Quick update: had team planning, ice-skating on hou hai and xmas eve party, then flew home for family and food (of course!)
Since the first day I arrived here I realised how little I know about China (even though I read a little before I came). In fact what I knew was: Tiananmen Sqaure (violence or other), Mao (dictator of some kind), Communist state, Great Wall (near Beijing maybe), Hong Kong (handovered or something), Booming Economy and the new stuff I read about (Cultural Revolution, Great Leap Forward etc).
Part of my weblog was about telling people more about China, but I guess I have also tried to restrain myself (not wanting to 'lecture') and having lived there for over a year I've probably forgotten both this idea and how different the country is.
Coming back and showing photos to friends received the expected questions about Beijing's masive development, pollution and so on. But it also led to questions about Tibet (is it a country?), Religion (are chinese people buddhist?), Taiwain (is it its own country?) and so on. I had forgotten how much basic (yet complicated) issues are little know. How some of the World is learning about a railway in Tibet and its consequences but yet don't know the history of Tibet.
It is strange, from my perspective when I think back and learned that most chinese people have this (somewhat justified) hatred of Japan due to historical tensions, that the official Chinese Church still recognises the government over the Vatican (and thus the Vatican recognises Taipei as the rulers rather than Beijing) and that the Chinese New Year is mostly a quiet time for families rather than the raucousness of a Western New Year.
Not much has changed in the UK really (except for more speed cameras!); but I am getting a different perspective on China... the next few weeks will be busy but manageable, but hopefully fun..preparing for 2007! London on the 5th is a party -all welcome after a New Year's one as well. UK prices, 12 days to go...
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
the end of another year
I'm 24 years old, have already had 2 parties to celebrate (and probably more to come in the UK) and its almost 2006. Its a bit scary, realising I have not seen so many people for such a long time and having spent b'day 04 and 05 here, it feels like i have been away for even more than 15 months.
I read the UK papers almost every day, so I feel like I know what is happening, but I am currently comparing it to the fact that I speak to chinese people every day and live in China. I still probably don't know China that well, and nor do I really know what its like in the UK. Maybe nothing has changed. but since I've left there have been terrorist bombs in london, the olympic bid, a General election (though that didn't change anything unfortunately!), friends getting engaged, changing jobs and all kinds of other things.
I'm going to come home knowing I am only around for a short time, do not know exactly when I will be back, and not exactly knowing what job I can or cannot find next summer in order to get my career up another step. hmmm. no time for reflection really. I am only 24 and there are plenty of opportunities. Soon it will be time to make yet more decisions -I should have a successor lined up within 2 months and then job applications, summer travelling to organise and a hot spring/summer in China that should convince more UK-ers to come visit.
Anyway I'm still tired from train journeys and shopping (damn cheap fake goods will take up most of my suitcase!) and later this week we have team planning, christmas eve dinner and then...woosh.
And whilst all this is happening, every day I continue to read about the ongoing western media's analysis of the chinese media's handling of the small protest and associated killing in Guandong that took place last week. China is still a fascinating country... with fascinating people everywhere, and a langauge that I just cannot master....yet!!
I read the UK papers almost every day, so I feel like I know what is happening, but I am currently comparing it to the fact that I speak to chinese people every day and live in China. I still probably don't know China that well, and nor do I really know what its like in the UK. Maybe nothing has changed. but since I've left there have been terrorist bombs in london, the olympic bid, a General election (though that didn't change anything unfortunately!), friends getting engaged, changing jobs and all kinds of other things.
I'm going to come home knowing I am only around for a short time, do not know exactly when I will be back, and not exactly knowing what job I can or cannot find next summer in order to get my career up another step. hmmm. no time for reflection really. I am only 24 and there are plenty of opportunities. Soon it will be time to make yet more decisions -I should have a successor lined up within 2 months and then job applications, summer travelling to organise and a hot spring/summer in China that should convince more UK-ers to come visit.
Anyway I'm still tired from train journeys and shopping (damn cheap fake goods will take up most of my suitcase!) and later this week we have team planning, christmas eve dinner and then...woosh.
And whilst all this is happening, every day I continue to read about the ongoing western media's analysis of the chinese media's handling of the small protest and associated killing in Guandong that took place last week. China is still a fascinating country... with fascinating people everywhere, and a langauge that I just cannot master....yet!!
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Fengyang Lu
the best street in Shanghai is fengyang lu. There are not that many parts of Shanghai that feel chinese..there are some, but not many. Fengyang lu is one of them. What makes it Chinese?
-the hordes of cyclists and motorcyclists that constantly pass by and get stuck at the traffic lights (causing my father to quote that he thought there was a race about to start...)
-the 3, 4, 5 rmb options for a cooked meal that you can get from a lady every 50m who has just cooked 10 dishes in big pots, put the big pots outside her house and then serves it to you (you pay more for more dishes squeezed into your box)
-the dumplings and baozi (steamed bread with fillings) places that provide cheap, takeaway food
-the hairdressers (they're everywhere in China)
-the spitting
-the food market that leads off the street with people selling all kinds of things, including (of course) bits of animals that you dont think can be eaten, and bits of meat that really don't think should be the resting place for so many flies...
-the street food for breakfast
-the crazy cars that turn right on a red light (when pedestrians have a green light, which is legal) and like a hot knife in butter carve a way through the crowds
-the cars that will reverse up a street cause the missed the turning, or will just go down a 1-way street the wrong way because...well, because they can!
-the people-wardens (yep, like traffic wardens) that man the pedestrian lights!
...and many other things besides.
Its also a great street because its a 2 minute walk from the subway station, 5 minutes from the center of Shanghai and because it is definitely Shanghai. It has patisseries on it (yep, the french shops selling breads, cakes etc) and it has a hospital that is spanking new and over 25 floors. It has a couple of highways zooming over it, it has a couple of skyscrapers dotted along it, or just behind it and it has fake DVD shops. Plus, of course it has Devrim and his wonderful appartment (until yesterday when the phone and internet stopped working) where I stay in Shanghai. Oh, and in case I have not mentioned food enough (and you really need to spend a month in china, just eating (since menus are often 20 pages long and there are at least 15 styles of chinese food) to get to know China) -the fantastic hot pot, xinjiang and fried dumpling restaurants on/beside it!
Its the reason why I've fallen in love with Shanghai -not just the beautiful strolling around the french quarter, the sheer scale of the skyscrapers, the huge number of fancy appartments or foreigners and not even the style that oozes from a place with ferrari shops, xmas lights (a bit tacky by shanghai standards, but they dont exist much else in mainland china) and a subway with 12 exits and automatic gates!
fengyang lu -respect!
-the hordes of cyclists and motorcyclists that constantly pass by and get stuck at the traffic lights (causing my father to quote that he thought there was a race about to start...)
-the 3, 4, 5 rmb options for a cooked meal that you can get from a lady every 50m who has just cooked 10 dishes in big pots, put the big pots outside her house and then serves it to you (you pay more for more dishes squeezed into your box)
-the dumplings and baozi (steamed bread with fillings) places that provide cheap, takeaway food
-the hairdressers (they're everywhere in China)
-the spitting
-the food market that leads off the street with people selling all kinds of things, including (of course) bits of animals that you dont think can be eaten, and bits of meat that really don't think should be the resting place for so many flies...
-the street food for breakfast
-the crazy cars that turn right on a red light (when pedestrians have a green light, which is legal) and like a hot knife in butter carve a way through the crowds
-the cars that will reverse up a street cause the missed the turning, or will just go down a 1-way street the wrong way because...well, because they can!
-the people-wardens (yep, like traffic wardens) that man the pedestrian lights!
...and many other things besides.
Its also a great street because its a 2 minute walk from the subway station, 5 minutes from the center of Shanghai and because it is definitely Shanghai. It has patisseries on it (yep, the french shops selling breads, cakes etc) and it has a hospital that is spanking new and over 25 floors. It has a couple of highways zooming over it, it has a couple of skyscrapers dotted along it, or just behind it and it has fake DVD shops. Plus, of course it has Devrim and his wonderful appartment (until yesterday when the phone and internet stopped working) where I stay in Shanghai. Oh, and in case I have not mentioned food enough (and you really need to spend a month in china, just eating (since menus are often 20 pages long and there are at least 15 styles of chinese food) to get to know China) -the fantastic hot pot, xinjiang and fried dumpling restaurants on/beside it!
Its the reason why I've fallen in love with Shanghai -not just the beautiful strolling around the french quarter, the sheer scale of the skyscrapers, the huge number of fancy appartments or foreigners and not even the style that oozes from a place with ferrari shops, xmas lights (a bit tacky by shanghai standards, but they dont exist much else in mainland china) and a subway with 12 exits and automatic gates!
fengyang lu -respect!
Friday, December 02, 2005
Human Rights!
Just spent a few days with some of the most important business men in the world at the United Nations Global Compact summitt in Shanghai -kinda cool. Before that was spending the weekend with the President of AIESEC International (Brodie) (who is younger than me -and then I was sharing a bed with since we were all crashing at Diggidy's in Shanghai).
Brodie's not that important really, and obviously very down-to-earth; so doesn't compare to the boat trip on the river in Shanghai on Wednesday night. That was a classic night, since I spoke to the 3 most important people related to Human Rights IN THE WORLD, on a boat IN CHINA! It was very, very, very cool to chat with Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. It was much more fun to also talk to the Heads of both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Both of these organisations are totally banned in China (websites, the staff cannot get visas normally etc) -but both were allowed into China on 4 day visas (actually the Human Rights Watch guy was given a 30 day one, then they called him and changed their mind to give him a 4 day one, once the computer realised who he was!). Because they are both founding organisations of the Global Compact, their attending (and speaking) was a precondition for the Conference to be hosted by China.
very cool stuff, the conference was interesting and fun; the week in Shanghai has been busy as hell but great, and next week will be likewise in Beijing hopefully. now i just need to find time to try to organise the New Year's Party and to go shopping before I return home!
World AIDS Day was yesterday -keep the promise.
Brodie's not that important really, and obviously very down-to-earth; so doesn't compare to the boat trip on the river in Shanghai on Wednesday night. That was a classic night, since I spoke to the 3 most important people related to Human Rights IN THE WORLD, on a boat IN CHINA! It was very, very, very cool to chat with Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. It was much more fun to also talk to the Heads of both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Both of these organisations are totally banned in China (websites, the staff cannot get visas normally etc) -but both were allowed into China on 4 day visas (actually the Human Rights Watch guy was given a 30 day one, then they called him and changed their mind to give him a 4 day one, once the computer realised who he was!). Because they are both founding organisations of the Global Compact, their attending (and speaking) was a precondition for the Conference to be hosted by China.
very cool stuff, the conference was interesting and fun; the week in Shanghai has been busy as hell but great, and next week will be likewise in Beijing hopefully. now i just need to find time to try to organise the New Year's Party and to go shopping before I return home!
World AIDS Day was yesterday -keep the promise.
Monday, November 28, 2005
travelling, what's that?
After 2 weeks in Shanghai of meetings and networking around to find companies to talk about CSR at the next AIESEC conference in Shanghai next year, I spent 1 weekend in Wuxi visiting a friend (just 75 minutes by train from Shanghai). He taught me Chinese chess and i saw a big buddha plus some lakes before heading to Hangzhou (just 2 hours by train from Shanghai) to start AIESEC in one of the top 5 best Universities in China.
It was an exciting 4 days meeting the students, University and local companies. The campus is one of the best I have ever seen -1/3rd finished full of beautiful lakes, millions of trees, fancy designed buildings and so on: I walked around it lots; in the evening it was lit up magnificently (as in tastefully and stylishly -which means it would fit in perfectly in Shanghai, but not in Beijing!).
A quick day in Shanghai was folllowed by the 14 hr trip to Beijing for 4 days since the President of AIESEC globally is in town talking to us; its a fun, kind of exhausting time. Broken up by going to the Scottish Ball which hands-down beat the British and EU balls. I can promise you that if you fill me with whiskey and wine then I can actually dance fairly well (scottish line dancing is a lot of fun). On Tuesday is the train back to Shanghai (12 hrs, fast train), on Friday back to Beijing. (14 hrs) The following Friday will be back to Shanghai (14 hrs) and a local mountain (13 hrs there, 12 hrs back) that we aim to climb in the snow before returning to Beijing (14 hrs) for a week or so returning home for New Year (11 hr flight i suppose). So if trains are your thing...
Talking about AIESEC in the past few days, and its relevant, vision and strategies for China has led to interesting discussion about China itself and AIESEC's role. With 2 major trends -the external, globalisation, internationalisation one and the internally focused, student and talent development; AIESEC is important. Especially with the misunderstandings that the World has of China and of how to deal with China. What's the best job opportunity we realised right now? Advising Chinese companies on how to do business in the West (market opportunities, cultural differences etc) -since Chinese companies have no understanding of the West (the same as Western companies not understanding China until they spent millions on consultancy and research fees!)
Stay tuned for some delicious Chinese food coming soon ... with appaling service, menus in Chinese, rude customers and phlegm over the floors... to a town near you!
I'm looking forward to seeing many UK-based people over New Year (probably a house party taking place if you can come) and going to Thailand for Chinese New Year.
It was an exciting 4 days meeting the students, University and local companies. The campus is one of the best I have ever seen -1/3rd finished full of beautiful lakes, millions of trees, fancy designed buildings and so on: I walked around it lots; in the evening it was lit up magnificently (as in tastefully and stylishly -which means it would fit in perfectly in Shanghai, but not in Beijing!).
A quick day in Shanghai was folllowed by the 14 hr trip to Beijing for 4 days since the President of AIESEC globally is in town talking to us; its a fun, kind of exhausting time. Broken up by going to the Scottish Ball which hands-down beat the British and EU balls. I can promise you that if you fill me with whiskey and wine then I can actually dance fairly well (scottish line dancing is a lot of fun). On Tuesday is the train back to Shanghai (12 hrs, fast train), on Friday back to Beijing. (14 hrs) The following Friday will be back to Shanghai (14 hrs) and a local mountain (13 hrs there, 12 hrs back) that we aim to climb in the snow before returning to Beijing (14 hrs) for a week or so returning home for New Year (11 hr flight i suppose). So if trains are your thing...
Talking about AIESEC in the past few days, and its relevant, vision and strategies for China has led to interesting discussion about China itself and AIESEC's role. With 2 major trends -the external, globalisation, internationalisation one and the internally focused, student and talent development; AIESEC is important. Especially with the misunderstandings that the World has of China and of how to deal with China. What's the best job opportunity we realised right now? Advising Chinese companies on how to do business in the West (market opportunities, cultural differences etc) -since Chinese companies have no understanding of the West (the same as Western companies not understanding China until they spent millions on consultancy and research fees!)
Stay tuned for some delicious Chinese food coming soon ... with appaling service, menus in Chinese, rude customers and phlegm over the floors... to a town near you!
I'm looking forward to seeing many UK-based people over New Year (probably a house party taking place if you can come) and going to Thailand for Chinese New Year.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Tennis
The LCG (little chinese girl AKA Tee) and Me, Tennis Masters Cup Final, Shanghai, 15 November, 2005.Fantastic stadium, great tennis and lots of short movie clips courtesy of digital camera technology! We even spent the last few hours in the most expensive seats since people started leaving (yay)
20,000 people
280 rmb ticket
45 minutes bus ride from Shanghai
20 rmb for half a sandwhich in the 'canteen'/restaurant'
12 Tennis Players
8 hours of tennis
2 caps courtesy of Haworth (we weren't good enough to actually win them properly)
1 awesome guitar player for entertainment
Friday, November 11, 2005
Shanghai
I've been in Shanghai a week now and its been over 11 months since I was last here. Wow. I totally forgot how amazing (and so different) the place is. There is such a buzz, I am not sure what it comes from, probably a combination of:
-fantastic skyline, everywhere -tall buildings, fancy buildings, lights everywhere
-people everywhere -Shanghai has more shops and more people shopping; it also seems to have more people walking on the streets... beijing is quite empty really of people, they are all spread out more I think. Actually Shanghai has 3-4 million more people than Beijing -maybe thats it! Oh, and Shanghai's pavements are much narrower than Beijing
-the massive commercialisation of Shanghai -lots of neon, lots of TV screens (even one on the other side of the road that you watch whilst waiting for the pedestrian crossing lights to change!)
-the huge number of cafes, bars and shops all designed stylishly, fashionably and discreetly.. and not just shoved in 3 areas, but dispersed somewhat.
-the more foreign people around, the higher prices in Shanghai and the umbrellas up from the RAIN (yay!)
Shanghai is really a totally different city from Beijing. There is very little to see culturally (in comparison) and not much of an 'old Shanghai' left -there was never really an 'old Shanghai' anyway, since most of it was built in the last 150 years..and not much of that is left. But there is a beautiful, large euopean style area with trees along the roads and wonderful places to eat, drink, read hidden away behind hedges. There is an airconditioned subway line (with ticket gates, not people), there is the coundown on every pedestrian light and most of all, there is the fact that almost every appartment building looks built in the last 15 years.
In Beijing, most expats know most of the nice appartment complexes; there are only about 10-15 really fancy ones, and then a few other areas of nice-ish ones. In Shanghai they are everywhere; in Pudong (the huuuuge area built from scratch 15 years ago, reclaimed from marsh land, now with a population of a few million), near the old airport, in the center, in the north-east... just everywhere. There are lots more taller buildings here -genuine skyscrapers, and everything is just more modern (escalators in the subway for example!)
Actually the Shanghai government is leading the way in China with lots of clever policies (its quite, maybe a little too much i wonder, independent from the Central government) including 1-way streets, pedestrian walkways over roads and other infrastructure things. It also has a better business environment etc. The Chinese government though, wants to develop the pooper regions more and focus less on the major cities, but now the major cities have got their act together with trade fairs, special attractions (Forumula 1, Masters Cup Tennis) and others.
Anyway, I came here for lots of meetings, seminars and conferences for networking in order to arrange speakers for the next big CSR event, here in Shanghai, in early January. A few of the Beijing crew came down for the weekend which meant we were up till 4/5am a few nights in a row and there are a lot more alumni in Shanghai from all over the World..who I am not starting to meet more (and take advantage of...)
Tonight we saw a film about North Korea that was very interesting. It only focused on Pyongyang (and the director of the film who was at the screening said that the rest of north korea is VERY different), and all the chinese we were with said it was just like China after the Cultural Revolution (late 60s): with a big focus on 'being a group', 'being self-sufficient', 'fighting the american aggressor' (there are frequent practise air-raids, justifiably so, the koreans in the film say, knowing about Iraq!) and celebraing 'the General' (who is everywhere and idolised). Apart from the fact that the city itself is in quite good condition (it all had to be rebuilt after the Korean war), I suppose it was what I expected (communism etc). But it would be nice to have seen more of the rest of Korea (the real Korea) -it was, though, a documentary about 2 girls practicing the the 'mass games' and not a story about korea itself.
So we saw a glimpse of the DPRK (democratic people's of republic as north korea is, ironically, known) through their (and family's) eyes and the 'mass games' (like olympics games opening cermony all day for a week on end, and a few times a year) were gobsmacking (what do you expect when the girls train for 2 hrs a day for 2 months and then 10 hrs a day for 2 months or so) -to perform in front of the 'General' is the ultimate honour. Anyway, its not on general release (but partly paid for by the BBC so might be on in the UK sometime) -highly recommmended. I bought a book that the diretor brought over '100 questions about north korea' that is what north korea publishes internally in english, so its obviously propoganda crap, but hilarious reading!
off to bed, more days of conferences and meetings ahead...gggr, no time to sleep (but finally getting over my cold!)
-fantastic skyline, everywhere -tall buildings, fancy buildings, lights everywhere
-people everywhere -Shanghai has more shops and more people shopping; it also seems to have more people walking on the streets... beijing is quite empty really of people, they are all spread out more I think. Actually Shanghai has 3-4 million more people than Beijing -maybe thats it! Oh, and Shanghai's pavements are much narrower than Beijing
-the massive commercialisation of Shanghai -lots of neon, lots of TV screens (even one on the other side of the road that you watch whilst waiting for the pedestrian crossing lights to change!)
-the huge number of cafes, bars and shops all designed stylishly, fashionably and discreetly.. and not just shoved in 3 areas, but dispersed somewhat.
-the more foreign people around, the higher prices in Shanghai and the umbrellas up from the RAIN (yay!)
Shanghai is really a totally different city from Beijing. There is very little to see culturally (in comparison) and not much of an 'old Shanghai' left -there was never really an 'old Shanghai' anyway, since most of it was built in the last 150 years..and not much of that is left. But there is a beautiful, large euopean style area with trees along the roads and wonderful places to eat, drink, read hidden away behind hedges. There is an airconditioned subway line (with ticket gates, not people), there is the coundown on every pedestrian light and most of all, there is the fact that almost every appartment building looks built in the last 15 years.
In Beijing, most expats know most of the nice appartment complexes; there are only about 10-15 really fancy ones, and then a few other areas of nice-ish ones. In Shanghai they are everywhere; in Pudong (the huuuuge area built from scratch 15 years ago, reclaimed from marsh land, now with a population of a few million), near the old airport, in the center, in the north-east... just everywhere. There are lots more taller buildings here -genuine skyscrapers, and everything is just more modern (escalators in the subway for example!)
Actually the Shanghai government is leading the way in China with lots of clever policies (its quite, maybe a little too much i wonder, independent from the Central government) including 1-way streets, pedestrian walkways over roads and other infrastructure things. It also has a better business environment etc. The Chinese government though, wants to develop the pooper regions more and focus less on the major cities, but now the major cities have got their act together with trade fairs, special attractions (Forumula 1, Masters Cup Tennis) and others.
Anyway, I came here for lots of meetings, seminars and conferences for networking in order to arrange speakers for the next big CSR event, here in Shanghai, in early January. A few of the Beijing crew came down for the weekend which meant we were up till 4/5am a few nights in a row and there are a lot more alumni in Shanghai from all over the World..who I am not starting to meet more (and take advantage of...)
Tonight we saw a film about North Korea that was very interesting. It only focused on Pyongyang (and the director of the film who was at the screening said that the rest of north korea is VERY different), and all the chinese we were with said it was just like China after the Cultural Revolution (late 60s): with a big focus on 'being a group', 'being self-sufficient', 'fighting the american aggressor' (there are frequent practise air-raids, justifiably so, the koreans in the film say, knowing about Iraq!) and celebraing 'the General' (who is everywhere and idolised). Apart from the fact that the city itself is in quite good condition (it all had to be rebuilt after the Korean war), I suppose it was what I expected (communism etc). But it would be nice to have seen more of the rest of Korea (the real Korea) -it was, though, a documentary about 2 girls practicing the the 'mass games' and not a story about korea itself.
So we saw a glimpse of the DPRK (democratic people's of republic as north korea is, ironically, known) through their (and family's) eyes and the 'mass games' (like olympics games opening cermony all day for a week on end, and a few times a year) were gobsmacking (what do you expect when the girls train for 2 hrs a day for 2 months and then 10 hrs a day for 2 months or so) -to perform in front of the 'General' is the ultimate honour. Anyway, its not on general release (but partly paid for by the BBC so might be on in the UK sometime) -highly recommmended. I bought a book that the diretor brought over '100 questions about north korea' that is what north korea publishes internally in english, so its obviously propoganda crap, but hilarious reading!
off to bed, more days of conferences and meetings ahead...gggr, no time to sleep (but finally getting over my cold!)
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Eating Penis....
above: uncooked penis ..... below: cooked penis (and a mushroom, in case you are confused!)
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
whirlwind....
after the cabbage excitement, it was down to boring old chairing a conference for over 300 people for a weekend...again. hmm, i am always the backup option for chairing a conference, but its fun, tiring (up till late, up early) and exciting. 300 new AIESECers....
We relaxed the day it finished (got 10 hrs sleep!!), went to a hotpot restaurant (where you cook your own food in a boiling pot of water with spices) and experienced a new type of food.
well its not really food, since its actually penis. well, to be 100% honest, its 2 kinds of penis (maybe goat and bull...?) chopped up on a plate. not something you see too often in china let alone in the UK. Anyway, after some sniggers, pictures etc we boiled it (for a loooong time, just to make sure!) and ate it. Well, I ate most of it since it tasted pretty good (better than the stomach, which has always been a bad order) -so make whatever jokes you want!
After this week was loong meetings into the night about reviewing the previous month, planning the next conference and lots of other things. I've been doing some crappy adminy jobs but also getting out to have lunch with the students who help me on my CSR work.. Tonight i even had a group-MSN Messenger training session to (up to) 11 students...it was crazy, and when it was in chinese, even crazier!
Tomorrow night i got invited by Bayer to the EU Chamber Ball (went to UK one last year, paid lots..this time the EU one is free) -should be fun, should be drunk/tired when waking up at 5am the next morning for my flight to Shanghai for a) University CSR event and then trainee/foreigner weekend trip b) meetings (to get companies to come our next conference in SH in Jan) and external conferences (I am even speaking at one) and c) interviewing chinese students to work abroad. Then back to Beijing for a week for another University CSR event and back to Shanghai for some more meetings and conferences (and anoter alumni event and yet another charity 3 mile run!).
yay, travelling, its been 3 weeks and my feet were itching. So here's to lots of nights on floors, and money spent in expensive Shanghai. but its a great city, with lots of life.
I dont think I am learning that much more about Chinese people's working style -I realised a long time ago that chinese people tend to lack imagination or innovation straight after school due their curriculum. Its hard to get most people to voice or share their opinions. Its quite a blase comment, but generally true (can't be bothered to go into more details). However I am learning more about Chinese people from living with 3 of them. Especially girls. hmm, I think most chinese girls fit a stereotype of being cute/adorable, caring and innocent (seemingly). But at the same time they are quite sensitive/fragile and emotional. Learning a whole new set of chinese women people management skills (slowly); but i love both Kim and Primrose, both utterly unique (yet still within the stereoptype outlined above) and utterly different to any other women i know.
p. s.hopefully by the time i return to beijing the cleaner would have been hired!
p.p.s.boy i do hope i can see some rain in Shanghai -it tends to rain more than in Beijing, and I have literally seen snow fall 3 times and rain about 10 times in over a year -its insane. no wonder the water shortage is so dire (not that you know, since its the countryside that suffers).
We relaxed the day it finished (got 10 hrs sleep!!), went to a hotpot restaurant (where you cook your own food in a boiling pot of water with spices) and experienced a new type of food.
well its not really food, since its actually penis. well, to be 100% honest, its 2 kinds of penis (maybe goat and bull...?) chopped up on a plate. not something you see too often in china let alone in the UK. Anyway, after some sniggers, pictures etc we boiled it (for a loooong time, just to make sure!) and ate it. Well, I ate most of it since it tasted pretty good (better than the stomach, which has always been a bad order) -so make whatever jokes you want!
After this week was loong meetings into the night about reviewing the previous month, planning the next conference and lots of other things. I've been doing some crappy adminy jobs but also getting out to have lunch with the students who help me on my CSR work.. Tonight i even had a group-MSN Messenger training session to (up to) 11 students...it was crazy, and when it was in chinese, even crazier!
Tomorrow night i got invited by Bayer to the EU Chamber Ball (went to UK one last year, paid lots..this time the EU one is free) -should be fun, should be drunk/tired when waking up at 5am the next morning for my flight to Shanghai for a) University CSR event and then trainee/foreigner weekend trip b) meetings (to get companies to come our next conference in SH in Jan) and external conferences (I am even speaking at one) and c) interviewing chinese students to work abroad. Then back to Beijing for a week for another University CSR event and back to Shanghai for some more meetings and conferences (and anoter alumni event and yet another charity 3 mile run!).
yay, travelling, its been 3 weeks and my feet were itching. So here's to lots of nights on floors, and money spent in expensive Shanghai. but its a great city, with lots of life.
I dont think I am learning that much more about Chinese people's working style -I realised a long time ago that chinese people tend to lack imagination or innovation straight after school due their curriculum. Its hard to get most people to voice or share their opinions. Its quite a blase comment, but generally true (can't be bothered to go into more details). However I am learning more about Chinese people from living with 3 of them. Especially girls. hmm, I think most chinese girls fit a stereotype of being cute/adorable, caring and innocent (seemingly). But at the same time they are quite sensitive/fragile and emotional. Learning a whole new set of chinese women people management skills (slowly); but i love both Kim and Primrose, both utterly unique (yet still within the stereoptype outlined above) and utterly different to any other women i know.
p. s.hopefully by the time i return to beijing the cleaner would have been hired!
p.p.s.boy i do hope i can see some rain in Shanghai -it tends to rain more than in Beijing, and I have literally seen snow fall 3 times and rain about 10 times in over a year -its insane. no wonder the water shortage is so dire (not that you know, since its the countryside that suffers).
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
all about me!!
well not just all about me, but i thought i would boast of a few things, just so you all know I am not wasting my life away playing around a long way from home!...
first was my 'appointment' -note the wrong spelling of AIESEC, grrr -appearing in ethicalcorp magazine (granted they asked for submissions and i told them about me, rather than it being a world famous appointment!)
second was an article in a magazine that lots of students read about my international experience
third was the 3 page article i wrote for www.csr-asia.com's weekly magasine summarising the results of the brochure i wrote.
and fourth, well actually i don't think i can put this on the web for confidentiality reasons ... but it was pretty flattering.
anyway, the last 3 weeks after the trip have been about preparing for the CSR conference that I organised last sunday (went well, yay). I have also been updating the responsible leadership weblog that I keep and enjoying the usual dinners etc with the other foreigners here. I completed the 5 mile charity fun-run (not very fast mind you), welcomed out newest member to the team (Michelle from Australia).
its a pretty boring email this :(, ah well at least you know I am still alive ... oh and its now autumn, no more shorts and t-shirts!
latest news from China is Match fixing, bribery, drugs and all sorts took place at the National Games in Nanjing, a trial run for the Olympics. I
ts reported by xinhua here, (although the top half of the article is all about the world records broken and success or organising the event, keep reading and you'll eventually get there). The headline of the article is Successful National Games puts Beijing Olympics at sight
Unsurprisingly, the foreign press report it slightly differently with the headline: Drugs and bribes claims hit China's Olympic rehearsal
first was my 'appointment' -note the wrong spelling of AIESEC, grrr -appearing in ethicalcorp magazine (granted they asked for submissions and i told them about me, rather than it being a world famous appointment!)
second was an article in a magazine that lots of students read about my international experience
third was the 3 page article i wrote for www.csr-asia.com's weekly magasine summarising the results of the brochure i wrote.
and fourth, well actually i don't think i can put this on the web for confidentiality reasons ... but it was pretty flattering.
anyway, the last 3 weeks after the trip have been about preparing for the CSR conference that I organised last sunday (went well, yay). I have also been updating the responsible leadership weblog that I keep and enjoying the usual dinners etc with the other foreigners here. I completed the 5 mile charity fun-run (not very fast mind you), welcomed out newest member to the team (Michelle from Australia).
its a pretty boring email this :(, ah well at least you know I am still alive ... oh and its now autumn, no more shorts and t-shirts!
latest news from China is Match fixing, bribery, drugs and all sorts took place at the National Games in Nanjing, a trial run for the Olympics. I
ts reported by xinhua here, (although the top half of the article is all about the world records broken and success or organising the event, keep reading and you'll eventually get there). The headline of the article is Successful National Games puts Beijing Olympics at sight
Unsurprisingly, the foreign press report it slightly differently with the headline: Drugs and bribes claims hit China's Olympic rehearsal
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Monday, October 10, 2005
Gansu and Qinghai trip
Returned back yesterday from a 9 day adventure into northwestern china. For those with lots of time on their hands, you can read a looong recount day by day from Sheila (who has way too much time on her hands) on her blog at http://sheila.nomadlife.org who I travelled with, along with Michelle and Chris (also both Brits)
In brief we went to the Silk Road and saw some ancient-ish tombs from those who died on the ancient trading route, we saw the end of China (and the Great Wall) by most descriptions (beyond is just desert and the Chinese didn't really bother about that, that much) -so now I have seen both ends of the 5,000km wall. We also saw desert; at the end of the wall, and in qinghai- a province that is mostly tibetan, but also partly muslim (and not very chinese) and rocks. We saw grasslands and 2 important Tibetan Monasteries (1 that was more used than the others, both containing photos of the Dalai Lama which is illegal in China, but they were slightly hidden). We also went hiking up some high mountains, with ice, waterfalls and some other ethnic minorities (who fed us sheep and dodgy local alcohol).
As per typical Adam trips, lots of time was spent travelling (which allows one to see lots of the country and great scenery from the bus or train, or plane) and a fair amount spent eating and chatting and having fun amongst the 4 of us (although Michelle had to leave early to return to work). It was a great, fun, trip and the photos are already up on the imagestation site. The highlight was maybe the oasis in the desert by the great wall, or the icy mountains.
It was interesting that most of the areas were tibetan or muslim; but there was little of their language written anywhere...the only signs of the culture are in their dress or their language. Quite a few did speak chinese, and thus this lack of local lingo signage is understandable but there was an eerie sense of the people and the place not really belonging together any more... i am not sure if they will lose their language, clothes or religion or not, whilst they become more chinese or more modernised.
We enjoyed talking to a few tibetans on a bus ride who asked "Do you think Tibet is a part of China?", received an answer from me of "What do you think?" and promptly burst out laughing as to leave no doubt as to what they think. And the most important thing I learned on the trip? filling a girl with food leaves her happy.... never did i realise the truth of "the shortest way to a woman's heart is through her stomach"; be it prawn crackers (Michelle) or hot pot (Sheila)!
In brief we went to the Silk Road and saw some ancient-ish tombs from those who died on the ancient trading route, we saw the end of China (and the Great Wall) by most descriptions (beyond is just desert and the Chinese didn't really bother about that, that much) -so now I have seen both ends of the 5,000km wall. We also saw desert; at the end of the wall, and in qinghai- a province that is mostly tibetan, but also partly muslim (and not very chinese) and rocks. We saw grasslands and 2 important Tibetan Monasteries (1 that was more used than the others, both containing photos of the Dalai Lama which is illegal in China, but they were slightly hidden). We also went hiking up some high mountains, with ice, waterfalls and some other ethnic minorities (who fed us sheep and dodgy local alcohol).
As per typical Adam trips, lots of time was spent travelling (which allows one to see lots of the country and great scenery from the bus or train, or plane) and a fair amount spent eating and chatting and having fun amongst the 4 of us (although Michelle had to leave early to return to work). It was a great, fun, trip and the photos are already up on the imagestation site. The highlight was maybe the oasis in the desert by the great wall, or the icy mountains.
It was interesting that most of the areas were tibetan or muslim; but there was little of their language written anywhere...the only signs of the culture are in their dress or their language. Quite a few did speak chinese, and thus this lack of local lingo signage is understandable but there was an eerie sense of the people and the place not really belonging together any more... i am not sure if they will lose their language, clothes or religion or not, whilst they become more chinese or more modernised.
We enjoyed talking to a few tibetans on a bus ride who asked "Do you think Tibet is a part of China?", received an answer from me of "What do you think?" and promptly burst out laughing as to leave no doubt as to what they think. And the most important thing I learned on the trip? filling a girl with food leaves her happy.... never did i realise the truth of "the shortest way to a woman's heart is through her stomach"; be it prawn crackers (Michelle) or hot pot (Sheila)!
Thursday, September 29, 2005
off....
The last 2 weeks have been fun and quite productive. I have been having some interesting meetsings, and am now investigating AIESEC launching some initiatives related to AIDs; since I have got so involved in it now, i feel I am much more aware of the issue. At the moment AIDs here is just in high risk populations (drug users, prostitutes, people who had blood transfusions), but it is about to enter the mainstream and that could be a disaster since those who will suffer most will be the poor.
There is a huge impetus to make extralarge efforts now to prevent the World's largest ever catastrophe. Already up to 4 or 5 million are HIV+ in India, China the number is under 1 million; but due to so many isses (social stigma, lack of understanding, high internal migration and so on), the next 5 years will define if in China the number grows up to as much as 10 million or not. If it hits 10 million, then where will it go next? At the moment, AIESEC has been invited to join the joint UN initiated AIDs Working Group in China so this afternoon I'll go to this (yay), having met UNAIDs and spoken to several other UN organisations.
Recently life has been ticking on; relaxing and going out; a reunion with my old classmates in BLCU; back to Tianjin to help AIESEC there; a full-page feature on AIESEC and me on a national english language business magasine and so on...not see the article yet, but should get a copy in the post soon since we didnt buy one. Our next big conference should be in a month; more info to come soon.
Chris arrives tomorrow (Manchester University housemate) for a 2 week visit including a week in north-west China along the old silk road in Gansu province with a couple of girls..shoudl be fun, although it will start with a 20 hour hard seat journey (extending my record for hard seat journeys by about 4 hours...)- can't wait! Saturday is the 56th Anniversary of the Founding of the Republic of China. So what? yeah, well its not as famous as 4th July thats for sure!
There is a huge impetus to make extralarge efforts now to prevent the World's largest ever catastrophe. Already up to 4 or 5 million are HIV+ in India, China the number is under 1 million; but due to so many isses (social stigma, lack of understanding, high internal migration and so on), the next 5 years will define if in China the number grows up to as much as 10 million or not. If it hits 10 million, then where will it go next? At the moment, AIESEC has been invited to join the joint UN initiated AIDs Working Group in China so this afternoon I'll go to this (yay), having met UNAIDs and spoken to several other UN organisations.
Recently life has been ticking on; relaxing and going out; a reunion with my old classmates in BLCU; back to Tianjin to help AIESEC there; a full-page feature on AIESEC and me on a national english language business magasine and so on...not see the article yet, but should get a copy in the post soon since we didnt buy one. Our next big conference should be in a month; more info to come soon.
Chris arrives tomorrow (Manchester University housemate) for a 2 week visit including a week in north-west China along the old silk road in Gansu province with a couple of girls..shoudl be fun, although it will start with a 20 hour hard seat journey (extending my record for hard seat journeys by about 4 hours...)- can't wait! Saturday is the 56th Anniversary of the Founding of the Republic of China. So what? yeah, well its not as famous as 4th July thats for sure!
Saturday, September 17, 2005
the well-off, the scale and the life of a laowai
a little over a year after I arrived in China, this post starts with the same title as the very first one back on sep 15th 04 (except with laowai spelt correctly!)
this week was dominated by a trip from hursday to friday to an investment fair in a city called Dongying that is a new, grpwing city exactly in between beijing, shanghai and dalian. Its got lots of oil related industries and big investment from Korea -plus it has had UNIDO advising them on attracting more foreign investment (and they invited us to come to the fair). It meant 7 hours of travelling each way by bus, but it was worth it for the experience.
so, why the title? well i am still (1 year later) learning about the well-of in china, the scale of things and how laowais live. on thursday night once we arrived (everything was paid for the whole time) and given our delegate bags (including VIP badges) we were put on our table, and then toasted by the different important people there who come around each table, 1 at a time. lots of baijiu :( we were higly encouraged to eat the little (expensive, ugly, non-edible looking) lobsters and then shipped off to watch a firework display that lasted over 45 minutes (no kidding) with over 25,000 fireworks (according to the information about the different acts in the show). What a huge waste of money; 10 minutes would be fine.
I guess the scale thing is always a bit double-edged in China; not just to impress the guests, but to show to the local people how well the government in impressing the guests and of course to actually impress the local people too (who were all watching too, but not on the stage on chairs like the 500 of us VIPs). Since so many companies are owned by the government you get the feeling orders are given and costs not really defined let alone considered!
later that night in our hotel we met in the UNIDO guys room for some beers since he had been given the executive suite as an honour; and when the hotel staff came to our room they seemed to do so just to practice their English -somethings will just never change here!
that dinner and the following lunch (which was different -a private affair with the mayor of the city and just our small group) also included some chips, ketchup and a chicken burger, all from KFC. We all laughed at the wonderful attempts they made at cultural understanding (since it gave us the choice of eating non-chinese food if we couldn't handle it), especially as the chips also came at breakfast.
Back in Beijing now in glorious weather and hoping to enjoy it before the art exhibition i'm going to tonight at a private pre-opening viewing in the 'arty' area of town that i have been trying to go to for ages (what a great way to go there!).
I'll write again soon with some reflections of a year in China but its confirmed I'll be back in UK from 25th/12 -8th/1 so look forward to seeing lots of UK based friends soon.
Enjoy your weekend
Adam
this week was dominated by a trip from hursday to friday to an investment fair in a city called Dongying that is a new, grpwing city exactly in between beijing, shanghai and dalian. Its got lots of oil related industries and big investment from Korea -plus it has had UNIDO advising them on attracting more foreign investment (and they invited us to come to the fair). It meant 7 hours of travelling each way by bus, but it was worth it for the experience.
so, why the title? well i am still (1 year later) learning about the well-of in china, the scale of things and how laowais live. on thursday night once we arrived (everything was paid for the whole time) and given our delegate bags (including VIP badges) we were put on our table, and then toasted by the different important people there who come around each table, 1 at a time. lots of baijiu :( we were higly encouraged to eat the little (expensive, ugly, non-edible looking) lobsters and then shipped off to watch a firework display that lasted over 45 minutes (no kidding) with over 25,000 fireworks (according to the information about the different acts in the show). What a huge waste of money; 10 minutes would be fine.
I guess the scale thing is always a bit double-edged in China; not just to impress the guests, but to show to the local people how well the government in impressing the guests and of course to actually impress the local people too (who were all watching too, but not on the stage on chairs like the 500 of us VIPs). Since so many companies are owned by the government you get the feeling orders are given and costs not really defined let alone considered!
later that night in our hotel we met in the UNIDO guys room for some beers since he had been given the executive suite as an honour; and when the hotel staff came to our room they seemed to do so just to practice their English -somethings will just never change here!
that dinner and the following lunch (which was different -a private affair with the mayor of the city and just our small group) also included some chips, ketchup and a chicken burger, all from KFC. We all laughed at the wonderful attempts they made at cultural understanding (since it gave us the choice of eating non-chinese food if we couldn't handle it), especially as the chips also came at breakfast.
Back in Beijing now in glorious weather and hoping to enjoy it before the art exhibition i'm going to tonight at a private pre-opening viewing in the 'arty' area of town that i have been trying to go to for ages (what a great way to go there!).
I'll write again soon with some reflections of a year in China but its confirmed I'll be back in UK from 25th/12 -8th/1 so look forward to seeing lots of UK based friends soon.
Enjoy your weekend
Adam
Sunday, September 11, 2005
tianjin and a night as a Chinese student
The great wall last week was good -the 2+ days I spent at CSR conferences were nice, and seeing my roommates return was also a nice change... but nothing compares to my weekend in Tianjin where I was helping one of our newest AIESEC branches with their first real recruitment.
Inbetween eating Tianjin's local delicacies (goubuli, shibajiemahua and fantastic breakfast snacks) I was handing out flyers at canteens; doing another 15 minute speech to 100 chinese students and coaching 4 lovely girls from Nankai University. Oh, and whilst riding one of their bikes, with the owner of the bike on the back, I managed to completely mangle the wheel!
It was great fun walking into a 'water bar' (sells fruit jiuces for the less alocoholic of Chinese students) that has 8 tables and 15 chairs, and then rearranging it to squeeze 50 students on chairs, plus 5 facilitators and 4 laptops (strategically located around the room) whilst the staff sold the students cold drinks (only 1 fan, no a/c, and the drinks were fantastic). Then I was listening to students talk about 'whether China's reaction to Japan is fair' and 'should gay people be allowed to raise children' (not something that is particularly controversial in the UK but thought of differently here I've learned).
Apart from the dancing in the middle of the campus (looking like a real idiot trying to copy the video playing on my laptop balanced on top of a nearby car) and playing name games near 1 of the exits of the Uni; I spent the 2 nights in one of the male dorms.
I've seen several dorms before, but not for long or in much detail, so was kind of excited to stay in one. It was one of the slightly more expensive ones (about 50 UK pounds for an entire academic year, which is almost double the cheapest ones). The cheapest are 6-8 per room with a central desk to share, mine was 4 per room each with a desk under their (raised) bed. Actually at this University I don't think there were curfews, and my building even had a lift (only 7 floors -I think anything above 5 tends to have a lift in China). Weird experiences:
#1 the bathroom: a long sink with several taps and a pipe in the corner for shower (so kind of public), oh well nothing to be cleaned then!
#2 the bedroom: too hot to need covers, and turn fan off at night, so everyone sleeps in their undies and without covers
#3 in the dorm (each dorm was about 5 rooms, each of 4 students. 3 dorms on each floor) everyone also walks around in their underwear..all day; i mean the best way to keep cool right, and women aren't allowed? anyway, when in Rome...
#4 in the toilets (not western, but not too bad) at 7am for 20 minutes, and not being able to leave because the cleaner was cleaning the dorm. Foreigners not allowed in (let alone to stay) and I didn't fancy being kicked out the building in my underwear
photos will be up soon (embarrasingly). News about China? more action off the coast around Taiwan and Japan (hotting up, expect something to happen in next 2-3 yrs), big deal made of stupid Europeans turning up to renegotiate textile quotas etc.
Off to bed, sweating (its got hot again), and happy and proud of my Nankai girls doing such a great job this weekend. They even chatted up the guy in charge of classrooms who will now lend them a kitted-out classroom anytime.
Adam
p.s. Great Wall last weekend with 13 of us was soooo much fun with suuuuch good weather and sooo on
p.p.s. If England win the cricket it will make up for the abysmal football performance
p.p.p.s Word of the weekend was the chinese for basket (the one on a bike) that transported my laptop around Nankai several times whilst I became an expert at carrying small chinese girls on the back of their bikes!
Inbetween eating Tianjin's local delicacies (goubuli, shibajiemahua and fantastic breakfast snacks) I was handing out flyers at canteens; doing another 15 minute speech to 100 chinese students and coaching 4 lovely girls from Nankai University. Oh, and whilst riding one of their bikes, with the owner of the bike on the back, I managed to completely mangle the wheel!
It was great fun walking into a 'water bar' (sells fruit jiuces for the less alocoholic of Chinese students) that has 8 tables and 15 chairs, and then rearranging it to squeeze 50 students on chairs, plus 5 facilitators and 4 laptops (strategically located around the room) whilst the staff sold the students cold drinks (only 1 fan, no a/c, and the drinks were fantastic). Then I was listening to students talk about 'whether China's reaction to Japan is fair' and 'should gay people be allowed to raise children' (not something that is particularly controversial in the UK but thought of differently here I've learned).
Apart from the dancing in the middle of the campus (looking like a real idiot trying to copy the video playing on my laptop balanced on top of a nearby car) and playing name games near 1 of the exits of the Uni; I spent the 2 nights in one of the male dorms.
I've seen several dorms before, but not for long or in much detail, so was kind of excited to stay in one. It was one of the slightly more expensive ones (about 50 UK pounds for an entire academic year, which is almost double the cheapest ones). The cheapest are 6-8 per room with a central desk to share, mine was 4 per room each with a desk under their (raised) bed. Actually at this University I don't think there were curfews, and my building even had a lift (only 7 floors -I think anything above 5 tends to have a lift in China). Weird experiences:
#1 the bathroom: a long sink with several taps and a pipe in the corner for shower (so kind of public), oh well nothing to be cleaned then!
#2 the bedroom: too hot to need covers, and turn fan off at night, so everyone sleeps in their undies and without covers
#3 in the dorm (each dorm was about 5 rooms, each of 4 students. 3 dorms on each floor) everyone also walks around in their underwear..all day; i mean the best way to keep cool right, and women aren't allowed? anyway, when in Rome...
#4 in the toilets (not western, but not too bad) at 7am for 20 minutes, and not being able to leave because the cleaner was cleaning the dorm. Foreigners not allowed in (let alone to stay) and I didn't fancy being kicked out the building in my underwear
photos will be up soon (embarrasingly). News about China? more action off the coast around Taiwan and Japan (hotting up, expect something to happen in next 2-3 yrs), big deal made of stupid Europeans turning up to renegotiate textile quotas etc.
Off to bed, sweating (its got hot again), and happy and proud of my Nankai girls doing such a great job this weekend. They even chatted up the guy in charge of classrooms who will now lend them a kitted-out classroom anytime.
Adam
p.s. Great Wall last weekend with 13 of us was soooo much fun with suuuuch good weather and sooo on
p.p.s. If England win the cricket it will make up for the abysmal football performance
p.p.p.s Word of the weekend was the chinese for basket (the one on a bike) that transported my laptop around Nankai several times whilst I became an expert at carrying small chinese girls on the back of their bikes!
Friday, September 02, 2005
hurricanes...
another month, another natural disaster...as many people will argue against saying global warming is a reason for more recent natural disasters as those who say that there is still the same number as 100 years ago...as many people will argue about globalisation making it worse as will point out how it helps.
from my point of view, this seems, from the newspapers, like a third world country has turned up in the world's richest country...dead bodies floating down streets, raping etc. amongst the normal support and strength between strangers in crises that develops. What a shock for the residents that this could happen to THEM? its interesting that broadly it seems the poor were those who could not leave the city thus were worse hit. its also interesting that a hugely successful country seems unable to do any more for those in its own country, as it could for those in Phuket. I mean, wouldn't you expect a rich country to be able to instantly call upon people, food, water, transport?
the focus of rebuilding will be jobs; provide unemployment and everything else will fill into place. this America should be able to do easily -in fact most of the damage should be insured (or the government's debt will just increase even more to pay for rebuilding), so that will be spent creating jobs to do the rebuilding. Its amazing that such a large city can be wiped out so easily.
Could London be next? I know we dont have hurricanes, but i know that the Thames Barrier is becoming used more and more often, and whilst we build more houses on the low lying Thames Estuary, how would the rest of London survive if the Barrier was breached? I hope we are as well prepared as we were in July.
somehow, i don't think Beijing would have much of a problem managing. with such huge manpower resources, and such power to control everything within the means of the government, i think it would be fine. Actually i know it would be fine since so much of the city live in 30 story buildings ;). There is very frequent flooding in southern china (if you didnt know), but because it is frequent the consequences are not so severe (except for instances where 300 people get stuck in a flooded mine). At the same time there is frequent flooding in Bangladesh killing tens of thousands annually. Thus since less die in china (richer country) i was expecting less to die in US (even richer country).
Just when you thought rebuilding 16 acres in New York could be tough or expensive, what about an entire city of over a million people?
it seems money is not everyting, and life is not that straight forward.
p.s. full marks, CSR-wise, to the US companies using their resources efficiently (mattel sending toys), U-Haul providing free storage, Nissan lending 50 trucks and Kellogs, 7 trucks of nutrigrain bars. I hope other companies do the same.
p.p.s. interestingly personal donations are set to exceed the records set for the tsunami and 9/11 (because "its America" and americans have been to New Orleands, or have personal connections), but how many other countries are fundraising like they were in January?
from my point of view, this seems, from the newspapers, like a third world country has turned up in the world's richest country...dead bodies floating down streets, raping etc. amongst the normal support and strength between strangers in crises that develops. What a shock for the residents that this could happen to THEM? its interesting that broadly it seems the poor were those who could not leave the city thus were worse hit. its also interesting that a hugely successful country seems unable to do any more for those in its own country, as it could for those in Phuket. I mean, wouldn't you expect a rich country to be able to instantly call upon people, food, water, transport?
the focus of rebuilding will be jobs; provide unemployment and everything else will fill into place. this America should be able to do easily -in fact most of the damage should be insured (or the government's debt will just increase even more to pay for rebuilding), so that will be spent creating jobs to do the rebuilding. Its amazing that such a large city can be wiped out so easily.
Could London be next? I know we dont have hurricanes, but i know that the Thames Barrier is becoming used more and more often, and whilst we build more houses on the low lying Thames Estuary, how would the rest of London survive if the Barrier was breached? I hope we are as well prepared as we were in July.
somehow, i don't think Beijing would have much of a problem managing. with such huge manpower resources, and such power to control everything within the means of the government, i think it would be fine. Actually i know it would be fine since so much of the city live in 30 story buildings ;). There is very frequent flooding in southern china (if you didnt know), but because it is frequent the consequences are not so severe (except for instances where 300 people get stuck in a flooded mine). At the same time there is frequent flooding in Bangladesh killing tens of thousands annually. Thus since less die in china (richer country) i was expecting less to die in US (even richer country).
Just when you thought rebuilding 16 acres in New York could be tough or expensive, what about an entire city of over a million people?
it seems money is not everyting, and life is not that straight forward.
p.s. full marks, CSR-wise, to the US companies using their resources efficiently (mattel sending toys), U-Haul providing free storage, Nissan lending 50 trucks and Kellogs, 7 trucks of nutrigrain bars. I hope other companies do the same.
p.p.s. interestingly personal donations are set to exceed the records set for the tsunami and 9/11 (because "its America" and americans have been to New Orleands, or have personal connections), but how many other countries are fundraising like they were in January?
alone....
In the last couple of weeks my 4 room/work mates have headed to India (along with 8 other students), so I tried to keep sane by having some students come in and help me and from going to meetings or CSR conferences. Unfortunately it means i have not been back in my appt befroe 11pm for 10 consecutive nights, due to eating and drinking out.
I have realised how boring it is living alone, and working alone too! Look forward to the evenings or seeing other people...plus of course its harder to be productive (living and working in same room..) for example although i still get up at 7.30 for run and study, i tend to start work at 9.15 now, not 9 :( -so fire me! by the way, pictures of the appartment/surrounding area are on the imagestation website as usual.
Last week went on another day trip trying to avoid the smog (and not really succeeding, even 2 hours away by bus!). Today its nice again (apparently over 250 days a year are 'good days', but the definition of 'good' is pretty low!) and makes such a difference to feeling good, walking around and running as well. so tomorrow we'll take advantage and do the legendary 4 hr hike on the great wall -can't wait (there might be lots of us, due to a recent invasion of american alumni!). Last night we finally went to Wanfujing food night market -to eat silkworms etc, although did not go much further than that..the scorpions, frogs, sparrows, snakes, cockroaches and more were quite expensive! fun to look at :D
Also been nice catching up with Mitch (Michelle does sound so much more feminine though!) a fair amount, since she arrived for a traineeship -she was a friend in UK, 1 year behind me in AIESEC. unfortuantely before she arrived 4 workers left the company (so just the boss..its a small PR firm), and hoping she would be busy, Mitch was excited (although not sure of the reason for them leaving)...but now spends her time sorting business cards (on a good day). poor her :(
so less about me..today i realised that the chinese government is stupid, since you can access the wikipedia (a very famous free encyclopedia online) site for tiananmen square protests. so i read it, learned some more and downloaded the famous photo (and discovered the 'unknown rebel' was named 1 of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century! -Mao is also there of course.) Amusingly the wikipedia site on the 'tiananmen papers' which was the 'official' government response of what happened is blocked..so i wonder. granted the wikipedia site is very neutral about the protests, but still....
passing comments... when Bush flies over New Orleans, does he realise that the CLIMATE was responsible? when he sees oil refineries in his own country sinking, does he realise his invasion of Iraq has only made the oil price go UP? When France joined the EU, did their PM not read the chapter on free movement of goods, trade etc? And if you ever read about the big chinese (state owned) companies donating money, don't think of it in a western mindset, think of it in a chinese mindset (the government told them to). Meanwhile i hear 100,000 UK students did not get a university place this year -go Blair... your strategy to get 50% of the country into higher education is working wonders!
I have realised how boring it is living alone, and working alone too! Look forward to the evenings or seeing other people...plus of course its harder to be productive (living and working in same room..) for example although i still get up at 7.30 for run and study, i tend to start work at 9.15 now, not 9 :( -so fire me! by the way, pictures of the appartment/surrounding area are on the imagestation website as usual.
Last week went on another day trip trying to avoid the smog (and not really succeeding, even 2 hours away by bus!). Today its nice again (apparently over 250 days a year are 'good days', but the definition of 'good' is pretty low!) and makes such a difference to feeling good, walking around and running as well. so tomorrow we'll take advantage and do the legendary 4 hr hike on the great wall -can't wait (there might be lots of us, due to a recent invasion of american alumni!). Last night we finally went to Wanfujing food night market -to eat silkworms etc, although did not go much further than that..the scorpions, frogs, sparrows, snakes, cockroaches and more were quite expensive! fun to look at :D
Also been nice catching up with Mitch (Michelle does sound so much more feminine though!) a fair amount, since she arrived for a traineeship -she was a friend in UK, 1 year behind me in AIESEC. unfortuantely before she arrived 4 workers left the company (so just the boss..its a small PR firm), and hoping she would be busy, Mitch was excited (although not sure of the reason for them leaving)...but now spends her time sorting business cards (on a good day). poor her :(
so less about me..today i realised that the chinese government is stupid, since you can access the wikipedia (a very famous free encyclopedia online) site for tiananmen square protests. so i read it, learned some more and downloaded the famous photo (and discovered the 'unknown rebel' was named 1 of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century! -Mao is also there of course.) Amusingly the wikipedia site on the 'tiananmen papers' which was the 'official' government response of what happened is blocked..so i wonder. granted the wikipedia site is very neutral about the protests, but still....
passing comments... when Bush flies over New Orleans, does he realise that the CLIMATE was responsible? when he sees oil refineries in his own country sinking, does he realise his invasion of Iraq has only made the oil price go UP? When France joined the EU, did their PM not read the chapter on free movement of goods, trade etc? And if you ever read about the big chinese (state owned) companies donating money, don't think of it in a western mindset, think of it in a chinese mindset (the government told them to). Meanwhile i hear 100,000 UK students did not get a university place this year -go Blair... your strategy to get 50% of the country into higher education is working wonders!
Thursday, August 18, 2005
China's largest bicycle manufacturers goes bankrupt
Interesting clips from an article in the Times:
"CHINA BICYCLE, one of the biggest manufacturers and the largest exporter in the country, went into bankruptcy this week, a victim of the growing Chinese love affair with the car. "
"It will hardly surprise the Chinese cyclist, who has become an increasingly endangered species in cities where once the two-wheeled commuter was king of the road. In Beijing alone, a thousand new cars take to the streets each day. Figures for cyclists are more difficult to come by, reflecting the lack of interest by authorities in what was once the main mode of transport. "
"The rise of the car has generated another hazard for the beleaguered pedaller: rampant pollution. For the past two weeks Beijing has sweated under a pall of smog. The air has turned brown. Visibility has been barely 200 yards. Skyscrapers have been enveloped by a thick choking mist. The skyline has simply disappeared. " I can support this!!
"For days officials have been praying for wind. Their prayers were answered when heavy rains and thunderstorms blew across Beijing for 24 hours, sweeping away the filthy air that had hung over the city for nearly a fortnight. Fewer cars and more bicycles would help. But Shanghai has banned bicycles from main thoroughfares in an effort to modernise the city and improve traffic flow. Consultants preparing Beijing for the 2008 Olympics are discussing banning cyclists from main streets unless they can be trained to obey traffic regulations. "
"Old habits may die hard with cyclists. Most are accustomed to ruling the road but are well aware that recent laws brought in very severe penalties and fines for any driver of a motor vehicle who so much as touches a commuter travelling under his own steam. However, the internal combustion engine seems destined to win, as cars multiply at an unprecedented rate. "
"CHINA BICYCLE, one of the biggest manufacturers and the largest exporter in the country, went into bankruptcy this week, a victim of the growing Chinese love affair with the car. "
"It will hardly surprise the Chinese cyclist, who has become an increasingly endangered species in cities where once the two-wheeled commuter was king of the road. In Beijing alone, a thousand new cars take to the streets each day. Figures for cyclists are more difficult to come by, reflecting the lack of interest by authorities in what was once the main mode of transport. "
"The rise of the car has generated another hazard for the beleaguered pedaller: rampant pollution. For the past two weeks Beijing has sweated under a pall of smog. The air has turned brown. Visibility has been barely 200 yards. Skyscrapers have been enveloped by a thick choking mist. The skyline has simply disappeared. " I can support this!!
"For days officials have been praying for wind. Their prayers were answered when heavy rains and thunderstorms blew across Beijing for 24 hours, sweeping away the filthy air that had hung over the city for nearly a fortnight. Fewer cars and more bicycles would help. But Shanghai has banned bicycles from main thoroughfares in an effort to modernise the city and improve traffic flow. Consultants preparing Beijing for the 2008 Olympics are discussing banning cyclists from main streets unless they can be trained to obey traffic regulations. "
"Old habits may die hard with cyclists. Most are accustomed to ruling the road but are well aware that recent laws brought in very severe penalties and fines for any driver of a motor vehicle who so much as touches a commuter travelling under his own steam. However, the internal combustion engine seems destined to win, as cars multiply at an unprecedented rate. "
Sunday, August 14, 2005
My job
So it occurred to me some of you may not actually know what I am doing, so let me explain.
Since I got here last September I realised was hard to raise sponsorship. Companies didn't really see how we could help their recruitment, not believe we could (lack of credibility, track record and products). Similarly not that many were interested in taking on trainees (not any cheaper than Chinese grads, will leave at one point, won't know Chinese market and might not speak Chinese).
Thus the idea of getting the companies engaged with AIESEC (i.e. impressed) was born, through CSR (hot topic, personal interest, AIESEC globally highly involved). Its the idea that companies should be more socially responsible. Its inherently part of the broader 'sustainable development' but with a specific focus on how companies can play a role in this; and the current thinking is that a) companies should aim to make money, otherwise they will not have a future and b) by beeing good to the environment, to their stakeholders and economically prudent this will ensure they have a future. Its commonly referred to caring about the 3Ps: 'people, profit, planet'.
So I got some people involved in explaining this concept to the AIESEC students, then organise a big 1 dya conference with a bunch of charities, companies and academics running workshops and case studies about what they do. Idea being, when our students get into positions of eladership, they have the tools, ideas, knowledge and (most of all) desire to do things in a responsible way.
Everything went well..I organised some online courses, another (smaller) conference and some more seminars with guest speakers. Come June, the students started taking exams, so I had afternoons free (for my internship at British Chamber of Commerce), and then decided that a) I really liked was I was doing and it was making a difference, b) I was establishing a name for myself (which helped future career prospects and contacts) and c) that if I left most likely nothing would happen again due to lack of suitable people in AIESEC here.
Having made the leap of faith that I would be able to raise sponsorship to pay for myself, I committed to doing another year, but making things bigger and better:
-More activites, with more structure and an accreditation scheme for the students
-More involvement with, and training for, the AIESEC members here, so someone is able to replace me
-More involvement with Universities and more activities for non-AIESECers (plus inviting companies to attend our companies) so that more people can benefit from the high quality of organisations involved
-Better newletters, online learning activities and networking opportunities for the people we are in touch with to meet each other to develop their own networks.
-More partnerships with relevant organisations to grow our network, build credibility and create exhchange and other opportunities (want to create more opportunities!)
so thats about it. First small activities will be during recruitment in September, then the bigger activities will start; I'll be travelling to help the AIESEC branches in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin (with their CSR activities) and currently focusing on the learning aspects (relaunching webpages etc) , partnerships and growing our network.
Hope its a little interesting for you, and of course, feel free to ask me about it (or see if you can help me!).
Since I got here last September I realised was hard to raise sponsorship. Companies didn't really see how we could help their recruitment, not believe we could (lack of credibility, track record and products). Similarly not that many were interested in taking on trainees (not any cheaper than Chinese grads, will leave at one point, won't know Chinese market and might not speak Chinese).
Thus the idea of getting the companies engaged with AIESEC (i.e. impressed) was born, through CSR (hot topic, personal interest, AIESEC globally highly involved). Its the idea that companies should be more socially responsible. Its inherently part of the broader 'sustainable development' but with a specific focus on how companies can play a role in this; and the current thinking is that a) companies should aim to make money, otherwise they will not have a future and b) by beeing good to the environment, to their stakeholders and economically prudent this will ensure they have a future. Its commonly referred to caring about the 3Ps: 'people, profit, planet'.
So I got some people involved in explaining this concept to the AIESEC students, then organise a big 1 dya conference with a bunch of charities, companies and academics running workshops and case studies about what they do. Idea being, when our students get into positions of eladership, they have the tools, ideas, knowledge and (most of all) desire to do things in a responsible way.
Everything went well..I organised some online courses, another (smaller) conference and some more seminars with guest speakers. Come June, the students started taking exams, so I had afternoons free (for my internship at British Chamber of Commerce), and then decided that a) I really liked was I was doing and it was making a difference, b) I was establishing a name for myself (which helped future career prospects and contacts) and c) that if I left most likely nothing would happen again due to lack of suitable people in AIESEC here.
Having made the leap of faith that I would be able to raise sponsorship to pay for myself, I committed to doing another year, but making things bigger and better:
-More activites, with more structure and an accreditation scheme for the students
-More involvement with, and training for, the AIESEC members here, so someone is able to replace me
-More involvement with Universities and more activities for non-AIESECers (plus inviting companies to attend our companies) so that more people can benefit from the high quality of organisations involved
-Better newletters, online learning activities and networking opportunities for the people we are in touch with to meet each other to develop their own networks.
-More partnerships with relevant organisations to grow our network, build credibility and create exhchange and other opportunities (want to create more opportunities!)
so thats about it. First small activities will be during recruitment in September, then the bigger activities will start; I'll be travelling to help the AIESEC branches in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin (with their CSR activities) and currently focusing on the learning aspects (relaunching webpages etc) , partnerships and growing our network.
Hope its a little interesting for you, and of course, feel free to ask me about it (or see if you can help me!).
The team, July Natco
back row, l-r: Pierre (People Development), Leon (President)and Peter (External Relations)
front rom (l-r): Tina (Alumni), Alice (Finance), ME, Kim (Ogx) and Primrose (Icx)
at formal dinner, July 2005 National Conference. Somehow its always me surrounded by the girls :) !
front rom (l-r): Tina (Alumni), Alice (Finance), ME, Kim (Ogx) and Primrose (Icx)
at formal dinner, July 2005 National Conference. Somehow its always me surrounded by the girls :) !
Saturday, August 13, 2005
travelling (at home)
went travelling today...well, in Beijing anyway. An AIESECer from Switzerland was passing through and i had a spare day so we queued for an hour to see Chairman Mao lying peacefully in a coffin (top off) guardde heavily and behing a bullet-proof screen. He looked a bit like a wax figure -maybe thats what happens when they douse you in chemicals to preserve you (or maybe he is a fake?).
it was only really worth it because we spent an hour queueing (building it up); although not many people have seen one of history's biggest ever murderers (Stalin is buried I think)! We then saw the 'parliament' bulding. Its called the NPC (National People's Congress) and meets for a month a year or so to ratify the decisions taken by the other political bodies (mostly CCP -communist party) and thus its not very pwerful and rarely used it seems (not much to see).
Then we headed off to the Beijing planning exhibition museum which was awesome with a movie of beijing's history, plus a 3D movie of its future (olympics related), a massive model (with funky lights) of Beijing and lots of stuff for Beijing resident geeks like me. Nice museum building (6 months old) with an english audio tour -highly recommended. As the day came to an end we hit the 'underground city' -the air raid sheltor built in teh 60s in case Beijing was attackeg, creating cinemas, exercise areas etc, and of course tunnels to walk between all the main areas in beijing undergorund. i had to translate for Carolyn (hmmm)!
last night went back to my old haunting ground (near old office/appartment) and ate at our favourite xinjiang restaurant (by Achim's place) .... aah memories. Right, off to watch (yet another!) DVD.
it was only really worth it because we spent an hour queueing (building it up); although not many people have seen one of history's biggest ever murderers (Stalin is buried I think)! We then saw the 'parliament' bulding. Its called the NPC (National People's Congress) and meets for a month a year or so to ratify the decisions taken by the other political bodies (mostly CCP -communist party) and thus its not very pwerful and rarely used it seems (not much to see).
Then we headed off to the Beijing planning exhibition museum which was awesome with a movie of beijing's history, plus a 3D movie of its future (olympics related), a massive model (with funky lights) of Beijing and lots of stuff for Beijing resident geeks like me. Nice museum building (6 months old) with an english audio tour -highly recommended. As the day came to an end we hit the 'underground city' -the air raid sheltor built in teh 60s in case Beijing was attackeg, creating cinemas, exercise areas etc, and of course tunnels to walk between all the main areas in beijing undergorund. i had to translate for Carolyn (hmmm)!
last night went back to my old haunting ground (near old office/appartment) and ate at our favourite xinjiang restaurant (by Achim's place) .... aah memories. Right, off to watch (yet another!) DVD.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
a new year...
so back from yunnan last thursday to settle into my next 12 months. I've decided routine is the way to go. monday i woke at 8, ran for 15m, showered for 15 then did Chinese for 30. Today i woke at 7.45, ran for 15m, showered for 15 then did chinese for 30 and had time to get dressed in order to start work at 9am!. Actually tomorrow i might get up even earlier and try to do 45 minutes of chinese.
once the routine becomes routine, my fitness should go up and my chinese too :) at the moment i am just using the text book, but finding it great. i'll probably still start to get a tutor a couple times a week i think; have to explore options!
so a new year begins, and i feel very middle-class chinese. running around our appartment complex (about 18 35-floor appartment buildings) which has a grass and seats type area in the middle, along with a small ringroad (and lots of entrances to the underground car park), you see so many cars leaving, and so many parked (some spaces above ground) -they're VWs, some Audis etc. These are the people who the entire World wants to sell to!
Its a nice area, a few miles south of the main business district, the rooms have A/C, western toilets (although can't handle toilet paper!) and other amenities. We've set up a wireless network in our appartment/office -there's the 4 guys on 2 bunk beds in 1 room, and Primrose in the other (small) room. There's a small lounge/eating area and also a large living area (office with 6 desks in!). We have a TV (but not managed to hook it up to receive anything) so we watch DVDs sometimes and we aren't far from Beijing life.
So middle-class Chinese, well their supermarkets are more upmarket (better designed, less chaotic, better range), their restaurants not the 'little stools and tables shoved in a wardrobe selling noodles' anymore but '2nd floor restaurants that require taking elevators, and the local shop is either a 24 hour 7/11 (empty, smart, expensive) or the little shop in the basement (very handy, but depressing to work there 24hr!). They drive everywhere (the traffic around here sucks at rush hour, although a new subway line will be open in about a year), have guards at each appt building to open the door if you have shopping, and have maids (like us) come and cook (hee hee).
Tonight John (from canada, been here 2 months) returns home, so i get to unpack into his area, and finally make this my home for the next 12 months. Tomorrow a friend from the UK (Michelle, MC VP OGX) arrives, probably, for a 12 month job and its also my sister's birthday (by the way, she is busy on a PR trainee programme in London). Now, its time to start work!
once the routine becomes routine, my fitness should go up and my chinese too :) at the moment i am just using the text book, but finding it great. i'll probably still start to get a tutor a couple times a week i think; have to explore options!
so a new year begins, and i feel very middle-class chinese. running around our appartment complex (about 18 35-floor appartment buildings) which has a grass and seats type area in the middle, along with a small ringroad (and lots of entrances to the underground car park), you see so many cars leaving, and so many parked (some spaces above ground) -they're VWs, some Audis etc. These are the people who the entire World wants to sell to!
Its a nice area, a few miles south of the main business district, the rooms have A/C, western toilets (although can't handle toilet paper!) and other amenities. We've set up a wireless network in our appartment/office -there's the 4 guys on 2 bunk beds in 1 room, and Primrose in the other (small) room. There's a small lounge/eating area and also a large living area (office with 6 desks in!). We have a TV (but not managed to hook it up to receive anything) so we watch DVDs sometimes and we aren't far from Beijing life.
So middle-class Chinese, well their supermarkets are more upmarket (better designed, less chaotic, better range), their restaurants not the 'little stools and tables shoved in a wardrobe selling noodles' anymore but '2nd floor restaurants that require taking elevators, and the local shop is either a 24 hour 7/11 (empty, smart, expensive) or the little shop in the basement (very handy, but depressing to work there 24hr!). They drive everywhere (the traffic around here sucks at rush hour, although a new subway line will be open in about a year), have guards at each appt building to open the door if you have shopping, and have maids (like us) come and cook (hee hee).
Tonight John (from canada, been here 2 months) returns home, so i get to unpack into his area, and finally make this my home for the next 12 months. Tomorrow a friend from the UK (Michelle, MC VP OGX) arrives, probably, for a 12 month job and its also my sister's birthday (by the way, she is busy on a PR trainee programme in London). Now, its time to start work!
Thursday, August 04, 2005
thoughts on photos
I've been sorting through my photos and naming them (they are now on the website); so now its time to reflect a little on what they show; and to insert a few of the best into this blog.
there's the picture of Queenie who had dinner at some caves near Kunming I went to -in fact every half-decent tourist site in China seems to have a need to prove they are fully-decent by showcasing and naming all the celebrities who have visited (normally Chinese ministers/party members)
there's the one taken in the Yunnan minorities museum. one minority used objects as a way of expressing themselves -so they gave different things to people (each thing had a different meaning). This weaved leaf means 'i had already fallen in love with you before i met you'.
there are some of bright lights in quiet parks with just the sound of old people playing music; there are some of lines and lines of minibuses at the tourist stop (monastery) that you have to to stop at on the way to the main attraction, there is beautiful shilin (stone forest) which has been nicely left alone in places and also well designed in others, there's the views of modern cities like kunming and of the Mekong River (that provides water to most of south-east Asia) or the Yangtze River (that provides water to 350m Chinese).
there's the one with the contents of the woman's shopping next to the bus (it was on the roof and inside) we took to xishuangbanna. she explained she was buying it to trade; the local entrepreneur! (didnt leave much room on the bus for us though) and the one of the village hiding in the jungle! There was the classics of seeing chris take his shoes and socks off to wade throught the river and the fascinating ones of the little kids in the poor villager's house and of their basic house.
there are plenty of colourfully clothed minoroty people who we met on the trails and on buses, of the temples that were practically empty, of the endless rice paddies/terraces and of the ingenuitive bags that were used to carry things (using their heads and shoulders). There is the great one of the woman with a massive hole in her ear (i remember hearing about these kinds of people when i was 12! -its a culture thing) and the many of the families working in the quarries. There are lots of markets (including the killing of live chickens) and many of dali and lijiang's wonderfully designed 'old' towns.
there are great photos of villagers washing their clothes in rivers and in lakes (often with washing powder) and the stunning pictures of Tiger Leaping Gorge that took my breath away (in more ways than one) as well as onese showing the built, and the building, of houses in Zhondian (AKA Shanghri-la) old town. There are the snow capped peaks that border Tibet, the mountain huts and the magnificent Glacier. There are the pictures of the floors we slept on in xishuangbanna and in the monastery by the glacier and then back to Kunming with the muslim quarter being destroyed to be replaced by?
there are also those of the great fruits that require peeling (therefore safe to eat ont eh streets) but are easy to peel with the right technique, and that look so strange. There's the one of the street market, where, with a little peering inside the tiny shops; you realise that there is not just a sink to wash the vegetables in, there is a bed to sleep in; and some toothpaste next to the sink!
then there are the panoramas; of cities, of countryside, or temples and of schools. All bring back memories and more thoughts. have a browse if you want on the website (link below, remember free regsitration) or i'll post a few of the best up here in a minute.
and what of what was not caught on film? well some was caught on video (digital cameras, ey!); but the rest is in the memory; most likely to be pushed back once new experiences come along, but never to leave. And of the people that were met (Chris and Victoria were awesome travelling buddies for a few days, Dan and Chris' parents were also great) on the street and on the buses - well they are what makes a country a country, and a place a place.
there's the picture of Queenie who had dinner at some caves near Kunming I went to -in fact every half-decent tourist site in China seems to have a need to prove they are fully-decent by showcasing and naming all the celebrities who have visited (normally Chinese ministers/party members)
there's the one taken in the Yunnan minorities museum. one minority used objects as a way of expressing themselves -so they gave different things to people (each thing had a different meaning). This weaved leaf means 'i had already fallen in love with you before i met you'.
there are some of bright lights in quiet parks with just the sound of old people playing music; there are some of lines and lines of minibuses at the tourist stop (monastery) that you have to to stop at on the way to the main attraction, there is beautiful shilin (stone forest) which has been nicely left alone in places and also well designed in others, there's the views of modern cities like kunming and of the Mekong River (that provides water to most of south-east Asia) or the Yangtze River (that provides water to 350m Chinese).
there's the one with the contents of the woman's shopping next to the bus (it was on the roof and inside) we took to xishuangbanna. she explained she was buying it to trade; the local entrepreneur! (didnt leave much room on the bus for us though) and the one of the village hiding in the jungle! There was the classics of seeing chris take his shoes and socks off to wade throught the river and the fascinating ones of the little kids in the poor villager's house and of their basic house.
there are plenty of colourfully clothed minoroty people who we met on the trails and on buses, of the temples that were practically empty, of the endless rice paddies/terraces and of the ingenuitive bags that were used to carry things (using their heads and shoulders). There is the great one of the woman with a massive hole in her ear (i remember hearing about these kinds of people when i was 12! -its a culture thing) and the many of the families working in the quarries. There are lots of markets (including the killing of live chickens) and many of dali and lijiang's wonderfully designed 'old' towns.
there are great photos of villagers washing their clothes in rivers and in lakes (often with washing powder) and the stunning pictures of Tiger Leaping Gorge that took my breath away (in more ways than one) as well as onese showing the built, and the building, of houses in Zhondian (AKA Shanghri-la) old town. There are the snow capped peaks that border Tibet, the mountain huts and the magnificent Glacier. There are the pictures of the floors we slept on in xishuangbanna and in the monastery by the glacier and then back to Kunming with the muslim quarter being destroyed to be replaced by?
there are also those of the great fruits that require peeling (therefore safe to eat ont eh streets) but are easy to peel with the right technique, and that look so strange. There's the one of the street market, where, with a little peering inside the tiny shops; you realise that there is not just a sink to wash the vegetables in, there is a bed to sleep in; and some toothpaste next to the sink!
then there are the panoramas; of cities, of countryside, or temples and of schools. All bring back memories and more thoughts. have a browse if you want on the website (link below, remember free regsitration) or i'll post a few of the best up here in a minute.
and what of what was not caught on film? well some was caught on video (digital cameras, ey!); but the rest is in the memory; most likely to be pushed back once new experiences come along, but never to leave. And of the people that were met (Chris and Victoria were awesome travelling buddies for a few days, Dan and Chris' parents were also great) on the street and on the buses - well they are what makes a country a country, and a place a place.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
thoughts on holiday (1)
so in an attempt to make for some slightly more interesting reading, let me try to answer 2 questions. What have I learnt and what do I think about what has happened in the last 2 weeks?
Well, i have realised that although my chinese is not great, its enough to be able to make friends with those that dont speak Chinese; even if i only understand a little of the more advanced conversation. It means i definitely think i can take more value from travelling in a country where i speak (some of) the language rather than other countries in south asia, africa or south america (not that i have the time or the money to go to any of those places soon!). Its much more interesting being able to read signs and things, talk to some people, and organise transport and accommodation!
I've been thinking a bit about backpacking. Its been obvious for several months that you learn a lot more about a country by staying there a long time, and the same can be said about learning about a city, or village too. So i think its great many 'gappers' spend a few months in one place, and would reccommend it. Afterwards you are then able to take more from the places you only briefly touch. But i have realised the most fun moments from travelling are with other people, and irrelevant on the place (apart from being the place to find those people), that the most attractive things are almost always the natural objects, not the man-made, and that the most interesting man-made things to see, are the oldest (that are still surviving). The best way of seeing a culture is to see it in its natural form; and that you have to accept that many of the worst things that toursits see, are because the locals' way of life is improving (defined as the fact that the locals choose a new way of life since it must make their lives better). Thus for me to moan about Lijiang, its just to say that the lijiangers are presumably doing better now than they were before; so i should just accept this.
When hiking around xishuangbanna; its amazing to see how people can live, and to see how technology/globalisation can and cannot affect them. People are perfectly happy with a limited diet and only 1 lightbulb (very poor light - bad for eyes), but have their TV. These are people who have yet to go out and buy clothes with english written on them (which they dont understand). But, many of the villages had motorbikes and of course, the odd tractor, since otherwise they would not be able to communicate or trade. Both being a cruical part of economic development. Its strange though, since most of the villagers (and many in the towns) still carry things in baskets on their backs (ow 2 baskets on the end of a stick, that they balance on their shoulders)... many, many of the old people's backs are destroyed from working manually, and yet this is how they continue to work. Whether they have other options or not, i am not sure, but it certainly seems as though some seem to shun technology (even a basket on wheels would be a better way of transporting fruit in the cities!).
I read that 1 of the (many) reasons behind the US rejecting the kyoto (climate change) protocol was because of developing countries not being a part of it (even though, those countries are trying to reduce their impacts anyway); in particular the quote was that every week, China is building a new power station using 1960s technology. So its really irrelevant how much progress some countries make, or even 1 country makes in 1 area, if in other areas, it is going backwards. Indeed China is planning on implementing strict new standards for new vehicles emissions. This is great for new vehicles, but in the countryside, the lorries and the tractors are not going to be replaced any time soon -there is not the money to. Interestingly, peugot's CEO (i think) recently floated the idea that the EU should provide a 1000 euros to people with old cars just to get rid of them! In China, this would be a great idea. Every single vehicle that is not a passengar car in China; outside of a few cities (and even in most cities) belts out black smoke. China is supposed to be very inefficient with its energy use, and with the government still subsidising oil, i can't see that changing soon.
Yunnan houses some 50% of china's minorities, and we probably saw about a quarter of those in 2 weeks; a great deal of them are more religious based (influenced by buddhism and so forth from south asia). However i dont think many of them actually practice religion. I asked the specialist in the museum who said that religion is not about praying or beliefs, more about a way of life. In southern china there are no religious frictions like you have elsewhere around the world, since noone strictly believes in religion. In fact the reason (she said) most monasteries survive in small towns is because they function as schools (and function well). I think for many of the old monks, they carry on with their way of life, because it is their way of life. I think for many of the young monks, they do it because of peer/family pressure and because it is like school. I asked a chinese friend about how come so many people are always seen praying in monasteries in beijing, even with so few being religious, and she thinks that people just do it for 'luck' -pray for the good health of someone or other, rather than knowing who they are praying too or anything like that. In Baishuitai, one of the locals (area mostly tibetan) said that they would be celebrating the torch festial, when i asked him. This is strange since its a festival celebrated by the Yi minority, who are quite different to the tibetans, and there was almost no Yi people in the village. Apparently everyone just celebrates everyone else's festivals since tahts the culture. Its a culture where festivals are crucial to the way of life (see family, dance etc... whatever reasons people have for festivals), and the reasons behind them get lost somewhat. In fact that festival was not very exciting, even in the Yi villages!
thats enough for now, probably more to come. hope its slightly interesting!
Well, i have realised that although my chinese is not great, its enough to be able to make friends with those that dont speak Chinese; even if i only understand a little of the more advanced conversation. It means i definitely think i can take more value from travelling in a country where i speak (some of) the language rather than other countries in south asia, africa or south america (not that i have the time or the money to go to any of those places soon!). Its much more interesting being able to read signs and things, talk to some people, and organise transport and accommodation!
I've been thinking a bit about backpacking. Its been obvious for several months that you learn a lot more about a country by staying there a long time, and the same can be said about learning about a city, or village too. So i think its great many 'gappers' spend a few months in one place, and would reccommend it. Afterwards you are then able to take more from the places you only briefly touch. But i have realised the most fun moments from travelling are with other people, and irrelevant on the place (apart from being the place to find those people), that the most attractive things are almost always the natural objects, not the man-made, and that the most interesting man-made things to see, are the oldest (that are still surviving). The best way of seeing a culture is to see it in its natural form; and that you have to accept that many of the worst things that toursits see, are because the locals' way of life is improving (defined as the fact that the locals choose a new way of life since it must make their lives better). Thus for me to moan about Lijiang, its just to say that the lijiangers are presumably doing better now than they were before; so i should just accept this.
When hiking around xishuangbanna; its amazing to see how people can live, and to see how technology/globalisation can and cannot affect them. People are perfectly happy with a limited diet and only 1 lightbulb (very poor light - bad for eyes), but have their TV. These are people who have yet to go out and buy clothes with english written on them (which they dont understand). But, many of the villages had motorbikes and of course, the odd tractor, since otherwise they would not be able to communicate or trade. Both being a cruical part of economic development. Its strange though, since most of the villagers (and many in the towns) still carry things in baskets on their backs (ow 2 baskets on the end of a stick, that they balance on their shoulders)... many, many of the old people's backs are destroyed from working manually, and yet this is how they continue to work. Whether they have other options or not, i am not sure, but it certainly seems as though some seem to shun technology (even a basket on wheels would be a better way of transporting fruit in the cities!).
I read that 1 of the (many) reasons behind the US rejecting the kyoto (climate change) protocol was because of developing countries not being a part of it (even though, those countries are trying to reduce their impacts anyway); in particular the quote was that every week, China is building a new power station using 1960s technology. So its really irrelevant how much progress some countries make, or even 1 country makes in 1 area, if in other areas, it is going backwards. Indeed China is planning on implementing strict new standards for new vehicles emissions. This is great for new vehicles, but in the countryside, the lorries and the tractors are not going to be replaced any time soon -there is not the money to. Interestingly, peugot's CEO (i think) recently floated the idea that the EU should provide a 1000 euros to people with old cars just to get rid of them! In China, this would be a great idea. Every single vehicle that is not a passengar car in China; outside of a few cities (and even in most cities) belts out black smoke. China is supposed to be very inefficient with its energy use, and with the government still subsidising oil, i can't see that changing soon.
Yunnan houses some 50% of china's minorities, and we probably saw about a quarter of those in 2 weeks; a great deal of them are more religious based (influenced by buddhism and so forth from south asia). However i dont think many of them actually practice religion. I asked the specialist in the museum who said that religion is not about praying or beliefs, more about a way of life. In southern china there are no religious frictions like you have elsewhere around the world, since noone strictly believes in religion. In fact the reason (she said) most monasteries survive in small towns is because they function as schools (and function well). I think for many of the old monks, they carry on with their way of life, because it is their way of life. I think for many of the young monks, they do it because of peer/family pressure and because it is like school. I asked a chinese friend about how come so many people are always seen praying in monasteries in beijing, even with so few being religious, and she thinks that people just do it for 'luck' -pray for the good health of someone or other, rather than knowing who they are praying too or anything like that. In Baishuitai, one of the locals (area mostly tibetan) said that they would be celebrating the torch festial, when i asked him. This is strange since its a festival celebrated by the Yi minority, who are quite different to the tibetans, and there was almost no Yi people in the village. Apparently everyone just celebrates everyone else's festivals since tahts the culture. Its a culture where festivals are crucial to the way of life (see family, dance etc... whatever reasons people have for festivals), and the reasons behind them get lost somewhat. In fact that festival was not very exciting, even in the Yi villages!
thats enough for now, probably more to come. hope its slightly interesting!
almost back...
First, where have I been? From Dali onto LiJiang. hmmm, well its great architechture but it looks like it was built 3 years ago not 300! Its the opposite of Pingyao -the 300 year old chinse city untouched since. Lijiang has 4 types of shops, but 200 of each. It is amazingly pretty, especially at night, and nice to walk around, for a day before you scream ...'where is the real china?'. Actually in the evenings restaurants line both sides of 1 of the rivers, and people have competitions singing and shouting against each other. The 2nd night i grabbed another traveller and took him there, but it was a bit quiet, so we grabbed our beers, joined a random table and sung our hearts out with the chorus of 'ai-da-mi' and 'liang zhe lao hu' (the only suitable things we knew in chinese) although we also did happy birthday in english..not sure why as we know it in chinese. I think it was the chinese guys' idea (cause they knew it) and as they were paying for unlimited jugs of beer....
the next morning, a hungover Adam awoke at 7am to get the 1st bus to Tiger Leaping Gorge to hike for 8-9 hours up and down a spectacular mountain and gorge with 20kgs of my stuff on my bag. the rain was supposed to make it dangerous, but it soon stopped and was safe (the golden rule is 'no walking whilst sightseeing and no sightseeing whilst walking' unless you want to walk off a cliff....). It was totally gobsmacking; massive snow-capped mountains, quiet, fresh-air and a gret hike (after the tough uphill 3 hours). pictures to follow! one of the best things i have done in china..ever.
after a night at the hostel (and a visit to the 'stone' where the 'tiger' 'leaped' across the gorge -note the ' ', since it was a pointless trip to the river to get wet and slip all over the place on the awful path) , the hostel which would make anything on its menu 'happy' since it grew its wn weed, i hiked another 2 hours up the big mountain and back for the sake of it, then bussed (2 hrs) over to baishuitai (lit. white water platform); where before it got dark i saw some limestone rocks with water on them. would have been more impressive had i not seen the same thing already in turkey a few years ago. the best thing was doing the visit and spending the night/dinner with a family (mum, dad, daughter) so i could practice my chinese and have lots of fun with the amazingly cute 11 year old. it reminded me of what is so kind about chinese people (they are all when they are not trying to sell you something!).
Then bussed up to Zhongdian (AKA Shangri-la); although stupidly offered to help push the van in front of us, and got my hiking boots wet (there was a landslide that blocked the river, so the river was flowing over the bridge blocking it with rocks, and an hour later a tractor recued all the stuck vehicles). Never mind; the ride (4 hrs) was beautiful (i wanted to hike it over 2 days but would have had to pay for a guide as the paths are hard to find) and i arrived in zhongdian to see the tibetan monastery and walk around the old town. hmm, since only about 3 buildings are actually old and the rest are being built to look old (lijiang style) it was disappointing. however the oldest building belonged to a guy who was imprisoned for 21 years becuase of/during the cultural revolution and he had some interesting stories (that i didnt really follow in chinese) but an english summary was useful!
Chris arrived (with Dan, a friend from USA) and the following morning we got yet another bus (6 hrs, even more beatiful views of mountains and countryside) up past 4,200m to Deqin (a town created for the invasion of tibet back in the 50s i guess) where we promptly left (yuck) on another 2 hour bus to a glacier nearby. This required a 2 hour hike up (oooh, altitude makes it a bit tough) , some amazing photos and then a look for the supposed guesthouse (during this trip i have lost more and more respect for the lazy lonely planeters). It didnt exist so we kindly asked the monk at the monastery if we could stay; we could! (i guess other LPers have ended up here too!) what a bizarre place to stay; just 1 local villager (i think they do 3 month stints each looking after the monastery) and 1 mad monk (slept on a rug outside our room cross-legged and was permanently rotating some weird drum thing). he helped us cook dinner (rice which he provided and roasted peanuts which we provided) on an open fire and gave us some strange bread.
The next morning, 10 yuan poorer, we reversed the journey all the way back to zhongdian (oh by the way, on the way downt he galcier we saw a mini-avalanche :) and then just imagined what we missed the previous night when we were woken with a huge 'crunching' noise at 3am -must have been massive) where i bussed (14 hrs) back to kunming and tomorrow morning i fly to Beijing. last night another bus broke down, but apparently the cargo on it was urgent (mushrooms for market) so we stopped and took the precious cargo onboard (via another place where we spent 1 hour weighing the mushrooms!!) and i guess it got to market this morning on time.
Second, well, wait a few minutes and you'll find out!
the next morning, a hungover Adam awoke at 7am to get the 1st bus to Tiger Leaping Gorge to hike for 8-9 hours up and down a spectacular mountain and gorge with 20kgs of my stuff on my bag. the rain was supposed to make it dangerous, but it soon stopped and was safe (the golden rule is 'no walking whilst sightseeing and no sightseeing whilst walking' unless you want to walk off a cliff....). It was totally gobsmacking; massive snow-capped mountains, quiet, fresh-air and a gret hike (after the tough uphill 3 hours). pictures to follow! one of the best things i have done in china..ever.
after a night at the hostel (and a visit to the 'stone' where the 'tiger' 'leaped' across the gorge -note the ' ', since it was a pointless trip to the river to get wet and slip all over the place on the awful path) , the hostel which would make anything on its menu 'happy' since it grew its wn weed, i hiked another 2 hours up the big mountain and back for the sake of it, then bussed (2 hrs) over to baishuitai (lit. white water platform); where before it got dark i saw some limestone rocks with water on them. would have been more impressive had i not seen the same thing already in turkey a few years ago. the best thing was doing the visit and spending the night/dinner with a family (mum, dad, daughter) so i could practice my chinese and have lots of fun with the amazingly cute 11 year old. it reminded me of what is so kind about chinese people (they are all when they are not trying to sell you something!).
Then bussed up to Zhongdian (AKA Shangri-la); although stupidly offered to help push the van in front of us, and got my hiking boots wet (there was a landslide that blocked the river, so the river was flowing over the bridge blocking it with rocks, and an hour later a tractor recued all the stuck vehicles). Never mind; the ride (4 hrs) was beautiful (i wanted to hike it over 2 days but would have had to pay for a guide as the paths are hard to find) and i arrived in zhongdian to see the tibetan monastery and walk around the old town. hmm, since only about 3 buildings are actually old and the rest are being built to look old (lijiang style) it was disappointing. however the oldest building belonged to a guy who was imprisoned for 21 years becuase of/during the cultural revolution and he had some interesting stories (that i didnt really follow in chinese) but an english summary was useful!
Chris arrived (with Dan, a friend from USA) and the following morning we got yet another bus (6 hrs, even more beatiful views of mountains and countryside) up past 4,200m to Deqin (a town created for the invasion of tibet back in the 50s i guess) where we promptly left (yuck) on another 2 hour bus to a glacier nearby. This required a 2 hour hike up (oooh, altitude makes it a bit tough) , some amazing photos and then a look for the supposed guesthouse (during this trip i have lost more and more respect for the lazy lonely planeters). It didnt exist so we kindly asked the monk at the monastery if we could stay; we could! (i guess other LPers have ended up here too!) what a bizarre place to stay; just 1 local villager (i think they do 3 month stints each looking after the monastery) and 1 mad monk (slept on a rug outside our room cross-legged and was permanently rotating some weird drum thing). he helped us cook dinner (rice which he provided and roasted peanuts which we provided) on an open fire and gave us some strange bread.
The next morning, 10 yuan poorer, we reversed the journey all the way back to zhongdian (oh by the way, on the way downt he galcier we saw a mini-avalanche :) and then just imagined what we missed the previous night when we were woken with a huge 'crunching' noise at 3am -must have been massive) where i bussed (14 hrs) back to kunming and tomorrow morning i fly to Beijing. last night another bus broke down, but apparently the cargo on it was urgent (mushrooms for market) so we stopped and took the precious cargo onboard (via another place where we spent 1 hour weighing the mushrooms!!) and i guess it got to market this morning on time.
Second, well, wait a few minutes and you'll find out!
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
i'm online
Its been almost 3 weeks since i last wrote -thankfully i am still alive, but currently unable to acess hotmail or yahoo email..damn yunnan internet.
There was a week-long conference which went well i think. there was lots of planning and ideas sharing and fun. Conferences are always inspiring and its been a few months since my last one. This one I was really impressed with the level of the delegates; concrete evidence that all the hard work the MC put in last year has paid off with the new EBs at a much higher level than last year's to start their year. At the moment I don't think 'we' feel like a team yet, but soon..., it was great to meet Primrose, who has now arrived to complete the team.
I had to leave 1 day early to sort out my laptop (something meant it wouldn't turn on) -it was a major pain and i had to improvise a lot, but now its in singapore (thanks echo for translating!) being fixed hopefully, to be ready for my return. I then flew (3 hours) to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan (Clouds south) in south-west china brodering, tibet, burma (myanmar), laos etc. its an interesting place. very clean and modern in the centre, and not so in the outskirts!
Lots has happened in the last week of travelling so i will try to summarise and fill in more gaps later. Kunming - showed round the yunnan nationalities museum by a lady who studies chinese minorities (fascinating), got sunburnt in the stone forest (better than expected) and walked up hills. Then a 12 hr bus journey to jinghong to meet Chris and Victoria (BLCU class mates) and a 4 hour, slow, painful, bumpy etc minibus to somewhere else before getting a tractor-taxi thing another hour until we were right on the burma border.
A 3 hour hike led us to crossing a 2 foot deep river in the dark with a village within sight, where we were led to stay with a local family (10 people!) in their house which was a great experience, since it was just as it should be. They had 1 light bulb, eletricitiy for a TV that only showed karaoke (to practice their language abilities? since only 1 of them spoke chinese, everyone else spoke Dai, the minority language), and an open fire where they boiled water for our team and cooked us dinner (eggs, cabbage and rice)..i could go on, and will once i relfect back in beijing.
the next day we hiked 8 hours through more fantastic rainforest and rice fields..the places where there is only 1 foreigner a week on average (how many intrepid backpackers make it this far?); following villagers on short-cuts, through rain, past massive spiders, avoiding falling trees (fromn logging), through endless villages and fields that were just stunning and primitive. I feel i have a much better understanding of how rural people live now (these people are not that poor, since there is plenty of rain to grow crops, and some have motorbikes which is the only form of transportation on some of the footpaths). the 3 of us had a wonderful, muddy, wet time.
then we had to deal with horrible chinese people who kept raising their price after agreement, to take us to the next village (we didnt want to wait for the bus the next morning as it meant we would miss the morning market). we gave up, and were so angry at these strange people refusing our money! China is such a stranghe mix of entrepreurialism and laziness/dependence on the state. anyway we finally left the stupid village (having found 1 restaurant with only 3 dishes) the next morning on the 4 hour bus (even slower than the last one, and with 1 kid, 1 mother and kid between me and chirs, then another mother and kid between chris and victoria making 8 of us on the back row). After keeping a low profile during the fight on the bus (flying kicks and everything), we made it to the finishing market,l and then 2 more minibuses later we got back to jinghong. the next day we hired bikjes and cycled into the middle of nowhere for another exhilerating experience.
so what is the big deal about these 5 days? well it was a chance to meet and (try to, since they do not speak putonghua) talk to several chinese minoroities, people who lived in fields, people who have never seen foreigners, kids whose lives are so happy yet so basic, see stunning scenery, see people in their 70s and 80s working till dark carrying things on their backs, or working in the fields, people whose nearest village is a 3 hour walk away (in good weather). we witnessed the generosity of chinese villagers and workers; we saw people with different customs, beliefs and dresses. i dont think many trips can compare. remember these places were hours and hours of travelling from the nearerst 'city' with 1 bus a day on roads that don't go anywhere....they just go on and on past more and more villages. so the only people on the tracks are those living in those villages. when we cycled off, we knew we would have to come back the same way; and in the meantime saw the role of the male and the female, the role of the young and the old in these different societies...who is working, who is doing what, when?
Saying goodbye to Victoria (london bound, via beijing) i got a 19 hour bus to dali which is an old town now looking the same as Yanshuo (see december trip with family) with old buildings preserved/repainted that are now selling things, from coffess, to food, dresses etc. its nice, very busy with foreigners, and attractive (flowing water and trees etc in the city, like it has been landscaped, whcih i think it has been). upon arrival i hiked up to the temple (past the strange cemetary), skipped it and hiked along the mountain and down again along a river on one of the most overgrown paths ever...i had to cross the river several times, guess and som,etimes walk in the river for lack of a path. eventually, with a permanent smile on my face, i ended up in a small quarry, with each pit being worked by a family, witht he dad holding the pickaxes and the mother and young children helping move the excess mud etc. a truly unbeleivable experience; they were so surprised but so welcoming..i ended up passing through their local village (thousands more 'hellos' from the kids), checking it out, and hitching a ride back to town. then met chris and his parents for dinner (thanks!)
today i cycled along villages by the lake; again no foreigners at all. all the tourists go to one town further along (which i got to eventually) so i had so much fun beign shown around the litle temples, talking (and showing off with wheelies to the kids!) and feeling like a fly on the wall as i cycled every little back lane and rice paddy wall. what i learnt from this trip, is why the lake is so beautiful. Its not because it is so blue reflecting the sun, but because of the life it supports around it. Talking to and sitting with the villagers fishing, i felt like a local chinese villager.
This trip has really shown me the importance of agriculture and of water to the World. The happiness of those with simple lives and the desire to want to spend longer with them. Despite their broked backs, health problems, lack of hygiene, staple diet (i see why they have so many health problems) and so on. At the same time, they are apart of China -they are alive, not starving, and they smoke, have tractors, and within a few years will be within 200m of a main road (we saw roads being built everywhere). they are joining the rest of the world. many villagers take several bags of vegetables on 5 hour buses to market ..they are trading and earning income... I am now even more determined to go into the mountains in northern yunnan where the really poor people are. I was unable to this time, due to the heavy rains, but my contacts are good, and we might try to organise a study tour out there later in the year.
i cant even begin to convey how interesting the trip is, how much fun it is to travel with friends, and alone (i do things that someone else acting as my conscience would remind me is stupid). there is so much more of the world to see. next up is more stunning natural beuaty in lijiang and then onto the tibetan plateau to experience tibetan life. i am not interested in sitting in cafes with the other backpackers (although it is fun and relaxing); not my style. the whole time i am here, i am thinking of my work, inspired to really make it happen, to make a difference...and have also put more ideas into my mind about future careers (been thinking a lot in the last year or so about trying to learn about china and translate it into how to help other countries).
Such an amazing country, and yet my own country is struggling with terrorism, failing manufacturing and a dodgy governemnt who bends statisitics every day. I do wonder why only last week the UK started giving visas to Chinese tourists. well, durrr..about time!
p.s. there are pictures, lots of them, of beautiful places and of beatuful people. cant way to share them with you!
There was a week-long conference which went well i think. there was lots of planning and ideas sharing and fun. Conferences are always inspiring and its been a few months since my last one. This one I was really impressed with the level of the delegates; concrete evidence that all the hard work the MC put in last year has paid off with the new EBs at a much higher level than last year's to start their year. At the moment I don't think 'we' feel like a team yet, but soon..., it was great to meet Primrose, who has now arrived to complete the team.
I had to leave 1 day early to sort out my laptop (something meant it wouldn't turn on) -it was a major pain and i had to improvise a lot, but now its in singapore (thanks echo for translating!) being fixed hopefully, to be ready for my return. I then flew (3 hours) to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan (Clouds south) in south-west china brodering, tibet, burma (myanmar), laos etc. its an interesting place. very clean and modern in the centre, and not so in the outskirts!
Lots has happened in the last week of travelling so i will try to summarise and fill in more gaps later. Kunming - showed round the yunnan nationalities museum by a lady who studies chinese minorities (fascinating), got sunburnt in the stone forest (better than expected) and walked up hills. Then a 12 hr bus journey to jinghong to meet Chris and Victoria (BLCU class mates) and a 4 hour, slow, painful, bumpy etc minibus to somewhere else before getting a tractor-taxi thing another hour until we were right on the burma border.
A 3 hour hike led us to crossing a 2 foot deep river in the dark with a village within sight, where we were led to stay with a local family (10 people!) in their house which was a great experience, since it was just as it should be. They had 1 light bulb, eletricitiy for a TV that only showed karaoke (to practice their language abilities? since only 1 of them spoke chinese, everyone else spoke Dai, the minority language), and an open fire where they boiled water for our team and cooked us dinner (eggs, cabbage and rice)..i could go on, and will once i relfect back in beijing.
the next day we hiked 8 hours through more fantastic rainforest and rice fields..the places where there is only 1 foreigner a week on average (how many intrepid backpackers make it this far?); following villagers on short-cuts, through rain, past massive spiders, avoiding falling trees (fromn logging), through endless villages and fields that were just stunning and primitive. I feel i have a much better understanding of how rural people live now (these people are not that poor, since there is plenty of rain to grow crops, and some have motorbikes which is the only form of transportation on some of the footpaths). the 3 of us had a wonderful, muddy, wet time.
then we had to deal with horrible chinese people who kept raising their price after agreement, to take us to the next village (we didnt want to wait for the bus the next morning as it meant we would miss the morning market). we gave up, and were so angry at these strange people refusing our money! China is such a stranghe mix of entrepreurialism and laziness/dependence on the state. anyway we finally left the stupid village (having found 1 restaurant with only 3 dishes) the next morning on the 4 hour bus (even slower than the last one, and with 1 kid, 1 mother and kid between me and chirs, then another mother and kid between chris and victoria making 8 of us on the back row). After keeping a low profile during the fight on the bus (flying kicks and everything), we made it to the finishing market,l and then 2 more minibuses later we got back to jinghong. the next day we hired bikjes and cycled into the middle of nowhere for another exhilerating experience.
so what is the big deal about these 5 days? well it was a chance to meet and (try to, since they do not speak putonghua) talk to several chinese minoroities, people who lived in fields, people who have never seen foreigners, kids whose lives are so happy yet so basic, see stunning scenery, see people in their 70s and 80s working till dark carrying things on their backs, or working in the fields, people whose nearest village is a 3 hour walk away (in good weather). we witnessed the generosity of chinese villagers and workers; we saw people with different customs, beliefs and dresses. i dont think many trips can compare. remember these places were hours and hours of travelling from the nearerst 'city' with 1 bus a day on roads that don't go anywhere....they just go on and on past more and more villages. so the only people on the tracks are those living in those villages. when we cycled off, we knew we would have to come back the same way; and in the meantime saw the role of the male and the female, the role of the young and the old in these different societies...who is working, who is doing what, when?
Saying goodbye to Victoria (london bound, via beijing) i got a 19 hour bus to dali which is an old town now looking the same as Yanshuo (see december trip with family) with old buildings preserved/repainted that are now selling things, from coffess, to food, dresses etc. its nice, very busy with foreigners, and attractive (flowing water and trees etc in the city, like it has been landscaped, whcih i think it has been). upon arrival i hiked up to the temple (past the strange cemetary), skipped it and hiked along the mountain and down again along a river on one of the most overgrown paths ever...i had to cross the river several times, guess and som,etimes walk in the river for lack of a path. eventually, with a permanent smile on my face, i ended up in a small quarry, with each pit being worked by a family, witht he dad holding the pickaxes and the mother and young children helping move the excess mud etc. a truly unbeleivable experience; they were so surprised but so welcoming..i ended up passing through their local village (thousands more 'hellos' from the kids), checking it out, and hitching a ride back to town. then met chris and his parents for dinner (thanks!)
today i cycled along villages by the lake; again no foreigners at all. all the tourists go to one town further along (which i got to eventually) so i had so much fun beign shown around the litle temples, talking (and showing off with wheelies to the kids!) and feeling like a fly on the wall as i cycled every little back lane and rice paddy wall. what i learnt from this trip, is why the lake is so beautiful. Its not because it is so blue reflecting the sun, but because of the life it supports around it. Talking to and sitting with the villagers fishing, i felt like a local chinese villager.
This trip has really shown me the importance of agriculture and of water to the World. The happiness of those with simple lives and the desire to want to spend longer with them. Despite their broked backs, health problems, lack of hygiene, staple diet (i see why they have so many health problems) and so on. At the same time, they are apart of China -they are alive, not starving, and they smoke, have tractors, and within a few years will be within 200m of a main road (we saw roads being built everywhere). they are joining the rest of the world. many villagers take several bags of vegetables on 5 hour buses to market ..they are trading and earning income... I am now even more determined to go into the mountains in northern yunnan where the really poor people are. I was unable to this time, due to the heavy rains, but my contacts are good, and we might try to organise a study tour out there later in the year.
i cant even begin to convey how interesting the trip is, how much fun it is to travel with friends, and alone (i do things that someone else acting as my conscience would remind me is stupid). there is so much more of the world to see. next up is more stunning natural beuaty in lijiang and then onto the tibetan plateau to experience tibetan life. i am not interested in sitting in cafes with the other backpackers (although it is fun and relaxing); not my style. the whole time i am here, i am thinking of my work, inspired to really make it happen, to make a difference...and have also put more ideas into my mind about future careers (been thinking a lot in the last year or so about trying to learn about china and translate it into how to help other countries).
Such an amazing country, and yet my own country is struggling with terrorism, failing manufacturing and a dodgy governemnt who bends statisitics every day. I do wonder why only last week the UK started giving visas to Chinese tourists. well, durrr..about time!
p.s. there are pictures, lots of them, of beautiful places and of beatuful people. cant way to share them with you!
Thursday, July 07, 2005
today...
this afternoon has been a strange day, since the first i heard of the terrorist attacks was on a blog on nomadlife by someone in london. Then i checked news websites. Then i had to dash to dinner with my room-mate whilst texting family and some friends to check they were safe (all were).
After dinner, i was meeting some friends for the last time in the Uni bar where CNN was on with updates and people were talking about it...a bit. I was telling Paulina (my room mate) as we walked to the bar that it seemed like london was lucky. I mean several bombs at rush hour on the Tube! i've been there and i can just imagine how bad it may have been. I am sure it seems much worse being in London, instead of 4,000 miles away...but honestly; at first i was just so relieved that it wasn't worse.
maybe i always knew something was going to happen (the police were always saying something would happen), so i hope this will be the last time. who knows. watching CNN was strange, from a bar in china; talking with friends (2 of which are israelis, so have an interesting perspective) and so on. However it didnt seem like another 9/11. It didnt seem like the world would change.
As i said earlier i said to Paulina that i wonder what will happen..will there be new wars, will the governemt over-react or under-react, will the stock-market crash, will transport be destroyed for weeks? will the government then start pushing new laws (like the ID card) or other laws (like Us and indeed UK did after 9/11)?
It seem weird thinking of this in such a way, from a distant view point, of my city, with many many friends and family living in the city. In fact the AIESEC office is just down the road from Moorgate...I can only imagine how bad it is. Seeing the TV pictures was, literally, the 1st time I have seen the UK on TV for almost a year...and how sad its in this sitaution, seeing read fire-engines, yellow ambulances. I didn't know what to think.
I'm here, having spent several enjoyable hours with friends at the bar, listening to Virgin Radio on the internet (as they play very respectful music with inspiring songs) knowing others are listening in London, others are listening who were on those trains...whilst I am not here. Honestly i don't feel that attached to the event. much like 9/11 when the World strugled to understand the strong reactions americans had to being attacked on their own ground...
all i can think of is the short-term -most people seem to be safe, everyone seems to be reacting well, the world continues (thankfully), and joyously, london seems to be returnign to normal (relatively) already with transport happening, and people going home from work and planning to go to work tomorrow..i mean the stock market kept trading; its fantastic. I am so proud of my country. I remember the practise the emergency services held about a year ago at Bank station on a sunday on the waterloo and city line (closed on weekends), and reading the criticisms that our media always make (strange, now they are all lauding over the reaction)..i am glad that this took place, that, fortunately, we were prepared (mentally and phsyically).
I hope it never happens again, but more than anything -and this is so telling of me being in China- I hope the consequences are peaceful, I hope the G8 conference succeeds, I hope London recovers as normal, I hope there is no further war, I hope the perpetrators are punished. I know Londoners will want their lives to continue...
I've returned home to receive several emails/messages asking if my family and friends are ok. Nomadlife is listing those AIESECers who are safe..everyone is caring. In disaster, like the Tsunami, we realise how great huumankind can be -heroes, caring, thoughtful, supportive, survivors. Lets hope these attributes continue
After dinner, i was meeting some friends for the last time in the Uni bar where CNN was on with updates and people were talking about it...a bit. I was telling Paulina (my room mate) as we walked to the bar that it seemed like london was lucky. I mean several bombs at rush hour on the Tube! i've been there and i can just imagine how bad it may have been. I am sure it seems much worse being in London, instead of 4,000 miles away...but honestly; at first i was just so relieved that it wasn't worse.
maybe i always knew something was going to happen (the police were always saying something would happen), so i hope this will be the last time. who knows. watching CNN was strange, from a bar in china; talking with friends (2 of which are israelis, so have an interesting perspective) and so on. However it didnt seem like another 9/11. It didnt seem like the world would change.
As i said earlier i said to Paulina that i wonder what will happen..will there be new wars, will the governemt over-react or under-react, will the stock-market crash, will transport be destroyed for weeks? will the government then start pushing new laws (like the ID card) or other laws (like Us and indeed UK did after 9/11)?
It seem weird thinking of this in such a way, from a distant view point, of my city, with many many friends and family living in the city. In fact the AIESEC office is just down the road from Moorgate...I can only imagine how bad it is. Seeing the TV pictures was, literally, the 1st time I have seen the UK on TV for almost a year...and how sad its in this sitaution, seeing read fire-engines, yellow ambulances. I didn't know what to think.
I'm here, having spent several enjoyable hours with friends at the bar, listening to Virgin Radio on the internet (as they play very respectful music with inspiring songs) knowing others are listening in London, others are listening who were on those trains...whilst I am not here. Honestly i don't feel that attached to the event. much like 9/11 when the World strugled to understand the strong reactions americans had to being attacked on their own ground...
all i can think of is the short-term -most people seem to be safe, everyone seems to be reacting well, the world continues (thankfully), and joyously, london seems to be returnign to normal (relatively) already with transport happening, and people going home from work and planning to go to work tomorrow..i mean the stock market kept trading; its fantastic. I am so proud of my country. I remember the practise the emergency services held about a year ago at Bank station on a sunday on the waterloo and city line (closed on weekends), and reading the criticisms that our media always make (strange, now they are all lauding over the reaction)..i am glad that this took place, that, fortunately, we were prepared (mentally and phsyically).
I hope it never happens again, but more than anything -and this is so telling of me being in China- I hope the consequences are peaceful, I hope the G8 conference succeeds, I hope London recovers as normal, I hope there is no further war, I hope the perpetrators are punished. I know Londoners will want their lives to continue...
I've returned home to receive several emails/messages asking if my family and friends are ok. Nomadlife is listing those AIESECers who are safe..everyone is caring. In disaster, like the Tsunami, we realise how great huumankind can be -heroes, caring, thoughtful, supportive, survivors. Lets hope these attributes continue
the end of class
to add some continuity, I want to start this blog by adding onto previous ones: I wantched 'Hotel Rwanda' -a must see film for everyone. It was very true to what actually happened (I studied it at university) and very moving. If it gets you thinking then you can research on how the UN managed to let such a thing happen then, and how it still happens today.
I also want to say how great it is for Bus to delcare that the minute the EU scraps their trade tariffs, the US will too. Of course he is safe in the knowledge that the EU never will...but if him saying it adds a little bit more pressure to the unaccountable idiots in brussels, who now know that the impact of their decisions will be doubled, then great.
Today was my last class at BLCU (Beijing language and culture university) where for 4 months, almost every day i have attended 8am-12 noon with several other (good) friends. Its quite sad - it quickly became a routine and graduation (a free dinner with our certificates, no formal presentation) was on tuesday (3rd in my class i think). Actually it seems several people failed in each class, having asked around.
Most have stopped coming to class (exams already done), so today for 3 hours i had a 1-on-1 and it was great...in fact normally class was only 7-9 people out of 16 officially. I even realised how sensible most of China's provinces' names are (I had just not looked at their chinese characters before, and when i did i realised) -south of the river, north of the river, north of the lake, south of the lake, east of the mountains, west of the mountains etc all exist. As does some names made up of the words of cities in the provinces.
Most of us have realised we have progressed, by not as much as we could have due to some poor teaching (controlling the class) and us not making enough effort (homework, although weren't given any, but could have still done exercises in book) and speaking too much english in class. Our main teacher went on maternity leave 3 weeks ago, and the replacement was great. I am SO determined to ensure i make more progress with a tutor next year and some self-discipline..its all about routine i think!
Actually one thing i never mentioned was my dear old PDA (handheld computer), that my lovely parents bought me for my 22nd birthday and was so useful when at AIESEC UK. Here i obtained a chinese-english dictionary which includes the ability to write chinese characters on the touch-screen. A total life-saver. At least 3 students in my class went and bought the same thing just for the dictionary! -I still use the other funtions A LOT though!
Its been a nice week - a bit sad with people leaving, but most will be coming back next semester hopefully. We went out for some drinks, went to 'Water World' (a crappy, tiny water park that was SO much fun), went hiking/paddling in mountains/rivers again and so on. Soon its conference, then its travelling, then its WORK! (so exciting). It was a fun semester; with great times and funny times. Another great adventure down, more to come.
hope you are all well. Do please feel free to let me know or reply to any emails should you wish :) and of course, I feel so proud to be english as everyone in beijing of course knows about the olympic victory!
I also want to say how great it is for Bus to delcare that the minute the EU scraps their trade tariffs, the US will too. Of course he is safe in the knowledge that the EU never will...but if him saying it adds a little bit more pressure to the unaccountable idiots in brussels, who now know that the impact of their decisions will be doubled, then great.
Today was my last class at BLCU (Beijing language and culture university) where for 4 months, almost every day i have attended 8am-12 noon with several other (good) friends. Its quite sad - it quickly became a routine and graduation (a free dinner with our certificates, no formal presentation) was on tuesday (3rd in my class i think). Actually it seems several people failed in each class, having asked around.
Most have stopped coming to class (exams already done), so today for 3 hours i had a 1-on-1 and it was great...in fact normally class was only 7-9 people out of 16 officially. I even realised how sensible most of China's provinces' names are (I had just not looked at their chinese characters before, and when i did i realised) -south of the river, north of the river, north of the lake, south of the lake, east of the mountains, west of the mountains etc all exist. As does some names made up of the words of cities in the provinces.
Most of us have realised we have progressed, by not as much as we could have due to some poor teaching (controlling the class) and us not making enough effort (homework, although weren't given any, but could have still done exercises in book) and speaking too much english in class. Our main teacher went on maternity leave 3 weeks ago, and the replacement was great. I am SO determined to ensure i make more progress with a tutor next year and some self-discipline..its all about routine i think!
Actually one thing i never mentioned was my dear old PDA (handheld computer), that my lovely parents bought me for my 22nd birthday and was so useful when at AIESEC UK. Here i obtained a chinese-english dictionary which includes the ability to write chinese characters on the touch-screen. A total life-saver. At least 3 students in my class went and bought the same thing just for the dictionary! -I still use the other funtions A LOT though!
Its been a nice week - a bit sad with people leaving, but most will be coming back next semester hopefully. We went out for some drinks, went to 'Water World' (a crappy, tiny water park that was SO much fun), went hiking/paddling in mountains/rivers again and so on. Soon its conference, then its travelling, then its WORK! (so exciting). It was a fun semester; with great times and funny times. Another great adventure down, more to come.
hope you are all well. Do please feel free to let me know or reply to any emails should you wish :) and of course, I feel so proud to be english as everyone in beijing of course knows about the olympic victory!
Sunday, July 03, 2005
what should we do, what should they do?
Is itn't it ironic that Live8 did not aim to donate money; indeed the 20m (UK pounds) raised was spent on itself, organising the concerts. Why should 8 people be the ones responsible and blamed for the World's issues?
By declaring we don't want to raise money, we realise how ineffective aid has been, and will continue to be, and remove the responsibility from our shoulders to place it on the shoulders of 8 people. We turn a movement that should be about life and death, into a movement about politics. We get the World's most famous musicians, worth tens of billions of dollars themselves, to not donate their money but to tell us how poor africa is.
Make Poverty History does not aim just to raise money but, honestly, raising money is the only goal it is likely to achieve. It won't make trade fair, or free. Yet despite not aiming to raise money, the concerts profiled the cases of people saved from Live Aid (from raising money), at the same time Geldof and many others all agree most of the money raised then was wasted, and he himself was too naive about what he hoped money could do, and where it would go.
It's ironic that as everyone says 'raise more aid for africa', most of the public perceive that aid won't make a difference and most acadacemics are still arguing over why 500 billion US dollars has made GDP go down on average in most impoverished countries. Noone has worked out how this aid can really make a difference on a grand scale.
Poor governance is a great excuse, yet those countries with the best governance are sometimes still the most poor. ODAs have now decided that local governments know how best to spend their aid money, and should not have countless conditions laid down. So they contribute 5% of a country's health budget...won't this increase corruption?
Sure, the most effective aid is that delivered from the bottom up. But why is live 8 asking for more money from the top down? why is live 8 asking for more aid, yet not know how to deliver it properly? There are papers arguing that the money in Ethipia resulting from Live Aid just kept a bad government in power for longer, pushing more into poverty.
Why is it respectful thinktanks (that are on UK national press and national prime-time TV) can issues papers entitled 'more aid, less growth'? So what 'they' should do, noone knows. What we are doing is removing responsibility from ourselves and placing it on them. The politicians, the ones who are the slowest at doing anything and the onese elected to do what is best for their own country, not for the World. What does the UN do? Its run by same politicians trying to use the UN to make the best decision for themselves.
What should we do? Education and awareness is of course a crucial step -and for that live8 is commended, for raising the issue onto the 'average' person's agenda. Pressuring politicians is an admirable aim, but what they need to do is not something that can be done in days, weeks or even months. They need to do it. Spending a week telling them to do it won't work. Pressurising politicians through the media and public opinion os not how you achieve long-term policy. You achieve that by electing governments with those policies as their aims. What we need are politicians who really ask the public what we want, do we really want to sacrifice our own wellbeing for the poor (farmer's persepctive) or indeed believe the economists that argue its in our best interests (consumer's persepctive)?
I hope we do. I hope we can find the most effective political means to achieve determined, sustained, political change. I don't want to seem a pessimist, but we might make things worse..we might raise money and see it not achieve anything tangible; we might raise awareness for 1 week and then see everyone think the problem is solved and forget about it.
In the meantime, whilst we try to influence what 'they' should do, what should we do? On an individual level, we can make a concerted, immediate difference. For each of us, the answer is different. Some might run for political power, some might work for an NGO, some might write research papers, some might do business with the poor, others might continue to raise awareness. What will you do?
By declaring we don't want to raise money, we realise how ineffective aid has been, and will continue to be, and remove the responsibility from our shoulders to place it on the shoulders of 8 people. We turn a movement that should be about life and death, into a movement about politics. We get the World's most famous musicians, worth tens of billions of dollars themselves, to not donate their money but to tell us how poor africa is.
Make Poverty History does not aim just to raise money but, honestly, raising money is the only goal it is likely to achieve. It won't make trade fair, or free. Yet despite not aiming to raise money, the concerts profiled the cases of people saved from Live Aid (from raising money), at the same time Geldof and many others all agree most of the money raised then was wasted, and he himself was too naive about what he hoped money could do, and where it would go.
It's ironic that as everyone says 'raise more aid for africa', most of the public perceive that aid won't make a difference and most acadacemics are still arguing over why 500 billion US dollars has made GDP go down on average in most impoverished countries. Noone has worked out how this aid can really make a difference on a grand scale.
Poor governance is a great excuse, yet those countries with the best governance are sometimes still the most poor. ODAs have now decided that local governments know how best to spend their aid money, and should not have countless conditions laid down. So they contribute 5% of a country's health budget...won't this increase corruption?
Sure, the most effective aid is that delivered from the bottom up. But why is live 8 asking for more money from the top down? why is live 8 asking for more aid, yet not know how to deliver it properly? There are papers arguing that the money in Ethipia resulting from Live Aid just kept a bad government in power for longer, pushing more into poverty.
Why is it respectful thinktanks (that are on UK national press and national prime-time TV) can issues papers entitled 'more aid, less growth'? So what 'they' should do, noone knows. What we are doing is removing responsibility from ourselves and placing it on them. The politicians, the ones who are the slowest at doing anything and the onese elected to do what is best for their own country, not for the World. What does the UN do? Its run by same politicians trying to use the UN to make the best decision for themselves.
What should we do? Education and awareness is of course a crucial step -and for that live8 is commended, for raising the issue onto the 'average' person's agenda. Pressuring politicians is an admirable aim, but what they need to do is not something that can be done in days, weeks or even months. They need to do it. Spending a week telling them to do it won't work. Pressurising politicians through the media and public opinion os not how you achieve long-term policy. You achieve that by electing governments with those policies as their aims. What we need are politicians who really ask the public what we want, do we really want to sacrifice our own wellbeing for the poor (farmer's persepctive) or indeed believe the economists that argue its in our best interests (consumer's persepctive)?
I hope we do. I hope we can find the most effective political means to achieve determined, sustained, political change. I don't want to seem a pessimist, but we might make things worse..we might raise money and see it not achieve anything tangible; we might raise awareness for 1 week and then see everyone think the problem is solved and forget about it.
In the meantime, whilst we try to influence what 'they' should do, what should we do? On an individual level, we can make a concerted, immediate difference. For each of us, the answer is different. Some might run for political power, some might work for an NGO, some might write research papers, some might do business with the poor, others might continue to raise awareness. What will you do?
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