The Shanghai Shakedown

Memories of Shanghai

Twilight on The Bund...

Well, that's a wrap. Just short of 1 year and 2 months later, I'm outta here. Bye bye Shanghai, hello (once again) Copenhagen. It's been quite an experience, a year in China. Will there be more in the future? Who can say. Once the door to Asia has been opened - and believe me, it certainly has been - I suspect it's not such an easy one to close.

So for now, I'll just leave it with a few memories. These are pictures I've selected because they really do represent the day-to-day scenes that were my life in Shanghai - as opposed to those stereotypical shots of Shanghai that really don't represent the modern reality of the place. They are variations of scenes that I have witnessed countless times over the past months. So here we go...

Here we have a view from the 40th floor of the Mariott hotel - where we drank
martini's many a Friday evening after work...

That's the Mariott - incidently, my favourite building in Shanghai...
(aside from the 88 floor Jin Mao Tower).

A scene found repeatedly all over Shanghai (and China, for that matter)

Exercise is good for you!

Coke - it's everywhere you want it to be...

...and so is Pizza Hut!

Visit any grocery store to find this one...delicious chicken feet.

you can get it all on the street...

A little break...

This was never my barber, I can assure you...

And this was in front of a new, high-end apartment
complex - China will be China, no matter what clothes
one tries to fit it with...

Everybody would love a grasshopper for their living room, no?

Traffic, traffic, traffic....

and bikes, bikes, bikes...

A bike can pretty much carry anything...

Many, many floors above the ground, hanging by a rope, scrub scrub scrubbing
those windows...

The infamous bamboo scaffolding - I've seen this used on buildings up to 30 stories high,
which is quite a sight to see.

New buildings to live in, old laundry hanging out to dry...

Evening on The Bund...ya' gotta love it!

Um, yes, I did...

The Bund from the 88th floor of the Jin Mao Tower...

It was a pretty crazy year - from the tofu, mooncake, to the firecrackers and everything else in between...

A Little Cruise up the Huangpu River...

The 3 hour trip up and back to the Huangpu River (to the mouth of the Yangze River, pictured at the top) is a more than worthwhile experience. A bustling, working river full of tankers and freight ships of all sizes - the big ones with tugboat escorts, and plenty to see along the banks of the river. So here's a few quick pics...

The 88 story Jin Mao tower in the background - just to the left of it is the rapidly-rising from the ground and soon-to-tallest-building in Shanghai (and China) - all 101 floors of it.

An impressive shipbuilding operation...

A couple more Goliaths under construction...

And here it is...The mouth of the mighty Yangze River...

Complete with tugboat escort...

Hong Kong Part 3 - Lantau Island

Yes, there's the city. Yes, there's the beach (plenty of them), And yes, there are island - over 200 of them. The most well-known is Lantau Island, home to Hong Kong Disneyland (didn't go there though), Ocean Park (didn't go there either), the airport (we flew into Shenzhen for half the price - a short boat or bus ride away on the mainland). But on Lantua Island, which is not a small place, we did get to a little fishing village Tai O which, though somewhat oriented to its tourist clientel, is still quite the traditional place - and a startling contrast to Hong Kong Island a short hour away, where the 7.5 million are found. We still managed to spot a dolphin on the short boat tour we took...

On the island we also visited Po Lin Monestary - home of the world's largest giant Budda (apparently). Can't verify that claim - there are plenty of pretty big budda's scattered around Thailand...

The day we visited Tai O, the locals happened to be out in full-force for what was apparently the annual long-boat race day.

'Row, row, row, row...'

Another 70 story Hong Kong skyscraper beginning?

Where are the 7.5 million people?

Your truly also managed to make a few new friends (while his girlfriend wasn't paying attention)...

'So where are all the boys hiding?' wondered the girlfriend...

Hong Kong Part 2 - The Beaches

Few realise that Hong Kong is a fabulous place to catch a few rays. Hong Kong is not only a 7.5 million person mega-metropolis. It's also a 20 minute bus ride away to sweet sand and clean water - away from the crowds. So here are a few pics from the less-known areas of Hong Kong.

That sun can really get in the lens...

'Actually, I think men with umbrellas are kinda sexy...'

For those wondering, this is the Shek O beach, about 20 minutes away from the middle of EVERYTHING - not bad. And the water is very clean.

The beach at Stanley, again maybe 20 minutes from it all. And these people are way to serious and silly to be on a beach - except your truly in the water...

 

Hong Kong Part 1 - The City

I have seen the future and it involves me living in Hong Kong. When? I don't know. For how long? No idea! But damn it, it's gotta happen!! It just has to.

Dense, urban, chaotic - but in a very controlled way - tropical, modern and there are BEACHES!!! Plenty of beaches. Not to mention nature, hiking, and the perfect place for international connections to anywhere. And whenever you need a fresh breath of madness, just grab a bus across the boarder into mainland China for a (perhaps unhealthy) dose of that. And thanks to a lengthy presence from the British, English is everywhere. Ahhh, what a place...

Sometimes, you just can't hide the joy an English breakfast brings...

There is a serious lack of parks in Hong Kong - that is the city itself. Surrounding that is green, green and more green - but you wouldn't know it standing amidst all those skyscrapers. So the Phillipino locals tend to simply improvise, all over the place. You'd think the government would get the message and figure out what sort of space really needs to be created next.

Parked between cars? Yes, it's still basically China, after all.

Well, you gotta hack 'em up somewhere - might as well be in full public view on the street in front of your shop...

Probably my favourite Hong Kong building - a bit of a blurry picture as it was taken as we rode the (bumpy) tram...

One of the many market streets on Kowloon...

Aquarium street on Kowloon - shop after shop selling, yes, you guessed it, aquariums and fish. Lots and lots of fish.

small fish, like these...

and big fish, like these...

Ahhh, but that skyline. What a skyline...

 

And let's not forget to mention Hong Kong's favourite son, man of many action movies, appearing here in wax...behind a this silly staff member ('YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE PHOTOS!! (click, click). NO PHOTO!! (click, click), STOP TAKINGPHOTOS! (click, click), AHHHHHH!! (click, click) etc....).

 

The Maglev to the Middle of Nowhere...

Now in anticipation of the next entry (3 actually), I must make an obligatory comment about the fastest, silliest and funnest way to get from the airport into Shanghai or vice versa.

Yes, the much discussed Maglev train making its 30 km run from between the airport and Shanghai is fast - clocking in at a cool 431 km/h - and quite a fun little experience (all 7 minutes of it!). Unfortunately, being dropped of 10 km outside of town in the middle of nowhere is rather silly (it proved to be a little too expensive to bring the trackes all the way into town as originally planned, you see, cost overruns and all). It is connected to the metro system, so you can get to it at least. In terms of efficiency, a taxi remains your best option to and from the airport - but in terms of fun, you can't beat 431 clicks.

An amusing side note. As you approach the Pudong Airport Shanghai on the Maglev travelling at 430 krm/h, if you're timing is good you'll have one of the rarest experiences. At 430 km/h, the train is actually travelling faster than the jumbo jets on their final approach to the Pudong Airport runway for landing - since a jumbo jet is travelling in the area of 300 km/h at this point. At Pudong, the runway is actually lined up in a way that planes landing come in right beside the Maglev as they approach, so (as happened to us), there was a jet coming in right beside us which we could watch out the window as we approached the airport - a jet that was initially ahead of us, but that we actually caught up to as it approached the runway. An odd feeling, indeed.

Anyway, this was where we found ourselves on our way to our most recent travel destination, the subject of the next 3 entries, soon to follow...

Democracy in China? Don’t hold your breath, but at least liberalization seems to be flourishing…

Lest anyone miss the slant of this, let me be clear at the outset. This article should be read as if asking yourself in the run-up to an election, 'Am I generally satisfied with the direction things are going or not?' When you find your answer, you are about where this article gets to. Now the next step, the question which would be for a future article (and which you would ask when deciding who to actually vote for) is, 'could things be better than they are?'. Such an article would sound quite different from this one. And please excuse the Anti-American rant if you are a non-right leaning American. I do realize if you are reading this, you probably are...

When can we expect the inevitable to occur, for the Chinese to cast off the shackles of dictatorship for democracy, freedom and real human rights? The truth, I would posit, is that slowly it is already happening. Much, much too slowly, yes, but it is unlikely there will ever be, a big ‘BOOM!’ for the foreign media to grab onto that will signify the moment of its arrival. If there is a truth illustrated by the case of China, particularly when contrasted with the flatulent rhetoric coming from the U.S., it is that freedom and democracy are sprawling concepts, ones that cover a broad swath of activities. A democratically elected government with a true opposition is without question the cornerstone of any true democracy, and an independent judicial system backed up by a legitimate constitution follows close behind, but there are other important factors signifying its existence as well. Existence, as opposed to arrival.

In China, Shanghai, followed closely by Beijing, is the best demonstrator of this. The government holds significant sway in both places and elsewhere, but it is handcuffed and chained to freedom. Money is really in control, if anything is – and not just big money. Small money is having its impact in the form of consumerism at all levels of society. The freedom for anyone with a bit of cash to go out, find and acquire whatever accessories they wish to accessorize their lives with, large or small. At present, the government would be hard-pressed to limit this freedom, at least in any systematic way. Choice has flooded and overwhelmed quickly and decisively - and continues to do so unrelentingly. It would be difficult to imagine the scale of the reversal and crackdown that would be required to even shift this course, much less actually reverse it.

A little puposeful digression.

The stereotypical American’s has always had a preference for the grand, unmistakable and unavoidable entrance. Loud, dramatic and abrasive. Unsurprisingly, those infamous all-American highly erratic crusades for democracy and freedom generally have a similar appearance. The ‘Big Bang Approach’ is thought best - that is, ‘BOOM!! LOOK, DEMOCRACY, FREEDOM – THEY’RE HERE! HURRAY!! REJOICE!! THANK GOD!!’ A wonderfully idealistic approach, but not one terribly attuned to reality, unfortunately. Take Iraq. Democracy was supposed to arrive (with a BANG!) with the toppling of that Saddam statue several years back, but of course it hasn’t quite worked like this. Worse still, somehow in the mind of the average right-leaning American, Hollywood fantasy has become reality. Certain global terrorists are more like a character straight out of a James Bond film. Or the leader of an unimaginably huge virtual corporation. Something that doesn’t really exist quite to the extent as imagined and described, but as long as it believed to and people seem to think it does, they may as well pretend to hang onto their supposed role as chief executive and chief spokesman.

But back to democracy in China.

Democracy, that is the ‘BOOM! HERE IT IS!’ sort, is unlikely to happen in China because the booming economy of the last years has been felt at all levels of society and by in large, I would posit, it feels quite good. Especially if it comes down to a take it or leave it question - even for those seemingly being left behind. If incomes are pitiful in too many cases, at least they rising. If you were making $1 a day (as many in China are), then over a short period of time it became $2, this may not change your life and you may remain unsatisfied, but it’s an improvement and a damn significant one. You’re not likely to rock the boat too hard as long as it continues in this direction.

More importantly, there is a true middle class in China being created by the day. Every new modern shopping mall being erected – and there are loads of them springing up across the country – is a consequence of this, and quite a meaningful one. People suddenly have money to spend, and there are plenty of things to buy. Not only has progress been rapid, most significantly a generation of Chinese knows only this. They have never experienced anything but this intense, wealth creating, rapid development.

Along with something else even more significant – liberalization.

Finding another country today on such a quick and decisive path of liberalization is all but impossible. This is China’s most significant achievement, one largely neglected by the foreign mass media and the one that most clearly foreshadows the future.

Looking around, we can see Europe, liberal without question, but grappling and fumbling with racial issues provoked by the supposed threat of immigration and integration. It doesn’t only affect Muslims and Muslim countries, contrary to the talk in the media – ask any Westerner trying to set-up shop from scratch in Europe and you will begin to understand the mighty obstacles standing in the way. Liberalization, this is not. North America is no better, largely owing to the American government’s outright paranoia over just what might slip through its borders if it isn’t vigilant. Let’s not even discuss what’s going on in Russia.

Which leaves China standing alone as a sort of beacon - as improbable as this is – not of democracy, but of liberalization. Increasing freedom. Not an entirely pretty sight in China's case, but there is an increasing level of openness, tolerance and acceptance to be seen. This process of liberalization may have a very long way to go, but at least the direction is clear, at present. So China is certainly not a liberal state, but it is a liberalizing one. And this matters immensely because true and lasting democracy is a by-product of liberalization – it’s not the other way around. Precisely why the actions of the U.S. are so disturbing and frustrating to witness at the moment.

So where does this leave democracy and China?

Quietly, democracy is at least on the radar in China, even in the media, surprisingly enough. It’s not around the corner, as one certainly wishes it was, but it is being talked about, which is a lot better than nothing. A recent article in the state-controlled (and unfortunately all too often nonsensical) English newspaper China Daily was illustrative. 

'China's modernization will remain a dream without democracy with Chinese characteristics and learning from the world's modern democratic systems.

Without democracy, there would be no institutionalized and efficient public supervision. In this case, "mobilizing all possible resources for major undertakings" could degenerate into abuses of power. Cracking down on corruption, restraining monopoly interest groups and punishing 'oligarchies' which harm the nation and people could never be done in this context.

Without democracy, there would be no respect for people. Wisdom and creativity are ar the core of human dignity. In the absence of care for and encouragement of people's creativity and wisdom, creating a new type of country would remain a dream...China would never transform from a country with a huge population to a country with a huge contingent of first-rate professionals."

Obviously, there is plenty still to question and attack in these statements. The point however, is the carefully controlled press is being allowed to vent some views which, certainly up to recently, would be rather radical (or heretical) in China.

So as an outsider, I can say this much: experiencing this profound process of rapid liberalization, particularly in Shanghai, has been one of the most heartening experiences imaginable, and quite a relief after several years of living in Europe and watching various far-right, racist parties (and the small percentage of people who support them) fermenting themselves into minority positions with a frustratingly disproportionate ability to influence the political agenda in precisely the wrong direction. This, along with feeble and ineffective leaders in power in countries such as Denmark and Britain who have allowed themselves to be somewhat seduced by the perceived threat of this right-wing rhetoric, has been the unpleasant side of an otherwise pleasant European experience.

As for the emergence of meaningful democracy and true human rights in China? The sooner the better, if you ask me – I want to believe it’s on the way (if only a very tiny spec on the horizon). I hope I’m right.

Zhouzhuang!!!

Okay, I admit it. What was intended as a blog primarily about Shanghai has become a bit of a travel blog about China. I think this can be excused given that my blog that I intended for more personal stuff (www.sunsandsnorkelling.blogspot.com) remains blocked in China. (Thanks for that, Ms. Nanny!)

However, an uncoming post is going to be a nice politically-oriented one with a bit more of a Shanghai spin to it, but in the meantime...TO ZHOUZHUANG!!! The No. 1 tourist water town tourist destination in China. Sorry, I meant the No. 1 watery town of China, as the posters at the bus station informed us... Fortunately, the tourists there are mostly Chinese, (as everywhere in China), which means that as a westerner, the experience is a special one regardless. Enjoy! (We did!)

Incidently, this trip was with our visitors of the month (yes, they just keep coming). Intrepid, round the world (sort of) in 18 months nomads (no longer) Seb and Anne-Marie, now back in their home and native land of Montreal.

Yes, there are still some locals who use these birds to fish - they are actually all tied to the boat by a long cord so they can swim around with a tight rope around their neck so they can't actually swallow the fish they catch...

Budda not happy...

A little laundry...

A little to the left Ms., a little more...that's it!!

The Serious Business...of China

A little self promotion here:

My new blog, 'The Serious Business...of China' is up and running. This one is intended as the home for some of the articles I've been writing since I've been here in Shanghai (ones that I'm actually getting paid for and are actually getting published in a 'serious' place). The tone is generally (though not always) a little more sombre, serious (hence the name) and businesslike - but let's just call it more 'professional'.

If you want an interesting one to start with, I recommend this one about London's mayor Ken Livingstone's breakfast Q &A during his recent visit to Shanghai. Ever the colourful character, good ole Ken didn't disappoint.

www.shanghaishakedown.typepad.com/theseriousbusiness

Enjoy!
Tim.

The Cave Dwellers of Xian

Billed as a taxi-tour to the Terra Cotta Warriors (the self-proclaimed ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’ - quiz question: how many ‘eighth wonders of the world’ are there out there?), in truth, the most fascinating part of the tour came after we had left the Terra Cotta Warriors museum, a stop about an hour out of Xian.

Now this stop was one of those ‘foreign tourist’ moments, without question – but certainly not a typical one. To experience it, we had to accept we could only be intrusive voyeurs, briefly looking upon a life so far removed from our own – yet so damn fascinating the situation had to be accepted at face value. There was no way we belonged up there on that hillside. Worse still, aside from a pack of cigarettes and a few candies and balloons for the local kids, there was basically no benefit to the local villagers, particularly the one kind enough to show us his cave – his home. Only mutual fascination we each shared.

As we left the village, our tour guide Clarence Guo, showed us an article in Time Magazine in which his original cave tour was featured – proving that word of mouth does travel far. Guo is the only tour guide who takes tourists to these cave dwellings – he discovered them by accident some years back when he was taking tourists to see a nearby village.

We had heard about his tour some days earlier (through a friend of a friend), but assumed there would be numerous tours taking tourists to these cave dwellings. After searching the Internet then talking to a couple local tour guides, we realised that indeed this cave dwelling tour was something unique – so we called up Clarence and booked immediately for the next day.

Set on a cliff so compelling those living there probably had long forgotten how fortunate they were to have such a site to look out onto each and every day.

An earlier cave, now apparently uninhabited...