It's all relative

Previously I commented on how the Chinese see (and are led to see) hope for the future, particularly compared to their rather miserable recent past, as a reason why there is no real threat for social stability in China compared to what has been happening in the Middle East. Now, despite the hundreds of thousands of minor protest a year, and a paranoid government that takes rather extreme preventative measures to maintain social stability, this still holds true.

If there were a protest, it would likely focus on a short-term problem which could either be solved, promised to be solved, or ignored. It is unlikely to turn into a wider movement against the government itself - and in the issue of corruption, the government continues to happily get rid of the guilty, or create fall guys if necessary, and make sure the public know the government is doing its utmost at all times. In general, then, there is not so much to fear.

However, when one considers the issue of relativity (and I am not talking about Einstein's theory here), then it's possible to reconsider this. Because ultimately human nature is selfish, and yes, we like to think we have hope and our lives will get better, but if we see other people's lives getting better faster than ours, without considering that they deserve that, then we might think that the hope we see is not enough. That we deserve more, and that someone else deserves less. There is of course the perception and reality of endemic corruption that is mostly small-scale but which still allows society to function (and maybe even more efficiently than if there was no corruption).

Recently an internal government report was mistakenly released online that revealed that:
"more than 10,000 corrupt Chinese officials collectively spirited £80 billion out of the country in a 15-year spree of embezzlement, bribes and defections" and "The research, with revelations of corruption that are breathtaking even by Chinese standards, estimates that between 16,000 and 18,000 officials may have fled the country with monumental hoards of ill-gotten money between the mid-1990s and 2008".
That is pretty incredible. Clearly the government is aware of the problem of corruption and is sort of dealing with it, slowly... just as rural incomes are slowly increasing. But as rural incomes increase, urban incomes are increasing faster and the gap continues to grow. Meanwhile more and more Chinese are flaunting their wealth. So far there has been minimal crime in China, and limited attention in the media that might make regular people feel like they are owed better. But it could change and if there is not more progress soon on ensuring that the people think that those who are successful deserve it then it just might change.

2 months to go and reflections on earlier "upheavals"

So, with most people aware of the news, Andrea and I have (with a lot of help of family at home) start working out the details for the wedding. Progress has been smooth and things are on track. In fact as I write this Andrea has just bought her wedding dress at a market in Beijing that does wholesale wedding dresses. So at least this is one benefit of living in China and getting married in London - the ability to buy a quality wedding dress insanely cheaply (although I heard plenty of rumblings by SMS about there being too many big fluffy wedding dresses to choose from and not enough of the style Andrea was looking for, whatever that may be).

A lot of other things have happened in the last month. The football season has ended, giving a few months respite from late nights watching games online although with Spurs qualifying for Europe once again, come September the late 3am mid-week games will start again. The weather has now truly settled into Summer with 30 degree weather every day (dropping to about 20 at night) and the occasional rain storm. About 1 in every 2 days is bright blue skies (the others can often be muggy from pollution of varying levels) and where we live looks beautiful with water in the lake, kids playing in the playground, and the trees bright green. It makes Beijing a wonderful place to live and especially to cycle around at weekends. At lunchtime we can sit in one of the many restaurants close to work in the Central Park complex that is also green with outdoor seating which is a nice change from the office.

On another note, there have been several personnel changes at work which means new colleagues to get to know and work with, a promotion, and the end of one project (that was looking at labor issues in manufacturing suppliers in Beijing). Other projects have started, BSR's annual report has come out (so if you are still unsure as to what BSR actually does, have a read on www.bsr.org/report).

A few months ago I meant to write about the difference between China and the Middle East in regards the upheavals happening. Alas, I never put pen to paper (so to speak) and plenty has been written by others since there were vague attempts to foster some upheavals here too. Of course, nothing is likely to change when, fundamentally, a large majority of the country, and especially those with power and/or in the cities, see their country making progress and see a brighter future ahead of them. Of course, some of this is true and some of it is inspired by a government-controlled media which is not like North Korea but certainly is much more optimistic about the country than, say the British media is about Britain! The stories of those suffering under a legal system that is not independent or a series of laws that are ill-defined or a lack of implementation of a constitution that does provide for certain rights and freedoms tend to not get mentioned so much (and there are lots of them) whilst the government tries to balance out the good news with selected bad news that supports the belief that the country is well run. So, since everyone knows there is lots of corruption, the government makes sure to punish some people every now and again, as it does some industrial polluters or criminals. And there is some real innovation, with local police forces using Chinese Twitter to engage the public and report on the results of incidents investigated and so on. So change continues... at a pace that continues to be at just the right speed to keep things changing enough without things changing too much.

There is no major threat to the Communist party or the government and as soon as there is a tiny hint of one it is removed forcefully. This is a shame. One of the many ironies of this country is that the government does not trust its own people and does not want to them to think or to express themselves or to find solutions to problems. They want them to trust that the government has all the solutions and is working on the many problems China faces (as expressed in detail in the latest five-year plan). The government is inherently suspicious of anything it does not trust, cannot understand, or is unable to control. So are most governments, yet some of these things offer meaningful and worthwhile alternatives that need to be explored. And some here are. But a very few, and nothing dramatic. But, there is more happening that before. The bureaucrats are smart, many are educated overseas, and they recognize the incredible changes taking place and the incredible environmental, social, economic, cultural and other changes taking place that need to be addressed. Behind the scenes, pilots and plans to iterate continue and it is very interesting to experience this firsthand living here, and of course, working in the field of sustainable development, philanthropy, responsible business practices and the entire ecosystem around this.

So there are a just a few thoughts. I had to say something at some point and now, finally, I have. Much more to say, but this is a start. Meanwhile, flights are booked now: so from 15th July-16th August I'll be in the UK (or Germany)!

From Singapore to Hong Kong and back to Beijing to get engaged!

It's been a busy couple of months since Singapore - the last day in Singapore we went to the impressive botanical gardens with a beautiful restaurant inside. After 24 hours in Beijing I was off to Hong Kong and Guangzhou for work - though there was also time for a day at Cheung Chau island. A car-less island just a short ferry-ride away from Central Hong Kong with wonderful easy walking trails around the island and deserted beaches. After a fantastic trip to Lamma island a couple of years ago, I am very impressed with the smaller islands around Hong Kong and will make sure the others get on my list too.

Andrea and I have been to Chengde (I know I have been in China a long time when I start going to places for a second time!) where we had an entire forest and its deer to ourselves as we managed to sneak under the barrier forbidding tourists to enter the forest until June 1st due to risk of forest fires. There were no fires, just peace and quiet and lots of sun for a few hours that we enjoyed before forcing our way through the hordes of tourists by the lake area. With the temples nearby (one of which is a replica of the famous Potala Palace in Tibet) also worth visiting, Chengde is definitely a good option for Beijingers.

And last weekend, after visiting the Botanical Garden in Beijing, Andrea and I went to one of our favourite lakes in the Old Summer Palace, where, alone and at sunset, I proposed and Andrea accepted. So I suppose that is the biggest recent news... now we're deep in planning whilst also trying to enjoy Beijing's Summer. Spring has come and gone, and Summer is well and truly here with 30 degree temperatures most days, nice evenings where we can sit outside, and bright blue skies regularly.

War bunkers and impressive museums in singapore

On day 3, we had a coffee by the river and found a fault in Singapore's armour - some poor service. It took a reminder from us before the barista realised there was an order on his screen that our waiter had electronically taken. We decided not to pay the 10% service charge that is automatically added!

We also walked around Clarke Quay, benefited from the cheap lunch sets the many restaurants do there and strolled around Fort Canning Hill. At the top was some interesting archaeological excavations and The Battle Box. This is the bunker where the British military command was based trying to co-ordinate the defence of Malaysia and Singapore when Japan attacked during World War 2. The museum in the bunker recreates the last few days with models, audio-visual etc. Nicely done it was interesting and I learned that even before the military had been defeated, the British had to surrender because the Japanese had seized control of (or destroyed) the reservoirs that provided drinking water and the the food supplies. It would be three years that Singapore was occupied for and 50,000 were killed during the occupation.

My mum (who was in Singapore on vacation and the reason I came here) and I also went to some of the galleries ('Singapore Living') in the National Museum and were blown away with the design, layout, content and technologies used to make the exhaust truly interesting and a joy to view, read, listen to or watch. Rooms on fashion, cinema, family and others were very well done (and free in the evenings). There was even a special exhibit on black dresses which was interesting (at least for me, that not being a topic I am overly familiar with). In short it was everything almost all Mainland Chinese museums are not (HK has some good ones). The only half decent museum I've come across on the Mainland is the Overseas Chinese Museum in Xiamen which of course is funded and created by Singaporean Chinese (mostly)!

Efficient, clean, multicultural, river-side bars... It must be Singapore!

Singapore may be different to China: 4m people instead of 1.4bn, but 70% of its people are Chinese and it shows that not only is there a way for a Chinese country to be run as a democracy whilst being an autocracy, but that a Chinese city can be clean with its citizens learning to respect strangers and public goods. It is the kind of city where people immediately rush to help others (I saw a young lady slip and fall in the rain and 3 other women helped her up)!

Arriving in Singapore, I headed to my friend (Kitty)'s who I'd be staying with. She lives with a family in typical HDB housing (built by the government) which has everything within the estate including supermarket, food court, clinics and so on. Practical and surprisingly spacious, and of course in great condition, they seem nice places to live. Most only seem to be 12 stories high - Hong Kong's local residential buildings are much taller, in worse condition and not as conveniently designed. Somehow Singapore has ensured some space is set aside for greenery everywhere in residential communities including having grass on the pavements!

Nearby we walked past some of the fancier condos, all of which looked nice and new with beautiful balconies. The third level of accommodation in Singapore are houses. Many of these (and the cars in their driveways) are opulent to say the least. It is funny walking around residential Singapore as parts can feel very British (well, compared to some of the nicer parts of the UK that are clean and with nice houses) which you don't feel as much in Hong Kong. Everything there is more Chinese: chaotic, messy, crowded, run-down and of course full of Chinese writing everywhere along with English. In Singapore, you'll often only see English including on road signs, shops etc.

My breakfast that morning was kaya and butter bread with eggs - very Singaporean I was told, and quite tasty. As was lunch of Laksa (coconut flavoured shrimp noodles), Otah (BBQ'd fish cake served in a leaf) and Rojat (crazy mixture of vegetables, tofu and things covered in peanut flavoured sauce) for lunch

On a very Singaporean day, Kitty and I strolled along the East Coast Park, a long strip with bits of beaches and plenty of people cycling, roller blading and jogging. We then went to join the weekly Dragon Boat training. It was a sweaty 2 hours paddling in the boat along with 15 others but a great way to see downtown Singapore for the first time as we paddled all the way to the heart of the business district to the mouth of the Singapore river. It's a popular activity here with well over 15 teams, many of which had 2 boats out. Awe finished at 6 just before the thunder, lightening and rain and huddled under the boatsheds drinking beer. This week it was the Aussies who'd brought along a BBQ and tents. I heard the previous week the Spanish team I joined had done the same. A great social event.

Its quite a shock coming from Beijing, and not just because they drive on the left here. Taxi drivers won't stop to pick you up anywhere near a bus station, drivers stop at zebra crossings and at junctions to let you cross, taxi drivers force front passenger seat drivers to put seatbelts on and of course no matter whether the Chinese speak mandarin or English their accents are hard to understand!

On day 2 in Singapore we watched frogs being skinned in the Chinatown wet market and saw humorous T-shirts on sale joking about all the fines in Singapore. We found one -and only one- piece of litter (a scrap of tissue on the pavement). We enjoyed walking around the smattering of skyscrapers which are much fewer and less architecturally interesting than Hong Kong but were suitably impressed by the crazy boat that stretches across the top of all 3 buildings at the casino/hotel by the harbour. We also saw a few nice Chinese temples and churches (though no nice Mosques, must have missed them) between the nice older Singaporean buildings and some wonderful colonial buildings including the famed Raffles Hotel that was suitably impressive even down to its shop although the famous Long Bar where the Singapore Sling was created was a bit disappointing. I'm sure it was still authentic. The nobility and wealthy that stayed there in the past must have preferred a less regal drinking environment.

We ate at a Chinese hawker centre and gazed at the attractive Chinese buildings in Chinatown. We took buses and subways and walked along the river which had many tasteful bars and restaurants along it. Before the very interesting Singapore River History exhibit in the Asian Civilisations Museum, we even squeezed in time to watch the end of the formula one as we sheltered from the daily 4pm or 5pm downpour. The exhibit began with a great sentence along the lines of 'Though not as long as the Nile or Amazon, the 4km long Singapore River, has played a crucial role in the development of Singapore from a fishing village to one of the world's premier trading centres'. Classic.

We grabbed Indian food in Little India on a Sunday night where it felt like a football match had just finished with thousands of men just mingling and sitting around-though we still felt safe. Singapore is almost like a virtual city with everything you could ever want to put in a city. There is no expense spared on railings, ramps, crossings, dog runs, signage, public facilities and so on. There is a seedy underside that we saw on Joo Chiat Road but the city certainly lived up to its reputation. It is multicultural and efficient.

Photos and secret gardens

Some of the great photos of Indonesia are now on the blog (adam.nomadlife.org) and the hundreds others, including some cool videos, are on the flickr site (www.flickr.com/adamsphotos) along with over 10,000 other photos. Eat your heart out!

It has been over 3 weeks since Chinese New Year - it ended with a bit of a bang, and not just the fireworks. Andrea and I went out to the countryside to visit a friend's friend's family who lived in a fairly poor, rural village of just a handful of small traditional houses. We set off the obligatory firecrackers, watched a local comedy performance, ate fairly unedible local food, drank plenty of alcohol and then clamboured up the hillside behind the house to a watchtower that is what remains of the Great Wall. It was a fairly memorable experience and nice to get into the local chinese way of life, even if it is painful on the liver!

Beijing finally broke its precipitation duck getting some snow around two week ago. It went 110 days or so without any rain or snow; which was pretty impressive, and certainly not enough to solve the drought situation which threatens to raise food prices even more. On Saturday it started snowing again and I got on a plane to come to Hong Kong for a couple of days. It was warm enough to wear a t-shirt and relax in the sun. I ventured to Hong Kong Park where I found an aviary, which is an undiscovered secret garden. a few minutes walk from downtown, literally, there is a tiny piece of rainforest with 600 birds from across Asia. The sounds of the birds, the joy of the children, the flowing water, and the fresh air from the trees made it a wonderful afternoon. And it was free. Another great legacy from the British. Hong Kong does make me feel proud. London too.

Today, at lunch in between meetings, I say overlooking the ocean at a trendy cafe, eating fancy (i.e. small portions of) food and enjoying the warmth and sunshine. A few more weeks to wait for the sun in Beijing; but there is no ocean or breeze. There is not quite the intimidation you feel in HK, dwarfed by the size of the buildings and variety of architecture that are everywhere, with the dramatic backdrop of the hills and port. Of course Hong Kong also has a huge number of very nice bars and cafes, conveniently quite close to the office. I recommend Life especially their African Stew and Carrot Cake. Not particularly cheap, but fantastic!

Newly planted vegetables amongst the ash-covered fields

Newly planted vegetables amongst the ash-covered fields
Originally uploaded by adam lane

A nice contrast

Ash billowing from Bromo at dawn 1

Ash billowing from Bromo at dawn 1
Originally uploaded by adam lane

At dawn, as the sun rose and we waited, shivering, we were rewarded with this impressive view.

Ash billowing from Bromo at dawn 2

Ash billowing from Bromo at dawn 2
Originally uploaded by adam lane

Plumes of ash billow out of a volcano and drift overhead. Nature rules.

Ash erupting from Bromo 4

Ash erupting from Bromo 4
Originally uploaded by adam lane

Seeing an erupting volcano is pretty impressive. Thankfully it was just ash!

Black dominates everything making it look like hell around Bromo

Black dominates everything making it look like hell around Bromo
Originally uploaded by adam lane

When 2-3 feet of ash covers everything on the floor and growing and in the air; one considers if hell might look similar. Dark, black and depressing.

Mast in the ash cloud

Mast in the ash cloud
Originally uploaded by adam lane

Sunlight through the ash clouds aligned with the top of the Mast makes this a scary image.

Landscape around base of Bromo mars-like

Landscape around base of Bromo mars-like
Originally uploaded by adam lane

With the ash floating above the edge of the crater, one could be forgiven for thinking this was shot on another planet

White houses in black landscape amid ashfall around Bromo

White houses in black landscape amid ashfall around Bromo
Originally uploaded by adam lane

Incredible comparison between the white buildings covered in ash and the sun scraping through the ash clouds that dominate everything.

Kawah Ijen 2

Kawah Ijen 2
Originally uploaded by adam lane

The sulphuric lake that rewards a tough trek up to the top of the volcano in Eastern Java

Ijen panorama

Ijen panorama
Originally uploaded by adam lane

An incredible steaming volcano from sulphur bubbling to the surface of the lake in the crater. Locals collect the sulphur blocks and carry them down the mountain. It is back-breaking work in every sense of the word.

South side of Gungung Batur strewn with old lava flows

South side of Gungung Batur strewn with old lava flows
Originally uploaded by adam lane

Up close lava viewing opportunities-a-plenty along with fun motorcycling through the dried up lava flows and around and around the volcano through idyllic villages and fields.

Gunung Batur and Danau Batur panorama

Gunung Batur and Danau Batur panorama
Originally uploaded by adam lane

An amazing Volcano in a massive Crater of another Volcano. The lake in one side of that crater as well as the other Volcanoes in the background just add to the extraordinary view.

Kids in Penginapan Village

Kids in Penginapan Village
Originally uploaded by adam lane

A nice photo of some Indonesia kids that we came across in the amazing "village of two halves" which was split between a densely packed agricultural half and a beautiful model village that was full of quaint little houses with gardens and paths between them.

A Ghost Town

It's Chinese New Year. Of the 20 million people in Beijing probably a third have left town to see their families and the other two thirds are holed-up inside eating, drinking and watching TV for several days. This means the roads are pretty empty, a rarity that is worth enjoying on our bikes! Most restaurants have closed for 2 days, and a lot of shops too. It just shows how seriously the Chinese take tradition -visiting friends and family, giving gifts and feasting.

Some anecdotal proof that China is getting richer: there are way less firecrackers this year and much more actual fireworks (which are more expensive). Further proof comes from the stacks and stacks of fruit in fancy boxes that are piled up in supermarkets and on carts on street corners ready for purchase - fruit is one of the various things (along with money, alcohol and sweets) that are given as gifts when going to friends for meals at this time, but since winter is not a good season for fruit, a lot of it is imported and thus expensive but this is not a barrier any more. Further evidence comes from the huge amounts of wine that the Chinese are buying from supermarkets for the occasion as well. Though much of it is still cheap, there is still the strong desire to buy the most expensive (or expensive-looking) bottle to impress business partners (who it is also customary to visit over the week-long festival).

The one time people leave their houses is to go to Fairs, which in theory are called Temple Fairs, and are supposed to take place at Temples, but now tend to take place in parks and revolve around eating snacks, playing games (the kind that you can win prizes from) and buying stuff (mostly crap). Tens of thousands pile into these outdoor fairs every day leaving an insane amount of rubbish. Most of the food is fairly mundane, though some concoctions are a bit strange. Most of it comes on sticks or in plastic bowls. I hate to think how much the environment suffers, or the waistlines of the kids. Andrea and I quite enjoy seeing the awful attempts of boys to impress their girlfriends at the various stalls. Almost all fail miserably as the chances of winning anything apart from the tiniest teddy bear is insanely low. Doesn't stop them though...

How long until one misses the rain?

Precipitation is down 90% from average levels and there has been no rain or snow for months, literally -over 3 months now, and closing in on 100 days!

Every day is clear with blue skies and temperatures between minus 10 and zero. At what point does one miss the rain? I am not a farmer, so I don't mind -though I do consume food and prices continue to go up due to droughts. It certainly makes it nice and easy to cycle to work and even back from bars late at night.

Today, finally, Andrea and I went to Tesco. In the opposite direction to our nearby Carrefour, it is only a few seconds further in traveling time, but it is not a place I will be going back to. The bakery was absolutely appalling. It had only a measly 6 products that were supposedly freshly baked, yet, at midday today, 5 of the products were from yesterday, apart from the french bread. There was only one aisle of imported goods, which is not very helpful; and there was not a big collection of vegetables though. There were not many signs in English, and none of the products had any English names (Carrefour does). In fact, it is not just me that is not impressed; the store was practically empty compared to Carrefour which normally is packed on a saturday. Clearly the people are voting with their feet. And Tesco on the East 4th ring road is not a Tesco many people want to go to. Having said all this, there is also a Wal-Mart 200 meters away, and that is just as bad as Tesco. At least Tesco has some of its own-label products which is something that Carrefour does not have.

The last few weeks have been pleasant enough; dominated by the cold, a cough I picked up, and work. Soon Chinese New Year will take over, with fireworks and red all over the place. It also means some time off, though when it is this cold, we're not sure what to do! Maybe, just maybe, the weather will get a little warmer for a day or two, as the forecast is hinting at. Still, though it is called the 'Spring Festival', this is a misnomer. Spring is still a month or two (or more!) away yet!

By the way, lots of my photos are up online now from Indonesia. Some good volcano ones too. Check them at at www.flickr.com/adamsphotos

Want a mushroom?

That was one of the first questions i was asked a few nights ago as I walked
into one of at least fifty bars and cafes in Gili Trawangan, a 2-hour boat
ride east of Bali. Gili T as it is known is one of three beautiful, tiny,
islands that are just 10-minutes from Lombok, another large (Bali-sized)
island full of countryside and volcanoes. After turning down the man's offer
from some 'shrooms as they are known, I got a beer and chatted to some Irish
guys who were drinking some concoction of mushrooms. I saw them the next day
when I was scuba-diving and received confirmation they had a pretty powerful
effect!

Despite the large number of tourists packed onto the island and filling out
the multitude of guesthouses, none of which had more than ten rooms it
seemed, the island is beautiful, the rain held off, and there was a lot of
fun to be had in the evenings after enjoying the beach and underwater
sights. Unfortunately underwater Gili is no big deal -but then my standards
are high after being fortunate enough to dive at some of the World's most
beautiful places in Asia. If you want a nice beach, some great bars, and
some cheap accommodation (even the super luxurious was only 100 dollars a
night) then head to the Gili islands. If you do you might well catch some
Australians, who dominate the Bali area, and tend to have a beer in hand at
8am in the morning, no matter whether they are getting on a boat, or in a
clinic!

A brief stint in the Gilis led to a last day on vacation in Lombok's
capital, Mataram, which involved checking out the Mall since it was
pouring with rain and another motorbike ride out to a temple and to
Sengigi which is an old-school beach resort with a bunch of hotels and
restaurants along a strip of main road which is parallel to a
wonderful beach. Delightful in its own way I suppose, there were some
great restaurants -and hotel deals- to be had. Once again I
experienced the joys of renting a motorbike, and the challenge of
driving in a busy and crowded city packed with all kinds of transport
(including horse and carts) driving at various speeds. We did not have
time to hang out with the locals on the cliff roads, unfortunately, as
thrilling as it looked just sitting on bikes looking out to sea...

Other thoughts on Indonesia was that there was minimal language
difficulties, through transportation is slower than expected since
most people have their own transport, public transport is not as
necessary as maybe it once was. There were some surprises, like the
Executive class in the train, which was very plush with power sockets
by every seat for only a small amount more than regular class, and was
over half full of locals, who evidently quite like travelling in
style. There was very regular calls to prayer that were most notable
in the morning and evening, but though quite a few women wore
headscarfs, almost none wore Burhkas and a lot wore no head covering
at all, which is not what I was expecting.

To round out the top 3 of the vacation -after the smoking volcano (the
first we visited) and the motorcycle trip around the third volcano we
visited- I need to mention the village of two halves that was at the
bottom of the second volcano (you may recall, this was the one with
the turquoise lake at the top). A week ago, we spent a night in a
so-called homestay before the trek up the volcano, although the
homestay was the least homestay-like homestay I have ever heard of
with awful service, poor accommodation and tour group central. Yet,
100m down the road was a small village which at first glance was
nothing special, only remarkable as it seemed well laid out with small
alleys and all the houses in a line with small gardens. Yet, as we
walked further in we found that each house had put immense effort into
their tiny gardens and were growing crops, sometimes on 2 square
meters of land, sometimes just 1 tomato plant was being grown out of a
solitary plant pot. Each house was very individidualized with some
being quite well decorated, although others being total dumps. A
stroll through this quite quaint and somewhat strange village was
incredible -there were public bathrooms and a mosque and school to add
character- yet it was the tiny alleys, the small gardens, the
individualized houses and the people (kids, adults, dogs and all) that
packed out the alleys that made it special.

And then we got to the river that ran along the edge of the village,
or so we thought. In actual fact the river just separated the living
part of the village from the working part of the village. Across the
river was like going back 100 years. Everything here was muddy paths
and wooden barns (the other half of the village was mostly concrete
paths and brick buildings) packed with animals, and again densely
arranged. The fences surrounding the barns were perfectly built
without an inch of room for an animal to escape -for everything was so
close together, one escape could cause chaos. It was fascinating. A
village of two halves -the living and the working; yet both parts
exquisitely deisgned, quaint, picturesque and funtional. Probably the
most interesting village I have been to in a long while, and all
discovered on accident.

And so another warm vacation ends, and it is back to freezing Beijing.

When a motorbike points at a Volcano

First we were warned of the dangers of driving motorbikes into the north of Bali with stories of corrupt police officers questioning licenses (solution: pretend to be unable to speak English and shove a 5 dollar note their way) or gas fillers disabling the choke and charging a small fortune to fix it; then we put on our helmets and headed north. We managed to spend at least ten minutes gazing at the very unimpressive Gunung Kawa (some stone statues) which may impress some, but pale in comparison to sights seen elsewhere in Asia, and waited out a rainstorm drinking free coffee (not the Lawak coffee though which is too rare for them to offer for free; reason being it is made of coffee beans that have been eaten and excreted by a local animal which give the coffee a very special taste apparently, and take a long time to find and collect) and tea at local plantations. In mid-afternoon we arrived at Gunung Batur.

At first, there was nothing to see. We were at the edge of a crater, and the spot where we arrived was shrouded in mist and cloud, but as we descended down into the crater we could see a volcano cone in the middle, itself covered in cloud. Finding a hotel, we immediately set off and ended up driving around the central cone on a poor road, but one that took us through the remains of previous lava flows which were truly impressive. There was evidence of off-road tracks that local youth must have great fun playing on up and down the rocks, but I managed to resist driving over them as time was getting on. We just about managed to get back to the top of the crater, where we had been several hours earlier, but now with the mist cleared, to get beautiful dusk views of the crater, the cone in the middle and the lake at one end.

The next day we hit a small path that went up the opposite side of the crater through numerous small villages and up very steep paths that pushed our motorbikes to the limit to get more stunning views. At the top we continued around the outside of the crater; drove back down to the middle and up again and headed back to Ubud, via more tea and coffee samplings. It was a fantastic overnight trip -the freedom of the motorbikes, the countryside roads and the small paths around the volcano were incredible; probably the second highlight of the trip after the smoking volcano of Bromo a few days earlier. To top it all off, as we rolled into Ubud we went down a side-street and ended up watching a cock fight. Both Dad and I were surprised the the fight was over so quickly. Then we noticed each Cock had a knife tied to one of its feet which explained things. Anyway, two fights, a lot of blood and some interesting video footage later, we headed back for a night in another incredible hotel-cum-house-cum-temple.

What is the difference between a temple and a house?

This is a question I am becoming unable to answer after a few days exploring the countryside of Bali. Villagers have impressive walls around their houses and amazing archways that you enter to get into their compound. Once inside you find several temples and small pillars, ornaments and other objects that tend to be gold. Hiding behind them, somewhere is the living quarters -probably extending quite a way back, since the houses seem to have plenty of land. In between will be a water feature and plenty of plants as well as offerings that are laid fresh every day.

We have seen this everywhere, and it extends to hotels too -most of which also seem to be temples at first glance. And when we actually find a temple that is a temple and not a house -and though there might be thousands of houses in an area, there are still hundreds of temples- the temple is deserted, but still impressive. There is clearly no shortage of stone in Bali. We have been taken aback with how beautiful the area is, and now I understand the popularity and legend that has arisen over Bali.

Yet, despite over 20 years of regular and extensive tourism, this large island (over 130 km wide, and over 40 km long), does not seem to have been that affected. Granted we have seen minimal poverty (presumably other parts of Indonesia are much worse) and the government seems to have invested in the road system (still only single lanes, but they are all tarmac), but most people are living their usual, rural life. All over we saw people working in the fields, carrying bushels of something-or-other on their backs as they walked along the roads, and children kicking balls in the roads. Yes, a lot of people are getting an income from tourism, working in cafes, restaurants or hotels, or as tour guides or ticket agents, but it does not seem to have changed the way of life dramatically for most people. This is not exactly what I was expecting.

Then again, Ubud, the 'other half of the Bali duopoly' as the Lonely Planet calls it (Kuta is the beach half and Ubud is the culture/countryside half), is also not what I expected. Initially thinking that a village would be a village I was disappointed to find several long streets packed with motorbikes, cafes and guesthouses. But behind these, most of the guesthouses look out onto paddy fields, and quickly one can escape the 'village' to explore. Has tourism growth here been responsible? Compared to most other places, it seems so. Has it affected the locals? It does not seem that it has.

The other intriguing element to Ubud is the range of accommodation. There is plenty of mid-range accommodation of around 20-40 dollars a night (often with swimming pools), but limited below that, which is pretty expensive for backpackers. But most westerners here are not backpackers (who might only stick to the beaches with more nightlife) but mature travellers or families. Indeed, most rooms come with a double bed and a spare bed; and there is an outrageous plethora of expensive resorts around Ubud -some are several kms away- which cost upwards of 300 dollars a night with gorgeous views and various perks. As can be expected, there are quite a few british people here, but they are totally outnumbered by the Australians, on the streets at least. I do wonder who make up the patrons of the upmarket resorts? In the big scheme of things, I suppose they are not that expensive, it's just they seem unnecessary. Most of the accommodation in Ubud is wonderful, our's is exceptionally so. The rooms really do feel a part of a family's house with most hotels having only 10 rooms meaning you feel like being in a homely environment; and if you are lucky, like we are, one that is quiet and away from the noise of the motorbikes storming past all day long!

Re: Black snow and a vision of hell

p.s. the BBC has a photo show of Bromo and me and Dad are in the photos!
Check out: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12074769

In the middle is me in a black jacket looking behind me to talk to Dad who is wearing a beige cap -you can just make us out. Our photos are better though -will upload them soon.

Black snow and a vision of hell

Let me start by wishing you all a Merry Christmas and say that, shortly, I will going to bed after waking up at 4am this morning, and 3am yesterday morning -however no more early mornings are planned so some later nights will be in the pipeline!

The first 3am rise was to head to the top of Bromo, a volcano that erupted a few weeks ago and still spewing ash everywhere. It is one hell of a site. We'd spent the previous afternoon at a guesthouse near the top of the crater and were being rained on by black ash constantly. The poor staff were cleaning windows, sweeping floors and even sweeping the roof (the ash can get heavy, especially when wet). We'd also ventured out for a walk to see the craziness outside... several inches of black ash had covered all the fields. I think some people replanted vegetables a week or so ago, after the initial eruption subsided but they all got covered again. Some great photos of the fields though will be uploaded soon.

As will the photos of what we saw ridiculously early that morning. Behind one was a vision of hell, everything was black, trees had collapsed or were drooping. Black ash swirled in the wind, especially the ash blowing off of the trees, and roads were covered in a foot of solid black sand-like ash. In front of us was an amazing site: a massive crater which 3 other smaller craters in it. One of them was Bromo, with black ash billowing out and rising into the atmosphere then blowing across miles and miles of nearby villages. Even at Probolingo, the nearest large town, an hour drive away, their was a light ash-fall.

This morning was a trip to another volcanic crater; this one a sulfuric lake that was a beautiful deep turquoise color that was very rewarding after a tough climb at fairly high altitude. The locals dig out the sulfur in solid form, as it comes out of the geyser on the side of the crater and then carry it down the mountain on their shoulders. A horrible job.

This afternoon, i saw something i have never seen before... and it took me a while to work out exactly what it was. We were sitting on a ferry, waiting for it to leave when we saw someone swimming next to the boat shouting. After a while we worked out that he, and two others (who were wearing fins), were actually begging and would swim like crazy to get the coins as they started sinking once they were thrown overboard. It did seems somewhat desperate, and not that safe, but it was kind of interesting too. Most ironically, they were the only beggars i have seen in 3 days in Indonesia, which, on the whole, is more developed, tidier, cleaner and with better infrastructure than I expected. Although a few bones were rattled on the road down from the volcano this morning, and a few bags fell out the van as the boot door swung open!

It has been a wonderful trip so far -special- and more updates to come!

Films about prostitutes and how England needs more bribes

When Beijing is blue, Beijing is blue. Last weekend, and this is not as rare occurrence as the media might make out, Beijing's skies were as blue as almost anywhere you could find in the world. It was perfect for enjoying some gluwein (since it is just a few degrees above freezing) -which is mulled wine- at the annual German Christmas market along with various sausages, beers, gingerbread men and the like. An enjoyable experience as always, after a few hours, most of us were left wondering why so few mugs of mulled wine seemed to have such a substantial affect on us!

Today, I can enjoy the apartment, which has finally had heating since it was turned on by the government 2 weeks ago, and has a floor. For a couple of weeks i had a hole in the living room whilst workers tried to identify the source of a leak, fix it, and then re-lay the floor. I can also enjoy some excellent TED videos (www.ted.com), one of which by Denis Dutton i highly recommend spending 17 minutes of your time watching. He talks about Beauty -where it comes from, and how it is defined, arguing it is not so much in the eye of the beholder as ingrained in us through evolution with a clear purpose. His explanation of the role of beauty to attract us, in finding beauty in things done well and in how across the world we all find similar forms of nature beautiful is very compelling and interesting. Another, by Aaron Huey, reveals the disturbing truth of the native Americans' situation today, and how the US has created the problems.

Over the last 2 weeks, there has been a Nordic film festival on, and I have managed to watch 5 of the films -some, such as the experiences of a Chinese entrepreneur failing to build a conference center in Sweden, one about Dole's use of dangerous pesticides on its banana plantations and one about a brothel in Germany with 200 prostitutes were very interesting. A couple of others were also good: how the Norwegian pension fund tries to get companies it invests in to clean up their acts, and the role of the media in Italy's society. Some of the directors were also in attendance answering questions, though interestingly, for the films that are quite activist, neither of the directors approached the films with the aim of creating change in society -they just wanted to make interesting films -and the side-affect is often that the films lead to change. This was interesting in the context of how much effort would be made to use the films to create change; and whether the films were better because they were not purely aimed at creating change, unlike certain films made by charities or governments.

And the highlight of today? The news: ENGLAND 2026 BID TO BE BASED ON BRIBES AND POISON. Check it out if you still need consoling after Thursday's disappointment! http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/sport/sport-headlines/england-2026-bid-to-be-based-on-bribes-and-poison-201012023312/

No longer hobbling like a penguin

Finally, after spending Sunday afternoon and Monday struggling to walk or avoiding walking like a penguin, I am finally walking normally again. Certainly at 11.30 on Sunday the thought going through my mind was that the marathon itself didn't seem to be as hard as walking does now!

Overcoming a flat battery on my mp3 player, rain, wind, the cold, and a lot of boredom, I did complete my first marathon. I know it is an achievement. I am still not sure how I did it... Running non-stop for 3 and a half hours is a hell of a lot of running, not made any easier by the dearth of spectators due to the awful weather and half the route being away from any residential areas.

Anyway it is done, as is the training. Now, whilst we shiver waiting another couple of weeks for the government to turn the heating on I am enjoying the extra time in bed in the mornings. Aside from the running, over the last two weeks I have been exploring what the American chamber of commerce in China should do to drive sustainability, and how pharmaceutical companies' sustainability efforts help them enter new markets or improve their reputations. Work that is, on the whole, interesting.

There was also a small office outing to a local organic farm to understand best agricultural practices which was quite interesting, and two visits to one of my favourite restaurants, Vegan Hut. I m not becoming a vegan, although am trying to eat meat less often, but the food there is wonderful.

In the meantime we've witnessed China flexing its muscles, ignoring all calls to release Liu Xiaobo from jail despite him winning the Nobel Peace Prize, and standing up to Japan over ownership of certain islands by stopping (it seems) the export of certain minerals. Certainly these kinds of issues will continue, foreign countries need to know that criticising China will make it less likely to change, not more, and China needs to be a bit less selfish and see other perspectives (though which country is not selfish?). No doubt more on this at a later date.

Rubbish, rubbish and responsibility

I had no real recollections from my walk past the kungfu temple and
school in 2004; but Andrea, who had briefly studied kung fu in one of
the schools for a couple of weeks back in 2002, left wondering where
the village was that she remembered surrounding the temple and being
full of kung fu and wushu schools. It seems the village is gone and
many of the schools relocated to make way for the electric tourist
buses, street-side sellers, tourist centre and other ancient
Chinese-looking buildings that seemed to have no purpose. Such is
typical with China and necessary to handle over a million tourists
that visit the one temple each year!

The schools seem to be doing well with over a hundred still
thriving-the biggest with over 20,000 students. Impressive though
knife-wielding and punching skills may seem to tourists both of us are
unsure what jobs the students might hope to get. We guess many go into
the army or related private security firms, some go into film or
stage, and the rest... Well maybe their odds are no worse than other
students from their (often poor) backgrounds if, as our taxi driver
reassured us, they do study more regular school subjects in addition
to kung fu. However in 2002 at least (and a lot has changed in china
since then, especially in the education system) when Andrea was at one
school it was pretty regimental... 2 bowls of rice and vegetables a
day and 8-10 hours of physical practice a day.

The next day we visited Longmen Grottoes (one of the four famous
Buddhist caves in China) that are special due to the extensive
carvings and paintings in them. This was the third one I have been to
out of the four and just as impressive. Tens of thousands of Budhhas
of sizes from a few cm to 50m in hundreds of caves carved out of a
cliff overlooking a river. One set were built near Datong when it was
the capital of China almost 2000 years ago. Then the capital moved and
the caves were re-done again (though not identical).

The next day we went to an area known as Taiyun Shan, though we
skipped climbing the mountain itself to spend time in the beautiful
red rock gorge, walking along rivers and past waterfalls, marvelling
at the impressive rock layering and geological formations (the area is
recognised by UNESCO), and even going into the museum. The museum was
worth a 15 minute visit and had English text which places it in an
elite list of museums in China! Unfortunately the site management let
themselves down with a monkey show in one of the gorges (the monkeys
seemed to do their acts out of fear) and a few 3m x 3m cages that
'rescued' monkeys were displayed in and that tourists poked sticks at.

On the one hand I was happy with the site management who had made a
real effort with signage, pathways, electric cars taking tourists to
and from the various sites and rubbish receptacles every few metres
over the several kilometres of pathways. They even had a small army of
rubbish collectors. On the other hand I was dismayed at how incredibly
badly most (not all) Chinese treat their beautiful environment. The
small army and thousands of receptacles were not enough, though they
helped.

Even when we said to a small girl and her dad to put her ice cream
wrapper in the bin that was no more than 5 steps away she just waited
until we turned around and dropped it on the rock. It is a real shame.
I understand that industrial pollution is typical amongst
industrialising counties with lax enforcement of laws and other
(economic) priorities and I know China is not alone in littering...
all across Asia in urban areas it is a problem... but when will
Chinese people 'grow-up' and be responsible? They are not poor
(entrance and transportation around Taiyun shan is an extortionate 30
US dollars and they are not ignorant (there are signs all over the
place) nor are they uneducated. Unfortunately most people are still
fairly disrespectful to anyone they do not know and think incredibly
short-term. Others have probably written fairer and more extensive
pieces on the issue and this is just one paragraph. Of course it is
really impossible to generalise about anything in this country, but I
do like to vent every now and again!

In the course of our six days we have, once again, benefited from the
insane infrastructure that has gone up (and is still going up as we
also experienced with some bumpy rides) and the entrepreneurialism of
the Chinese with highways everywhere, buses all the time, minivan
drivers always hovering nearby, and entire streets of hotels and
restaurants built in a few months to cater for tourists. As
frustrating as it is that everything is so commercial and developed,
it is certainly necessary in order to try to encourage domestic
consumption (or even just manage it as often it is uncontrollable
without any need to encourage it) and to manage the environmental
impacts of having so many people wanting to travel (and often to only
a few places).

Celebrating a 61st birthday in Henan

China's 61st birthday is the occasion for a week-long public holiday,
and for Andrea and I an opportunity to visit her Chinese friends who
live 5 hours away by train. The couple had gone to Germany to study
German and a masters degree a decade or more ago and got to know
Andrea and her family then; and now both teach German at the
university in their city (Zhengzhou, a provincial capital). Their
daughter is almost 2 years old and her presence featured strongly
during our visit. For the most part, as is typical with most Chinese
we spent a lot of time eating and visiting their parents and
grandparents -all of whom dote over the girl.

The couple bought a new apartment several years ago but currently live
in an older apartment with one of their mother's who is retired and
thus helps look after the child. Though the apartment building is old,
the interior is nice - almost the same as the apartment buildings of
the various other relations that we visited, even though their
buildings are newer.

The few days we spent with them were stereotypically typical... The
big meal with all the family with toasting and drinking, each putting
food on the other's plate so they would eat more, an afternoon nap for
the adults whilst the elderly played mahjiang (a Chinese board game)
and so on. Zhengzhou is a typical provincial capital city, with
several subway lines and many apartment buildings under construction.
A new business district was recently built centred on an exhibition
centre, concert hall and several malls. Life is fairly quiet and in
the apartment complexes fairly tranquil. Old people sitting around,
street sellers a regular siting, kids playing between the few cars
parked inside the complexes etc. So far most people seem to suffice
using electric scooters and there are no tourists since there is
nothing to see.

As if to prove my point from earlier in the week, when we got to
dengfeng (next to the home of Kung Fu, shaolin temple) we ate a meal
with 12 dishes T our hotel, even though we were only 4 people. Andrea"
friend's brother's friend's job was related to looking after VIPs in
the area so the meal and hotel were free. As was the evening'
performance which we drove to in a convoy behind a police car. All of
us just put our hazard warning lights on and tried to keep up as the
police car led us to the VIP parking lot. This is the land of guanxi
(relationships) after all where who you know can get you anything.

The show in the evening did not involve much Kung Fu unfortunately as
it was more focused on the story behind it (which was fairly boring)
and on the lighting, stage and visual effects. They were impressive -
the show was set at the top of a hill where a stage and seating had
been built facing a valley with a stunning mountain backdrop. The
stage was 100m wide and almost as deep going up the mountain complete
with 8 storey pagoda, rocks, a gulley and a bridge!

The next day we climbed a mountain that I have fond memories of,
having been here 5 years ago. It was just as impressive due to the
winding path half way up the cliff-face which was a cliff full of
vertical fissures from geological and tectonic plate movement 1.8
billion years ago. At the end of the walk we came out to Shaolin
temple and a million tourists (due to the public holiday). We skipped
the crowded and overpriced temple and went to see some kung fu shows
and students practising.

A man with a helmet in Fat China

After the team outing at work where we cycled around the Beijing
countryside I was returning two bike helmets to friends (since the
travel agency could arrange for bikes but not helmets!) when I failed
to adequately answer their question: "why are you not wearing your
helmet to cycle back home?" So, since then I wear my helmet when I
cycle to and from work every day on my cheap bike, when previously I
only used it for long distance rides on my racing bike (about 1 a
year). At first I thought it was weird that I attracted so much
attention cycling with a helmet but quickly realised that I react the
same when i see someone with a helmet; it is so rare it only happens
once or twice a year -of course usually foreigners wearing them.

Last week we went to listen to a book talk. The book is called Fat
China and is one of the first books to be published looking at the
rising obesity problems in china. The talk itself was nothing amazing
though the book seemed better from a quick flip through. One topic
focused on too much was the issue of western fast food. Obviously not
a positive influence but certainly not that important compared to
issues like the lack of sport or fitness the Chinese do. A lack of
facilities is one element, a second is a lack of sport at school
beyond the required morning aerobics before class; a third is the
academic pressure on children and students, and a fourth is the desire
state of Chinese sports. Aside from some individual athletic stars,
most Chinese prefer to watch American basketball or European football
because their own professional leagues are in such a state.
Unfortunately the Olympics seemed to have been a missed opportunity
here, though Guangzhou is apparently making more effort with the Asian
games next month.

The other issue that the book's co-author touched upon, rightly and
intriguingly so, was the nature of communal eating and food culture in
China. It is customary that when cooking for friends (or take them out
for a meal) you should cook (or order) more than can be eaten, and
guests should never have empty plates as that implies you have not fed
them well enough (the opposite of the UK). Also since dishes are all
shared in China there is no accurate sense of individual portion size
and people tend to order too much (though some is taken home in doggy
bags). An issue not mentioned was the Chinese (well, East Asian)
tendency for dried, preserved food, sweets and all sorts of snacks
that are not made of natural ingredients. More and more, the Chinese
are eating these over fruit, sunflower seeds or other traditional,
less colourful, exciting or artificially flavoured, options.

Though the statistics say the Chinese are already fat (over 30 or 40%
in beijing apparently though the definition must be different to the
West) certainly more and more are getting fat..and not just the kids.
The health consequences will be incredible and it is an issue is
certainly one worth paying attention too. It certainly needs more
research and analysis and thus Fat China is a good start.

Happy Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

After a few chilly days of only 14 degrees, today we are back up to the mid twenties which is perfect timing as we have 3 days off for to celebrate the mid-autumn moon festival. Unfortunately that also means we have to work some weekend days to catch up 2 of the days off (it is a Chinese thing) and it implies Autumn is here, which is such a short season, it will very quickly be Winter!

The last two weeks were busy -we had the official launch of the project i have spent the last 5 months setting up, including developing a website (www.ciyuan.bsr.org), and organizing a big conference with international speakers flying in. Anyway, I am hoping to be spending less time doing marketing materials, websites, event logistics and planning in the next few months as the project focuses on more meaningful things, and a couple of smaller projects start as well.

China continues to get in the intenational news, it seems, more and more often, even though I thought this would not be possible; from now having the second biggest economy to the world's longest (70km) traffic jam (twice) and even to the number of new cars per day on the streets of Beijing (1,900 now, because the previous average of 1,000 evidently was not enough to satisfy the middle classes here). Meanwhile at work we organized a half-day cycling trip for us all out in the suburbs of Beijing which was very nice, though due to time pressures (and distance, it was almost 80km) most of the girls (though i hate to be sexist, but it was mostly girls) ended up taking the bus for some of the last few stretches. Evidently our team needs to practice long-distance cycling more often!

When there is beautiful warm weather, clear blue skies, and no work, life seems wonderful. Sadly this is not always the case, but it happens -and the views from our apartment over to the skyscrapers a few miles away and the lake in the middle of our community make it tempting to not even go out and just relax. Then again, on other days, we play football in the smog or rain and struggle to cycle to work through hordes of traffic, cyclists, tuk-tuks and pedestrians. Cycling to work is marvelous -incredibly fast compared to any other form, including the subway, and it so rarely rains that is is comfortable too. It is so rare to cycle to work in the UK, but i would recommend it... even if it feels like it is a long way; several miles, it still may be quicker than the subway, healthier, cheaper and more enjoyable (and less cramped). I even read once that is only rained around 20 times in the UK during rush hour in a whole year, though I am not sure if that is actually true.

Next week is the final week of the 5-a-side football season and both my teams are in mid-league, so we might not finish in the bottom two for the first time in too long to admit!

Dalian

Andrea and I took last weekend to enjoy the summer before it turns into a very short Autumn in a few weeks. We went up to Dalian, near Korea to enjoy the beach, sunsets and seaside beer.

As a result of the oil spill a month or so ago nearby, most of the beaches have booms (that seems to be the word the media used in the US anyway) around them: a long chain of buoys that hang about a metre deep to keep the oil away. On one of the beaches we did see some oil residue on some buoys but not much, and nothing near land. It was a month ago though, so I am not sure what it was like then. The beaches are fine, some sandy, some pebbly, most crowded with umbrellas, tents and marquees (under which the locals sit and eat on plastic tables). There were a fair few Russians too - this being the closest beach to Russia.

The city itself is pleasant enough. Some nice buildings remain from Russian and Japanese occupation from 1895-1905 (for the former) and 1905-1949 (for the latter) and there is a business district since Dalian has a busy port and does a lot of trade between Russia, Japan, and Korea. There is also some foreign companies as Dalian is China' leader in the IT outsourcing industry servicing Korea and Japan mainly. Between those areas and the shopping centres the city is much like other large and fast developing cities (behind the top cities though). It is run-down in places though generally quite nice. The two tram lines which date from, and still resemble, the first half of the century, adds some character.

We happened to be in town when there was a Dalian International fashion festival of sorts..actually the 21st which is somewhat incredible. There were various open-air performances around the city and a parade through the city with floats. Like most things in China, there was nothing much 'international' about it apart from the name, some Africans on the floats (it was weird.. There would be 2-3 pretty Chinese girls on a float with 1 African guy dancing up and down) and a few Russian performers. It was mostly Chinese kids in different outfits and each district in Dalian had a float, as did several companies, and amusingly so did the tax bureau!

Dalian had very little traffic, but also practically zero bikes (and zero bike lanes too) -is there a direct link here? I presume there is some regulation against bikes which is strange. What Dalian does have is a fantastic slide down a hill -the kind where you get on a piece of plastic on wheels with a useless brake and career down a metal half-pipe. Wonderful fun, and a highlight of a city that is pleasant but nothing special. Most of the beaches were busy and the water rarely inviting, though it pays off to walk around the rocks to find the 'other' beach with few people on and clear water.

Blue skies!

This year Beijing has had its worse air quality since 2005, when the government really stepped up efforts ahead of the Olympics. This is not good news; and can be fairly depressing. However, on the bright side, when Beijing has beautiful blue skies like today, everything just feels amazing. These days do not happen more than once or twice a week on average it seems, especially in the last few weeks since i got back from vacation, but they are incredible days -the sun reflects off of the glass skyscrapers and temperatures sore up above 30 degrees. It also makes it very tempting to go and sit in the coffee shop nearby, in a mini-park, to work and enjoy the weather (rather that sitting in the office).

As football starts to take over weekends and weekday nights, now that Tottenham are in the Champions League, I continue to play around 3 times a week, though neither watching or playing seems to make me any better! It is good fun and good exercise to complement my running as the Beijing Marathon comes up in just 2 months. Scary thought.

In the meantime, work is going along nicely, and I even managed to find some time to watch a few movies recently, though none of them offer that much to write home about.  There might not be much free time in the next couple of weeks as we launch a new website for the program i have been managing, hold a big launch event and do a bunch of interviews as part of a white paper on 'the future of philanthropy in China'.  

We moved into a new apartment recently and have now sorted it all out; it is not far from the other one, but more expensive and smaller unfortunately, such is the way with property prices in Beijing. The good news is that we have great views and an attic in our apartment (weird I know) for the extra space for all of our stuff.

Today we went to watch the World Combat Games in Beijing and saw some Taekwondo. Some of it was fairly exciting; others they just danced around and poked at each other with their legs. It was kind of interesting when a Taiwanese person came third as the flag that is raised is a strange quasi-Olympic flag as China refuses to recognize Taiwan as an independent country with its own flag. Not many paying spectators unfortunately but thousands of kids were brought in to watch the violence! Maybe it is part of their self-defence training before the new school term starts, and they have to protect themselves against more psychos running into schools and knifing kids! 

This weekend Andrea and I are off to Dalian for a three-day weekend to get away a bit and check out one of the few cities I have not yet been to. Will be in touch in a week or so I expect.

Burma tales -part 2

On the evening of day 5 we flew into Bagan, getting a decent view of the area from the sky, before checking into our hotel and finding an incredible view from our 2nd floor balcony and from the swimming pool. The view is important because, well, the view is incredible. Around a thousand years ago Bagan was the capital of a country that stretched to much of South-east Asia for over 200 years before Ghengis Khan and his Mongols arrived. During that time, in addition to the trade, living and government buildings that were constructed out of wood and have now disappeared, 4,400 temples, pagodas and the like were built. 2,200 still stand today in an area around 4 miles by 4 miles.

It is incredible. There is no other appropriate word. The Plain is just full of temples, over 100 of which are worth stopping and looking at, many of them have impressive interiors of murals in addition to their amazing structures. In between locals continue farming as they have done for centuries and trees dot the landscape. The Irawaddy river that is the heart of the country runs around 2 sides of the area adding to the backdrop. Even the persistent hawkers trying to sell their paintings and artefacts at most of the well-known sights are unable to distract from the experience.

Cycling around the Plain and exploring the temples along tiny tracks, climbing up to the top of many of the temples to see extraordinary views, taking photos of the incredible view; it was one hell of a few days, and one well worth seeing. Our fantastic (and cheap) hotel, the Kumudara, with balcony and pool views directly over the temples added to the atmosphere. The only dampeners so far was the rain on the first night, the clouds that suddenly appeared on the second and third nights to ruin our sunset views, and several flat tyres!

For two mornings we went for a run over the fields, along tracks and past the temples (and often rather startled farmers). Each day we climbed up several temples to take in the amazing views. We sweated a lot in the heat, drank a lot, and visited lots of temples. On the last night we even went for an evening swim under the stars -as I have noted before I only seem to see the stars every 6 months or so which is quite sad. On the whole Bagan was up there, close to Angkor Wat (though different) as one of the highlights of Asia.

The Burmese seem to be halfway to being Indian, but are certainly not Indian. Their simple food of meet curry and rice is often eaten with cutlery and they don't seem to care much about their political situation, somewhat resigned to fate (elections this year, the first for 20 years since the military junta lost but refused to give up power, will just cement their position behind a pretence of being elected since the opposition leader is barred from running and her party highly restricted) after the failed uprisings last year. The Indians of course eat with their hands and often eat Nan bread with their meal; they also always have lively opinions on politics. Everything here was fairly clean, even the streets of Yangon, and certainly there were few cows to be seen-just lots of dogs. The Burmese tend to give more direct confirmations in response to questions than the Indians, although like the Indians they do love to provide stories or answers without any point. I tried to find out why none of the trees at Bagan seemed more than a few decades old and, ten minutes of discussion later, think maybe it is because the farmers cut them all down to use as wood and to make space for farming - once the area became protected in 1990 maybe some trees were planted along fields or roads or just grew naturally.

After leaving Bagan we flew (the roads are so bad even a car would take ten hours) to Heho which required flying two sides of a triangle, one about 20 min (my shortest flights ever I believe), the other 35 min, and just a short wait on the plane in the middle as some passengers got of and others got on. A great deal quicker than a bus! From the plane it was clear how sparsely inhabited the country is and how rare tarmac is!

Burma tales part 1

Leaving Beijing early in the morning meant I arrived at our very
fancy, but very cheap hotel, in Yangon (Myanmar's former capital but
still the economic centre) in time to make the most of the beautiful
swimming pool which overlooks the lake.

On the way into town from the airport I noticed four things, the first
being that all the car license plates were in Burmese rather than
English numbers which may be the first country I've been to where this
is the case, the second being that there were no adverts for, or any
evidence of, western company's products since most western governments
(and/or most western campaign groups) do not allow their companies to
do business here due to the oppressive military dictatorship, so the
Koreans and Japanese seem to be the main foreign branded products
available here. However we did find many western products had been
imported via Thailand (the packaging was all in Thai), especially Coke
etc. The third thing that intrigued me was that they drove on the
right even though they were a British colony like India. Apparently
the government switched it in 1970 to distance themselves from British
times. Most cars are right hand drive, probably because they are from
Thailand or made for the Thailand market and in Thailand they drive on
the left. However a few cars are left hand drive.

The fourth thing was the traffic cop who stopped us looking for bribe
of ten US$ but my taxi guy actually had a legitimate and current
license so he got nothing from us. Later on we would pay many tolls to
travel around and pass several military checkpoints, though they were
very low-key.

Our hotel in Yangon was stunning, and only 75 US$ a night for a
wonderful room. It overlooked a lake and had a view to the stunning
stupa with so much gold and glass flashing that is the major sight and
that, after enjoying the pool in the beautiful gardens, we visited at
sunset. The Shwedagon Stupa (or Paya in Burmese) was incredible. Its
size, brightness, decorations and aura certainly made it stand out
from the many others we saw on our trip.

We walked around town quite a bit which was bustling and marvelled at
the different food options from street vendors as well as how small a
quantity of vegetables some women were selling. In the centre of the
town was another old pagoda serving as a roundabout and a central
point for beggars though there are not that many really. Even the
street sellers did not hassle us much -the kids (and occasionally
adults) being the exception outside of tourist sites with their
jewellery and postcards. We were more afraid of the pavements which
were a real mess around the markets and downtown!

On Thursday we went into the countryside for some nice views and a
couple more pagodas at Kyauktan and Thanlyin; one of which was on an
island in a river. That afternoon we rode a rickety old train without
glass that goes very slowly and stops at 'stations' every mile. Us
foreigners had to sit in the last carriage, identical to all the
others except that there was a man with a safe collecting the ticket
money from each station's staff as we passed each station.

After a wonderful run on a raised walkway through the park next to our
hotel I went hunting for sandals in my size and made an old book
seller's day buying a book I may never read. We walked around seeing
the old colonial buildings and fancy hotels that were just one block
from streets where locals were sifting through rubbish - though on the
whole Yangon does not have much extreme poverty visible (at least it
actually seemed better than some other cities like Manila). We also
splashed out 35 US$ for the two of us to have a wonderful 2 course
meal with several drinks (a bargain really) in a beautiful old
townhouse. One of the best I have ever been to, including the
incredible service.

Other meals we had were more basic, a dollar or two each for some rice
with meat curry and strange condiments. Nothing fantastic, but good
enough, although breakfast options were more interesting.

On Friday we went to the decrepit national museum to see an impressive
throne, got wet while enjoying the pool (and accompanying wi-fi!), and
dashed through traffic to a strange village of buses where we
fortunately found ours, had settled down for a surprisingly
comfortable overnight bus trip watching a dvd on dad's dvd player in
order to drown out the noise from the tv on the bus. The main road
from Yangon to Mandalay was surprisingly good compared to those around
town and the countryside from the previous days and the service
station we stopped at was nice with an army of kids as waiters even at
11pm.

On Saturday morning, after getting off the bus, we climbed 2 hills
(Mandalay and Saigang), so we could see the huge space of Mandalay
palace (now mostly just trees), lots of temples in the surrounding
area and the large Irawaddy river dotted with tree- studded islands
making the views pretty impressive. We also passed many more buddhas
and the like but are already bored of them!

We then took a tiny motorboat across to the island of Inwa which was
the capital of Myanmar for the better part of 400 years until 1841
years. Left behind are a few hundred basic houses and almost as many
stupas. Without any cars on the island we were driven around by horse
and cart; the sun was shining (for the first time after a few days of
intermittent rain and cloud); the only sound was a few other tourists
rattling by in their carts and some girls selling jewellery and
postcards. The island was almost deserted with just a few shacks amid
the paddy fields and lakes. The 50 or more remaining stupas, temples
or other remains stood alone and untouched, slowly decaying in the
peace. It was remarkable. Though the remains cannot touch the truly
unique and breathtaking ones at Angkor Wat, the atmosphere, experience
and beauty were comparable.

Afterwards in Amarapura (capital for 100 years a few centuries ago) we
visited a remarkable footbridge that is made of 1000 teak posts and is
almost a mile long across a lake and has existed for over 200 years.
Made out of teak wood it is impressive enough; then add in the beauty
of the lake, the life and colour of all the locals using the bridge,
and top it off with a cold beer by the lake and the decent sunset view
(the cloud returned ruining it somewhat) and there was no doubt the
afternoon was the highlight of the trip so far.

In the evening we went to see the famous Moustache Brothers who
perform a traditional cabaret with dancing and comedy. They became
famous due to their satire criticising the government and landing 2 of
them in jail for several years. Now they are out of jail but they are
only allowed to continue the show in English (the third one speaks
good English) and to foreigners, 20 of whom crowd around the stage in
their living room each night.

As impressive as their history and principles are, and as cool as it
was to see the 3 of them, they have whacked up their prices, the show
was pretty boring and it was dominated by dancing rather than satire.
Still they did crack a few jokes about the government and tried to
raise awareness of their plight- it was one of the few places where
photos were encouraged without requiring an extra fee!

An early start this morning took us into the hills of Mandalay to Pyin
Oo Lwin which has a lively market and nice old British mansions now
serving as hotels; the latter originally hosted the British government
during the summers when Myanmar was a colony as it was cooler up here.
We followed three kids on a wonderful 45 minute hike down to the very
impressive Anisakan waterfalls where, unsurprisingly we saw no-one bar
a local living there selling food and drink. The hike back up broke a
sweat which we planned to get rid of in the swimming pall of the
National Kandawgyi Gardens. However the gardens were so beautiful, and
our time limited, we never made it to the pool, instead enjoying the
Orchids, Swamp walkway, Aviary, elevated walkways and wonderful
flowers and trees that were originally planted in 1915 (and are well
looked after today) by a botanist from Kew Gardens. The gardens were
very popular with the locals and there is an abundance of nature
surrounding, and in, the lake and forests (some natural, some
planted). The afternoon of day 5 ended with a ridiculous 25 mile drive
out of Mandalay to get to the airport and a flight to Bagan.

Depressed

The last three weeks have been boiling hot and almost entirely smoggy in Beijing, broken up with just a day or two when it was possible to see the sky or the sun. Fortunately I was working in Shanghai for the better part of a week and thus at least able to get some rain as well as see some friends down there.

 

Our current apartment was a fantastic deal; about 15% cheaper than alternatives in the same place. Unfortunately since our landlord bought the apartment for half price from the government (who owns the building) as pat of the beenfits package of being a government employee, two weeks ago the government decided that they should not be allowed to rent it out (and thus profit from the cheap price they paid), thus we had to look for a new place; knowing we were unlikely to get one at such a good price, and knowing that after recent attempts by the government to cool the property market which restricted buying -but thus encouraged more lending- we would have to pay more for less.

 

Not a fun experience, but never mind. We found a good place; and poor Andrea will have to do the moving herself (with a removal company of course!) whilst I am in Burma with Dad for the next 12 days. Definitely a way of getting over the depression of moving out of a great apartment and not seeing the sun!

Sports and war crimes

thankfully this morning it was overcast and the temperatue was only in
the low 20s; yesterday, in the sun, it was 36 degrees+. This mattered
a great deal as today I ran/cycled/ran a duathlon. Not a big deal
really; taking a third of the time of a full triathlon but since I
don't ever swim I chose to stick to the duathlon. It was almost a full
2 years ago I was last at the triathlon venue to watch the Olympic
event. It's a beautiful location set next to the hills around Beijing
and by a reservoir (where the swimming takes place). It does make for
a hilly bike ride unfortunately.

The last few weeks, since I last wrote have been fairly busy. A few
days in Hong Kong for work took me to one of my favorite cities.
Althought its only been 18 months since I was last there, i had almost
forgotten how great the place is; and in particular how distinctive it
is compared to Shanghai or anywhere else in China. The skyscrapers,
hills, high density, fast pace, linguistic mix and the diversity
between the islands, Central, New Territories and the suburbs are all
worth exploring. And everything is so accessible due to short
distances and excellent transportation.

Of course the World Cup has been the big distraction over the last few
weeks. Andrea's certainly happy at Germany's progress and performance
with crisp passing, pace, invention and finishing. All of which
England lacked for all but half an hour or so of their 4 games. One
day, hopefully in my lifetime England will actually play well as a
team against other good teams, and maybe win a match or so. But the
last few finals we've been in, we have never hit the heights that we
think (or dream) we should be capable of.

The big game last week was fun to watch, that's for sure and Germany's
progress has got Andrea much more passionate about football... which
will hopefully carry on into watching Spurs in the champions league
next season, also at 2.30am on weeknights!

The last thing of note to mention was a film festival organized by
some students at a film academy. We went to see a few films; one of
which was particularly interesting as it was done by a young Japanese
girl who wanted to better understand why the Japanese did not want to
admit, or learn the lessons from, their past atrocities in World War
2. Overall, for a 1st film, it was a good documentary but she could
have spent less time on the facts of the atrocities, more time
interviewing those who disagreed with her opinion (instead of only
interviewing those who agreed with her) and more time analysing the
reasons, and consequences, behind the 'denial' that continues. For
those interested int he topic or war crimes, or unaware of what Japan
did against the Chinese and the American POWs, check out the website
by googling: silentshame

Enthusiastic bus conductor

One of the highlights of last week occurred on Wednesday evening when I took a bus after work. Although all buses are equipped for payment with an electronic card, most buses still have a conductor on board to collect money from those without cards, or to generally be helpful by pointing out names of different stations, getting people to move down the bus, or sticking their arms out of the window to help buses change lanes. On this particular bus the conductor was about 18 and was super keen and smiley. But what marked him out was that before and after every stop when he read out the stop name, and something along the lines of being prepared to get off, he would repeat it in English, in full, before and after every stop. 

I think he was doing it even before I got on the bus (I was the only foreigner on the bus), and even though I told him which stop I was getting off at, he continued to say everything in both languages at every single stop. All the other bus passengers seemed to look at him in a weird way but he continued, and he was good –practice does help, of course. I started talking to him in Chinese, and switched to English since it seemed he wanted practice, and he did know more than just the lines he continually repeated. He said he self-studied and did not think English was that hard. I was fairly impressed. I have to say he must be quite keen, but speaking decent English will probably help him in his career somewhere down the line.

As the scaffolding comes off of the new school next to our apartment, ready for the new academic year starting at the end of August; the construction site next door is also getting finished, ready for its first residents to move in around the same time. As they finish up, I wonder if the temporary accommodation, complete with migrant workers, will be taken down or whether they will stay and start work on another project next door (still more land available to the south). I also wonder if the two tents just by the exit to the complex will remain or not. They are home to a few people who collect everything that can be recycled, from bottles to paper to electronics and they pay for it too. It is helpful having them there, although our complex has not been one of the 50 or so selected for trials in Beijing to be more environmentally friendly with more choice of bins for organic matter, recyclable and non-recyclable goods. It would be nice if the pilot gets expanded though as, although I am sure most of our recyclable goods are taken out of the bins or sorted at the garbage disposal place, all the organic matter is just wasted –instead of being used to improve the soil, grass, and shrubs around our complex.

Today we are organizing an event with about 25 Chinese agriculture companies to discuss about their environmental impact. It should be interesting; tonight I am off to Hong Kong for a few days of meetings and back in time to watch the World Cup.

Imitations and inspiring music

2 months we moved office, only across the road, but today I returned to the old office building to visit a new cafe that opened. What makes it special is that it is pretty much an exact replica of Central Perk from Friends (with the addition of a TV showing friends all day long) -check out some photos here: http://french.peopledaily.com.cn/Photos/6989231.html. It is very impressive and a great idea to distinguish itself from all the other of hundreds of coffee shop. The owner there just loves friends and says it has always been his dream to relax in Central Perk -so he created his own!

Last night we found a new deck outside a bar to watch the England friendly, and it might become the regular spot for watching games, even though most start at 2.30am! And in further bad news, because the chinese Dragon Boat festival is a wednesday and the Chinese want to make it a 3-day weekend, although we'll get monday, tuesday and wednesday off, we'll have to work the saturday and sunday before, which includes the england-usa game. I'm not sure how awake I will be on the Sunday!

In the last few weeks I've been to see the BBC Symphony Orchestra (the second half was particularly good with lots more instruments -see what matters to me about music!) which was truly impressive as ever -very very powerful stuff- and also happily discovered the return of a local vegetable market; this time the sellers have been given an actual permanent structure to be based in so hopefully they'll be here for a while.Tuesday, something we'll organize every 2 weeks to encourage some of our friends out to dinner at a local street vendor to support the local community -and of course drink lots of cheap beer (and last time, we did drink lots!).

The School next door is almost finished, and the massive apartment complex of about 12 30-storey building should be done by August too -there is a new park that they are building next to it, which is nice. The accommodation for the workers is just next door. We counted that with 8 people to a room (on 4 bunk beds), and 16 rooms on a floor (2 rows of 8 with a corridor in between) with 2 floors per building, 6 buildings in a row and 4 rows...well as you can imagine that is a lot of accommodation (around 6,000 workers) although we've certainly not seen that many working!

2 weeks ago we went to Beijing's first organic farmer's market. Unfortunately most of the actual organic farms (there are around 5 near Beijing that are well known) did not come, instead most of the things on sale were packaged organic food (i.e. not fresh), but there were lots of other stands selling fair trade things and a decent band as well as some good food. After watching Food, Inc (highly recommended), the Symphony of Soil (also good) and chatting to a few of our friends who work with environmental NGOs, Andrea and I are making more of an effort to buy organic and eat less meat too (less, not zero!).

On Saturday I learned to my cost the difference between playing football at 6pm or 9pm compared to 2pm... let's just say at 2pm, without any shade and 25 degree heat, the quality and tempo of our (11-a-side) game was not much better than dismal England!

Newspapers and small glaciers

On wednesday I went to my first champions league game. Granted this
was the Asian version of the Champions League so the quality was not
quite the same as the European equivalent, but none-the-less there
were 42,000 people in the 3/4 full stadium watching Beijing Guo An
(who won the Chinese league last year for the first time). There were
almost 100 visitng Japanese fans who, along with their team, were
subject to a torrent of abuse. The Chinese don't generally like the
Japanese because of various atrocities comitted when Japan occupied
parts of China before and during the 2nd World War, but I am not sure
this was the main reason for the verbal abuse. I'll have to go to a
game against snother team to compare. However I was still chcoked in
the harshness of the chanting and the lack of any creativity.

Finally, towards the end of the game, after Beijing were 2-0 up, the
fans started cheering their players and singing more positive chants.
The rest of the time they were just insulting the opposition no matter
what they did. The Japanese team dominated the first 30 mins but
failed to score, Beijing managed to score 2 in their 30 minute period
of domination but the last 30 minutes was less exciting. Overall it
was a good game and Beijing played much better than when I saw them
last season in the Barclays Asia Cup (which you might recall also
involved 3 Premiership teams, and was won by Tottenham).

Outside the stadium, apart from all the touts and police, there lots
of people selling newspaper, though I was unsure why. In the stadium,
after we found a seat near where we were supposed to sit since no-one
sat in their designated seats (this almost caused a fight between me
and some chinese guy in my designated seat), I solved the mystery of
the newspaper. Every single person sat on a sheet or two, and put
another sheet or two behind them when they were sitting -and
rearranged it after standing up in the game (as their seat flipped
up). The guy behind us even gave our group some sheets to use. A
paradox of China where people throw rubbish all over the countryside,
often spit in the street but are afraid of sitting on a clean plastic
seat in a stadium.

Last saturday summer arrived with 25 degree weather so we went to the
Olympic Forest Park; which has a lake, hill, nuermous rivers, a
wetland and all sorts. Its huge, people often hire 4-seat bicycles to
ride around and there is an 'ecological corridoor' connecting the
south part of the park with the north which is a bridge over the
motorway to allow wildlife to cross it. Its a great place to go, and
even has ecological sanitary toilets (which we promoted in rural China
when I was at Plan International).

Yesterday the temperature hit 31, so we headed out a couple hours west
of town via subway and taxi (sine the queue for the bus was so long)
to place called '18 pools' where we followed a path through a valley
along a river with various pools along the way. It was good exercise
despite not being able to see the last 5 or 6 pools since the path was
not built yet. After a cheap night in a local B&B type place (where i
followed the football updates via the internet on my phone) today we
went another 45 minutes west to 'Doune dragon gorge' for another
4-hour return hike up alongside a river. This time we reached the end,
which, bizarrely was a small glacier! Not just there, but on top of
much of the river we followed to get there, was plenty of thick ice...
thick enough to walk on. I think the glacier melts in the Summer, but
we were shocked to see all of this ice in the sun in this heat.