CNY was never as exciting in Beijing as it is elsewhere around the World ... at least until this year!
Normally CNY is just an excuse to wear red, put red everywhere and spend time with families. The streets become quiet and work stops. Occasionally families trek to a 'Temple Fair' to stuff themselves with food and see a bit of dancing and cultural acting. Its nice, but mellow.
But this year Beijing legalised firecrackers/works throughout the city (with strict controls apparently -most other cities had never outlawed it, and I heard Shanghai was crazy during CNY. But having returned to Beijing on wednesday I had heard a few (very, painfully loud) firecrackers going off every night...and soon came to agree with those who had been in Beijing for the New Year (I was in Bangkok) that after an hour of fun, it becomes annoying.
Tonight was the end of the celebrations: Lantern festival is another time to hang out with the folks and eat Tengyuan (little glutinous balls with hundreds of different falvours, such as sesame or peanut). They're eaten because they are sticky (so families stay together...although just like the west divorce is taking off in China!), because they are sweet (so the new year will be sweet -so similar to Jewsih tradition!) and because they are round, and today is also a full moon. It was also a night to finish off those firecrackers and fireworks.
Watching from the appartment its all quite pretty. But walking around outside you see crazy people setting off fireworks from 16 floor balconies, firing them over the top of roads and letting loose by bus stops. Its tough to concentrate enough just to walk, let alone drive! And then all that's left is a LOT of rubbish left over! Anyway, I can confidently say that the evil spirits were scared away and that (if the theory is true that the more fireworks you light, the more successful your year will be) everyone in Beijing will have a Happy New Year.
And I wish the same to you all too.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Thailand photos
all up on the imagestation site (see link on right)..here are a selection
me with a monkey on monkey bay (always moneys there of course, since the tourists feed them bananas!)
the sunlight shimmers in the water
the beautiful beaches
my arty photos :)
another arty photo (of the kid whose house we stayed at in the forest up north when trekking)
elephant riding...
a house by the river in the wet, green heartlands of thailand
A Wat (temple) lit up at night
another arty picture of the sun behind some bells at a temple!
me with a monkey on monkey bay (always moneys there of course, since the tourists feed them bananas!) the sunlight shimmers in the water the beautiful beaches my arty photos :) another arty photo (of the kid whose house we stayed at in the forest up north when trekking) elephant riding... a house by the river in the wet, green heartlands of thailand A Wat (temple) lit up at nightanother arty picture of the sun behind some bells at a temple!
Friday, February 10, 2006
Time...
Back to Beijing now, via Shanghai..and finally able to catch up with everyone here, having only been in beijing for about 9 days in the last 3 months!
Beijing in the winter is often a city with snow, not that it snows often (only 2 or 3 times a year) but because the snow never really melts on the roadside...partly because it is so cold and partly it seems like the snow is full of chemicals from the pollution and in so inpure it just doesn't seem to melt in the sun!
Coming bck to Beijing is a shock though. I have been used to spending a few nights here or there getting by on few clothes and few meals; or i have been looked after well (at home in the UK or in Bangkok visiting friends) -but when you get 'home' to Beijing and remember that no-one likes cleaning, beijing is very dirty and dusty and then find out the cook isn't coming this month (not enough ppl around to make it worthwhile) it's a little shock.
Anyway it is nice to be back working with other people again instead of working out of Devrim's living-room in Shanghai all alone (and freezing due to his broken heater!) It's also nice to see 'old' friends return, not so nice to see 'old' friends leave (and maybe return?) but I got used to it a long time agao. A timely reminder that living abroad is full of people coming and going -at this age anyway.
At the conference in Shanghai before Chinese New Year we elected part of the new team who will run AIESEC here... and I certainly feel like AIESEC China is my AIESEC, no longer AIESEC UK. Maybe its because although I have only been here 18 months, AIESEC here is only 4 years old! Its sometimes emotional realising that you will be leaving soon, that new people will take your job. In AIESEC, this happens without fail every 12 months. What is great about it is not that you think about the past, but that you think about the future. I am always excited at these elections seeing new people take up opportunities and the challenge (since AIESEC is so challenging!) and seeing what the old people have achieved.
I have been talking to some of those newly elected people and some going onto new jobs (as well my former colleagues in AIESEC UK all settling into their new-ish jobs, sicne they also bummed around a bit!) and this leads to opportunities to reflect on why I came here, and why I stayed. Partly because China is so interesting and changing so fast...which is fascinating, but mostly because AIESEC here was changing so fast and I could play a key role in that. Growth in AIESEC has been astounding. in 2 years we will have doubled the number of Universities we work with and in 1 year we are more than doubling our core results... this was coming from the UK where growth was 10-20% a year at best.
But I am sure that leaving AIESEC in the summer is the right thing to do..unlike some others who are going to other countries or the international head office! Its time to move-on...but it will be tough. Since AIESEC offers so much responsibility and opportunities..things that the real world doesn't offer so easily, or with so little risk! Its time to start looking around... its also time to try harder to stay in touch with those i fleetingly saw in the UK. But then its time to work harder at my job to achieve as much as possible, whilst also finding time to have fun, to read, to... aaaah, time. Never enough -especially when you are young (still, but only just!) -and especially in a country or an organisation moving this fast!
I haven't managed to get to Harbin for the ice festival, climb a holy mountain in the snow or see the great wall in winter... so there are still things to do next winter -there are still regions of China I want to explore and there will always be 3 week-long holidays a year in China to try do them in! I guess its good not to do everything, to save some things and to slow down sometimes.. to try to savour the moment. to TRY anyway!
Beijing in the winter is often a city with snow, not that it snows often (only 2 or 3 times a year) but because the snow never really melts on the roadside...partly because it is so cold and partly it seems like the snow is full of chemicals from the pollution and in so inpure it just doesn't seem to melt in the sun!
Coming bck to Beijing is a shock though. I have been used to spending a few nights here or there getting by on few clothes and few meals; or i have been looked after well (at home in the UK or in Bangkok visiting friends) -but when you get 'home' to Beijing and remember that no-one likes cleaning, beijing is very dirty and dusty and then find out the cook isn't coming this month (not enough ppl around to make it worthwhile) it's a little shock.
Anyway it is nice to be back working with other people again instead of working out of Devrim's living-room in Shanghai all alone (and freezing due to his broken heater!) It's also nice to see 'old' friends return, not so nice to see 'old' friends leave (and maybe return?) but I got used to it a long time agao. A timely reminder that living abroad is full of people coming and going -at this age anyway.
At the conference in Shanghai before Chinese New Year we elected part of the new team who will run AIESEC here... and I certainly feel like AIESEC China is my AIESEC, no longer AIESEC UK. Maybe its because although I have only been here 18 months, AIESEC here is only 4 years old! Its sometimes emotional realising that you will be leaving soon, that new people will take your job. In AIESEC, this happens without fail every 12 months. What is great about it is not that you think about the past, but that you think about the future. I am always excited at these elections seeing new people take up opportunities and the challenge (since AIESEC is so challenging!) and seeing what the old people have achieved.
I have been talking to some of those newly elected people and some going onto new jobs (as well my former colleagues in AIESEC UK all settling into their new-ish jobs, sicne they also bummed around a bit!) and this leads to opportunities to reflect on why I came here, and why I stayed. Partly because China is so interesting and changing so fast...which is fascinating, but mostly because AIESEC here was changing so fast and I could play a key role in that. Growth in AIESEC has been astounding. in 2 years we will have doubled the number of Universities we work with and in 1 year we are more than doubling our core results... this was coming from the UK where growth was 10-20% a year at best.
But I am sure that leaving AIESEC in the summer is the right thing to do..unlike some others who are going to other countries or the international head office! Its time to move-on...but it will be tough. Since AIESEC offers so much responsibility and opportunities..things that the real world doesn't offer so easily, or with so little risk! Its time to start looking around... its also time to try harder to stay in touch with those i fleetingly saw in the UK. But then its time to work harder at my job to achieve as much as possible, whilst also finding time to have fun, to read, to... aaaah, time. Never enough -especially when you are young (still, but only just!) -and especially in a country or an organisation moving this fast!
I haven't managed to get to Harbin for the ice festival, climb a holy mountain in the snow or see the great wall in winter... so there are still things to do next winter -there are still regions of China I want to explore and there will always be 3 week-long holidays a year in China to try do them in! I guess its good not to do everything, to save some things and to slow down sometimes.. to try to savour the moment. to TRY anyway!
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Phuket!
greetings from phuket -an area now famous because of the tsunami; but previously legendary on the backpacker trail for beautiful beaches..of which I will be seeing tomorrow (and the next day). We arrived from Chiang Mai in the North which looked a lot like my trip to south Yunnan in China last Summer. In fact it sounded similar to since the hill-tribes we stayed with seemed to speak similar dialects to those i met last july.
it was an enjoyable hike across rivers and in 'jungle' (in the dry season it is quite tame), on elephants (very slow creatures!) and rafting on some (slow) rapids. We witnessed a stupid french couple handing out sweets to the local children, and then an even more stupid australian idiot do the same before threatening to punch us for complaining 'behind their backs' at what he was doing. We (6 of us) were all very chuffed since we knew we had the moral high ground. The french couple later came over to talk to us to admit at their stupidity -i have more respect for the french now!
[the sweets were in wrappers which would cause litter; they were not found locally so the kids would end up desiring something they neither find again, nor afford; they are obviously not healthy -especially for kids brought up on rice and vegetables; it created a fight/scramble for the sweets leading 2 kids lying on the floor crying]
we've found some people here speak chinese which is nice, since once you get off the beaten track (ie. 15 minutees walk from main strips here in phuket) noone speaks any english -but most people don't -which is even nicer, since thailand is so toursity! however being able to speak chinese (or french, when we knew there were some chinese speakers nearby) with Evelyn (my travelling partner) has been very useful in terms of agreeing prices for bargaining and making decisions...aah the joys of languages.
thailand's economy is very dependent on agriculture and tourism -most of the tourism does not seem too bad so far; many of the tours are good and the guides are all locals, so they try to protect their own country -however there are so many scams its a joke. today when we were told to changes buses, everyone was so suspicious we said no, even before listening to the reasoning. i felt sorry for the lady afterwards -but it goes to show that we all suspect 'guilty' and need to be convinced of 'innocent' later!
From the news it is interesting to read about China and Russia supporting the 'west' in their Iran/IAEA discussions and about China and India both competing at the World Economic Forum for attention. It is also intriguing reading the english language Thai papers; since they are so outspoken about the PM here who is under fire in a big way for some dodgy dealings. Not the kind of stuff found in China that is for sure.
Just a few days backpacking has reminded me how little you can learn about a country from backpacking. you can have fun, for sure, but you won't learn much about the culture or much about the language or history. I am much more keen to continue exploring china where i cna try to communicate and continue to build up my knowledge of the country. having said that, we have made the most of our tour guides, quizzing them about their lives (95% of thais are buddhist and most men do a few months as a monk) -we even attended 'monk chat' at a temple recently (great idea) to learn more.
Before I return to Shangahi (and then shortly to Beijing) on Sunday night I'll be listening to 'from our correspondent' on bbc website and downloading the recent and back episodes as podcasts onto my mp3 player since i cannot in china, but find the show fascinating. Meanwhile i must prepare for the snorkelling trip tomorrow and start to realise that soon i'll return to freezing beijing...but at least it might snow there!
it was an enjoyable hike across rivers and in 'jungle' (in the dry season it is quite tame), on elephants (very slow creatures!) and rafting on some (slow) rapids. We witnessed a stupid french couple handing out sweets to the local children, and then an even more stupid australian idiot do the same before threatening to punch us for complaining 'behind their backs' at what he was doing. We (6 of us) were all very chuffed since we knew we had the moral high ground. The french couple later came over to talk to us to admit at their stupidity -i have more respect for the french now!
[the sweets were in wrappers which would cause litter; they were not found locally so the kids would end up desiring something they neither find again, nor afford; they are obviously not healthy -especially for kids brought up on rice and vegetables; it created a fight/scramble for the sweets leading 2 kids lying on the floor crying]
we've found some people here speak chinese which is nice, since once you get off the beaten track (ie. 15 minutees walk from main strips here in phuket) noone speaks any english -but most people don't -which is even nicer, since thailand is so toursity! however being able to speak chinese (or french, when we knew there were some chinese speakers nearby) with Evelyn (my travelling partner) has been very useful in terms of agreeing prices for bargaining and making decisions...aah the joys of languages.
thailand's economy is very dependent on agriculture and tourism -most of the tourism does not seem too bad so far; many of the tours are good and the guides are all locals, so they try to protect their own country -however there are so many scams its a joke. today when we were told to changes buses, everyone was so suspicious we said no, even before listening to the reasoning. i felt sorry for the lady afterwards -but it goes to show that we all suspect 'guilty' and need to be convinced of 'innocent' later!
From the news it is interesting to read about China and Russia supporting the 'west' in their Iran/IAEA discussions and about China and India both competing at the World Economic Forum for attention. It is also intriguing reading the english language Thai papers; since they are so outspoken about the PM here who is under fire in a big way for some dodgy dealings. Not the kind of stuff found in China that is for sure.
Just a few days backpacking has reminded me how little you can learn about a country from backpacking. you can have fun, for sure, but you won't learn much about the culture or much about the language or history. I am much more keen to continue exploring china where i cna try to communicate and continue to build up my knowledge of the country. having said that, we have made the most of our tour guides, quizzing them about their lives (95% of thais are buddhist and most men do a few months as a monk) -we even attended 'monk chat' at a temple recently (great idea) to learn more.
Before I return to Shangahi (and then shortly to Beijing) on Sunday night I'll be listening to 'from our correspondent' on bbc website and downloading the recent and back episodes as podcasts onto my mp3 player since i cannot in china, but find the show fascinating. Meanwhile i must prepare for the snorkelling trip tomorrow and start to realise that soon i'll return to freezing beijing...but at least it might snow there!
Friday, January 27, 2006
work-travel-work....
After the southern China dash was the mad week-long conference including one day of workshops from companies about how they are responsible companies, which I organised. This went well and the rest of the conference went very well too. In fact it ended quite emotionally...and I had to tell myself to shut-up!
Conferences are great things...intense, hard work and lots of fun. Its a great way of getting to know more about Chinese culture (specifically from the youth perspective) -from sex to tiananmen square to entrepreneurship and so on. I hope I have a better understanding of Chinese culture now...but still lots to learn, and language issues to overcome. I had 1 day to sort of relax in Shanghai before flying off to Thailand in beautiful weather; arriving at 2am totally exhausted from not having slep for 7 days and then woke up to see the pool and then explore Bangkok.
Yes, its interesting and yes, its very, very Asian. Its great, but also quite predictable. Its quite laid back and quite cheap. There are the little tuk-tuks (3 wheeler open sided taxis) and boats speeding along the canals and rivers. The city is an interesting mix -a huge number of foreigners working and travelling, a big mix of new and old housing next to each other and a massive number of temples and other buddhist things right next to backpacker bars or expat bars.
After being taken for a ride, literally and figuratively on a 'see 4 temples for cheap cause its governmnent promotion day (Chinese New Year being the reason given to us), we had a fantastic seafood meal last night and this morning continued to not sleep in order to wake at 6.30 and do a bike tour around the local countryside. It was 1 trip that was absolutely fantastic with over 50 photos taken, several bums hurting and more by the end. We really felt like we were off the beaten track; be it on the boat or the bike. Photos will be up when i get some time (2007, maybe?).
First impressions are of a country that caters very much for the middle and upper classes with a pretty expensive subway system and few eating places that are as budget as you expect to find hidden in alleys for the locals.. i guess they must be there somewhere. Me, Echo and Evelyn are having a great time, and Echo's family are great hosts...20 of them have flown in for Chinese New Year so we have lots of eating and other traditional stuff to do before doing a 6 day dash around the country (of sorts).
We did not come across the supposed demonstration against the prime minister by his former political openent/currently a talkshow host but did enjoy some wonderful 'pad thai' and local beer. There is always an incentive to go to sleep when the next day you will go to the pool, an imperial palace, eat at the Hyatt and arrange tickets to see watefalls, elephants and the most perfect beaches in the World.
For now, work shall wait, sleep shall beckon and...zzzz
Conferences are great things...intense, hard work and lots of fun. Its a great way of getting to know more about Chinese culture (specifically from the youth perspective) -from sex to tiananmen square to entrepreneurship and so on. I hope I have a better understanding of Chinese culture now...but still lots to learn, and language issues to overcome. I had 1 day to sort of relax in Shanghai before flying off to Thailand in beautiful weather; arriving at 2am totally exhausted from not having slep for 7 days and then woke up to see the pool and then explore Bangkok.
Yes, its interesting and yes, its very, very Asian. Its great, but also quite predictable. Its quite laid back and quite cheap. There are the little tuk-tuks (3 wheeler open sided taxis) and boats speeding along the canals and rivers. The city is an interesting mix -a huge number of foreigners working and travelling, a big mix of new and old housing next to each other and a massive number of temples and other buddhist things right next to backpacker bars or expat bars.
After being taken for a ride, literally and figuratively on a 'see 4 temples for cheap cause its governmnent promotion day (Chinese New Year being the reason given to us), we had a fantastic seafood meal last night and this morning continued to not sleep in order to wake at 6.30 and do a bike tour around the local countryside. It was 1 trip that was absolutely fantastic with over 50 photos taken, several bums hurting and more by the end. We really felt like we were off the beaten track; be it on the boat or the bike. Photos will be up when i get some time (2007, maybe?).
First impressions are of a country that caters very much for the middle and upper classes with a pretty expensive subway system and few eating places that are as budget as you expect to find hidden in alleys for the locals.. i guess they must be there somewhere. Me, Echo and Evelyn are having a great time, and Echo's family are great hosts...20 of them have flown in for Chinese New Year so we have lots of eating and other traditional stuff to do before doing a 6 day dash around the country (of sorts).
We did not come across the supposed demonstration against the prime minister by his former political openent/currently a talkshow host but did enjoy some wonderful 'pad thai' and local beer. There is always an incentive to go to sleep when the next day you will go to the pool, an imperial palace, eat at the Hyatt and arrange tickets to see watefalls, elephants and the most perfect beaches in the World.
For now, work shall wait, sleep shall beckon and...zzzz
Monday, January 16, 2006
Cities
Cities are interesting since they are found everywhere and serve the same purpose, yet each is different...but how different?
Coming to china and returning to the UK has reminded me what makes a city. In the UK most cities have been under redevelopment for over 30 years -it started after the War I guess with the economic restructuring of the economy away from manufacturing. Cities had to find new sources of employment and new sources of 'life'. Now the focus is on 'community'; designing whole districts, shopping, community services, transport and so on designed to create a sense of community, to reduce crime and so on.
In China, since so many bits of cities have been ripped up and rebuilt in just a few years (often without the previous occupiers having much of a say in the matter) and money has been spent 'willy-nilly' sometimes (i.e. our building will be the tallest, our hotel will have the highest revolving restaurant, our building will have the most glass, ours will have the most fancy shops inside etc), then it can be easy for a city to lose what identity or community it had.
In the last few days I have been back to Hong Kong which is a city that seems to not know what it is. More visibly Chinese than any city in mainland China but one where most people speak english, the signs are in both languages and you'll find the most advanced buildings or technology and the most diverse countries represented culturally in the residents, than any in the World. Maybe it will find its identity in the future. Right now everyone just works so hard, no-one has time to think about it!
I also went to Shenzhen, a small town that 25 years ago had 30,000 people and is now a city with a bigger population than London; full of China's richest (indeed its sometimes known as the play area of the rich -where hong kong and guangdong residents come to spend their money -though its no Monte Carlo at all, and nearby Macau draws teh gambling crowd) yet 8 million of the 10 million residents are workers..and mostly migrant workers (apparently). I was not there long enough to find out what the city is... but its nice enough to walk around, brand spanking new... probably not much community, culture or identity though.
Guangzhou is where i have been for a few more days, and this is the center of China's economic boom centred on manufacturing. Coming here last time it just seemed like shops (i was only here 6 hours!), but it actually is very Chinese. Lots of old Chinese appartment blocks and noodle shops around the corner from 5 star hotels, french style cafes and bars full of the weirdest bunch of foreigners you'll find. They come from all over on business trips..maybe as buyers, maybe as traders, maybe just to find a chinese girl who is looking for a rich westerner. But they are a motley crew -most seem to be here temporarily (on trips) whereas BJ and SH tend to have those who are more residents than travellers. So it might just be the most typical chinese city -the best expression of China now. It has an identity, but its losing it to skyscrapers and subway lines. Just outside it are both rice paddies and massive factories -inside it are a few beggars lining the wide streets and a lot of expensive taxis. There seems little Chinese history or culture, as is typical of China: beijing and a couple of other towns are the exceptions...
40% of china's population already lives in urban areas and the biggest migration in earth's history is continuing apace. Thinking about the cities is a great symbol of China in general. Changing quickly but somehow managing to keep it's sense of Chinese-ness -just. Hopefully there will forever be the old people playing cards, the local traders lining the streets with 'crap on a rug' (maybe i could trademark that sentence!) or 'fruit in a truck/bucket/box-on-shoulders', a cyclist running you over and people serving 'lunch-in-a-box'. But when i walk outside now I could just as easily go to McDonalds, get given a prostitute's calling card, buy a fake DVD or spend my disposable income on fashion.
Actually I think I need a 'lunch-in-a-box' one last time before zipping off to Shanghai
Coming to china and returning to the UK has reminded me what makes a city. In the UK most cities have been under redevelopment for over 30 years -it started after the War I guess with the economic restructuring of the economy away from manufacturing. Cities had to find new sources of employment and new sources of 'life'. Now the focus is on 'community'; designing whole districts, shopping, community services, transport and so on designed to create a sense of community, to reduce crime and so on.
In China, since so many bits of cities have been ripped up and rebuilt in just a few years (often without the previous occupiers having much of a say in the matter) and money has been spent 'willy-nilly' sometimes (i.e. our building will be the tallest, our hotel will have the highest revolving restaurant, our building will have the most glass, ours will have the most fancy shops inside etc), then it can be easy for a city to lose what identity or community it had.
In the last few days I have been back to Hong Kong which is a city that seems to not know what it is. More visibly Chinese than any city in mainland China but one where most people speak english, the signs are in both languages and you'll find the most advanced buildings or technology and the most diverse countries represented culturally in the residents, than any in the World. Maybe it will find its identity in the future. Right now everyone just works so hard, no-one has time to think about it!
I also went to Shenzhen, a small town that 25 years ago had 30,000 people and is now a city with a bigger population than London; full of China's richest (indeed its sometimes known as the play area of the rich -where hong kong and guangdong residents come to spend their money -though its no Monte Carlo at all, and nearby Macau draws teh gambling crowd) yet 8 million of the 10 million residents are workers..and mostly migrant workers (apparently). I was not there long enough to find out what the city is... but its nice enough to walk around, brand spanking new... probably not much community, culture or identity though.
Guangzhou is where i have been for a few more days, and this is the center of China's economic boom centred on manufacturing. Coming here last time it just seemed like shops (i was only here 6 hours!), but it actually is very Chinese. Lots of old Chinese appartment blocks and noodle shops around the corner from 5 star hotels, french style cafes and bars full of the weirdest bunch of foreigners you'll find. They come from all over on business trips..maybe as buyers, maybe as traders, maybe just to find a chinese girl who is looking for a rich westerner. But they are a motley crew -most seem to be here temporarily (on trips) whereas BJ and SH tend to have those who are more residents than travellers. So it might just be the most typical chinese city -the best expression of China now. It has an identity, but its losing it to skyscrapers and subway lines. Just outside it are both rice paddies and massive factories -inside it are a few beggars lining the wide streets and a lot of expensive taxis. There seems little Chinese history or culture, as is typical of China: beijing and a couple of other towns are the exceptions...
40% of china's population already lives in urban areas and the biggest migration in earth's history is continuing apace. Thinking about the cities is a great symbol of China in general. Changing quickly but somehow managing to keep it's sense of Chinese-ness -just. Hopefully there will forever be the old people playing cards, the local traders lining the streets with 'crap on a rug' (maybe i could trademark that sentence!) or 'fruit in a truck/bucket/box-on-shoulders', a cyclist running you over and people serving 'lunch-in-a-box'. But when i walk outside now I could just as easily go to McDonalds, get given a prostitute's calling card, buy a fake DVD or spend my disposable income on fashion.
Actually I think I need a 'lunch-in-a-box' one last time before zipping off to Shanghai
Thursday, January 12, 2006
i'm too busy travelling, meeting and don't have enough time to do my work
its. 2.25am, i am getting up at 7am.
AGAIN!
AGAIN!
Monday, January 09, 2006
Unique cities
It seems I wrote in my previous post the phrase 'very unique' which may in fact be grammatically incorrect. Never the less, in the space of a week I have re-realised uniqueness.
The thing is, in China, most cities are pretty similar -some have a more developed modern bit than others, and some have more remaining old bits than the others, but barring beijing and shanghai most others are similar (note this is about cities, and NOT about the rural areas of China which are the opposite). London, is and I expect (as long as I do not forget what it is like) will always be my favourite city.
It may be extortionately expensive (and even more so when turning up from China!) but it has an atmosphere that I beleive is unparalleled (though I have not lived in every city in the World). Just walking along the river seeing St Paul's, the gherkin, parliament, the Tate and knowing that around the corner is the Globe, London Dungeon, Museums, Embassies and so much more. Seeing people from all around the world -feeling like a tourist in my own home is a wonderful feeling. I have realied that Beijing is an interesting city in an interesting country and that London is an exciting city in a sedate country. London rocks!
Then onto Belgium via a short 2 and a half hour train journey to see the European Parliament (the afternoon tour is not on fridays presumably so we cannot see how few MEPs bother to turn up at that time for work) and typically grand European Churches, Cathedrals, Palaces, Cafes, Restaurants and squares. aaah, what fond reminders of my 10 country/5 week dash in Summer 2000. Brugges was another matter altogether -a truly stunning and enjoyable town with the entire centre untouched for hundreds of years; beautiful chocolate shops and picturesque water-building features. I have so rarely seen a city lit up so well as to really bring out its features (I sound like a morning TV fashion stylist now, yikes). I much prefer it to Venice (supposed to be the venice of the north) and even more than Zhouzhuang (venice of the east, over near Shanghai).
Finally I am writing this by a fountain at night in 'Charter Park' which sits at the foot of the Bank of China building (the most noticable in Hong Kong) and adjacent to the Legislative Council (Hong Kong's 'parliament' that seems very small, presumably since its never had much power before '97 or after) -earlier there were old people doing theiir Tai Qi as always. Down the road/across the bay are thousands of 25 story-plus buildings and hundreds of 40-storey plus buildings lit up (some with xmas decorations of 30m high) and sandwiched between them going up the hill sits little chinese restaurants, stupidly steep stairs/alleyways and neon signs everywhere. I remember why I love this city so much as well.
In a few minutes (10.30pm) I'll be off to stay with the AIESEC guys here for a few days to work and renew my visa before heading back to cheap China. but first, back to the running water, quietness of a deserted park and the sweet music of Katie Melua on my new ipod (with video :)) that will keep me company for many a future journey I am sure (since i cannot log onto the wireless networks that are all secured in the park!).
The thing is, in China, most cities are pretty similar -some have a more developed modern bit than others, and some have more remaining old bits than the others, but barring beijing and shanghai most others are similar (note this is about cities, and NOT about the rural areas of China which are the opposite). London, is and I expect (as long as I do not forget what it is like) will always be my favourite city.
It may be extortionately expensive (and even more so when turning up from China!) but it has an atmosphere that I beleive is unparalleled (though I have not lived in every city in the World). Just walking along the river seeing St Paul's, the gherkin, parliament, the Tate and knowing that around the corner is the Globe, London Dungeon, Museums, Embassies and so much more. Seeing people from all around the world -feeling like a tourist in my own home is a wonderful feeling. I have realied that Beijing is an interesting city in an interesting country and that London is an exciting city in a sedate country. London rocks!
Then onto Belgium via a short 2 and a half hour train journey to see the European Parliament (the afternoon tour is not on fridays presumably so we cannot see how few MEPs bother to turn up at that time for work) and typically grand European Churches, Cathedrals, Palaces, Cafes, Restaurants and squares. aaah, what fond reminders of my 10 country/5 week dash in Summer 2000. Brugges was another matter altogether -a truly stunning and enjoyable town with the entire centre untouched for hundreds of years; beautiful chocolate shops and picturesque water-building features. I have so rarely seen a city lit up so well as to really bring out its features (I sound like a morning TV fashion stylist now, yikes). I much prefer it to Venice (supposed to be the venice of the north) and even more than Zhouzhuang (venice of the east, over near Shanghai).
Finally I am writing this by a fountain at night in 'Charter Park' which sits at the foot of the Bank of China building (the most noticable in Hong Kong) and adjacent to the Legislative Council (Hong Kong's 'parliament' that seems very small, presumably since its never had much power before '97 or after) -earlier there were old people doing theiir Tai Qi as always. Down the road/across the bay are thousands of 25 story-plus buildings and hundreds of 40-storey plus buildings lit up (some with xmas decorations of 30m high) and sandwiched between them going up the hill sits little chinese restaurants, stupidly steep stairs/alleyways and neon signs everywhere. I remember why I love this city so much as well.
In a few minutes (10.30pm) I'll be off to stay with the AIESEC guys here for a few days to work and renew my visa before heading back to cheap China. but first, back to the running water, quietness of a deserted park and the sweet music of Katie Melua on my new ipod (with video :)) that will keep me company for many a future journey I am sure (since i cannot log onto the wireless networks that are all secured in the park!).
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
the UK
Returning to the UK has reminded me that no matter how much the world globalises/comes together, every country is still very unique.
So far I have revelled in:
- drinking real beer (A.K.A. bitter/ale and NOT lager) -I presume that xmas ales is a UK tradition; staying in a B & B;
-walking in the British countryside (with footpaths, bridleways, kissing gates, styles etc);
-driving on the left; put my hand up to thank the guy who put his hand up to thank me for letting him through when there was only space for 1 car in a narrow road;
-eaten food like spag bol, chips, steak, loction pudding, chocolate cake, pizza, curry, sandwhiches, toasted cheese sandwhiches, roast lamb, muesli cereal, croissants and so many other things;
-read, listened, watched and lauded over the BBC;
-caught up on all the great british comedy (new ones like little britain, medium ones like the office & father ted and the older ones too);
-strolled through modern redevloped town centres (with trams!) like Sheffield and older ones like Stourbridge (chavs and all!);
-journeyed to many a pub (god bless the pub);
-visited the residents' bar of a posh hotel on the golf course
-and caught up with friends galore (honestly!)
Another few weeks of stupid travel agenda coming up, and only another 5 days in the UK, where it has rained (not much unfortunately), snowed and been overcast (all in 1 day -great to be back!). Been having lots of thoughts..will try to remember them and write them down soon! Happy new year, and have a great 2006 everyone!
So far I have revelled in:
- drinking real beer (A.K.A. bitter/ale and NOT lager) -I presume that xmas ales is a UK tradition; staying in a B & B;
-walking in the British countryside (with footpaths, bridleways, kissing gates, styles etc);
-driving on the left; put my hand up to thank the guy who put his hand up to thank me for letting him through when there was only space for 1 car in a narrow road;
-eaten food like spag bol, chips, steak, loction pudding, chocolate cake, pizza, curry, sandwhiches, toasted cheese sandwhiches, roast lamb, muesli cereal, croissants and so many other things;
-read, listened, watched and lauded over the BBC;
-caught up on all the great british comedy (new ones like little britain, medium ones like the office & father ted and the older ones too);
-strolled through modern redevloped town centres (with trams!) like Sheffield and older ones like Stourbridge (chavs and all!);
-journeyed to many a pub (god bless the pub);
-visited the residents' bar of a posh hotel on the golf course
-and caught up with friends galore (honestly!)
Another few weeks of stupid travel agenda coming up, and only another 5 days in the UK, where it has rained (not much unfortunately), snowed and been overcast (all in 1 day -great to be back!). Been having lots of thoughts..will try to remember them and write them down soon! Happy new year, and have a great 2006 everyone!
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
perspectives on China from the UK
Quick update: had team planning, ice-skating on hou hai and xmas eve party, then flew home for family and food (of course!)
Since the first day I arrived here I realised how little I know about China (even though I read a little before I came). In fact what I knew was: Tiananmen Sqaure (violence or other), Mao (dictator of some kind), Communist state, Great Wall (near Beijing maybe), Hong Kong (handovered or something), Booming Economy and the new stuff I read about (Cultural Revolution, Great Leap Forward etc).
Part of my weblog was about telling people more about China, but I guess I have also tried to restrain myself (not wanting to 'lecture') and having lived there for over a year I've probably forgotten both this idea and how different the country is.
Coming back and showing photos to friends received the expected questions about Beijing's masive development, pollution and so on. But it also led to questions about Tibet (is it a country?), Religion (are chinese people buddhist?), Taiwain (is it its own country?) and so on. I had forgotten how much basic (yet complicated) issues are little know. How some of the World is learning about a railway in Tibet and its consequences but yet don't know the history of Tibet.
It is strange, from my perspective when I think back and learned that most chinese people have this (somewhat justified) hatred of Japan due to historical tensions, that the official Chinese Church still recognises the government over the Vatican (and thus the Vatican recognises Taipei as the rulers rather than Beijing) and that the Chinese New Year is mostly a quiet time for families rather than the raucousness of a Western New Year.
Not much has changed in the UK really (except for more speed cameras!); but I am getting a different perspective on China... the next few weeks will be busy but manageable, but hopefully fun..preparing for 2007! London on the 5th is a party -all welcome after a New Year's one as well. UK prices, 12 days to go...
Since the first day I arrived here I realised how little I know about China (even though I read a little before I came). In fact what I knew was: Tiananmen Sqaure (violence or other), Mao (dictator of some kind), Communist state, Great Wall (near Beijing maybe), Hong Kong (handovered or something), Booming Economy and the new stuff I read about (Cultural Revolution, Great Leap Forward etc).
Part of my weblog was about telling people more about China, but I guess I have also tried to restrain myself (not wanting to 'lecture') and having lived there for over a year I've probably forgotten both this idea and how different the country is.
Coming back and showing photos to friends received the expected questions about Beijing's masive development, pollution and so on. But it also led to questions about Tibet (is it a country?), Religion (are chinese people buddhist?), Taiwain (is it its own country?) and so on. I had forgotten how much basic (yet complicated) issues are little know. How some of the World is learning about a railway in Tibet and its consequences but yet don't know the history of Tibet.
It is strange, from my perspective when I think back and learned that most chinese people have this (somewhat justified) hatred of Japan due to historical tensions, that the official Chinese Church still recognises the government over the Vatican (and thus the Vatican recognises Taipei as the rulers rather than Beijing) and that the Chinese New Year is mostly a quiet time for families rather than the raucousness of a Western New Year.
Not much has changed in the UK really (except for more speed cameras!); but I am getting a different perspective on China... the next few weeks will be busy but manageable, but hopefully fun..preparing for 2007! London on the 5th is a party -all welcome after a New Year's one as well. UK prices, 12 days to go...
Monday, December 19, 2005
the end of another year
I'm 24 years old, have already had 2 parties to celebrate (and probably more to come in the UK) and its almost 2006. Its a bit scary, realising I have not seen so many people for such a long time and having spent b'day 04 and 05 here, it feels like i have been away for even more than 15 months.
I read the UK papers almost every day, so I feel like I know what is happening, but I am currently comparing it to the fact that I speak to chinese people every day and live in China. I still probably don't know China that well, and nor do I really know what its like in the UK. Maybe nothing has changed. but since I've left there have been terrorist bombs in london, the olympic bid, a General election (though that didn't change anything unfortunately!), friends getting engaged, changing jobs and all kinds of other things.
I'm going to come home knowing I am only around for a short time, do not know exactly when I will be back, and not exactly knowing what job I can or cannot find next summer in order to get my career up another step. hmmm. no time for reflection really. I am only 24 and there are plenty of opportunities. Soon it will be time to make yet more decisions -I should have a successor lined up within 2 months and then job applications, summer travelling to organise and a hot spring/summer in China that should convince more UK-ers to come visit.
Anyway I'm still tired from train journeys and shopping (damn cheap fake goods will take up most of my suitcase!) and later this week we have team planning, christmas eve dinner and then...woosh.
And whilst all this is happening, every day I continue to read about the ongoing western media's analysis of the chinese media's handling of the small protest and associated killing in Guandong that took place last week. China is still a fascinating country... with fascinating people everywhere, and a langauge that I just cannot master....yet!!
I read the UK papers almost every day, so I feel like I know what is happening, but I am currently comparing it to the fact that I speak to chinese people every day and live in China. I still probably don't know China that well, and nor do I really know what its like in the UK. Maybe nothing has changed. but since I've left there have been terrorist bombs in london, the olympic bid, a General election (though that didn't change anything unfortunately!), friends getting engaged, changing jobs and all kinds of other things.
I'm going to come home knowing I am only around for a short time, do not know exactly when I will be back, and not exactly knowing what job I can or cannot find next summer in order to get my career up another step. hmmm. no time for reflection really. I am only 24 and there are plenty of opportunities. Soon it will be time to make yet more decisions -I should have a successor lined up within 2 months and then job applications, summer travelling to organise and a hot spring/summer in China that should convince more UK-ers to come visit.
Anyway I'm still tired from train journeys and shopping (damn cheap fake goods will take up most of my suitcase!) and later this week we have team planning, christmas eve dinner and then...woosh.
And whilst all this is happening, every day I continue to read about the ongoing western media's analysis of the chinese media's handling of the small protest and associated killing in Guandong that took place last week. China is still a fascinating country... with fascinating people everywhere, and a langauge that I just cannot master....yet!!
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Fengyang Lu
the best street in Shanghai is fengyang lu. There are not that many parts of Shanghai that feel chinese..there are some, but not many. Fengyang lu is one of them. What makes it Chinese?
-the hordes of cyclists and motorcyclists that constantly pass by and get stuck at the traffic lights (causing my father to quote that he thought there was a race about to start...)
-the 3, 4, 5 rmb options for a cooked meal that you can get from a lady every 50m who has just cooked 10 dishes in big pots, put the big pots outside her house and then serves it to you (you pay more for more dishes squeezed into your box)
-the dumplings and baozi (steamed bread with fillings) places that provide cheap, takeaway food
-the hairdressers (they're everywhere in China)
-the spitting
-the food market that leads off the street with people selling all kinds of things, including (of course) bits of animals that you dont think can be eaten, and bits of meat that really don't think should be the resting place for so many flies...
-the street food for breakfast
-the crazy cars that turn right on a red light (when pedestrians have a green light, which is legal) and like a hot knife in butter carve a way through the crowds
-the cars that will reverse up a street cause the missed the turning, or will just go down a 1-way street the wrong way because...well, because they can!
-the people-wardens (yep, like traffic wardens) that man the pedestrian lights!
...and many other things besides.
Its also a great street because its a 2 minute walk from the subway station, 5 minutes from the center of Shanghai and because it is definitely Shanghai. It has patisseries on it (yep, the french shops selling breads, cakes etc) and it has a hospital that is spanking new and over 25 floors. It has a couple of highways zooming over it, it has a couple of skyscrapers dotted along it, or just behind it and it has fake DVD shops. Plus, of course it has Devrim and his wonderful appartment (until yesterday when the phone and internet stopped working) where I stay in Shanghai. Oh, and in case I have not mentioned food enough (and you really need to spend a month in china, just eating (since menus are often 20 pages long and there are at least 15 styles of chinese food) to get to know China) -the fantastic hot pot, xinjiang and fried dumpling restaurants on/beside it!
Its the reason why I've fallen in love with Shanghai -not just the beautiful strolling around the french quarter, the sheer scale of the skyscrapers, the huge number of fancy appartments or foreigners and not even the style that oozes from a place with ferrari shops, xmas lights (a bit tacky by shanghai standards, but they dont exist much else in mainland china) and a subway with 12 exits and automatic gates!
fengyang lu -respect!
-the hordes of cyclists and motorcyclists that constantly pass by and get stuck at the traffic lights (causing my father to quote that he thought there was a race about to start...)
-the 3, 4, 5 rmb options for a cooked meal that you can get from a lady every 50m who has just cooked 10 dishes in big pots, put the big pots outside her house and then serves it to you (you pay more for more dishes squeezed into your box)
-the dumplings and baozi (steamed bread with fillings) places that provide cheap, takeaway food
-the hairdressers (they're everywhere in China)
-the spitting
-the food market that leads off the street with people selling all kinds of things, including (of course) bits of animals that you dont think can be eaten, and bits of meat that really don't think should be the resting place for so many flies...
-the street food for breakfast
-the crazy cars that turn right on a red light (when pedestrians have a green light, which is legal) and like a hot knife in butter carve a way through the crowds
-the cars that will reverse up a street cause the missed the turning, or will just go down a 1-way street the wrong way because...well, because they can!
-the people-wardens (yep, like traffic wardens) that man the pedestrian lights!
...and many other things besides.
Its also a great street because its a 2 minute walk from the subway station, 5 minutes from the center of Shanghai and because it is definitely Shanghai. It has patisseries on it (yep, the french shops selling breads, cakes etc) and it has a hospital that is spanking new and over 25 floors. It has a couple of highways zooming over it, it has a couple of skyscrapers dotted along it, or just behind it and it has fake DVD shops. Plus, of course it has Devrim and his wonderful appartment (until yesterday when the phone and internet stopped working) where I stay in Shanghai. Oh, and in case I have not mentioned food enough (and you really need to spend a month in china, just eating (since menus are often 20 pages long and there are at least 15 styles of chinese food) to get to know China) -the fantastic hot pot, xinjiang and fried dumpling restaurants on/beside it!
Its the reason why I've fallen in love with Shanghai -not just the beautiful strolling around the french quarter, the sheer scale of the skyscrapers, the huge number of fancy appartments or foreigners and not even the style that oozes from a place with ferrari shops, xmas lights (a bit tacky by shanghai standards, but they dont exist much else in mainland china) and a subway with 12 exits and automatic gates!
fengyang lu -respect!
Friday, December 02, 2005
Human Rights!
Just spent a few days with some of the most important business men in the world at the United Nations Global Compact summitt in Shanghai -kinda cool. Before that was spending the weekend with the President of AIESEC International (Brodie) (who is younger than me -and then I was sharing a bed with since we were all crashing at Diggidy's in Shanghai).
Brodie's not that important really, and obviously very down-to-earth; so doesn't compare to the boat trip on the river in Shanghai on Wednesday night. That was a classic night, since I spoke to the 3 most important people related to Human Rights IN THE WORLD, on a boat IN CHINA! It was very, very, very cool to chat with Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. It was much more fun to also talk to the Heads of both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Both of these organisations are totally banned in China (websites, the staff cannot get visas normally etc) -but both were allowed into China on 4 day visas (actually the Human Rights Watch guy was given a 30 day one, then they called him and changed their mind to give him a 4 day one, once the computer realised who he was!). Because they are both founding organisations of the Global Compact, their attending (and speaking) was a precondition for the Conference to be hosted by China.
very cool stuff, the conference was interesting and fun; the week in Shanghai has been busy as hell but great, and next week will be likewise in Beijing hopefully. now i just need to find time to try to organise the New Year's Party and to go shopping before I return home!
World AIDS Day was yesterday -keep the promise.
Brodie's not that important really, and obviously very down-to-earth; so doesn't compare to the boat trip on the river in Shanghai on Wednesday night. That was a classic night, since I spoke to the 3 most important people related to Human Rights IN THE WORLD, on a boat IN CHINA! It was very, very, very cool to chat with Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. It was much more fun to also talk to the Heads of both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Both of these organisations are totally banned in China (websites, the staff cannot get visas normally etc) -but both were allowed into China on 4 day visas (actually the Human Rights Watch guy was given a 30 day one, then they called him and changed their mind to give him a 4 day one, once the computer realised who he was!). Because they are both founding organisations of the Global Compact, their attending (and speaking) was a precondition for the Conference to be hosted by China.
very cool stuff, the conference was interesting and fun; the week in Shanghai has been busy as hell but great, and next week will be likewise in Beijing hopefully. now i just need to find time to try to organise the New Year's Party and to go shopping before I return home!
World AIDS Day was yesterday -keep the promise.
Monday, November 28, 2005
travelling, what's that?
After 2 weeks in Shanghai of meetings and networking around to find companies to talk about CSR at the next AIESEC conference in Shanghai next year, I spent 1 weekend in Wuxi visiting a friend (just 75 minutes by train from Shanghai). He taught me Chinese chess and i saw a big buddha plus some lakes before heading to Hangzhou (just 2 hours by train from Shanghai) to start AIESEC in one of the top 5 best Universities in China.
It was an exciting 4 days meeting the students, University and local companies. The campus is one of the best I have ever seen -1/3rd finished full of beautiful lakes, millions of trees, fancy designed buildings and so on: I walked around it lots; in the evening it was lit up magnificently (as in tastefully and stylishly -which means it would fit in perfectly in Shanghai, but not in Beijing!).
A quick day in Shanghai was folllowed by the 14 hr trip to Beijing for 4 days since the President of AIESEC globally is in town talking to us; its a fun, kind of exhausting time. Broken up by going to the Scottish Ball which hands-down beat the British and EU balls. I can promise you that if you fill me with whiskey and wine then I can actually dance fairly well (scottish line dancing is a lot of fun). On Tuesday is the train back to Shanghai (12 hrs, fast train), on Friday back to Beijing. (14 hrs) The following Friday will be back to Shanghai (14 hrs) and a local mountain (13 hrs there, 12 hrs back) that we aim to climb in the snow before returning to Beijing (14 hrs) for a week or so returning home for New Year (11 hr flight i suppose). So if trains are your thing...
Talking about AIESEC in the past few days, and its relevant, vision and strategies for China has led to interesting discussion about China itself and AIESEC's role. With 2 major trends -the external, globalisation, internationalisation one and the internally focused, student and talent development; AIESEC is important. Especially with the misunderstandings that the World has of China and of how to deal with China. What's the best job opportunity we realised right now? Advising Chinese companies on how to do business in the West (market opportunities, cultural differences etc) -since Chinese companies have no understanding of the West (the same as Western companies not understanding China until they spent millions on consultancy and research fees!)
Stay tuned for some delicious Chinese food coming soon ... with appaling service, menus in Chinese, rude customers and phlegm over the floors... to a town near you!
I'm looking forward to seeing many UK-based people over New Year (probably a house party taking place if you can come) and going to Thailand for Chinese New Year.
It was an exciting 4 days meeting the students, University and local companies. The campus is one of the best I have ever seen -1/3rd finished full of beautiful lakes, millions of trees, fancy designed buildings and so on: I walked around it lots; in the evening it was lit up magnificently (as in tastefully and stylishly -which means it would fit in perfectly in Shanghai, but not in Beijing!).
A quick day in Shanghai was folllowed by the 14 hr trip to Beijing for 4 days since the President of AIESEC globally is in town talking to us; its a fun, kind of exhausting time. Broken up by going to the Scottish Ball which hands-down beat the British and EU balls. I can promise you that if you fill me with whiskey and wine then I can actually dance fairly well (scottish line dancing is a lot of fun). On Tuesday is the train back to Shanghai (12 hrs, fast train), on Friday back to Beijing. (14 hrs) The following Friday will be back to Shanghai (14 hrs) and a local mountain (13 hrs there, 12 hrs back) that we aim to climb in the snow before returning to Beijing (14 hrs) for a week or so returning home for New Year (11 hr flight i suppose). So if trains are your thing...
Talking about AIESEC in the past few days, and its relevant, vision and strategies for China has led to interesting discussion about China itself and AIESEC's role. With 2 major trends -the external, globalisation, internationalisation one and the internally focused, student and talent development; AIESEC is important. Especially with the misunderstandings that the World has of China and of how to deal with China. What's the best job opportunity we realised right now? Advising Chinese companies on how to do business in the West (market opportunities, cultural differences etc) -since Chinese companies have no understanding of the West (the same as Western companies not understanding China until they spent millions on consultancy and research fees!)
Stay tuned for some delicious Chinese food coming soon ... with appaling service, menus in Chinese, rude customers and phlegm over the floors... to a town near you!
I'm looking forward to seeing many UK-based people over New Year (probably a house party taking place if you can come) and going to Thailand for Chinese New Year.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Tennis
The LCG (little chinese girl AKA Tee) and Me, Tennis Masters Cup Final, Shanghai, 15 November, 2005.Fantastic stadium, great tennis and lots of short movie clips courtesy of digital camera technology! We even spent the last few hours in the most expensive seats since people started leaving (yay)
20,000 people
280 rmb ticket
45 minutes bus ride from Shanghai
20 rmb for half a sandwhich in the 'canteen'/restaurant'
12 Tennis Players
8 hours of tennis
2 caps courtesy of Haworth (we weren't good enough to actually win them properly)
1 awesome guitar player for entertainment
Friday, November 11, 2005
Shanghai
I've been in Shanghai a week now and its been over 11 months since I was last here. Wow. I totally forgot how amazing (and so different) the place is. There is such a buzz, I am not sure what it comes from, probably a combination of:
-fantastic skyline, everywhere -tall buildings, fancy buildings, lights everywhere
-people everywhere -Shanghai has more shops and more people shopping; it also seems to have more people walking on the streets... beijing is quite empty really of people, they are all spread out more I think. Actually Shanghai has 3-4 million more people than Beijing -maybe thats it! Oh, and Shanghai's pavements are much narrower than Beijing
-the massive commercialisation of Shanghai -lots of neon, lots of TV screens (even one on the other side of the road that you watch whilst waiting for the pedestrian crossing lights to change!)
-the huge number of cafes, bars and shops all designed stylishly, fashionably and discreetly.. and not just shoved in 3 areas, but dispersed somewhat.
-the more foreign people around, the higher prices in Shanghai and the umbrellas up from the RAIN (yay!)
Shanghai is really a totally different city from Beijing. There is very little to see culturally (in comparison) and not much of an 'old Shanghai' left -there was never really an 'old Shanghai' anyway, since most of it was built in the last 150 years..and not much of that is left. But there is a beautiful, large euopean style area with trees along the roads and wonderful places to eat, drink, read hidden away behind hedges. There is an airconditioned subway line (with ticket gates, not people), there is the coundown on every pedestrian light and most of all, there is the fact that almost every appartment building looks built in the last 15 years.
In Beijing, most expats know most of the nice appartment complexes; there are only about 10-15 really fancy ones, and then a few other areas of nice-ish ones. In Shanghai they are everywhere; in Pudong (the huuuuge area built from scratch 15 years ago, reclaimed from marsh land, now with a population of a few million), near the old airport, in the center, in the north-east... just everywhere. There are lots more taller buildings here -genuine skyscrapers, and everything is just more modern (escalators in the subway for example!)
Actually the Shanghai government is leading the way in China with lots of clever policies (its quite, maybe a little too much i wonder, independent from the Central government) including 1-way streets, pedestrian walkways over roads and other infrastructure things. It also has a better business environment etc. The Chinese government though, wants to develop the pooper regions more and focus less on the major cities, but now the major cities have got their act together with trade fairs, special attractions (Forumula 1, Masters Cup Tennis) and others.
Anyway, I came here for lots of meetings, seminars and conferences for networking in order to arrange speakers for the next big CSR event, here in Shanghai, in early January. A few of the Beijing crew came down for the weekend which meant we were up till 4/5am a few nights in a row and there are a lot more alumni in Shanghai from all over the World..who I am not starting to meet more (and take advantage of...)
Tonight we saw a film about North Korea that was very interesting. It only focused on Pyongyang (and the director of the film who was at the screening said that the rest of north korea is VERY different), and all the chinese we were with said it was just like China after the Cultural Revolution (late 60s): with a big focus on 'being a group', 'being self-sufficient', 'fighting the american aggressor' (there are frequent practise air-raids, justifiably so, the koreans in the film say, knowing about Iraq!) and celebraing 'the General' (who is everywhere and idolised). Apart from the fact that the city itself is in quite good condition (it all had to be rebuilt after the Korean war), I suppose it was what I expected (communism etc). But it would be nice to have seen more of the rest of Korea (the real Korea) -it was, though, a documentary about 2 girls practicing the the 'mass games' and not a story about korea itself.
So we saw a glimpse of the DPRK (democratic people's of republic as north korea is, ironically, known) through their (and family's) eyes and the 'mass games' (like olympics games opening cermony all day for a week on end, and a few times a year) were gobsmacking (what do you expect when the girls train for 2 hrs a day for 2 months and then 10 hrs a day for 2 months or so) -to perform in front of the 'General' is the ultimate honour. Anyway, its not on general release (but partly paid for by the BBC so might be on in the UK sometime) -highly recommmended. I bought a book that the diretor brought over '100 questions about north korea' that is what north korea publishes internally in english, so its obviously propoganda crap, but hilarious reading!
off to bed, more days of conferences and meetings ahead...gggr, no time to sleep (but finally getting over my cold!)
-fantastic skyline, everywhere -tall buildings, fancy buildings, lights everywhere
-people everywhere -Shanghai has more shops and more people shopping; it also seems to have more people walking on the streets... beijing is quite empty really of people, they are all spread out more I think. Actually Shanghai has 3-4 million more people than Beijing -maybe thats it! Oh, and Shanghai's pavements are much narrower than Beijing
-the massive commercialisation of Shanghai -lots of neon, lots of TV screens (even one on the other side of the road that you watch whilst waiting for the pedestrian crossing lights to change!)
-the huge number of cafes, bars and shops all designed stylishly, fashionably and discreetly.. and not just shoved in 3 areas, but dispersed somewhat.
-the more foreign people around, the higher prices in Shanghai and the umbrellas up from the RAIN (yay!)
Shanghai is really a totally different city from Beijing. There is very little to see culturally (in comparison) and not much of an 'old Shanghai' left -there was never really an 'old Shanghai' anyway, since most of it was built in the last 150 years..and not much of that is left. But there is a beautiful, large euopean style area with trees along the roads and wonderful places to eat, drink, read hidden away behind hedges. There is an airconditioned subway line (with ticket gates, not people), there is the coundown on every pedestrian light and most of all, there is the fact that almost every appartment building looks built in the last 15 years.
In Beijing, most expats know most of the nice appartment complexes; there are only about 10-15 really fancy ones, and then a few other areas of nice-ish ones. In Shanghai they are everywhere; in Pudong (the huuuuge area built from scratch 15 years ago, reclaimed from marsh land, now with a population of a few million), near the old airport, in the center, in the north-east... just everywhere. There are lots more taller buildings here -genuine skyscrapers, and everything is just more modern (escalators in the subway for example!)
Actually the Shanghai government is leading the way in China with lots of clever policies (its quite, maybe a little too much i wonder, independent from the Central government) including 1-way streets, pedestrian walkways over roads and other infrastructure things. It also has a better business environment etc. The Chinese government though, wants to develop the pooper regions more and focus less on the major cities, but now the major cities have got their act together with trade fairs, special attractions (Forumula 1, Masters Cup Tennis) and others.
Anyway, I came here for lots of meetings, seminars and conferences for networking in order to arrange speakers for the next big CSR event, here in Shanghai, in early January. A few of the Beijing crew came down for the weekend which meant we were up till 4/5am a few nights in a row and there are a lot more alumni in Shanghai from all over the World..who I am not starting to meet more (and take advantage of...)
Tonight we saw a film about North Korea that was very interesting. It only focused on Pyongyang (and the director of the film who was at the screening said that the rest of north korea is VERY different), and all the chinese we were with said it was just like China after the Cultural Revolution (late 60s): with a big focus on 'being a group', 'being self-sufficient', 'fighting the american aggressor' (there are frequent practise air-raids, justifiably so, the koreans in the film say, knowing about Iraq!) and celebraing 'the General' (who is everywhere and idolised). Apart from the fact that the city itself is in quite good condition (it all had to be rebuilt after the Korean war), I suppose it was what I expected (communism etc). But it would be nice to have seen more of the rest of Korea (the real Korea) -it was, though, a documentary about 2 girls practicing the the 'mass games' and not a story about korea itself.
So we saw a glimpse of the DPRK (democratic people's of republic as north korea is, ironically, known) through their (and family's) eyes and the 'mass games' (like olympics games opening cermony all day for a week on end, and a few times a year) were gobsmacking (what do you expect when the girls train for 2 hrs a day for 2 months and then 10 hrs a day for 2 months or so) -to perform in front of the 'General' is the ultimate honour. Anyway, its not on general release (but partly paid for by the BBC so might be on in the UK sometime) -highly recommmended. I bought a book that the diretor brought over '100 questions about north korea' that is what north korea publishes internally in english, so its obviously propoganda crap, but hilarious reading!
off to bed, more days of conferences and meetings ahead...gggr, no time to sleep (but finally getting over my cold!)
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Eating Penis....
above: uncooked penis ..... below: cooked penis (and a mushroom, in case you are confused!)
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
whirlwind....
after the cabbage excitement, it was down to boring old chairing a conference for over 300 people for a weekend...again. hmm, i am always the backup option for chairing a conference, but its fun, tiring (up till late, up early) and exciting. 300 new AIESECers....
We relaxed the day it finished (got 10 hrs sleep!!), went to a hotpot restaurant (where you cook your own food in a boiling pot of water with spices) and experienced a new type of food.
well its not really food, since its actually penis. well, to be 100% honest, its 2 kinds of penis (maybe goat and bull...?) chopped up on a plate. not something you see too often in china let alone in the UK. Anyway, after some sniggers, pictures etc we boiled it (for a loooong time, just to make sure!) and ate it. Well, I ate most of it since it tasted pretty good (better than the stomach, which has always been a bad order) -so make whatever jokes you want!
After this week was loong meetings into the night about reviewing the previous month, planning the next conference and lots of other things. I've been doing some crappy adminy jobs but also getting out to have lunch with the students who help me on my CSR work.. Tonight i even had a group-MSN Messenger training session to (up to) 11 students...it was crazy, and when it was in chinese, even crazier!
Tomorrow night i got invited by Bayer to the EU Chamber Ball (went to UK one last year, paid lots..this time the EU one is free) -should be fun, should be drunk/tired when waking up at 5am the next morning for my flight to Shanghai for a) University CSR event and then trainee/foreigner weekend trip b) meetings (to get companies to come our next conference in SH in Jan) and external conferences (I am even speaking at one) and c) interviewing chinese students to work abroad. Then back to Beijing for a week for another University CSR event and back to Shanghai for some more meetings and conferences (and anoter alumni event and yet another charity 3 mile run!).
yay, travelling, its been 3 weeks and my feet were itching. So here's to lots of nights on floors, and money spent in expensive Shanghai. but its a great city, with lots of life.
I dont think I am learning that much more about Chinese people's working style -I realised a long time ago that chinese people tend to lack imagination or innovation straight after school due their curriculum. Its hard to get most people to voice or share their opinions. Its quite a blase comment, but generally true (can't be bothered to go into more details). However I am learning more about Chinese people from living with 3 of them. Especially girls. hmm, I think most chinese girls fit a stereotype of being cute/adorable, caring and innocent (seemingly). But at the same time they are quite sensitive/fragile and emotional. Learning a whole new set of chinese women people management skills (slowly); but i love both Kim and Primrose, both utterly unique (yet still within the stereoptype outlined above) and utterly different to any other women i know.
p. s.hopefully by the time i return to beijing the cleaner would have been hired!
p.p.s.boy i do hope i can see some rain in Shanghai -it tends to rain more than in Beijing, and I have literally seen snow fall 3 times and rain about 10 times in over a year -its insane. no wonder the water shortage is so dire (not that you know, since its the countryside that suffers).
We relaxed the day it finished (got 10 hrs sleep!!), went to a hotpot restaurant (where you cook your own food in a boiling pot of water with spices) and experienced a new type of food.
well its not really food, since its actually penis. well, to be 100% honest, its 2 kinds of penis (maybe goat and bull...?) chopped up on a plate. not something you see too often in china let alone in the UK. Anyway, after some sniggers, pictures etc we boiled it (for a loooong time, just to make sure!) and ate it. Well, I ate most of it since it tasted pretty good (better than the stomach, which has always been a bad order) -so make whatever jokes you want!
After this week was loong meetings into the night about reviewing the previous month, planning the next conference and lots of other things. I've been doing some crappy adminy jobs but also getting out to have lunch with the students who help me on my CSR work.. Tonight i even had a group-MSN Messenger training session to (up to) 11 students...it was crazy, and when it was in chinese, even crazier!
Tomorrow night i got invited by Bayer to the EU Chamber Ball (went to UK one last year, paid lots..this time the EU one is free) -should be fun, should be drunk/tired when waking up at 5am the next morning for my flight to Shanghai for a) University CSR event and then trainee/foreigner weekend trip b) meetings (to get companies to come our next conference in SH in Jan) and external conferences (I am even speaking at one) and c) interviewing chinese students to work abroad. Then back to Beijing for a week for another University CSR event and back to Shanghai for some more meetings and conferences (and anoter alumni event and yet another charity 3 mile run!).
yay, travelling, its been 3 weeks and my feet were itching. So here's to lots of nights on floors, and money spent in expensive Shanghai. but its a great city, with lots of life.
I dont think I am learning that much more about Chinese people's working style -I realised a long time ago that chinese people tend to lack imagination or innovation straight after school due their curriculum. Its hard to get most people to voice or share their opinions. Its quite a blase comment, but generally true (can't be bothered to go into more details). However I am learning more about Chinese people from living with 3 of them. Especially girls. hmm, I think most chinese girls fit a stereotype of being cute/adorable, caring and innocent (seemingly). But at the same time they are quite sensitive/fragile and emotional. Learning a whole new set of chinese women people management skills (slowly); but i love both Kim and Primrose, both utterly unique (yet still within the stereoptype outlined above) and utterly different to any other women i know.
p. s.hopefully by the time i return to beijing the cleaner would have been hired!
p.p.s.boy i do hope i can see some rain in Shanghai -it tends to rain more than in Beijing, and I have literally seen snow fall 3 times and rain about 10 times in over a year -its insane. no wonder the water shortage is so dire (not that you know, since its the countryside that suffers).
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
all about me!!
well not just all about me, but i thought i would boast of a few things, just so you all know I am not wasting my life away playing around a long way from home!...
first was my 'appointment' -note the wrong spelling of AIESEC, grrr -appearing in ethicalcorp magazine (granted they asked for submissions and i told them about me, rather than it being a world famous appointment!)
second was an article in a magazine that lots of students read about my international experience
third was the 3 page article i wrote for www.csr-asia.com's weekly magasine summarising the results of the brochure i wrote.
and fourth, well actually i don't think i can put this on the web for confidentiality reasons ... but it was pretty flattering.
anyway, the last 3 weeks after the trip have been about preparing for the CSR conference that I organised last sunday (went well, yay). I have also been updating the responsible leadership weblog that I keep and enjoying the usual dinners etc with the other foreigners here. I completed the 5 mile charity fun-run (not very fast mind you), welcomed out newest member to the team (Michelle from Australia).
its a pretty boring email this :(, ah well at least you know I am still alive ... oh and its now autumn, no more shorts and t-shirts!
latest news from China is Match fixing, bribery, drugs and all sorts took place at the National Games in Nanjing, a trial run for the Olympics. I
ts reported by xinhua here, (although the top half of the article is all about the world records broken and success or organising the event, keep reading and you'll eventually get there). The headline of the article is Successful National Games puts Beijing Olympics at sight
Unsurprisingly, the foreign press report it slightly differently with the headline: Drugs and bribes claims hit China's Olympic rehearsal
first was my 'appointment' -note the wrong spelling of AIESEC, grrr -appearing in ethicalcorp magazine (granted they asked for submissions and i told them about me, rather than it being a world famous appointment!)
second was an article in a magazine that lots of students read about my international experience
third was the 3 page article i wrote for www.csr-asia.com's weekly magasine summarising the results of the brochure i wrote.
and fourth, well actually i don't think i can put this on the web for confidentiality reasons ... but it was pretty flattering.
anyway, the last 3 weeks after the trip have been about preparing for the CSR conference that I organised last sunday (went well, yay). I have also been updating the responsible leadership weblog that I keep and enjoying the usual dinners etc with the other foreigners here. I completed the 5 mile charity fun-run (not very fast mind you), welcomed out newest member to the team (Michelle from Australia).
its a pretty boring email this :(, ah well at least you know I am still alive ... oh and its now autumn, no more shorts and t-shirts!
latest news from China is Match fixing, bribery, drugs and all sorts took place at the National Games in Nanjing, a trial run for the Olympics. I
ts reported by xinhua here, (although the top half of the article is all about the world records broken and success or organising the event, keep reading and you'll eventually get there). The headline of the article is Successful National Games puts Beijing Olympics at sight
Unsurprisingly, the foreign press report it slightly differently with the headline: Drugs and bribes claims hit China's Olympic rehearsal
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