Germany!

In the midst of my sabbatical in China I zipped over to Germany for a week to attend the wedding of my dear friends Doro and Chad. Doro is my former co-worker at BV Capital and originally from Germany. Since this is a blog about China I won't write about my trip except this tidbit b/c it has to do with China.

So 2 days before my departure and the night before my parents' departure from China my wallet was stolen and/or lost. It's not worth the time explaining how but it was gone. And along with it went my credit card and ATM card, my chinese bank card, my CA drivers license, my access card to my apt building AND the formula for my hair color from my San Francisco colorist which I was finally getting done THE NEXT DAY!!!! I carried that damn formula with me the whole time and was one day away from taking the plunge when I lost it. Naturally, I got my hair done and it is now two toned from where the roots were showing and the previous dye job. Everyone who saw me right away faked their best "Oh no. I don't notice a difference." But I can always count on my former boss Tom who I saw a few days later to give it to me straight. He didn't even conceal the laughter and said, "HA HA HA I was going to ask you about that!" The worst part is that I paid a premium to go to a place that had "Paris" in the name and it came out looking like booty. Siigh.

Anyway. I luckily had my passport safe and sound and made it to Germany. Being the responsible young woman that I am I had a spare credit card with me. Again being a responsible adult I have never had to use it b/c it is my absolute last resort, only under dire circumstances, never-ever use credit card. Why?? Because it looks like this!!!!!!!!!

Notice the hair too!

Yes I had to travel all through Germany handing over an AMERICAN FLAG credit card. And it was no small flag. No no. It had to cover the entire card. There was no hiding my nationalism. This card was sent to me by my bank and when I was moving to China I said what the heck I might as well take it even though I will never use this awfully embarrassing thing. You should have seen the looks I got every time I had to hand it over. Which, of course, was a lot and always came with the obligatory explanation as to why I have an obscenely patriotic credit card. Why does God hate me?

Anyway. The wedding was wonderful and if you care too see pictures here is a link.

Xishuangbanna Part 2

Ok. I can't be bothered with writing about past events anymore especially when there is now so much happening in China. So I'll wrap up XSB.

Day 3 we went to the rain forest which was again beautiful. We suffered through a horrendous elephant show and my dad made me go sit on the elephant after for a photo op. Hi. My name is Nicole and I am 5. The humorous side story to go along with this is the group of women who came up to us after b/c they wanted to take a picture with us :) AND they even had a "professional" take it and they bought the picture after!!! We should sue for royalties! This would happen a lot on the trip though so we got used to being XSB celebrities.

We took a beautiful ride in a gondola suspended high above the rain forest. It was a 35 minute trip one way and we decided to make it a roundtrip since there wasn't much else to see on the other end. I was with Dianna, our guide and my parents were behind us. At the turnaround Diana hopped out to pay for our return trip leaving me alone. No prob. I'm a big girl. Not afraid of heights. Well that was all out the window when 7 minutes into the return trip the heavens opened up and dumped their fury on us in the form of rain, thunder and lightening. Thunder storms can really be enjoyable when you're in the comfort of your home snuggled up with a blanket and hot cocoa and Love Actually playing gaily in the background. Thunder and lightning storms are NOT pleasurable when you are suspended 100 feet above a forest in a gondola in a torrential downpour and the only thing shielding you from electrocution is a METAL roof!!! "Oh but Nicole you're in China and they have thought of this scenario. You must be safe" you say? Here is a good time to remind you all of my China mantra: There's no logic in China! Not only did I have to worry about death by lightning strike (this is when the saying "You have a better chance of getting struck by lightning... is NOT comforting) I was also getting drenched! I sat in the center of the tin box for a good 28 minutes longer praying to make it to safety. Be not afraid though my friends. I lived to blog another day.

That was all the excitement we could handle and so ended Day 3.

Day 4 didn't threaten rain but we stayed clear of metal objects. We went to another animal park complete with another animal show (this one more inhumane than the last) and dance show. And attended another village of a very small minority called the Hanny people. Not to be confused with the majority Han people. This group didn't even speak mandarin and our guide couldn't communicate with them so we had a special gov't appointed guide. You know what that means. Good, fun communist propaganda. You can see these pictures through my dad's album (link available on previous post). They are the ones with all the people in black. I don't know how much of this was for show but there were different people at different stations throughout our walk through the village and they would perform different cultural traditions. It almost made me feel kind of sick b/c the people seemed sedated and just there for show. Nonetheless it was still interesting to see and my dad even taught the boys how to do an old fashioned Philly handshake. I have a video of it that is quite amazing but it won't come off my camera :( I will keep trying b/c it is fantastic!

There were a few interesting night activities in the town we were staying in. It was a good sized "city" for the area. At the center there was a nice lake around which everyone gathered at night. In one spot a group of about 100-150 middle aged to older people gathered for dancing. They did the cha cha, tango, waltz, box step, you name it. My Dad and I joined for one dance but had much more fun watching. In another section about 30 people gathered around this other guy who was an honest-to-god snake oil salesman. He had the snake out there and everything. He kept pointing to his back and from what I could gather was talking about this oil being a cure. What?!?! Where are we?? In another corner was a game of poker or something and another section had a band playing music and a woman singing. The whole scene was so lively it entertained us for hours.

When all was said and done, we were ready to leave XSB and get back to the sanity of Shanghai (no way I just said that). It was a truly fabulous and unique trip and in the end our sketchy travel agency went above and beyond what we asked for.

Xishuangbanna

Say that 5 times really fast!

Well it’s been a while hasn’t it? My blog is now seriously suffering from procrastination and sharing everything I want to has turned into a Herculean task. I will give it my best shot but unfortunately it looks like details will suffer for the sake of time. Here is goes anyway- (you’ll have to forgive me though b/c a lot of the interesting details I had written down on small pieces of paper and put into my wallet which was stolen/lost the day before I left for Germany 2 weeks ago…more on that later though)

Here is the link to my pictures on Kodak Gallery. Unfortunately not all of them are downloading from my camera so these are just a few.
And here are my Dad's. His are of the whole China trip though

So. After tooling around Shanghai for about a week my parents and I decided to take a trip somewhere in the country. Collectively we had all been to the major attractions in China so a standard trip was not going to cut it. I had originally chosen Lijiang as our destination, which is in the Southern province of Yunnan, close to the Tibet border. However, due to my Mom’s asthma, which really hit hard in the sullied surroundings of Shanghai, we thought the altitude may be too high for her. So we headed south to the tropical region of Xishuangbanna (she-shwong-ban-Na), also in Yunnan province. It was a fantastic decision.

Before I get to the trip though, lets discuss how we booked it. We felt more comfortable booking through an agency rather than doing it ourselves online. This was not as easy as it sounds though. I found an agency in a heavily frequented expat area and figured it had to cater to non-chinese. Have I not learned yet that there is no logic in China?!? We walked in and, like every establishment in China, there seemed to be oh five thousand people working there. Not one spoke English though. I could communicate that we wanted to buy flights to Xishuangbanna (XSB) but the buck stopped there. They called in a girl who could speak some English and after much half Chinese/half English explanations we got a 4 day itinerary for the region with a personal tour guide and driver. With fingers crossed that all would work out we set off for our adventure.

My first observation was that we were the only non-Chinese (or Asian at least) on the flight. Now normally I would be elated to be going somewhere non-touristy but we would soon find out that most places we were going to were anything but. And the only thing worse than obnoxious American tourists are obnoxious Chinese tourists. Not that they are overtly obnoxious in behavior but by virtue of the fact that there ARE SO MANY of them it becomes obnoxious and suffocating. And this was just the flight.

But alas we arrived. The air was warm and steamy and everywhere we turned our eyes were met with green mountains and terraced hills. It was already beautiful. Greeting us at the airport was our guide, Dianna, who, in all circumstances, was wonderful. Her English was fantastic and she had been born and raised in XSB so her knowledge was immense. Our driver, Mr Li, was a man of few words but still very friendly. Since it was the evening and nothing was planned they dropped us off at the hotel and told us about a Western restaurant, or California Sunshine Café, just around the corner for dinner. (This is where I tell my Dad to stop reading because he knows what is coming!) Hm…I am weary as it is about “western food” in Shanghai, let alone in this sleepy, rural town without a round eye as far as this round eye can see. Although it was a decent and clean place my reservations were justified just by glancing at the menu: Fruits Pizza, Mesican-style Chicken and American-style steak were just the highlights of the menu. I chose the safer route and went with Chinese noodles and my mom went w/ a vegetable salad that never came. My Dad though would not heed our warnings of disappointment and went with the American-style steak. Before I get to the steak, let me explain the setting: of the maybe 100 tables in the restaurant, only 3 were occupied besides us and they were all Chinese patrons. We still hadn’t seen a single non-Asian person since leaving Shanghai and they had fruits pizza on the menu for crying out loud. Would you have gone w/ the American-style steak?? NO. And so I ask: What’s brown and white and red all over? My dad’s steak. Not only did the fat and bone outnumber the meat but the thing was still mooing! It was about as rare as rare could be. Still strong in his convictions though my Dad sent it back to get it cooked more SO HE COULD STILL EAT IT! It came back and was still inedible and that was the end of our first “meal” in XSB. Looking forward to the next day.

Day2: We were met bright and early by Dianna and Mr. Li and set off immediately for a small village up in the rolling green, forested hills of XSB. We still had no idea what to expect of this trip as none of us knew too much about the region AND I may have forgotten to bring the Lonely Planet (oops!). We first stopped at a daily market. This in of itself deserves its own blog post. I guess you could call this place the Costco of rural China. Anything and everything you could want was here at mass quantities and low, low prices. Fruits & Vegetables (many I’ve never seen before), spices, fresh tofu, live and dead fish, live and dead chickens, live and dead ducks, hanging beef, baby chicks, dead bees (?!?!), cloth, nuts, and the crowd favorite- chicken plucking station for your viewing pleasure. However, even though we were the only white folk around we didn’t cause much of a stir. It was actually us staring and taking pictures this time rather than vice versa (take that China!). We could have spent hours there but Dianna ushered us off to our next adventure.

Along the way we came across an old pagoda from the days before communism and Dianna let us get out and take some pictures. Normally this wouldn’t be so interesting- any one who’s traveled in Asia knows: you’ve seen one pagoda, you’ve seen em all!- but the greater significance, at least to me, was the setting. Here was this Pagoda, clearly run down and no longer worshipped nestled among acres and acres of rubber trees. XSB is very close to the Tibetan, Thai, Laos and Burmese borders and thus Buddhism, at least at one time, was very strong. Rubber trees, however, are not indigenous to this area but were brought in by the Han Chinese after Mao “encouraged” Han people in the 60’s to move to the region and utilize the fertile land to produce much needed rubber. The Han Chinese are the ethnic majority in China at nearly 80% but had never lived in this area before the 60’s. Apparently, Mao thought the indigenous people, called the Dai (pronounced die) people, were not capable of handling such a task (I’m not going to pull the R-A-C-E card here but it sounds fishy to me). Most farms were co-owned by the government and Han individuals, as are most businesses in China today (similar scenario in Tibet). So here at this Pagoda was the clash of old vs new. Indutrialized China triumphs leaving cultural traditions to decay. It was an interesting setting to observe for many reasons.

Onward ho! Ah, just when I was getting used to the peace and quite of rural China we were sucked back into the fray of never-ending Chinese tourists. Dianna took us to what would be the first of 8 scheduled “traditional dance shows”. YES 8!!! We cut her off after 3 but that was 3 too many. At this water dance show on the Mekong river (which starts in this area) we were made VIP since Westerners rarely make it out that way. VIP means we got chosen with about 15 other tourists to participate in a Dragon boat race. This is only worth mentioning b/c of my Dad. He is looking slimmer than he’s been in years but he still could put 3 of these Dai men in his pocket. Normally the Chinese fit 2 to a seat on these boats but he got his own…and looks of paralyzed fear filled their faces as he climbed into the tiny boat. He made it though and miraculously we won the race (see it pays to have the white people w/ you) and were treated to a chair ride around the stage after the race. I have no idea of any significance this may hold but we did get some good pineapple.

Next, we went to another Dai village. This was hands down my favorite part of the trip. We had lunch in a large hut that a family had set up next to their own hut/home and watched the women cook our meal using only a wood fire for barbecuing. I still dream of this meal. It was so fresh and tasty with the highlight being the pineapple rice served in a carved out pineapple. Mmmmm. After a quick tour of the family’s home (Dianna knew them well) we were off to see dance show #2 where I fell into a food coma and asleep. Yep. I slept straight through the entire thing. I think Dianna got the picture after that and we skipped the “Water Splashing Festival”, which was next on the agenda and headed home. Not before stopping to take some pics on the Mekong and sharing sour papaya dipped in salt and pepper with nearby villagers.

This day would be our most unique for the whole trip and couldn’t have been a better way to start the adventure.

The Ayi Experience

I am in Germany now and have a great story to share but I still need to catch up on a few events first. Here is my lunch w/ my Ayi.

I have talked about my Ayi (cleaning woman) briefly before but she really deserves a proper introduction because she is quite possibly one of the most magnanimous individuals I have ever met. She is never without a smile and is always bringing me gifts: snacks her mom made, face mask treatments, drinks, etc. But the greatest gift has been her friendship. Although she speaks no English whatsoever we have developed a wonderful relationship and while she is terrible in the cleaning department (I’m not buying the windex for my health sista) I always look forward to her coming. Without fail, she bounces into my apartment, sits down at my table and asks how I’m doing and wants to know all the gossip of the other int'l students she cleans for. Match made in heaven! She told me about Elin and how black she was after her 2 weeks in Thailand. Elin told me later that she had brought her whitening masks from the store (whitening in China is as common as using anti-wrinkle cream since it is thought that the whiter you are the prettier you are). Ha!

When I told her my parents were coming to Shanghai to visit without hesitation she invited us and Elin and her boyfriend to lunch. Always open to new experiences I of course said yes (with her understanding that I am a vegetarian, naturally). Prior to our lunch date she must have called and text about 4 times making sure we were still meeting and the day of she arrived an hour early to my apartment but since we were downtown she went to Elin’s and hung out there for a bit all the while calling to see when I would be back.
I could only appreciate her giddiness and pure excitement. I knew we were in for a real treat.

We arrived at her apartment building, which, like 95% of the apartments in Shanghai, has all the character and charm of a cement block, and was built for the masses. I thought I knew what to expect since Elin had been unwillingly housed in a “local apartment” when she first arrived. Although that apartment was barely livable by our standards, for a low-income couple (I think she has a boyfriend- could be a husband but at the time of that convo I was at a smile and nod Chinese level) it was very comfortable. Oh how my naive Western mind was skewed. Elin’s apartment was for more of the upper middle-class type. The apartment of my Ayi was barely bigger than my dorm room at UCLA. You have to walk through a small area where there is a cooking station w/ 2 burners and a sink then into her bedroom, which fits a double bed, table, TV and small plastic cabinet for clothes. There must have been a bathroom somewhere but I have no idea where it was b/c there was just one other door, which I found out later was her brother and his pregnant fiancé’s room. I would have been shocked and taken aback had it not been for the beaming face of my Ayi when we arrived. She was SO happy to have us in her home and to cook for us. Never before have I seen a greater example of pride in oneself. Despite her lack of “things” she was the wealthiest person in the room that day. Her willingness to share with us enriched all our lives for the better. I for one feel extremely lucky to have met this special soul.

Anyway, this lunch was my Ayi’s equivalent to a Manhattan dinner party. Ensuring her guests were well taken care of she went to Wal-mart and bought new chopsticks, paper cups, bottles of water and beer and enough food to feed an army. She even bought a package of plastic forks for the non-chopstick savvy guests. The menu consisted of:
Starters: Pickled something vegetable-like, fried chicken legs and (shriek!) chicken feet
Mains: Spicy tofu (I had mentioned to her that it was my favorite Chinese dish), sautéed mushrooms and bok choy, fried tofu and vegetable and some unorthodox mini-shrimp dish that, based on user reviews, was un-edible.

Luckily my early proclamations of vegetarianism saved me from having to eat the chicken feet. She even said she made the tofu and veggie dishes for me since I don’t eat meat (grin). My Dad however, was not so lucky because he was nominated by the rest of us to be the one to eat the feet. Growing up I always heard about his Peace Corps days in Venezuela and the unusual dishes he was forced to eat. Well, it was time for the big guy to not just talk the talk but walk the walk. Not to be outdone though, Jostein, Elin’s boyfriend, sucked it up and chomped into one too and Elin even took an adventurous nibble. The consensus?? It tasted like chicken.

We stayed there for over 2 hours talking with my Ayi and her pregnant sister-in-law who was also joined the feast. We did our best to eat everything up but just couldn’t possibly finish it. Besides, in China it is polite to leave some food uneaten so it doesn’t appear that your host didn’t make enough food and you are leaving hungry. I also served as interpreter for the entire afternoon. Let’s just say we weren’t discussing the classics. Still I enjoyed myself tremendously and this will be an afternoon I will never forget thanks to the generosity of one humble woman.

Dave and Andrea take on China

I am sitting at Pudong Airport waiting for my flight to leave for Berlin and being the cautious traveler that I am, I have nearly 2 hours to go POST-security. That just means plenty of time to catch up on what's been going on the last few weeks. I'll break it up into several posts since there's been a lot.

Ok. So my parents arrived April 16th and we hit the ground running. First priority? The fabric market of course. No not the choice of my mother, in fact she probably thought spending 2 hours in a 3 story cement building packed with wall to wall fabric stalls borderlined on torture (George Bush take note, new method!). No my friends, this outing was the sole pleasure of my Father's (mine too but that goes w/o saying). My Dad was a machine, churning out orders for a sport coat (many pockets , no flaps, good buttons), 5 shirts and 2 pairs of khaki pants. He even managed to get in an order for my mom and me in meantime for a Chinese style jacket. Being a seasoned market-goer and bargainer I managed to get them to their breaking point and even got compliments in my bargaining skills. I wasn't buying the "Your Dad big, more fabric" line. That would be 1 of 3 visits to the market after revisions but in the end I have to say my Dad was looking pretty smart in his new digs. My mom also looked very snappy in her new jacket and I even sensed a little regret that she hadn't been a more willing participant on the first day. Next time!

I also participated in my first running event. The Jinqiao 8K run. While it was by no means an event warranting months of training or feelings of great accomplishment once finished, it certainly was an experience. Most runs of this length in the US have minimal fanfare and are quick arrive-run-go home events. Well the brochure listed "Opening Ceremonies" at 8:30am and the run to start at 10. Opening ceremonies?? How big was this going to be? We got to the starting area around 9 and already there were about 300-400
people lined up in orderly fashion in front of a huge stage doing group stretches and all wearing the exact same shirt and hat and waving flags. Hm...the competition? Not exactly. There were two events that day, an 8k and a 2k. Yes 2 kilometers which is about 1 mile. And it wasn't a walk. For the most part people ran this. They called for that run to start at 9:30 and the entire mass of people left for the start line and were back in about 10 minutes. There were then maybe 200 of us left for the 8k including my 3 friends below. Everything else was pretty much standard besides dealing with the pushers and shovers and people trying to get to the very very front or the people running with the big flags and no regard for those who may be behind them getting whipped as the pass them by. Nonetheless it was a good run around Pudong which is across the river and more of the suburban area of Shanghai. I finished 18th out of 200 females and 270th overall at a time of 38:12. Nowhere near my marathon days but still a fun event to be part of.