It is true, Vietnam is even more crazy than Cambodia for motorbikes. Approximately 1 for every 2 people in Hanoi (so maybe there are some kids that do not have one!), and very few cars. Unfortunately all the motorbikes are petrol powered, and not electric.
Hanoi is a very cool city with some nice art galleries, French colonial buildings, fantastic food, wonderful fruit, small streets and lots of cafes. We went to 3 cafes today as well as 1 restaurant. i managed to have 2 ice cream deserts! We also had a massage, and the poor little 20 year old was sweating by the time she finished trying to manhandle me!
This does not bode well for my supposed preparations for the half marathon. i did manage a 65 minute run before i left Beijing; but i need to do more exercise up in the mountains next week to keep fit with so much great food to try, and cheap local beer to drink! The next 3 days will be spent in supposedly spectacular Halong bay on boats, beaches and kayaks. Often these kinds of trips are a bit hit-and-miss as the tour operators are not always trustworthy about the quality of the boats etc, so fingers crossed.
Some people here speak Chinese, but not many, which is actually useful for talking to my travelling buddy behind the locals' back. Weirdly the word for goodbye in Vietnamese sounds a lot like the word for 'number 2' in Chinese.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Registered
Once upon a time when I first came to China 3 years and 3 days ago I stayed in a little apartment with 2 bedrooms and 1 living room; a kitchen and a small toilet/bathroom. There were 4 people living there (me in the living room). 2 and a half months later, just before my visa was to run out and i had to get it extended, I went to the local police station to 'register'. Unfortunately I turned up on a Saturday, and the man who could register would only come to work on Monday.
On the Monday I went back to the police station to register only to be told that I need to register within 24 hours of moving into the apartment, and since I had been there since Saturday, unregistered, I would be punished for breaking the law. This is, of course, absurd -what was I to do? In hindsight the lesson is never try to register on a weekend! My punishment was to sit for 1-2 hours with a friend translating for me, though neither of us had to say or do anything. Instead we watched as the special man wrote out pages and pages of stuff bout what i had done wrong. He literally wrote about 8 pages by hand. Then, for some totally unknown reason declared he had to make another copy of his essay (not sure why the photocopier was not used...) by hand.
I had to 'accept' my punishment and make sure to register within 24 hours of any apartment i ever stay in ever again in China (unless it is a hotel where you register at the hotel). I was even told if i broke the rule again i might not be allowed into the country, so i am sure there was no computer involved (and my essays were just filed in some backroom) so noone would know.
None the less I was sufficiently scared to have NOT registered in any of the 2 places in Beijing or 3 places in Xi'an I have lived since (and the many many other friends' places i have spent a few days in Shanghai and elsewhere). But I decided, last week, in my new place in Beijing to register (because someone put a sign on our front door telling me to!). And since the place i live is fancy and there are other foreigners living there (there are quite literally more than 100 buildings in the complex), it was relatively painless: Ask the office responsible for area D for instructions. They direct me to the office responsible for areas A-E for a note that takes 5 minutes. They direct me to the police station, where 10 minutes later I was registered.
The main problem was the fact my passport was at the Vietnam embassy. I had hurried off to show may face as soon as the sign appeared on the door with a photocopy of my passport; only to have to ask the question "If i come back in 2 days to register properly will I be fined/punished?" Deja Vu anyone? Anyway the police woman almost laughed at me, like she really gave a monkey and when i returned 2 days later, all was good :)
And now I am back in Xi'an again; in 8 days time I will be on holiday in Vietnam. Such is life. And the highlight of the last couple of weeks? coming to the office today and being able to see the mountains 10 miles away (for the 4th time in a year). Actually the highlight was me running 15km (once) and 12 km (once) as part of my preparation to run (and hopefully complete without stopping and within 2 hours) the Beijing half marathon in a month's time.
The worst part of the week was hearing of the death of Anita Roddick. 1 of the few people that comes to my mind as a real role model who really made a lasting difference in the World and kept to her values as well as spreading those values across the World. But, having amassed a fortune of 100+ million pounds, what a shame she will not be alive to spend it on all the good causes she has helped over the years.
On the Monday I went back to the police station to register only to be told that I need to register within 24 hours of moving into the apartment, and since I had been there since Saturday, unregistered, I would be punished for breaking the law. This is, of course, absurd -what was I to do? In hindsight the lesson is never try to register on a weekend! My punishment was to sit for 1-2 hours with a friend translating for me, though neither of us had to say or do anything. Instead we watched as the special man wrote out pages and pages of stuff bout what i had done wrong. He literally wrote about 8 pages by hand. Then, for some totally unknown reason declared he had to make another copy of his essay (not sure why the photocopier was not used...) by hand.
I had to 'accept' my punishment and make sure to register within 24 hours of any apartment i ever stay in ever again in China (unless it is a hotel where you register at the hotel). I was even told if i broke the rule again i might not be allowed into the country, so i am sure there was no computer involved (and my essays were just filed in some backroom) so noone would know.
None the less I was sufficiently scared to have NOT registered in any of the 2 places in Beijing or 3 places in Xi'an I have lived since (and the many many other friends' places i have spent a few days in Shanghai and elsewhere). But I decided, last week, in my new place in Beijing to register (because someone put a sign on our front door telling me to!). And since the place i live is fancy and there are other foreigners living there (there are quite literally more than 100 buildings in the complex), it was relatively painless: Ask the office responsible for area D for instructions. They direct me to the office responsible for areas A-E for a note that takes 5 minutes. They direct me to the police station, where 10 minutes later I was registered.
The main problem was the fact my passport was at the Vietnam embassy. I had hurried off to show may face as soon as the sign appeared on the door with a photocopy of my passport; only to have to ask the question "If i come back in 2 days to register properly will I be fined/punished?" Deja Vu anyone? Anyway the police woman almost laughed at me, like she really gave a monkey and when i returned 2 days later, all was good :)
And now I am back in Xi'an again; in 8 days time I will be on holiday in Vietnam. Such is life. And the highlight of the last couple of weeks? coming to the office today and being able to see the mountains 10 miles away (for the 4th time in a year). Actually the highlight was me running 15km (once) and 12 km (once) as part of my preparation to run (and hopefully complete without stopping and within 2 hours) the Beijing half marathon in a month's time.
The worst part of the week was hearing of the death of Anita Roddick. 1 of the few people that comes to my mind as a real role model who really made a lasting difference in the World and kept to her values as well as spreading those values across the World. But, having amassed a fortune of 100+ million pounds, what a shame she will not be alive to spend it on all the good causes she has helped over the years.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
A very Chinese experience continued
After the last day of the trip, I feel like I need to add to the previous list:
-A hop-on, hop-off bus strip around Chong Qing which included a stop at a 'museum', but which is actually a shop selling kitchen knifes and where you get a 20 minute 'demo' and then buy the knifes. Actually the demo was quite good and it seems the price was not too bad since 80% of all the Plan staff made a purchase -I hope our tour guide will be happy with the commission she must have got!
-A visit to a few Communist History sites (actually they were mostly prisons where the Communist revolutionary martyrs were locked up/died during the civil war with the KMT) which all my colleagues had read about extensively at school. I accepted the fact that it is sad that people died in a civil war, but was not so sure the sites were really that big a deal, since there was no historical significance to the prisons what-so-ever: no famous communists were there, no defining moment of the civil war took place, no barbaric acts etc. Never mind, it was still somewhat interesting to read all the propoganda.
-A view of a place where the Yangtze River meets another river and you can see the 2 colours of the river mixing. The Chinese think this is interesting; the Westerners tend to think more which of the colours indicates which river is most polluted...
-A group photo. This is obligatory, even at a simple half day conference there are group photos. Everyone says 'Qiezi' (sounds somewhat like cheese when you pronounce it and hence has the same effect of making people smile) and holds their 2 fingers up in a 'V' for Victory (the same fingers as swearing but with your palm away from you). This happens across East Asia.
-A fantastic hotpot (i.e. fondu where you boil your own food) in Chongqing. The spicier it is the more ice-cold beer needed to deal with it :)
-A hop-on, hop-off bus strip around Chong Qing which included a stop at a 'museum', but which is actually a shop selling kitchen knifes and where you get a 20 minute 'demo' and then buy the knifes. Actually the demo was quite good and it seems the price was not too bad since 80% of all the Plan staff made a purchase -I hope our tour guide will be happy with the commission she must have got!
-A visit to a few Communist History sites (actually they were mostly prisons where the Communist revolutionary martyrs were locked up/died during the civil war with the KMT) which all my colleagues had read about extensively at school. I accepted the fact that it is sad that people died in a civil war, but was not so sure the sites were really that big a deal, since there was no historical significance to the prisons what-so-ever: no famous communists were there, no defining moment of the civil war took place, no barbaric acts etc. Never mind, it was still somewhat interesting to read all the propoganda.
-A view of a place where the Yangtze River meets another river and you can see the 2 colours of the river mixing. The Chinese think this is interesting; the Westerners tend to think more which of the colours indicates which river is most polluted...
-A group photo. This is obligatory, even at a simple half day conference there are group photos. Everyone says 'Qiezi' (sounds somewhat like cheese when you pronounce it and hence has the same effect of making people smile) and holds their 2 fingers up in a 'V' for Victory (the same fingers as swearing but with your palm away from you). This happens across East Asia.
-A fantastic hotpot (i.e. fondu where you boil your own food) in Chongqing. The spicier it is the more ice-cold beer needed to deal with it :)
Thursday, August 30, 2007
A very Chinese experience
Last week 135 of Plan China's 150 staff began our annual retreat. In truly Chinese style it took 23 hours to get to our destination via coaches and trains; though we all had beds the electric fans on the 25 year old trains struggled to beat the 30 degree evening heat. We ended up at a place called Bamboo Sea, 'not that famous' a place according to my colleagues almost none of whom had heard of it before.
Not that that matters, it was far enough into the mountains to have fresh air and a great opportunity for me to be forced to speak more chinese. Unfortunately most of my colleagues from the field offices have rather thick accents. Bamboo Sea was, as the name implies, a forest entirely made of Bamboo (not actually a sea, but a metaphor) which was rather large and took up several mountains.What makes the trip so Chinese?
-the tour guide talking for more than 2 hours on the bus about the local area, then organising a 2 hour karaoke competition on the bus (she did not get the humour when i sang Oasis' Wonderwall whilst looking at her: "I don't believe that anybody// Feels the way I do about you now") and forcing everyone to participate.
-the party 1 evening whereby offices/groups perform 'short' skits which in total lasted over 3 hours. It did look funny, and everyone else was laughing a lot, even though i had barely a clue what anyone was saying. Never the less there was some fruit and munchies...
-the 'sightseeing' which requires being bussed around the area we were in between various bamboo related sights (often involving lots of carvings of famous sayings or legends into the rock that is really nothing to do with bamboo and that are found at every famous place in China).
-the food which was 90% made of bamboo dishes. There are, in my recent experience, at least 30 different dishes you can make from bamboo and many other herbal medicines that can be created from bamboo according to the women trying to sell it to me.
-the incredible amount of photos the chinese people took of bamboo and of themselves in front of bamboo (bamboo is quite common all over china).
-lunch on a boat cruising along the river looking at more bamboo
-how loud (and how fast) chinese people speak on buses
and so on.... Anyway it has been a fun trip and great to get out of the office and enjoy more social time with my colleagues. Especially after reading Only 1 percent of the country’s 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the EU.
Not that that matters, it was far enough into the mountains to have fresh air and a great opportunity for me to be forced to speak more chinese. Unfortunately most of my colleagues from the field offices have rather thick accents. Bamboo Sea was, as the name implies, a forest entirely made of Bamboo (not actually a sea, but a metaphor) which was rather large and took up several mountains.What makes the trip so Chinese?
-the tour guide talking for more than 2 hours on the bus about the local area, then organising a 2 hour karaoke competition on the bus (she did not get the humour when i sang Oasis' Wonderwall whilst looking at her: "I don't believe that anybody// Feels the way I do about you now") and forcing everyone to participate.
-the party 1 evening whereby offices/groups perform 'short' skits which in total lasted over 3 hours. It did look funny, and everyone else was laughing a lot, even though i had barely a clue what anyone was saying. Never the less there was some fruit and munchies...
-the 'sightseeing' which requires being bussed around the area we were in between various bamboo related sights (often involving lots of carvings of famous sayings or legends into the rock that is really nothing to do with bamboo and that are found at every famous place in China).
-the food which was 90% made of bamboo dishes. There are, in my recent experience, at least 30 different dishes you can make from bamboo and many other herbal medicines that can be created from bamboo according to the women trying to sell it to me.
-the incredible amount of photos the chinese people took of bamboo and of themselves in front of bamboo (bamboo is quite common all over china).
-lunch on a boat cruising along the river looking at more bamboo
-how loud (and how fast) chinese people speak on buses
and so on.... Anyway it has been a fun trip and great to get out of the office and enjoy more social time with my colleagues. Especially after reading Only 1 percent of the country’s 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the EU.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Banteay Srei amongst the trees
Banteay Srei is undoubtedly the most beautiful of all the temples in Angkor. Many people miss it as it is 25km from the main complex, but the completeness, the intricacies, the colours, the designs and the stories are breathtaking. I walked around it for over an hour doing at least 6 laps and still did not want to leave.
Bayon and lake 2
Bayon, one of the most impressive temples in Angkor has an incredible amount of faces carved into the rocks and some even more incredible carvings of daily life, wars and escapades the rulers got up to at the time. One of the many interesting aspects of Angkor's temples is the various religious influences on them: sometimes Buddhist, sometimes Hindu depending on the year. And of course, depending on which ruler built the temple.
Pretty hut
A family's home in rural Cambodia. Nearby is their 1 pig, a small fire that they cook over and some other huts.
Painting of the killing fields
Evidence of the incredible regime run by Pol Pot wiping out a third of Cambodia's population. A visit to the school that was turned into an interrogation/torture centre coupled with a trip out to where the unlucky inhabitants were clubbed to death is sobering. The children (of which there were hundreds, often only a few years old) somehow ended up being killed as 'children of political enemies' by being held by the legs and swung against trees. How does mankind do such things?
Adam and massive tree in Ta Phrom
Indiana Jones eat your heart out. These are the big mama trees that are taking over thousand year old temples. does put the little old human into perspective
Angkor Wat rising above the forest
Angkor Wat and the many other temples are lying around in a jungle... almost literally. indeed the smaller temples are so rarely visited it is a fantastic experience to be there alone amongst the nature.
Stunning Angkor Wat at first light
Angkor Wat at sunlight; photos do not do it justice... though i did try enough times!
Mirror image of Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat -the greatest of all the temples at Angkor which is now in tiny Cambodia but which used to be the centre of an empire covering most of South East Asia. At sunrise it is incredible.
Immaculate Banteay Srei carvings -closeup 2
Imagine entire temples packed full of carvings like this; built more than a thousand years ago -and the hundreds of temples sited in a 'capital' whose population was 1 million people! And then, they all disappeared and the jungle swallowed up the entire complex. As spectacular as Angkor and surrounding temples are, the area around it is one of the poorest in Cambodia.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
luxury
I missed out on the (presumably) impressive celebrations on the 8th which marked 1 year to go till the Olympics, as I was in a seminar talking about the role of China in Africa. A very interesting topics, since there are all kinds of phrases that are associated with it from 'the new colonialism' to 'south-south co-operation'. There is no doubt why China is dealing with Africa -it is for its own benefit, as every other country deals with Africa. The question is will Africa benefit from China's involvement or not?
Will trading help reduce poverty or flood the market with cheap, subsidised, imported Chinese goods? Will China's endemic corruption make Africa's corruption worse or is this a chance for Chinese companies to turn over a new leaf in a new continent? Will the media and NGOs be successful in forcing China to help Africa; using the 'genocide' Olympics as leverage? How will Chinese people who can barely speak english deal with African people, and will they just live in their own communes eating Chinese food? Since Chinese workers have now started being kidnapped for ransoms, will China have to stray form its policy of 'non-interference'? Will the government controlled Chinese media ever start to accept whatsoever that China's motivations for being in Africa are not really just to help the poor black man that the white man screwed over?
All interesting questions, and all affect the whole poverty reduction agenda. Unfortunately the seminar barely touched on any of these issues, but never mind. Work is going well; organisation-wide retreat coming up soon. should be interesting/exciting/good chance to practise chinese.
I moved apartments a couple of months back into a cheap place of rather low quality; but it keeps out most of the mosquitos and has a few drips of water flowing into the sink and into the hole that is both a toilet and a shower. It is good enough for temporary stays. The reason I moved was that I am expecting to spend more time in Beijing, hence the greater expenditure of rent in Beijing instead.
A big bed in a big room with my own bathroom; a living room with 3 sofas, big screen TV, dining table, kitchen with oven, a study and a little bed+bath-room for a maid (we do not have a maid, so it is used for storage) amongst all the other fancy things i am not used to having; like bookshelves, plants and air conditioning. I honestly feel guilty living there (though i do conserve electricity), compared to the people that Plan is actually helping. But never mind, it lets me live close to work in Beijing, gives me space to study chinese in quiet and provides a green park between the 58 buildings of the complex to go for a run in the mornings.
Unfortunately this week i am in Xi'an. But never mind. Spurs won, and that is all that matters!
Will trading help reduce poverty or flood the market with cheap, subsidised, imported Chinese goods? Will China's endemic corruption make Africa's corruption worse or is this a chance for Chinese companies to turn over a new leaf in a new continent? Will the media and NGOs be successful in forcing China to help Africa; using the 'genocide' Olympics as leverage? How will Chinese people who can barely speak english deal with African people, and will they just live in their own communes eating Chinese food? Since Chinese workers have now started being kidnapped for ransoms, will China have to stray form its policy of 'non-interference'? Will the government controlled Chinese media ever start to accept whatsoever that China's motivations for being in Africa are not really just to help the poor black man that the white man screwed over?
All interesting questions, and all affect the whole poverty reduction agenda. Unfortunately the seminar barely touched on any of these issues, but never mind. Work is going well; organisation-wide retreat coming up soon. should be interesting/exciting/good chance to practise chinese.
I moved apartments a couple of months back into a cheap place of rather low quality; but it keeps out most of the mosquitos and has a few drips of water flowing into the sink and into the hole that is both a toilet and a shower. It is good enough for temporary stays. The reason I moved was that I am expecting to spend more time in Beijing, hence the greater expenditure of rent in Beijing instead.
A big bed in a big room with my own bathroom; a living room with 3 sofas, big screen TV, dining table, kitchen with oven, a study and a little bed+bath-room for a maid (we do not have a maid, so it is used for storage) amongst all the other fancy things i am not used to having; like bookshelves, plants and air conditioning. I honestly feel guilty living there (though i do conserve electricity), compared to the people that Plan is actually helping. But never mind, it lets me live close to work in Beijing, gives me space to study chinese in quiet and provides a green park between the 58 buildings of the complex to go for a run in the mornings.
Unfortunately this week i am in Xi'an. But never mind. Spurs won, and that is all that matters!
Monday, August 06, 2007
3 years without...
...going to a cinema, since cinemas are so expensive in China (around 10 USD), they only have around 20 foreign films a year (due to government regulations) and fake DVDs are so cheap.
But, in Bangkokg, in one of the best cinemas in town, it is only a few dollars and they show loads of movies, so I popped in on saturday to watch Die Hard 4 (a great 'return to the cinema after 3 years' choice).
Now the Thais love their King -and it really is not possible to understate the word 'love'. In fact, though 95% of Thais are Buddhist I think the king fulfills a god-like role. Yellow is his colour so Thais often wear yellow t-shirts (especially on Monday, when the subway is full of yellow). On many tall buildings there are massive (covering 20 or more storeys/floors) posters of their dear king. Along the roads there are posters and temples to the king. He is everywhere. I have no problem with this, and was quite willing to stand up during the 3 minute 'infomerical' about the kind that was showed just before the movie started. It was quite surprising though, when after an advert about shampoo, the whole movie theatre gets up and bows their head and then the king comes on!
...going to a live sporting event, since there are not many world famous teams in China. However, on sunday 1 world famous team, Barcelona, was in town so i went to buy the cheapest ticket (18 Euros; most expensive was 180 Euros!) to watch them beat Beijing 3-0. The game was surprisingly good and open. Barcelona were in another league altogether, especially in individual skill, but Beijing did get better towards the end.
There were 30,000 fans, though the stadium is very different to British ones: no roofs, jsut 1 tier of seating and an athletics track means the atmosphere is not as good. Though it did heat up when some Americans (supporting Beijing) had a scuffle with some Chinese (supporting Barcelona). Of course there was plenty of fake t-shirts and posters outside the stadium, but the Chinese still have some way to go to prepare for the Olympics -for example, there was so few snack stalls that they ran out at half-time and were only twice the price of normal shop prices! Wembley can give them some advice on extortionate pricing I am sure!
But, in Bangkokg, in one of the best cinemas in town, it is only a few dollars and they show loads of movies, so I popped in on saturday to watch Die Hard 4 (a great 'return to the cinema after 3 years' choice).
Now the Thais love their King -and it really is not possible to understate the word 'love'. In fact, though 95% of Thais are Buddhist I think the king fulfills a god-like role. Yellow is his colour so Thais often wear yellow t-shirts (especially on Monday, when the subway is full of yellow). On many tall buildings there are massive (covering 20 or more storeys/floors) posters of their dear king. Along the roads there are posters and temples to the king. He is everywhere. I have no problem with this, and was quite willing to stand up during the 3 minute 'infomerical' about the kind that was showed just before the movie started. It was quite surprising though, when after an advert about shampoo, the whole movie theatre gets up and bows their head and then the king comes on!
...going to a live sporting event, since there are not many world famous teams in China. However, on sunday 1 world famous team, Barcelona, was in town so i went to buy the cheapest ticket (18 Euros; most expensive was 180 Euros!) to watch them beat Beijing 3-0. The game was surprisingly good and open. Barcelona were in another league altogether, especially in individual skill, but Beijing did get better towards the end.
There were 30,000 fans, though the stadium is very different to British ones: no roofs, jsut 1 tier of seating and an athletics track means the atmosphere is not as good. Though it did heat up when some Americans (supporting Beijing) had a scuffle with some Chinese (supporting Barcelona). Of course there was plenty of fake t-shirts and posters outside the stadium, but the Chinese still have some way to go to prepare for the Olympics -for example, there was so few snack stalls that they ran out at half-time and were only twice the price of normal shop prices! Wembley can give them some advice on extortionate pricing I am sure!
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Motos
A city of 2 million people, and probably more than a million Motos (Motobikes), Phnom Penh gets my award for the most dangerous traffic of all the cities I have been to. It is hard to describe in words; but suffice to say there are about 4 times more Motos than cars and if ever proof is needed of how dangerous it is, surely the fact that at least 1/3rd of drivers wear helmets is it. Spot a helmet elsewhere (especially China) and you deserve an award!
For a capital city it really is a bit disappointing: barely a building over 6 stories tall and an airport that is probably smaller than Wembley Stadium, but as towns go it is a fantastic place full of character and pleasant architecture, a lack of slums (considering the poverty of Cambodia), tremendous food, nice sunsets and very warm people.
Despite this, despite the great guest houses that extend into a pretty lake (and provide rooms for only 3 dollars), despite the fun that can be had when travelling with a girl whose hair is braided and attracts all kinds of attention.... despite all these and more, the endearing memory of Phnom Penh is still of the [... how can one describe this...] despicable atrocities that took place during the late 70s when the Khmer Rouge killed 1/4 of the population (the civil war lasted a shockingly long 30 years in total). These atrocities are remembered in the museum at a school which was turned into an interrogation and torture centre for almost 20,000 'enemies of the state'.
I've been to Nazi concentration camps, I've read about the Rwandan genocide, I've seen movies like Blood Diamond and I can deal with the evil that is in all of us. But it is very, very hard to accept the fact that adults can pick up babies by their legs and kill them by smashing their heads against trees. It is extremely hard to understand how 6 year old children can be accused of being political enemies and need to be tortured and killed. I asked a friend what she would do if told to kill a child or be killed herself -no answer of course; it is awful when these kinds of situations are created whereby everyone down the chain of command is ensuring those beneath them are committing these kinds of acts in order to stay alive themselves.
The best part of the (sparse) museum [though best is not the right word] is the small section about those who were the torturers and killers. Is the excuse of 'If i didn't kill the innocent child/adult i would have died myself' an excuse anyone can actually believe in themselves?
On a lighter note, whilst visiting the projects that Plan supports in Cambodia it is impossible not to see how much aid other countries are pouring into Cambodia to try to help them recover from what the country went through (note that the Americans also did their best to destroy the country whilst the Viet Cong were hiding there during the Vietnam war) and it is evidently working. Though how effective it is when so many charities are all trying to help the same village with different techniques is questionable. I saw a school with 3 different wells, built by 3 different organisations. I suppose the school needed 3 wells, but why 3 different kinds of well?
No wonder the whole country still harks back to the incredible glory days of 9th-12th centuries when the Angkor empire ruled much of South East Asia and build such incredible temples and housed cities of a million or more people (London, at the time, was apparently about 40,000 people). Even now, no one is quite sure how such a population was sustained (water, food, sanitation, order etc). At least the future can only continue to get better for poor Cambodia; even if their current government is as corrupt as most of the others in developing countries. Interestingly this week the UN organised war crimes tribunal finally started to actually do something about convicting those in charge of the awful regime 30 years ago. A bit late though, since most of those leaders are already dead of natural causes!
For a capital city it really is a bit disappointing: barely a building over 6 stories tall and an airport that is probably smaller than Wembley Stadium, but as towns go it is a fantastic place full of character and pleasant architecture, a lack of slums (considering the poverty of Cambodia), tremendous food, nice sunsets and very warm people.
Despite this, despite the great guest houses that extend into a pretty lake (and provide rooms for only 3 dollars), despite the fun that can be had when travelling with a girl whose hair is braided and attracts all kinds of attention.... despite all these and more, the endearing memory of Phnom Penh is still of the [... how can one describe this...] despicable atrocities that took place during the late 70s when the Khmer Rouge killed 1/4 of the population (the civil war lasted a shockingly long 30 years in total). These atrocities are remembered in the museum at a school which was turned into an interrogation and torture centre for almost 20,000 'enemies of the state'.
I've been to Nazi concentration camps, I've read about the Rwandan genocide, I've seen movies like Blood Diamond and I can deal with the evil that is in all of us. But it is very, very hard to accept the fact that adults can pick up babies by their legs and kill them by smashing their heads against trees. It is extremely hard to understand how 6 year old children can be accused of being political enemies and need to be tortured and killed. I asked a friend what she would do if told to kill a child or be killed herself -no answer of course; it is awful when these kinds of situations are created whereby everyone down the chain of command is ensuring those beneath them are committing these kinds of acts in order to stay alive themselves.
The best part of the (sparse) museum [though best is not the right word] is the small section about those who were the torturers and killers. Is the excuse of 'If i didn't kill the innocent child/adult i would have died myself' an excuse anyone can actually believe in themselves?
On a lighter note, whilst visiting the projects that Plan supports in Cambodia it is impossible not to see how much aid other countries are pouring into Cambodia to try to help them recover from what the country went through (note that the Americans also did their best to destroy the country whilst the Viet Cong were hiding there during the Vietnam war) and it is evidently working. Though how effective it is when so many charities are all trying to help the same village with different techniques is questionable. I saw a school with 3 different wells, built by 3 different organisations. I suppose the school needed 3 wells, but why 3 different kinds of well?
No wonder the whole country still harks back to the incredible glory days of 9th-12th centuries when the Angkor empire ruled much of South East Asia and build such incredible temples and housed cities of a million or more people (London, at the time, was apparently about 40,000 people). Even now, no one is quite sure how such a population was sustained (water, food, sanitation, order etc). At least the future can only continue to get better for poor Cambodia; even if their current government is as corrupt as most of the others in developing countries. Interestingly this week the UN organised war crimes tribunal finally started to actually do something about convicting those in charge of the awful regime 30 years ago. A bit late though, since most of those leaders are already dead of natural causes!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Impressed
After a week in discussions about how business can contribute to Earth's and Society's sustainable development (which i basically what i am doing in my work), which was complete with plenty of Thai food, a swimming pool and fresh air, I am now in Siam Reap, Cambodia. Siam Reap is the town next to Angkor Wat and other nearby temples, one of the most impressive sites open to tourists anywhere in the World.
The temples, of which there are more than 30, though only about 15 major ones, are all 1,000 years old and many are of a simply incredible size.... literally the size of modern day palaces; all made of rocks, all done by hand, all intricately carved, almost all done solely for religion. They are impressive; though many of them are in some what of a state.
The highlight so far: Walking around in the jungle and coming across a 'lost temple' appearing out of the ground, walls and statues are intermingled with hundred year old trees! Granted, the temple are not lost, and 2 minutes later a tour group or some other backpackers will invade the pace, but it is unusual and makes one feel 'at one' with nature to some extent. It is great that many temples were not restored and so feel so natural. Of course, if it was in China, all the temples would be rebuilt with cranes and painted in bright blue (or whatever c0lour they were originally) in preparation for the Olympics! Plus of course, there would be pictures of the famous people who have visited and the awful destruction that other countries did of the original site (note for readers: much of China's historical and cultural heritage was destroyed by the commnist party during the 'cultural revolution').
The other great thng is how not so over-toursity the area is, much aganst what i expected. There are bery few beggars, few few locals harrassing tourists to sell them t-shirts or water really; bearng in mind this is the most famous tourist site in South East Asia. And, maybe this is just caue it is the 'low season', there are surprisingly few tourists -still lots of course, but the number is certainly acceptable. Another plus is that the entrance fee is only 20 USD a day -a bargain really!
On Monday Plan's local staff will show me around the poor villages and the work Plan is doing here. It should be very interesting, and a great way to get to know a country. I cannot wait!
The temples, of which there are more than 30, though only about 15 major ones, are all 1,000 years old and many are of a simply incredible size.... literally the size of modern day palaces; all made of rocks, all done by hand, all intricately carved, almost all done solely for religion. They are impressive; though many of them are in some what of a state.
The highlight so far: Walking around in the jungle and coming across a 'lost temple' appearing out of the ground, walls and statues are intermingled with hundred year old trees! Granted, the temple are not lost, and 2 minutes later a tour group or some other backpackers will invade the pace, but it is unusual and makes one feel 'at one' with nature to some extent. It is great that many temples were not restored and so feel so natural. Of course, if it was in China, all the temples would be rebuilt with cranes and painted in bright blue (or whatever c0lour they were originally) in preparation for the Olympics! Plus of course, there would be pictures of the famous people who have visited and the awful destruction that other countries did of the original site (note for readers: much of China's historical and cultural heritage was destroyed by the commnist party during the 'cultural revolution').
The other great thng is how not so over-toursity the area is, much aganst what i expected. There are bery few beggars, few few locals harrassing tourists to sell them t-shirts or water really; bearng in mind this is the most famous tourist site in South East Asia. And, maybe this is just caue it is the 'low season', there are surprisingly few tourists -still lots of course, but the number is certainly acceptable. Another plus is that the entrance fee is only 20 USD a day -a bargain really!
On Monday Plan's local staff will show me around the poor villages and the work Plan is doing here. It should be very interesting, and a great way to get to know a country. I cannot wait!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Xi'an
It is the middle of July. Wow. Almost 1 year of being at Plan and in Xi'an. My contract has been renewed for another year, though I may soon move back to Beijing, rather than just traveling there every other week. As with most things it is only when you contemplate change that you realise just what things are like now -i say this in regard to Xi'an. A city that at first sight is polluted and grey, boring and dangerous (never try to cross at a pedestrian crossing in xi'an; keep going to a road junction where the traffic lights afford slightly more protection) is in many aspects wonderfully chinese where the middle class is taking over and where on saturdays shopping streets are crowded, buses are packed and personal cars clog streets.
A city that is cheap enough for it's millions of inhabitants living of a few pounds a day (average taxi driver's take home salary here is 100 pounds a month) to drive consumerism; yet one that is trying price itself out of these people's range. The accommodation that these people live in is disappearing (though not as rapidly as East China), the number of places where farmers can drive up in their 3 wheeled carts piled high with vegetables to sell is declining, and the number of bars on the (only) bar street that actually have people in them is increasing (though not as fast as the number of clubs opening). I may be exaggerating a little -but observing this is what makes Xi'an an interesting place to live. It might not change as much as Beijing, it might not have anything actually happening (politically, culturally, business etc) in comparison but it does have an atmosphere, hidden in the old villages that have been absorbed into the massive city.
These villages are surviving and they are just like any other village that could be in the middle of nowhere: market streets, evil dogs, hundreds of kids, litter and all. It means that the culture these people that grew up there have lives on, though in different forms. Going to the South gate is a bizarre example of how old people are forced to socialise, play instruments and dance in modern times where land is at such a premium. Of course, just like British culture (and one could even say, values) have changed so much in the last century China's are too. Whether it will actually be quicker or not, I am not sure. It might still be dependent on older generations dying, middle generations forgetting their past and younger generations only knowing consumerism -which all takes time.
A friend of mine is running a soup-kitchen in town, which operates 3 days a week and has over 50 people coming each time -mostly regulars. Going there reminds me what real charity is like (Plan is a multi-million dollar development organisations and though in no means ineffective, is operating on a totally different level) -and that though it is not sustainable, it is still required. Several of the regulars there are now volunteers themselves and it is clear how much they get out of being offered a chance to help themselves and others, even if that is just by cleaning tables and handing out soup and baozi. This weekend I will running a couple of workshops at the AIESEC conference and one is going to focus a great deal on the linkage between entrepreneurship and empowerment (along with micro-finance, an incredibly hot topic nowadays). This is a topic i am increasingly getting interested in.
In other news, camping/hiking is still my favourite past-time (apart from when i get my hands on a new series of 24!), the sun has actually come out recently and there has also been a few showers, i am off to thailand/cambodia next weekend and i am feeling more chinese after downgrading my living situation :) I can highly recommend Little Children movie-wise and facebook for a place to upload embarrassing photos of people!
p.s. not the most exciting last 3 weeks, but pretty busy. The main highlight was watching the torture my colleagues went through listening to my presentation (in chinese) about my 'resource mobilisation' plan for the next 12 months!
A city that is cheap enough for it's millions of inhabitants living of a few pounds a day (average taxi driver's take home salary here is 100 pounds a month) to drive consumerism; yet one that is trying price itself out of these people's range. The accommodation that these people live in is disappearing (though not as rapidly as East China), the number of places where farmers can drive up in their 3 wheeled carts piled high with vegetables to sell is declining, and the number of bars on the (only) bar street that actually have people in them is increasing (though not as fast as the number of clubs opening). I may be exaggerating a little -but observing this is what makes Xi'an an interesting place to live. It might not change as much as Beijing, it might not have anything actually happening (politically, culturally, business etc) in comparison but it does have an atmosphere, hidden in the old villages that have been absorbed into the massive city.
These villages are surviving and they are just like any other village that could be in the middle of nowhere: market streets, evil dogs, hundreds of kids, litter and all. It means that the culture these people that grew up there have lives on, though in different forms. Going to the South gate is a bizarre example of how old people are forced to socialise, play instruments and dance in modern times where land is at such a premium. Of course, just like British culture (and one could even say, values) have changed so much in the last century China's are too. Whether it will actually be quicker or not, I am not sure. It might still be dependent on older generations dying, middle generations forgetting their past and younger generations only knowing consumerism -which all takes time.
A friend of mine is running a soup-kitchen in town, which operates 3 days a week and has over 50 people coming each time -mostly regulars. Going there reminds me what real charity is like (Plan is a multi-million dollar development organisations and though in no means ineffective, is operating on a totally different level) -and that though it is not sustainable, it is still required. Several of the regulars there are now volunteers themselves and it is clear how much they get out of being offered a chance to help themselves and others, even if that is just by cleaning tables and handing out soup and baozi. This weekend I will running a couple of workshops at the AIESEC conference and one is going to focus a great deal on the linkage between entrepreneurship and empowerment (along with micro-finance, an incredibly hot topic nowadays). This is a topic i am increasingly getting interested in.
In other news, camping/hiking is still my favourite past-time (apart from when i get my hands on a new series of 24!), the sun has actually come out recently and there has also been a few showers, i am off to thailand/cambodia next weekend and i am feeling more chinese after downgrading my living situation :) I can highly recommend Little Children movie-wise and facebook for a place to upload embarrassing photos of people!
p.s. not the most exciting last 3 weeks, but pretty busy. The main highlight was watching the torture my colleagues went through listening to my presentation (in chinese) about my 'resource mobilisation' plan for the next 12 months!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Chinese culture
Many things in China are fascinating to watch as they change: economy, environment, internal politics, international affairs etc. As China becomes more important and develops all of these are changing, but possibly the most fascinating of all it to see how China's culture changes, or at least deals with, all these other changes.
As you may know the Chinese are rather proud of their 5,000 year old culture entailing all kinds of elements: from education to ethics or religion (in a sense) to guanxi (relationships) and of course language! The best thing about having a tutor is the chance to discuss and often argue about all these kinds of topics and really get to understand different views on China.
Today we argued about whether Chinese culture is fundamentally changing -she denies it; though i did manage to convince her that at least there will be some impact on culture from all these changes and that it will be interesting to see what happens. What is most interesting is that she recognises the changes to everyone's lives due to economic changes and does not think it is due to cultural changes; though i disagree. However, we both agreed that irrelevant of the cause, there will be impacts.
A few examples include that the massive internal migration that leads to parents separating from each other, and/or from their kids and/or their grandparents which is a massive change for China and impacts on education and the role of the family unit. Another might be the increasing number of divorces -brought on according to my tutor not because of people leaving others to find something better (which it is in the West apparently), but just because of economic change, jobs and communication issues; so what will happen to the single parents kids and the grand parents; and how does the 1 child policy affect this (you can normally work it out to have 1 child per marriage).
Finally consider the impact of the drive to emulate Western culture and values, closely aligned with the drive for (Western) economic growth and quality of life leading to people becoming fatter, but becoming more obsessed with being thing; going clubbing and dating more; living with partners before marriage and so on. In theory a strong traditional Chinese culture can help China develop and avoid some of the problems of the West, like 'anti-social' or 'disrepectful' youth for example. But then it may make things worse; since it is relatively common for men to visit other women on business trips, which are becoming more and more frequent nowadays!
As you may know the Chinese are rather proud of their 5,000 year old culture entailing all kinds of elements: from education to ethics or religion (in a sense) to guanxi (relationships) and of course language! The best thing about having a tutor is the chance to discuss and often argue about all these kinds of topics and really get to understand different views on China.
Today we argued about whether Chinese culture is fundamentally changing -she denies it; though i did manage to convince her that at least there will be some impact on culture from all these changes and that it will be interesting to see what happens. What is most interesting is that she recognises the changes to everyone's lives due to economic changes and does not think it is due to cultural changes; though i disagree. However, we both agreed that irrelevant of the cause, there will be impacts.
A few examples include that the massive internal migration that leads to parents separating from each other, and/or from their kids and/or their grandparents which is a massive change for China and impacts on education and the role of the family unit. Another might be the increasing number of divorces -brought on according to my tutor not because of people leaving others to find something better (which it is in the West apparently), but just because of economic change, jobs and communication issues; so what will happen to the single parents kids and the grand parents; and how does the 1 child policy affect this (you can normally work it out to have 1 child per marriage).
Finally consider the impact of the drive to emulate Western culture and values, closely aligned with the drive for (Western) economic growth and quality of life leading to people becoming fatter, but becoming more obsessed with being thing; going clubbing and dating more; living with partners before marriage and so on. In theory a strong traditional Chinese culture can help China develop and avoid some of the problems of the West, like 'anti-social' or 'disrepectful' youth for example. But then it may make things worse; since it is relatively common for men to visit other women on business trips, which are becoming more and more frequent nowadays!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)