We're home

26 hours and a lot of bad plane food later. And found this lovely message on our dining room table.

Hong Kong Dollars

Hong Kong. Here we are. And all I seem to be able to do the entire time I am here is hum “Magnificent Seven” by the Clash.

Gets you up and gets you out
But how long can you keep it up?
Gimme honda, gimme sony
So cheap and real phony
Hong kong dollars and indian cents
English pounds and eskimo pence

This place is moving. There is a lot going on and most of it involves making money. Be it selling luxury brands to foreigners or cheap veggies to locals. Commerce is everywhere. Hong Kong dollars are changing hands.

It’s a weird place. (And to be clear, I’m OK with weird.) It’s not China and it’s not the UK. It’s kind of lost somewhere in the middle. Only, it’s not in the middle like the median, it’s like the mean. Wait, is that what I actually mean? (pun totally intended). There are parts that are 100% China and then there are parts that are 100% UK (or at least 100% western). There aren’t so many parts that truly feel like both at once. So, on average, you may feel like you’re somewhere that’s kind of Asian and kind of Western, but only because you see both extremes in 1 day.

Things that I notice that are different in Hong Kong from Beijing and Shanghai:

• I regularly feel under-dressed
• HK is first city on this trip where it feels like the local Chinese are at a disadvantage to the expats
• Drivers abide the law (corollary: I no longer live in fear)
• Nature is everywhere
• People speak English (another corollary: I feel less like a dolt for speaking no words of the local language)

Some highlights of our time here:

• Cliché, but true, taking the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor is awesome (as are the views from the bar at the Peninsula hotel)



• Walking back down from the Peak through the rain forests… this city makes no sense, it’s built on an out-cropping of rock that is covered in jungle. But, hey, who am I to judge?



• Wandering through crazy markets, day and night



• The busy streets of Hong Kong (really make you feel like you’re in a movie)



• Watching the Wimbledon men’s final in a tiny sports bar at 1 AM

And one lowlight: Walking down the very busy, very touristy Nathan Street in Kwoloon (a district of HK) and being asked about every 5 seconds if I wanted to buy a “rolex” or get a custom suit made or buy some “luxury goods.” Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I ended up practically running down the street shouting “no!” at anyone that even looked at me. I am not cut out for this stuff. Maybe it’s time to go home….

Back to the amazing city of Shanghai

What is it with China? As amazing as this country has turned out to be (and that’s pretty damn amazing, let’s be clear), there are some old, almost Kafka-esque habits that die hard and are driving me c-c-c-crazy. Like you can’t take pictures… anywhere. I’m not just talking about “please don’t take flash pictures of our priceless heritage relics in the form of paintings” … I get that. I’m talking about being yelled at for taking pictures in all of the following venues: the residence of a Chinese hero from the outside, a new major architecture project (again from the outside; a place that should be screaming for publicity), a restaurant, a store where we wanted to take pictures of something we were considering buying… you get the idea. Drives me wacky.

Anyway, had to get that off my chest. Now back to the amazing city of Shanghai.

I left you last as we were on our way to an acrobatic show with our new friends, Linda and Wuan. It was quite a show. Imagine people doing things that make you applaud in awe recoil in disgust at the same time. I mean, seriously, are bodies meant to do that? I don’t think so. But the fact that they can spin about 20 plates at a time while walking across other folks heads is pretty impressive.


We followed that up with dinner at a crazy “hot pot” restaurant (yes, it is literally a pot of hot stuff (both in temperature and spice level) that you throw things in to cook): think “fondue” but with way less 1970s décor. The restaurant was on the 7th floor of an ugly building. We never would have found it and never would have been able to order if it weren’t for Linda and Wuan. We ate like kings and drank big bottles of local beer. Yummm….



Our last day in Shanghai was a marathon. Really felt like we short-changed this city by only giving it 3 days, so we took the last day very seriously… too seriously, perhaps, as we collapsed in exhaustion at 10 PM. Here’s a run-down:

• We started at the most complete “classical Chinese gardens” in the country, Yu Yuan, which we decided reminded us of the temples in Beijing (all things imperial are starting to run together here) … so we were in and out in about 20 minutes. At this point, I again start to wonder if I’m there’s a cultural desert in my soul.
  
  (yep, looks like imperial architecture to me...)
  
• We then ran to the other side of the Huang Pu River to get a view from the tallest building in Shanghai. Which has a glass-bottomed observatory on the 100th floor. Amazing views combined with a teeeeeny bit of vertigo.
• Had a coffee in a beautiful old café deep in an office building on the Bund (yes, you can get to the buildings if you risk your life to cross a construction area). (It was shortly after this that I got yelled at for taking photos of a tile mural on the floor of a bank lobby … clearly a risk for state security)
• Jumped in a taxi to visit Shanghai’s self-proclaimed “cultural street.” Note to self: may not be good idea to take Chinese government at their word about what is and what is not a cultural street. This one was quite dull and even our key destination, the famous film café – where you can watch old B&W movies from Shanghai and sit on big red velvet couches, was basically closed as it was being used for a model shoot. Sounds sexy as I write it down. But it wasn’t. It just meant that there was no where to sit and no one wanted to serve us non-models a drink.
• So we headed back downtown to the People’s Square (which indeed did have a lot of people in it) and the fantastic Museum of Urban Planning, where they had an enormous model of what Shanghai will look like in 2020. Let me just say this: it’s enormous. We have nothing that even comes close in the US or Europe. And this is just one of their many, many major cities.
  
• To end our Shanghai experience we had reservations at a famous restaurant, Fu 1088, in an old mansion in the French Concession (we can walk from our hotel). Every table has its own room, we were told. We imagined we’d be dining in the old library, with candlelight and silk wallpaper. How romantic, we thought. Well, as just about everything in China thus far, it was different than we had imagined. Not worse, just different. Yes, we were alone in a room. But the room was huge and it was between the reception and the kitchen, so folks were walking through it constantly and the noise and smells from the kitchen filled it. The lights were bright and there were no candles to be seen. At first, we both winced a bit at it all. But then our own personal piano player (yep, just him, us and the kitchen staff) started to play - he was amazing – and we fell into the mood. We drank a bottle of wine from their extensive wine list (for China that means more than 2 bottles, 1 red and 1 white) and said goodbye to Shanghai.

Beware: trendy, hip, modern, new

Welcome to Shanghai. The beautiful city. The people are beautiful; the clothes are beautiful; the buildings are beautiful. But beware: if the guidebook says a street, a restaurant, a café or a bar is either trendy, hip, modern or new… you should avoid it. What they really mean is “it looks exactly like home and probably is next to a Starbucks so you don’t actually need to go there because once you get there you won’t even know you’re in China anymore.” I’ve already made the mistake twice since we got here (all of yesterday). I thought “new” and “hip” meant I’d see the cutting-edge side of Shanghai. Turns out that nothing avant-guard comes out of guidebooks. Right. Probably should have guessed that….

So… Shanghai. What can I tell you? If Beijing is Rome, Shanghai is Florence. If Beijing is London, Shanghai is Paris. That is, if 80% of the major monuments of Florence and Paris were under major construction at the same time. As it turns out, the World Expo is coming to Shanghai in 2010, and as you may remember from the last Olympics, the Chinese take their “preparing to host world events” really damn seriously. So our “romantic stroll along the Bund” (the riverside park that is lined with amazing art deco architecture … or so we’re told) became “watch out for that jack hammer! Woah, there is no sidewalk here and that dump truck is backing up! Is that a pretty building under that scaffolding? Is there a river behind that 20 foot wall?”

"Ahhhh, the Bund....."

And just as I was cursing all things Shanghai, a young Chinese couple asked me to take a picture of them (Really? In front of this crane? OK…). We started to chat. Turns out she’s an English teacher. They’re from Tsing Tao (a city of 5 million … not just a beer!). They took us to an amazing tea house for a traditional tea ceremony. I saw tea do things I never thought possible. Many of the teas we had were hand-rolled: little tiny globes that were pieces of individual tea leaves rolled with other herbs or flowers inside. One of the teas we tried was a flower that had been hand-stuffed with other flowers and then sealed shut. When you added hot water it “bloomed” and 5 other type of flowers floated out of it. Amazing. Gone are the days that I felt chic ordering peppermint tea. That’s just so … basic.

Today I strolled around the French Concession (the part of the city that the Qing Empire – the last empire of China – “conceded” to France, as the Empire was weak and corrupt and need the money from the rents). It was hot and humid. Oh, yes, and beautiful. For a minute, I felt like I was in the Village in New York. And then I saw a woman pluck, gut and butcher a chicken in about 1 minute flat on the sidewalk. Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.

(Tango lessons in a park in the French Consession, Shanghai)

Tonight we’re off to an acrobat show and Chinese dinner with our new friends. Who needs monuments?


Oh, and just for the record.... it still looks pretty great at night, despite all the construction.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves on this one...

I will only say that we were almost entirely alone; we saw maybe 10 people during our entire 4-hour walk. Consider me speechless...

For all the pictures and their sometimes witty captions you can go here:
http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1351141014/a=120329527_120329527/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk/

The Soundtrack of China

Ggggggghhhhhhhhhhhaaaacccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhh. Yep, that’s it. Old men and old women do it. No surprise there. Well-dressed businessmen do it – slightly more shocking. Teenagers do it; but you can write that off as “going for shock value.” But when a well-dressed woman in her 30’s does it as she bikes past you, you may start to worry. Yep, everyone does it here. It’s a cliché, but it’s true. Clearing your throat with more vigor than can actually be healthy. And then spitting it out on the street. The soundtrack of China.

OK, enough of that. China and is clearly different. But almost entirely in ways that do not gross me out. Let me share you some of the highlights of the last few days:

• Hotel: We moved to our fantastic new hotel which is built around a small courtyard and is on a small hutong (back alley). (Thanks, Amanda, for the tip!) It used to be a prince’s house; our very tiny (but also very cute) room was clearly servant’s quarters (or maybe the lowest concubine’s room). We feel much more part of the “real China” now that we’re here. The Peninsula was nice, but, seriously, I could order a burger and fries at 3 AM. That just ain’t right.


• Art: Our visit to Art District 798: a huge old eastern German factory (yep, the communists stuck together … well, until they didn’t anymore) that has been transformed into a huge complex for contemporary Chinese art. It used to be affordable studios, but it’s now hip, so rents have risen and the artists had to leave and their studios have been transformed into galleries. If I were much cooler than I am that would mean I should write this place off as “too commercial” and seek the new avant-garde setting. But I was impressed and we saw some great art (and some hilariously bad art). We might even buy a piece by Hong Hao from his “My things” series (below).
  
  We’re in negotiations. I told Jacco we’ll have to buy a big house just so it fits all of our art. He told me that wasn’t thinking green. Clearly one of life’s more difficult dilemmas.
  
• Architecture: we visited the Egg, Beijing’s new opera house and theater. Yes, it belongs to the Beijing that is clearly there to impress the world, so it’s huge and , but it’s also beautiful. They were showing off their performers, so there were little bits of operas being sung throughout the building. It gave me chills. And I always expect big voices to come from big people, but these singers were petite and belting it out like true divas.
  
  (This is Jacco touching one of the gargantuan doors that enter a theater.) We were so taken by it all that we’re planning to spend Tuesday checking out the new and amazing buildings of Beijing. Who needs more temples?


• Out: Amanda’s friend Jan lives in Beijing (her second amazing tip for this trip, for those of you that are counting) and is a DJ. He invited us to hear him play at Punk, it is in a chic boutique hotel and was voted one of the best new bars in Beijing by the local equivalent of New York Magazine. First impression: there is nothing punk about Punk (it is completely void of rough edges and I’m fairly sure you wouldn’t be allowed in with a flannel shirt and Doc Martens). Second impression: boutique hotel lounge bars are the McDonalds of young, hip, incomed travelers: they look the same anywhere in the world and you always get the same thing (good drinks, good music, and as many foreigners as locals). Third impression (and third drink): this place rocks. Jan played a great set, almost entirely made-up of remixed Michael Jackson tunes as a tribute to the King of Pop. We danced and drank and slunk home around 3 AM.


• Food: We are eating everything, Chinese or not. We had an amazing Vietnamese meal on a rooftop where the French owner ignored us and only attended to his many French guests. Our Chinese waiter was so kind we decided to ignore the slight. We ordered blindly at a little hutong meal and got food for at least 10 people (oops) for under $10 total. It was HOT (those green things you see are not bell peppers but hot peppers)
  
  This morning (OK, OK, afternoon) we had dim sum as hangover helper after our night out at Punk.

Most disturbing thing I’ve seen since I got here:
We were biking along Tiananmen Square and stopped to take some photos when I heard a woman screaming (the photo below was clearly taken before I heard her screaming, but you can see her in the background). She was half-naked (the not the half you’d expect) and holding a large knife to her neck while she screamed. The security guards – always on hand and apparently useless – stood by and did nothing besides yelling at here. Finally, a few citizens (or plain-clothed police?) jumped on her and there was a long, loud, frightening struggle. They got the knife a way from her, but then dragged her to a police truck kicking and screaming and threw her in. Will she get psychological help? Or just get locked up? Unclear. But this was desperate woman and there’s a deeper story there….

My new questions about China:

• Is it sacrilege to say “if you’ve seen one imperial palace/temple, you’ve seen them all”? After visiting the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven, if decided I’ve seen enough. Does that make me a bad person?
• Is it illegal to have a gas/petrol scooter here? They are all electric! And if it’s so easy to make them electric, why hasn’t the west adopted the same policy?

And here are the latest photos:

Day 1 and 2: http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1295310014/a=120329527_120329527/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk/

Day 3-5:

http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1328986014/a=120329527_120329527/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk/

Ch-ch-ch changes

So, Bali was the laid-back place where nothing had to happen fast and it was all about relaxation. Beijing is not. Bali was the place where I had the time (and energy left over at the end of the day) to write long blog entries, which I liked to think had some humor and some small insights. Beijing is not.

Here in Beijing you’re going to get short phrases, questions and quick impressions. It’s too hot, too crowded and too busy for more. Hopefully, you’ll still get some sense of what it’s like here. It is amazing. But it is different.

Tuesday

• We arrive: tired and dirty and check into our fancy western hotel (for our first 3 days here, then we’ll move to our “real” Beijing hotel)
• 3 hours later: clean and rested
• Visit to the 15th century Drum and Bell towers: big and impressive
• Wander through the “hutongs”(back alley neighborhood) of Beijing


• Question arises: why are there so many free public toilets in Beijing? Ahh, not everyone has a toilet at home. Actually a godsend for wandering tourists like us (yes, they’re more or less clean)
• Discovery of the day: Beijing has a ton of awesome bars (hidden in courtyards, perched on rooftops), who knew? We enjoyed 2 of them on our first night in town (here's one in the photo)


• Walked home (not to self: it’s a big city)

Wednesday

• Followed the “good tourist” plan: 5 morning hours at the Forbidden City with our guide (hired on the spot), Li Ling
• Impressions of the Forbidden City: it’s big and it’s hot; it’s red and it’s gold; it was no fun to be a commoner during imperial times (not allowed into the Forbidden City, not even allowed to watch – had to bolt their windows and stay inside! - if the Emperor and his court paraded out of the Forbidden City to have a ceremony at another temple); there are enough tales of love and intrigue from imperial China to make at least 9999 amazing movies
• Met the nephew of the last Emperor of China, who now sells calligraphy to help raise funds to maintain the Forbidden City (we bought the symbol for “harmony,” which he drew forus on the spot, and were so impressed by it that we assume that if we wave it over the middle-east as we fly home, that all will be well in the world)


• Lunch in the LES (lower east side) of Beijing
• Rest in our cool hotel room
• Walked to Tiananmen Square for Sunset: as it turns out, the square closes at sunset


• Question of the day: How do you close a public square the size of 61 football fields with no actual gates or fences around it? Answer: you employ a whole hell of a lot of Chinese soldiers…
• Discovery of the day: there are 2 Beijings (OK, probably there are 10, but we have only seen 2 thus far). The crazy “red army” Beijing full of imposing buildings, huge squares, and general pomp that certainly intimidates the masses and the “everyman’s Beijing” of the hutongs, where folks just hang out in the evenings in front of their small homes, playing games, drinking beer and chatting with the neighbors. Wish I spoke more than zero words of Chinese so I could join them for a beer…

Thursday

• Rented bikes: hello, freedom!
• Visited 2 temples: one Buddhist (Lama) and one Confucian
• Impressions of the Lama Temple: The power that be are trying really hard to show that they are tolerant (or even more, large supporters) of Buddhism, even in its Tibetan form. The temple is amazingly well-kept and there’s even a (state-sponsored?) monk or two running around. I don’t trust it a bit, but maybe I’m a cynic. Let’s just say that the Dalai Lama has not recently been invited to teach at this “tibetan buddhist” temple. Hmmmmm… (testing the censors with this one)
• Question of the day: Are the majority Chinese faithful Buddhists (they all bowed 3 times in front of all the Buddhas in the Lama Temple)? And if so, how did they practice their religion during the “godless” years of communism? I have no answers yet, but will seek them as I go…
• Impressions of the Confucian Temple: unclear to me if Confucianism is a religion or a philosophy; calligraphy on stone is amazing, difficult and beautiful (you try carving brush stokes on marble…)


• Biked through the hutongs some more, had a lunch at a French-owned café (good bread!) and crashed in a pile of sweat and fatigue along the lake at Beihai Park
• What I learned about Beijing parks: the minus points -- you have to pay to enter them (all the ones I can find, at least) and there are no big grass lawns to lie on – and the plus points – they are gorgeously landscaped and full of crazy chinese buildings
• Crashing in hotel room now. Jacco has to work. I can write a blog…
• Tonight, Peking duck!