I had a pretty intense go at things today. I woke up this morning at about 9 am, looked out my window and was surprised to find that considering I'm in one of the most densely populated cities in the world at rush hour, there were like 5 cars on the road. I wondered about this. I wondered about this until we went to Kowloon, which is the shopping district. You see it turns out that all 8 million people were there, trying to walk up and down the roads, or alternately run the walkers over in their car. The pictures at the end sort of capture the insanity of being there.
Essentially the idea is this: There are thousands of shops, all selling the same thing: one of electronics, food, or clothing. As far as I could tell, all of the stores of a given type were exactly the same. For example, every electronics store had an iPhone surrounded by other smart phones, surrounded by other types of phones. These were always on the left side of the doorway. Furthermore, no store had any prices anywhere, you had to ask someone to tell you the price. This strikes me as exceptionally inefficient, but I'm sure there must be a good reason for doing so. Anyways, it turns out that electronics are about the same here as they are in PG.
UNTIL we went to Chungking Mansions, that is. The first two floors of this building are devoted to shops and such. (Mansions is a complete misnomer. It is actually a 60 year old death trap of a building with cheap rates). These shops are run almost exclusively by East Indian people, and they sell electronics on the CHEAP. Indeed, I held in my hands an "iPhone". An iPhone without a touch screen and with 256 megs of flash memory. Yes, that well known model of iPhone. Anyways, I laughed at the people trying to sell it to me, and then left.
Once I decided not to give my money to someone who is outright lying to me, we took the subway to the actual Island of Hong Kong. (I am not on the island of Hong Kong, I am on the peninsula, in the district of Hung Hom) This island is pretty intense. It has incredibly urban zones, with skyscrapers larger than I've ever seen, and then a park, or a big old hill, with nothing but trees on it.
View Larger Map
After wandering around the Island for a bit, we decided to take the tram up to the top of one of these hills to a place cleverly named "The Peak". This place was some kind of tourist heaven. It is 8 stories high, with glass walls, and escalators, and every floor is covered in glorious tourist-y shops.
You know how in Canada, when you go into a tourist shop, they have all sorts of lame stuff like moose and maple syrup? While these shops have basically the Chinese equivalent, except instead of being lame, it is 100% awesome. Or at least I think so. And so too better the people whose presents I bought today. These two shops right beside each other had about the most concentrated amount of coolness I have encountered in a long time. I did about half my Christmas shopping in a range of 5 m.
It also has a Madame Tussaud's, which was awesome. Dr. Chen and I went in, and we took some quite excellent pictures. They are basically comic gold:
Then we got to the top of the tower, and we had some pretty damn epic views. I've tried to capture them, but it just doesn't do it all justice. The misty city in the background, with skyscrapers rivaling forested hills, and the ocean stretching off into the horizon is about the greatest thing ever.
The major thing I have noticed about Hong Kong is that it is very easy to get around, and very very cheap. A bus ticket (anywhere in the city) is about 50 cents Canadian, and a subway ticket is not much more. Plus, they make it very convenient, with this card you just wave at the machine to pay. You don't even need to take it out of your wallet. I am still not really sure how this works, and it largely doesn't for me, though no one else has a problem. The other major difference is that their light switches work opposite to how I'm used to. Oh, and there is the whole "In China" issue. But by and large, Hong Kong is just a more intense version of Richmond. Waaaaaaaaaaay more intense.
Essentially the idea is this: There are thousands of shops, all selling the same thing: one of electronics, food, or clothing. As far as I could tell, all of the stores of a given type were exactly the same. For example, every electronics store had an iPhone surrounded by other smart phones, surrounded by other types of phones. These were always on the left side of the doorway. Furthermore, no store had any prices anywhere, you had to ask someone to tell you the price. This strikes me as exceptionally inefficient, but I'm sure there must be a good reason for doing so. Anyways, it turns out that electronics are about the same here as they are in PG.
UNTIL we went to Chungking Mansions, that is. The first two floors of this building are devoted to shops and such. (Mansions is a complete misnomer. It is actually a 60 year old death trap of a building with cheap rates). These shops are run almost exclusively by East Indian people, and they sell electronics on the CHEAP. Indeed, I held in my hands an "iPhone". An iPhone without a touch screen and with 256 megs of flash memory. Yes, that well known model of iPhone. Anyways, I laughed at the people trying to sell it to me, and then left.
Once I decided not to give my money to someone who is outright lying to me, we took the subway to the actual Island of Hong Kong. (I am not on the island of Hong Kong, I am on the peninsula, in the district of Hung Hom) This island is pretty intense. It has incredibly urban zones, with skyscrapers larger than I've ever seen, and then a park, or a big old hill, with nothing but trees on it.
View Larger Map
After wandering around the Island for a bit, we decided to take the tram up to the top of one of these hills to a place cleverly named "The Peak". This place was some kind of tourist heaven. It is 8 stories high, with glass walls, and escalators, and every floor is covered in glorious tourist-y shops.
You know how in Canada, when you go into a tourist shop, they have all sorts of lame stuff like moose and maple syrup? While these shops have basically the Chinese equivalent, except instead of being lame, it is 100% awesome. Or at least I think so. And so too better the people whose presents I bought today. These two shops right beside each other had about the most concentrated amount of coolness I have encountered in a long time. I did about half my Christmas shopping in a range of 5 m.
It also has a Madame Tussaud's, which was awesome. Dr. Chen and I went in, and we took some quite excellent pictures. They are basically comic gold:
Then we got to the top of the tower, and we had some pretty damn epic views. I've tried to capture them, but it just doesn't do it all justice. The misty city in the background, with skyscrapers rivaling forested hills, and the ocean stretching off into the horizon is about the greatest thing ever.
The major thing I have noticed about Hong Kong is that it is very easy to get around, and very very cheap. A bus ticket (anywhere in the city) is about 50 cents Canadian, and a subway ticket is not much more. Plus, they make it very convenient, with this card you just wave at the machine to pay. You don't even need to take it out of your wallet. I am still not really sure how this works, and it largely doesn't for me, though no one else has a problem. The other major difference is that their light switches work opposite to how I'm used to. Oh, and there is the whole "In China" issue. But by and large, Hong Kong is just a more intense version of Richmond. Waaaaaaaaaaay more intense.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Viva Las Hong Kong
Well, I am here, in sunny Hong Kong. Or at least, it would be sunny if it weren't the middle of the night. It is currently 3:30 am here, and it has been dark for me for the last 17 hours. I rather miss the sun. It was my friend.
Not that it's not warm here. No it is 20 degrees celsius, and humid as all get out. Anyways, the epic story of my trip:
I started this morning on a snow-blown runway, which the plane had no problems taking off from. However, then I got to Vancouver, got on my plane with no problems and figured I was in the clear. WRONG-O.
The plane had some problems, which delayed us over 6 hours, so by the time I left Vancouver Airport, it was dark. The plane, for some reason which makes sense if you think about it, flies over the top to get to Hong Kong, instead of across. So, I flew over BC, Alaska, The Bering Strait, Russia, China and finally the city itself before landing. Unfortunately for me, I did not have a window seat on the plane, so we might as well have been flying over Antarctica. There were no screaming babies, so I would categorize the flight as a success.
Once in Hong Kong, I went through a bunch of gates where people made me show them my passport, and some other random paper work, and then I was free and clear. Free and clear in the Hong Kong Airport at 1:30 in the morning, when all the services have closed down. Luckily, I was accosted by a taxi driver who wanted to drive me places, and so me and a young man from Toronto hopped in and drove on our merry way. And when I say merry, what I really mean is insane, because the cab driver paid only cursory attention to things like signs, and I don't think he was even aware there WAS a speed limit. It was pretty fun though.
We got to the hotel, I paid the taxi driver $350 (Hong Kong Dollars) and went in to get my room. UNFORTUNATELY, I was at the wrong hotel. I was at the Harbour Plaza Hotel, and what I wanted was the Harbour Palace Metropolis, which had nothing to do with the first one. So, I hopped in another taxi (there are a lot of taxis everywhere. It's like they're a gang) and got to the correct hotel, met Dr. Chen, got my room and sat down to type this, whilst leaching internet from some other building. Turns out being on the 19th floor is good for wireless reception.
And now I am going to sleep. I have to go shopping tomorrow, and the day after that, apparently we're presenting something at a Polytechnical Institute, which is news to me. I took lots of pictures of my trip, but many of them are of dancing lights that don't look like anything. So, I got rid of the bad ones, and here are the awesome ones:
Not that it's not warm here. No it is 20 degrees celsius, and humid as all get out. Anyways, the epic story of my trip:
I started this morning on a snow-blown runway, which the plane had no problems taking off from. However, then I got to Vancouver, got on my plane with no problems and figured I was in the clear. WRONG-O.
The plane had some problems, which delayed us over 6 hours, so by the time I left Vancouver Airport, it was dark. The plane, for some reason which makes sense if you think about it, flies over the top to get to Hong Kong, instead of across. So, I flew over BC, Alaska, The Bering Strait, Russia, China and finally the city itself before landing. Unfortunately for me, I did not have a window seat on the plane, so we might as well have been flying over Antarctica. There were no screaming babies, so I would categorize the flight as a success.
Once in Hong Kong, I went through a bunch of gates where people made me show them my passport, and some other random paper work, and then I was free and clear. Free and clear in the Hong Kong Airport at 1:30 in the morning, when all the services have closed down. Luckily, I was accosted by a taxi driver who wanted to drive me places, and so me and a young man from Toronto hopped in and drove on our merry way. And when I say merry, what I really mean is insane, because the cab driver paid only cursory attention to things like signs, and I don't think he was even aware there WAS a speed limit. It was pretty fun though.
We got to the hotel, I paid the taxi driver $350 (Hong Kong Dollars) and went in to get my room. UNFORTUNATELY, I was at the wrong hotel. I was at the Harbour Plaza Hotel, and what I wanted was the Harbour Palace Metropolis, which had nothing to do with the first one. So, I hopped in another taxi (there are a lot of taxis everywhere. It's like they're a gang) and got to the correct hotel, met Dr. Chen, got my room and sat down to type this, whilst leaching internet from some other building. Turns out being on the 19th floor is good for wireless reception.
And now I am going to sleep. I have to go shopping tomorrow, and the day after that, apparently we're presenting something at a Polytechnical Institute, which is news to me. I took lots of pictures of my trip, but many of them are of dancing lights that don't look like anything. So, I got rid of the bad ones, and here are the awesome ones:
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| Vancouver- |
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Delays
Hooray!
I am stuck in the Vancouver airport, because the smoke detectors in the bathrooms were malfunctioning. Or so they say. Either that's the truth, in which case I feel very safe since they're being so careful with such a little thing, or it's a lie, and the plane could have exploded at any moment. Either way, I think we're getting a new plane. I wish I was getting a new seat-mate. I never thought a small Asian person could take up SO MUCH SPACE.
-Daniel
I am stuck in the Vancouver airport, because the smoke detectors in the bathrooms were malfunctioning. Or so they say. Either that's the truth, in which case I feel very safe since they're being so careful with such a little thing, or it's a lie, and the plane could have exploded at any moment. Either way, I think we're getting a new plane. I wish I was getting a new seat-mate. I never thought a small Asian person could take up SO MUCH SPACE.
-Daniel
Hat
Hey guys,
I realized, using my amazing math skills, that it will be very difficult for me to post today when I got to my hotel, since it is already tomorrow in Hong Kong. Most websites have content first, and then start having filler. I've decided to get all the filler out of the way, and once the content hits, just go at it hardcore.
Anyways, my next update should come in tomorrow at like 5 am PST. Until then, check out this new character art I am working on:
Hey guys,
I realized, using my amazing math skills, that it will be very difficult for me to post today when I got to my hotel, since it is already tomorrow in Hong Kong. Most websites have content first, and then start having filler. I've decided to get all the filler out of the way, and once the content hits, just go at it hardcore.
Anyways, my next update should come in tomorrow at like 5 am PST. Until then, check out this new character art I am working on:
It's me in my travelin' hat. Hope you enjoy it.
-piro
(I mean Daniel)
I realized, using my amazing math skills, that it will be very difficult for me to post today when I got to my hotel, since it is already tomorrow in Hong Kong. Most websites have content first, and then start having filler. I've decided to get all the filler out of the way, and once the content hits, just go at it hardcore.
Anyways, my next update should come in tomorrow at like 5 am PST. Until then, check out this new character art I am working on:
Hey guys,
I realized, using my amazing math skills, that it will be very difficult for me to post today when I got to my hotel, since it is already tomorrow in Hong Kong. Most websites have content first, and then start having filler. I've decided to get all the filler out of the way, and once the content hits, just go at it hardcore.
Anyways, my next update should come in tomorrow at like 5 am PST. Until then, check out this new character art I am working on:
It's me in my travelin' hat. Hope you enjoy it.
-piro
(I mean Daniel)
Monday, December 17, 2007
Leaving
In about 9 hours, I'll be leaving PG, and in another 3 or so I'll be leaving the country (supposing I don't get detained for smuggling illegal rubick's cubes into China). I am very excited. I spent all day today saying goodbye to people, which was a bit weird, since I sort of assume everyone goes into stasis when I am not around, so it's not like I'll be gone for any time at all, as far as they're concerned.
Anyways, this is my amazing collection of luggage.
The far suitcase is actually a Russian Doll of baggage. Inside the suitcase is a packsack, with ANOTHER packsack inside of it. It's pretty amazing, I know.
So, as it turns out, I don't really have anything of value to say, but I am SO FAR keeping up with my once a day promise. I'm sure everyone will be very disappointed if I don't keep my word.
Anyways, this is my amazing collection of luggage.
The far suitcase is actually a Russian Doll of baggage. Inside the suitcase is a packsack, with ANOTHER packsack inside of it. It's pretty amazing, I know.
So, as it turns out, I don't really have anything of value to say, but I am SO FAR keeping up with my once a day promise. I'm sure everyone will be very disappointed if I don't keep my word.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Sunday Night!
As everyone ought to have heard by now, I am going to China on Tuesday, Dec. 18. I intend this blog to be a record of what I do and see while I am there. I've bought a digital camera, with which I will take utterly amazing pictures, and post them here, so that everyone can be jealous of all the wonderful things I am seeing. Alternately, I will just find pictures on the internet of things that look cool and pretend I saw them. Like this:
This is red square in Moscow, Russia
I was there today. It was super cool. It turns out that in Soviet Russia, the picture posts you!
Anyways, I'm going to try and update this blog at least once a day from now until I get back. If you're the sort of person who likes to read awesome things, you should check back sometimes. if not, then poops on you.
This is red square in Moscow, Russia
I was there today. It was super cool. It turns out that in Soviet Russia, the picture posts you!
Anyways, I'm going to try and update this blog at least once a day from now until I get back. If you're the sort of person who likes to read awesome things, you should check back sometimes. if not, then poops on you.
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