But she's MY Barbie!

I'm not sure if the opening of Barbie's first-ever flagship store in Shanghai made its way to the press back in the US but it's been Shanghai's hottest news for the last couple of weeks. On March 6th, Mattel solidified its place on the China commerce landscape with the grand opening of a 6-story, "unapologetically girly", ultra pink, mega-store and it is AMAZING. I should mention before I describe the store that I was very, VERY cynnical about the idea since first hearing about it about 6 months ago. For me, at 27 years old, the appeal of Barbie is a distant memory. So to have it resurface in my life with such vigor (in China of all places!) I balked at the very notion, convinced that Barbie's hayday was long over.

I agreed to go with a group of girlfriends to test out the restaurant which was conceptualized and consulted on by a friend's company. The new House of Barbie sits on Huaihai Road, said to be Shanghai's most cosmopolitan street (cosmopolitan is being very liberal with the word). The facade is meant to resemble the outside packaging of a barbie box but inside is the real treat. After a long escalator ride up a pink-lit tunnel customers are dropped off into Barbie wonderland and this is where the magic happens. The second floor is more like a Barbie museum with over a thousand different dolls and pictures chronicalling Barb's rise to prominence. Instantly, I was thrown back into my childhood when friends and I would gather our dolls and play with the latest dream house, convertible or whatever flash new accessory Barbie happened to come out with. Looking back it was the only time I gave in to my girly-ness. My house was dominated by sports and while being girly was never discouraged there just was never really much time or interest for it. I mean I played three sports until I was 15, one of which was in an all-boys league! So here I am in China, oohing and ahhing in the 80's & 90's section over Gym Barbie, with her leotard and legwarmers and Rockstar Barbie with her cropped jacket and punk rock hair and wishing my childhood friends were by my side to share in the nostalgia.

There were 4 more floors of adult couture clothing (all quite amature in my opinion), a Vera Wang designed wedding gown, a spa, cafe and restaurant, Barbie design center and even a runway for girls to strut their Barbie stuff. How wonderful is that for a little girl?! When it was all said and done, I had lost my cynicism for the concept but replaced it with disappointment. Why was this built in Shanghai and not the States where generations of women have grown up on the icon and would truly appreciate this hommage to Barbie (not to mention make Mattel a multi-million dollar company). The answer Mattel gives is this:

When deciding where to place the House of Barbie, Shanghai beat other contenders — including London, Paris, Milan, New York and Los Angeles — because of its strong cross-generation reaction to the doll and the brand.

"Shanghai showed the absolute most passion for the Barbie brand, not only among girls three to eight years old, but for teenagers and mums, too."

Reading between the lines, this says, China has over 1.8 billion customers who we want to capitalize on. I often wonder if Chinese people ever get the feeling as though they're just seen as dollar signs (or Euro or Yuan) and cheap labor to the rest of the world. There is a rich and storied culture here that is being buried in the pursuit of economic prominence. No public space is spared when it comes to advertising and commercialism with each company looking to grab a slice of the China pie. Mattel's new store doesn't even try to hide that fact. It's quite a risk to have spent some $30M+ on the hope that Chinese females young and old will fall in love with a doll that doesn't come very close to representing them or their culture. American girls built the Barbie brand but since sales have dropped we are no longer of use to Mattel and the haven of girly-ness and nostalgia will serve a new market.

Call it a longing for the past that is gone, or even jealousy but the bottom line is...well...the bottomline I guess. I wish Mattel luck and will view this as another leverage point to lure some friends over to come visit me in Shanghai.Who wants to see Baby Doctor Barbie?? Anyone???

Oh and the Barbie-tini??? Fabulous.

Career Development, But at What Price?

It is well known that Chinese businesses operate on their own levels of what is acceptable and what is not and often those levels sit at extreme opposites of what is acceptable in the US (and most other developed nations as I imagine). A few weeks ago I decided to ramp up my networking efforts to help my job search. This lasted all of one evening because I was reminded of why I despise networking events. Making small chit chat with people about mostly mundane topics ("so how long have you been in China??, What do you think of it?, etc) is not my ideal evening but on this occasion I volunteered to go for the group I was doing an outreach project for. It was exactly as I expected but, begrudgingly, I tried to make the best of it. I met a few people and decided I had done enough and was about to step out when a friendly, older Chinese gentleman stepped up and said hello. I obliged and engaged him in conversation and it turned out he had lived in San Diego for over 20 years and was in venture capital so we had an interesting discussion on China and start-ups, etc. He asked if I spoke Chinese and I responded in Mandarin with a common reply to something when you want to be modest to which he responded with a remark about my appearance and ability to speak Chinese. Annoyed, I tactfully said it had been nice talking to him and I had to go. I wouldn't normally care about such comments but I received this email a few days later:














This is just a ridiculous email on so many levels I really could only laugh at it. It wouldn't be so significant if this hadn't been someone I'd had a very respectable conversation with. I never responded to his email and try to avoid thinking about how he was cheered up otherwise on his "lonely overseas journey."

Happy Niu Year!

(Niu being the Chinese word for Ox) Happy Year of the Ox!

I have survived my first full Chinese New Year. Phew. I must admit, despite years of studying Chinese and China relations, I hadn't the first clue about the cultural traditions surrounding China's most sacred holiday. Here's what I expected: People in dragon costumes dancing down the street as everyone stands along side streets cheering it on and lighting firecrackers. Blame it on my San Francisco Chinatown experience for being culturally unaware but there were no dragons in site and NO PEOPLE! For a city of 18 million in 2450 sq.m (by comparison: LA is 10 million in 4000 sq.m) this is no easy feat. This has to do with a few reasons- many of Shanghai's residents are migrant workers from the countryside who have come in search of better work and better pay and return home for the weeklong national holiday. Also the city felt empty simply because families stay inside together and eat and watch holiday programming much like the West does on Christmas.

Rohan and I banded together with the few other friends who also stayed in town for a lovely dinner at the JW Marriott where we sat before a 360 view of the city from the 64th floor. From here we had the perfect perch to watch the city-wide fireworks show that was to come later. Now, its no secret that I am not the biggest fan of Chinese food, even still after nearly a year here. But I thought what the heck, it's Chinese New Year, a nice hotel, it must be good. When in Rome, right? I won't say anything else about it now except that my views have not changed and may have even been strengthened following a menu that included...pigeon and fried condensed milk. Enough said.

What I was not at all expecting was the magnitude of fireworks and firecrackers being lit across the city. In the States we are so weary of using firecrackers and fireworks because every year the local news channels run stories of little Billy losing his fingers from playing with illegal firecrackers. To this China laughs. It is an unspoken competition every year between the different housing complexes as to who has the bigger and better fireworks display. There is no government sponsored display so everyone takes to the streets with their own. Shanghai is not a spread out city like LA is, it's more Manhattan-esque with apartment and office buildings towering 35+ stories- EVERYWERE. So imagine the wonderment of colorful fireworks going off in between building after building as far as the eye can see for hours on end. I tried taking pictures but they would do no justice. "But Nicole, isn't that dangerous!?" you ask? YES! It is.

This happened in Beijing on the final evening of the Lunar Festival. The newly iconic CCTV complex (dubbed 'The Trousers') saw an incomplete building, which was soon to be the Mandarin Oriental, catch on fire from wayward fireworks that had been launched from an observation deck. (Note: there was no coverage of this in China. All news of the fire comes from international media outlets as many China blogs covering the fire have been blocked or frozen.)
The luxury hotel was supposed to open in Spring but work had been delayed due to the slowing economy.

So the 15 days of the lunar festival are over and hopefully along with it the fireworks and firecrackers at all hours. It was widely noted by several friends who have been here many years that this year was significantly quiet compared to years past, which is crazy to think of since I thought this year was nuts! It looks like the economy has claimed yet another victim.

澳巴马-rama!

That would translate to "OBAMA-rama!" (ao ba ma)
(editor's note: the first character is the incorrect character that they have given for Obama's name but the right one doesn't exist in my computer's character list, leading me to believe China invented a whole new character for him. THAT is how cool he is)

The first paper with Barack and Michelle roughly translates to: "Life stirs in the Capital after a long sleep"

The second headline translates to: "What has Bush left for the World in Eight Years?"

I couldn't exactly say the excitement was palpable here in China. It was just another day. However, my Facebook page and phone were flush with comments and texts from my expat friends all very excited for the renewed hope and change. There were the expected "Inauguration Parties" at bars around town which was just another excuse to get people in to drink on a Wednesday night. I chose to watch from the comfort of my couch, power napping from 11pm-12am Wednesday morning to be up in time for all the festivities. It was equally beautiful and powerful and I was filled with emotion for my country, which I hadn't felt in a very long time.

Many have asked if Chinese people discuss American politics with me. No they do not. I also have pretty limited contact with well educated Chinese but even still, there is little political dialogue engaged in when I am with friends. I find that when I do get into conversations Chinese have very limited information about not just international events but also their own, for obvious reasons. However, every once in a while you find someone not afraid to be opinionated and when it happens it's poetry in motion. Such was displayed in this e-mail sent to Rohan (formerly special friend) and his colleagues by another Chinese colleague. Feel free to find your own significance.

Sent: Wed Jan 21 13:08:49 2009
Subject: Obama Inauguration Speech

Hi all,

Without doubt, Mr. Obama was and is surely a “world stardom”, who attracts people’s attention to see if he is able to rescue and manage the ailing American’s financial system; hence, the world’s economy will have an impressive turn in the near future.

Therefore, his inauguration ceremony and his speech would be one of the shining points in the world last night. However, due to the different time zone, you might miss out the great time to watch and listen to his great speech with full passion. No worries. I downloaded the video clip and uploaded on the L drive. You can have quick access to the material via the following link.

L:\Acquisitions\Inauguration Speech

Enjoy!

It's the little things

I've been back in Shanghai now for 2 weeks after 3 1/2 glorious weeks in California over the Christmas break. I came back with a renewed and refreshed sentiment for China and committed myself to an attitude of optimism and warmth for all things Chinese. Even the spit, rammed metros and 'scents' were not going to break this spirit.

And I was doing so well about 3 hours into my return. I walked to my gym ready for a good workout after 25 days straight of face-stuffing, wine-consuming, California gluttony. I arrived without incident only to find out that my membership had been revoked! Apparently the 24hour fitness reciprocity agreement only lasts 90 days. Never mind that I had been using it for 9months without anyone telling me this! With the close of my studies just one week away I planned on filling all my spare time (after looking for a job of course) with 4 hour long gym sessions. After talking to two different managers I got to one who said she will just have to look at my agreement and will be re-instated after if I qualify. I will spare you all the details (and ranting about the conflicting management at 24hour fitness) but this is turning out to be no easy task. Silver lining?? I now force myself to walk to more places to get exercise. While my lungs may be suffering from increased air exposure I have seen more of the city than before and come across more friendly faces. Just last week, a migrant worker on a bike stopped in front of me while I waited to dodge traffic and get to the other side. He smiled a wide toothless smile and asked if I was cold because I didn't have a scarf on. In America this would be creepy. In China it's cute and made me want to just hug him (that may have to do with him being a pint size little man but still). We exchanged a few words, crossed the street together and said our goodbyes- him putting a smile on my face and me hopefully doing the same teeth or not. It's the little things.

My second test of renewed China-vigor began last week when I left my US bank ATM card...um...somewhere. It had been a few days since its last use until I realized it was gone. Some would think this a cause for panic. The first time it happened to me (in April) it was! The second time (in June), I knew exactly where to return to get it. Now being the third time (oops!)- it's like second nature. Only this time I couldn't remember where I had left it which sent me on a city-wide cardhunt for my little-plastic-that-could. It took me three different banks and 5 days to get it back. In the end I was more proud of my ability to effectively communicate how I "left my international, gold colored bank card in the ATM machine at ShuiOn Plaza because I forgot to take it back out after getting my money." ATM machine, gold colored, and careless (mamahuhu) are all well etched into my Chinese vocabulary, along with a heightened confidence in my Mandarin (and maybe a more conscientious effort to hold onto my ATM card). It's the little things.

I now spend my days mostly in cafes calling on job prospects and studying Chinese. My timing for a job search was just perrrrrrfect given the trainwreck of an economy but I know this down time will not last forever. I am enjoying the free time I have to focus energy on things I enjoy and are important to me. This is a lifestyle that may soon be over and I will never get to live again. When the big picture may be a little cloudy, it's the little things I'll use to weather this storm that is China.

The Marathon!

Yes I am still alive here...barely :) Much has been going on in good old Shanghai lately but before I get to that we must discuss the marathon that consumed a good part of my life for the past 4 months.

I fully completed the Hangzhou International Marathon with Special Friend (SF) on November 9th. Times are not important, what matters is that we finished :) I'll just say it wasn't a PB time (personal best). But it was SF's first ever endurance run and I must give him much respect to have stayed motivated through pretty torturous training conditions and complete the 'thon in a very respectable time. We dealt with 100 degree heat + major humidity, running in one of the most smog infested cities on the planet and just plain a disgusting place to run. But when all was said and done we really enjoyed the actual run and are already talking about the next one. Maybe in more of a smog free city...so LA is out of the picture. The run itself in Hangzhou was really pleasant except for when we were running with traffic which was 70% of the time. For about 6 miles though we were off the main road and running up through tea fields which was one of the most serene trails I've ever run on. But then it was back to the main road with the buses and cars and major exhaust inhalation. Yuck!

What was quite inspiring though were the amount of septuagenarians running AND BEATING us along the way. There was one group of men, about 5 of them, who were all between 70 and 78 (they told us as they passed us... :[ ) Running together in a tight herd. The age of the men isn't so unusual, I saw much of this in the states, but more so their gear- the shoes looked as though they could have been homemade from cardboard and cloth. But damn those guys had endurance! One of them would occasionally pull off for a bathroom break and the rest would go on and that was when I thought we had them broken down but I'll be damned they would always come right back up behind us in a little trot say a friendly "Ni hao" and keep right on going. And here we are in our latest "high-tech, turbo-mode, dri-fit" Nike gear and Chocolate Outrage Gu super energy gels strapped all around my waist for "ultimate endurance!!" And I'm pretty confident they had never heard of a little chafe-saver called Body Glide in which we were sufficiently lubed up in. Of course in the end they kicked our buts and finished probably 10minutes ahead of us. I couldn't tell you b/c I couldn't see them ahead of us after mile 20. Siiigh. I don't know if this was worse or the time I got beat in my second marathon by a speed walker.....

It was a great weekend shared with many friends including my cousin Megan who has been in Shanghai for the past few months. She is the Director of the East Asian program at Union College in NY and brought a class out here to study at Fudan University. She brought a flag for us and was my number one fan out on the route. This is marathon number 2 for which she has been my support staff and I'm thinking of hiring her out for all future marathons :) New York next....



So there was the good

the bad(ass)

and the just plain ugly
Fun China!!

You Know You're Living in the Internet Age (and China) When...

Here's a riddle:

Q: American girl meets cute Australian boy while living in China. Girl and boy fall in love in China. Girl is very happy and wants boy to meet American parents. American parents are traveling in Germany. How does girl introduce boy to parents?

A: Via the Internet of course!

After nearly five months of dating the time had finally come for Special Friend to meet the parents. Ideally, we would go to their house, sit down to a lovely dinner and hope for no talk of milking cats or wayward grace saying ala Ben Stiller in the 'Meet the Parents' movie. But I live in China which doesn't afford such luxuries. And, like I've said many times before, when living in China one must get a little creative. Call it my mantra. SO, the ominous task was reduced to a Skype video call. Now most of you probably know that I talk to my parents nearly every day via video skype [My mom doesn't know how to delete emails but tell the woman that if she learns how to use skype she will be able to see me over the internet and she suddenly becomes a Google programmer].

Naturally, there have been many a skype calls when Special Friend has been over but it just seemed too ridiculous to introduce my new boyfriend over the Internet. Well try getting that logic past Dave and Andrea! With Dave being the self-appointed Skype spokesman (it is a rare occasion when the wonders of Skype don't somehow work its way into one of his conversations ;) and Andrea holding the patent on the Skype hug n' kiss there was no way of getting out of the Skype meet n greet.

So the time had finally come. No dates or times were set as with a normal parent intro, it just happened that SF came over and I was online with my Dad. There he sat with airplane-pilot headphones on and 8am bedhead and SF looking quite dapper in his shirt and tie coming from work. It was a beautiful site. But what is the first thing my Dad says?? "Hi [special friend]. Nice to FINALLY meet you. I was starting to wonder who wears the pants in that relationship!" Nice Dad. Of course it was a joke and Special Friend responded well and the conversation (mostly about sports) went on for about 10 glorious Skype minutes with nothing traditional about it.

Funnily enough, this article from the International Herald Tribune (NYT) was sent to me by a friend earlier this week:

Surveillance of Skype messages found in China

Ahh China. I hope my Dad provided a little entertainment to what must be the most mundane job on the planet.

Boustier or Bust

(Pun intended)
Warning: This post contains adult content and may not be suitable for young children.

I will be attending the Australian Chamber of Commerce Ball this Saturday with Special Friend and about 1000 other Australians residing in Shanghai. These balls are thrown annually by every Country's chamber of commerce here as a charity event. Well leave it to the Aussies to throw a Rocky Horror Picture Show themed event to mark their 13th ball. I'm not sure if this is the case with other Chambers of commerce but the Australians give the option to their attendees to either dress in black tie or fancy dress (costumes) to match the theme. Guess which option is more popular...fancy dress of course...Yay. And we're talking all out costumes here. Last year was an 80's theme and legend has it a friend of ours went dressed as Cher from the "Turn Back Time" video (on the navy boat w/ very skimpy black one piece bathing suit)...this friend is a guy.

Since I've never seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show I was a bit "horrified" to find out it is basically on big drag show. Luckily the organizers of Austcham were a bit horrified of what would come as well so they changed the theme to include all types of horror costumes. So Special Friend and I settled on being vampires. Special Friend was deprived of Halloween dress ups while

growing up in Melbourne so watching his giddyness as he rifled through three huge rooms of Halloween costumes and accessories was like watching a 3 yr old girl get her first My Little Pony: Pure and unadulterated joy. The place we went to was an obscure storefront that I would have passed right by had I not been led there. When I walked in all I could muster beneath my surprise was, "Huh, so this is where it all comes from." Everything you could imagine for Halloween was in this shop. Banners, skeletons, candy buckets, lawn decorations, costumes, makeup, wigs, fake teeth. You name it it was there. The thing is, China doesn't celebrate Halloween!!!!!! So what was all this for? Americans? Come October and you're putting up your fake cobwebs and witches, think of me as I paid homage where it originated :)

We got most of the costume taken care of at the store but I needed something "signature" to make it stand out a bit. Since I won't really get a Halloween this year, which is now known as a free pass for usually conservative young women to dress a little more...um...un-conservative, I am using this event as my Halloween. My idea was to wear a boustier. I figured I'd be pretty covered by my cape and hell, if a guy can go as Cher in her miniscule bathing suit to this thing I can wear a boustier! Now where does one find a corset boustier in China?!?!? Let me remind you that this is the land of Hello Kitty and it was recently announced that a flagship Barbie megastore catering to twentysomethings with couture clothing and multiple cafes and restaurants will soon be opened right here in Shanghai (another story, another day). I scoured for specialty shops and found one that was by appointment only (translation- waaaayyy too expensive for what will probably end up soaked in wine and champagne by the end of the night). On a whim I wandered into a local mall which happened to have a lingerie section. And wouldn't you know it? Right there was exactly what I pictured in my head. The sales girl was more than happy to assist me leading me to believe she doesn't get many customers. What I didn't know is how eager she was to go that extra mile for the sale. Here's what transpired: First I asked for the biggest size (No. I haven't made a visit to the Chinese plastic surgeon for a bargain breast enhancement since I've been here. Chinese girls are small!). She handed me the boustier and showed me to the fitting room/cubby hole (read- very tiny). I turned to shut the door and discovered she had followed me in. O....K..... then ordered me to strip down and thrust the boustier on me. Just then it went from a slightly odd situation to downright ridiculous. Without warning she reaches into the boustier and grabs all that she can of both my babyfeeders and pushes them straight up into the boustier cups. It took about 5 seconds to get over the shock of what she had just done and look over to see her with the wide-tooth smile like that of a proud parent. In some countries that would have been grounds for a marriage. I have to say though, it was pretty magical, her work, but when I looked at the price tag my jubilation sank as I couldn't justify paying $150 when I've yet to secure employment. I had to break it to my sales girl easy that I wouldn't be buying her boustier. And so went my first breakup in China.

I wandered a bit more around the floor hoping for a miracle and to my amazement found, sitting on a sale table, the perfect boustier! I asked the sales lady (slightly older and a bit weathered hence sale table duty) for the biggest size again and was prepared this time for what was to come. When all of a sudden she turned me around right there and thrust the thing on over my clothes in front of everyone! There I was in the middle of this department store in jeans, a tanktop and black boustier! I ran around desperately looking for a mirror so I could ok it and take it off. It wasn't enough that I was getting stares as the white girl at the lingerie sale table but now I warranted them! The boustier was perfect though so I paid (a very reasonable $10) and ran. And so went my first undergarment buying experience in China. Austcham isn't going to know what hit 'em!

Marathon Training: The Dream Lives On

Yep, still taking the crazy pills and training for a marathon in China. Since we're entering September with a little over 2 months to go until the big day we're bumping up the long training runs each week. This coming week we should be at 11 miles (or 18k as I've come to measure my distances. It's a metric system world out here and it amazes me how America is the only country on the planet to use miles/yards/feet/pounds/etc. I'm not going to lie, I'm into the metric system ....weighing 58kilos sounds a whole lot better than 130pounds. And now I can actually comprehend what a big coup it is when authorities confiscate such and such kilos of heroin/cocaine/weed from drug smugglers. It was all at a loss on me before....off topic, I know.)

Back to marathon training. I mentioned in my other post about training that we'd have to be creative with our runs here. Well creative I was and creative I will not be again. Maybe creative wasn't the right word...more like adventurous. I so desperately miss the San Francisco convenience of outside-your-front-door-runs that I tried to make it happen here in Shanghai. A friend of mine had mapped out a run on google maps that goes along Suzhou creek; a small river near my apt that runs through Shanghai and eventually meets the Huangpu River which eventually meets the um....???? South China Sea??? It looked pretty decent on Google but I'm kicking myself now for not using the satellite function that shows the REAL picture. WELL...I don't know about you but when I think of a creek I think of little Timmy in a quaint New England town running down to the water with his fishing pole made of a stick and string to catch tadpoles. Thank you Suzhou Creek for obliterating that image. I don't think you'd want little Timmy w/in 200ft of this creek for fear of him growing a third arm out of his forehead. Nonetheless the gov't in Shanghai is trying to beautify it by putting in creekside areas for strolling, sitting and running; complete with a rubber running track. What they've built thus far is actually really nice but like most everything here they've ALMOST got it but not quite. The track is laid only in sections so we can run for about 400 meters then have to switch to running in the streets for about 2 miles then get excited to see the track is back only to discover another 400 meters later it is unfinished again. Running in the street is where it gets adventurous. Dodging cars, bikes, dogs and their poo, people, trash, makes you really feel like you earned your run here. However, I draw the line at enjoying "adventurous" when a four legged and long tailed critter scurries across my path. Yeah. It happened. And I had a major freakout in the middle of Shanghai locals. I can just imagine the chit chat about the crazy white girl flailing and screaming about at the creek. I'm sure it's stuff legends are made of.

So Special Friend and I suffered through about 9 miles of interesting smells wafting in and out of our noses and dashing in and out of traffic just to make it back to his apt in one piece and fulfilled of our training for the day. In the end though I got to see sights of Shanghai I know I never would have come across and got a better sense of the community that makes this crazy place function.We will probably stick to our runs out in the Shanghai 'burbs from now on though even if it is a taxi+metro+15minwalk away. The novelty of "stepping outside my door" for a run is by now lost for me. Add it to my ability to adapt skill. By the time this is all said and done this will be the most rewarding marathon purely b/c the road to the finish line has never been so hard fought.

Beijing Extras

Here are a few gems from excitement surrounding the games.

The beloved Fuwas, the mascots of the Beijing games, provided much needed entertainment for various events. Below was the ridiculous halftime show during a Handball game my BF Rohan attended. We can thank him for this very special video :) Only in China. Watch and enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxW6tRvNbrw



Now, I know shooting is an Olympic sport but does anyone else think there is something is wrong with this picture??? I call this "Disgruntled Fuwa"

Beijing 2008...oh my!

Well this may have been the most anticipated event of my short 26 years. Not necessarily because I am an Olympic zealot per say but mostly because since my arrival in China in February I could not look within a 2 ft radius without seeing a Beijing 2008 symbol, or listen to the radio for more than 2 seconds with out hearing Beijing Aoyunhui er ling ling ba nian (Beijing Olympics 2008). Not to mention the fiasco that was the torch relay. I should be thankful though since the Olympics have finally given me a new topic of conversation with cab drivers besides the weather. There are only so many times you can really say "The weather looks bad today, do you think it might rain?" and being met with a grunt as if to say "This is Shanghai idiot. Of course it's going to rain!" before turning yourself into a mute in taxis.

I really don't think I can put into words how much, at least in my observations, the Olympics have affected the Chinese people's lives. In both good and bad ways. Besides the obvious tremendous sense of pride that has been re-instilled in this nation after decades of trying to claw its way out of a cultural malaise they have also been met with the challenges and triumphs of being a global force. This is a country extremely proud of its people and they want the rest of the world to share in their celebration. At times it was invigorating to hear and see such genuine honor for ones country.
DISCLAIMER: big tangent ahead.
(Sadly I can't say that I've seen that in my own country for quite a while. It seems as though the US has battered through one disaster after another since 2001 and each time its built up a new wall between neighbors. Why was it that when I was forced (yes forced) to use my American Flag credit card in Germany I was embarrassed? I can easily say a Chinese person would hand it over with beaming confidence in any country in the world. I like to think that deep down at the core, honoring of one's nation are what the Olympics are all about. My American pride was immediately restored when I saw my team, 500+ strong, walk through the Birds Nest with a Sudanese refugee as the flag bearer. It's been a while since I've sung 'God Bless America' but my pipes were working overtime during the opening ceremony with my few fellow countrymen in a heavily packed Aussie crowd...the few vodka-sodas didn't hurt either)

Anyway, the Chinese' pride was altogether genuine but borderline hubris. Especially now since they've won 33 gold medals and counting. Just yesterday I watched their beloved Prince of sport Liu Xiang (he won their first track & field gold medal in Athens and has since become the Michael Jordan of China) have to bow out of the Olympics because of an injury. The reaction?? While disappointed, one person said, "Its ok. We already have so many gold medals." There. Done. Like yesterday's news.

Other effects I've seen? Well besides the auto response for whenever something doesn't get done being, "Oh because of the Olympics", there have been businesses just shut down cold out of national security. Not just a couple here and there, whole blocks of businesses. The metro station I get off at every weekend for my runs has a whole underground strip mall with hundreds of stores. Just yesterday I arrived and every single one of them was closed. Special friend told me that they had been closed by the government b/c they were places where people could gather and potentially cause harm to others or create an uprising. Can you believe that?!?! These stores are people's livelihoods and they are just shutdown for 2+ weeks w/o compensation!

Anyway...enough about that. Let's get to the fun part. My Olympic experience. We kicked off the Games with a robust gathering at a local (and only) sports bar in Shanghai. This was organized by an Australian friend of mine so naturally the crowd was awash in Green and Gold. But like I said earlier, my few compatriots and I managed to get in quite a show of American Pride when the US team walked out. Although I must confess that I did partake in a few Aussie-Aussie-Aussie-Oy-Oy-Oys (the Australian National Chant). I feel I'm allowed a sense of Australian pride after living there and Special Friend happens to be from there :) The real fun came though when the Chinese team marched out. The entire bar gave way to the guilty pleasure of chanting "Zhongguo Jiayou, Zhongguo Jiayou!" (Go China! Go China!) China's national chant. Myself included. The excitement in the air was electric! Let the Games begin!!

A friend from UCLA and San Francisco, Courtney, had contacted me a few months earlier to say she would be coming to China b/c her brother had qualified for the Olympics in 4-man Skulls Rowing. She and her boyfriend Mark stayed with me for a few days in Shanghai then headed up to Beijing for the games. They offered me a place to crash in Beijing if I wanted to head up there and I of course could not turn down the offer :)

I overnight-trained it up to Beijing which was quite convenient but probably won't be happening again. My friend Ying and I got the top bunks of a 4 bunk compartment. We shared it with sweet Mr and Mrs Wang who weren't so sweet after they were slurping their instant noodle bowls and snoring the night away starting at 8:30pm. But alas we made it to Beijing, only to be greeted by a most ominous sky. The heavens opened up around 4:10, 30 minutes before Courtney's brother was about to row. The event would be canceled for the day. Not, however, without an apology to the Rowers from the Chinese government for the rain. I kid you not.

But one day's miserable weather leads to another day's glory. The next day was probably the most beautiful day I've ever seen in China. Blue skies, white fluffy clouds and dry heat. A perfect day for some friendly competition! And what competition would be friendlier than USA v Cuba BASEBALL!?!? That's right. Two conflicting nations converging via their national pastime. Another friend in Shanghai mentioned a few weeks earlier that he had extra tix so I jumped all over them. The game itself was so-so but basking in the beautiful sun just behind thirdbase with an $0.80 beer couldn't have made me any happier. Well not entirely true. Throw in a Dodger dog and who knows what I would have done with myself! Speaking of concessions, China really blew it on this one. Every venue had the same menu of crap ('scuse my language). The food available really was deplorable. All that was offered were spam sandwiches, chips, popcorn and some really pathetic and inedible looking sausages in cellophane wrap. Here was a perfect opportunity to share chinese snacks (dumplings, pork buns, fried noodles) with the world and they blew it on processed, pre-packaged junk. It really was sad and was the same situation I found at every venue leading to my liquid diet for the day :) But back to baseball. It really was a beautiful day and although the US lost to Cuba 8-7 in extra innings it was fun just to be there. The Cuban's had quite a lively contingency RIGHT behind us but they were friendly towards us Americans. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess they maaaaaayyyyyyy have been from the states and maaaayyyyy have had family who immigrated from Cuba at some point. I don't know. Just an educated guess since the last I read it was hard for Cuban's to afford bananas let alone a plane ticket across the world to China. Regardless, it was a friendly game that I am thankful to have witnessed. Off to Rowing!

The baseball park could not have been farther away from the Rowing park. And traveling across Beijing might as well be like traveling over state lines due to the massive expanse of the city. Basically it's huge and traveling from point A to point B for me was like trying to get from Pasadena to Long beach in LA without a car. Nightmare??? Yes! Especially after my liquid diet at the baseball game. My head was a bit foggy and navigating the Beijing metro system to get to the Olympic green to catch the shuttle buses to Shunyi Rowing park was..um..a tad tedious. It was tedious just writing that all out!! But I made it and got a beautiful sightseeing trip along the way. The gov't built new highways to get to the park through lush greenery which really showed a side of Beijing I had never seen. And mountains in the background. Who knew!

Finally I made it after almost 2 hrs of travel, some of which was hindered by mis-communication between the "English-Speaking" volunteers and myself. I learned fast that my Chinese is not yet up to par. The rowing park was gorgeous though and the races were very exciting. The most exciting being Courtney's brother's race of course. He did so well, finishing second in his heat which qualified him for the gold medal race. Although he and his team would eventually not medal, what an amazing feat to make it to the finals. They are a really young team too, so you can count on seeing them at the London Games in 2012.














I thought my Olympic experience would end with this event until we got a call at 8:15am the next morning from another friend of Courtney's saying he had 4 extra tickets to that day's swim events!!!!!! That meant a trip to the beautiful Watercube and a Michael Phelps race!!!!! We booked it to the 'cube and unfortunately b/c of the rammed security line, barely missed Phelpsie's race and SEVENTH gold medal performance :( We did get to see the phenom's victory ceremony though and about 7 other races. Just being in the cube alone was enough for me. It truly is a beautiful and serene building and seeing MP's ceremony and the raising of the American Flag while the Star Spangled Banner played throughout the arena again brought back that flood of USA pride that I had been longing for.


That would end my Beijing 2008 Olympic experience. Beijing itself was not a fun place to be. It is too big of a city and there wasn't much of an Olympic spirit beyond the walls of the venues but these games have changed the face of this nation and ultimately the world. The excitement will all come to an end in about a week but my true anticipation is for the way this country reacts when these games are all over. Stay tuned for post-Beijing 2008!

For all of my pictures of the Olympics click here!

Call me C-R-A-Z-Y

I realize that I just wrote a post about how hot and unbelievably uncomfortable it is to be outside for even a minute here in Shanghai these days so the fact that I have signed up to run a marathon may prompt the need for check of the mental faculties. Yes, I have signed up for the Hangzhou Marathon in November. Not only have I signed up, I have assembled a run group to encourage my craziness. We've actually been running together for about 5 weeks now very informally. To be honest, I was all talk in the beginning when I said I wanted to do a marathon here in China but one thing led to another and all of a sudden I found myself putting together a training calendar for 5 other people and not long after that the title "Coach" was thrown at me. AHHH me and my big mouth!! I think the real craziness hit me when a friend who is coming to visit asked what she could bring from the States and I immediately answered BODY GLIDE. No. Not peanut butter M&Ms, Wheat Thins or Oatmeal Teddy Grahams (all of which are also greatly appreciated ;). Body Glide :/ (I envision my brother and Susan, his fiance, saying "What's wrong with that?!?" ). So here I am....training for a marathon....in....China...Lord help me.

It's an interesting thing running in Shanghai. I don't think I could have come from a farther extreme in terms of running environment. I could have walked out of my door in San Francisco and blindly chosen any direction to run in and eventually found myself among the most beautiful running trails in the state. Not exactly the case here. Unless you want to be intimate with a bike, motorcycle, taxi or BUS it's wise not to do any action blindly. I did do a couple runs out on the sidewalks near my old apartment and I could never figure out if the locals were staring at me because I was either a)blonde/western/woman or b)running. The running for health or leisure aspect hasn't really hit here but honest-to-god if there's an announcement for a slash in prices for cooking oil you best be looking out for the sudden herd of Michael Johnson's sprinting your way.

So my Saturdays now consist of 7am wake-ups, which would probably happen if I was running or not due to the rabid vegetable bargaining going on in the markets below my apartment. I'm going to digress here but it is AMAZING to see the bustle of activity that goes on early weekend mornings. We take the metro to get to our run destination and it is PACKED. Like wall-to-wall, face-in-armpit PACKED. Sometimes I just want to shout: WHERE ARE YOU ALL GOING!?!?!? Really where are they all going at 7am on a Saturday?!!? Once I figure it out I'll let you know. Anyway, we have a really nice park to run in that knocks out about 10ks which is fine for now but once we get into the real training (20-30ks) we'll have to get creative with our run destinations. Luckily I have another friend who spent time in Austin and shares my CA run culture experience. We're determined to bring that lifestyle to China so I when friends ask what they can bring from home I don't have to say body glide :)

Here is a link to the marathon I will be doing: http://www.hangzhou-marathon.com/index.php?lang=en

Someone turn off the Oven!!

I just can't win. Last year (the last 4 years for that matter) I was complaining about a fogged in San Francisco July that resembled nothing close to Summer. Well looks like the Summer gods are making up for lost time in Nicole-land because DAMN!!!!!! its HOT in Shanghai! I probably sweat more in the walk from my bedroom to bathroom than I did in all 3 marathons. Yes I have AC, central AC actually, and it goes on very frequently but I am from California. We're genetically programmed to be "green" (and when I eventually meet Leonardo DiCaprio he will be captivated by my ability to stay environmentally conscious and fall in love with me and....hey, a girl can dream can't she??).

Anyway it's running a consistent 97-100 degrees the last week or so with about 70%humidity. For example: right now as I write at 10pm Accuweather is reporting a temp of 100! 100!!! At 10pm!! I have basically kissed good hair days, dry clothes, clear skin and the likes goodbye. I just made myself sound so hot! It doesn't help that I have to deal with THIS every day. It's one thing to be sticky and hot in your own space but when you have to be arm to arm with people in the same, and usually worse, condition it makes things slightly more unpleasant. I will say one thing for China, they're not a smelly bunch. Thank God. I think that purely derives from luck though b/c you can't find deodorant in abundance and most clothes are worn several days in a row. I mean there are definite "scents" but BO is not one of them. Again...thank god because I've been on the bad end of exposed armpits more times than I care to think of.

So this heat comes right when I have included a walk of about 20 looong minutes to my daily routine. That would be the walk from the metro to my new classroom at Jiaotong University. In order to maintain my visa and not have to return to the US I had to sign up for Summer school. If you're wondering if I'm at all concerned about being 26 and have to say that I am in Summer school the answer is a big fat YES...but I am encouraged by the fact that I have 2 40+ classmates in my class of 7. Although, I did grapple with a bout of discouragement when my sweet looking, 40-something, Chilean classmate leaned over during our break and said, "The American students always do the best in my classes." (Umm...have you heard of a little country called Korea, honey?!?) I responded with, "Well I hope I don't prove that wrong (wink wink, smile)." She replied with not the most jovial of faces and said, "Oh we'll see." For the next 3 hours I sat there petrified of flubbing up business Chinese as if I held the fate of American student's image around the world in my hands! The chick was watching me too, I swear! I answered a question and she leaned over again and asked how I knew that. Score one for America! Take that World! Sadly in the end, I think we ended up sub zero in the scoring due to my unwavering inability to remember characters. Sorry America...at least we have our good image in other sectors to stand on...you know like the economy, foreign policy, etc.....................................................

Surviving the Quarantine Exam...barely

Many apologies friends for the long absence. Quite a bit has happened but not much has warranted the "I can't wait to blog about this" thoughts in my head...UNTIL TODAY. And boy did they come back with a vengeance. Before I get to my Shanghai Quarantine story I'll give you an update on my life for the past 6 weeks: I moved into a new apartment with a gorgeous view and signed a one-year lease (YIKES!). Still don't have a job, but I am working on that little detail AND I may have picked up a special friend along the way. We'll leave that for another post though (or if you've talked to my mom in the last 6 weeks i'm sure you have all major and minor details).

Back to the quarantine! So since I love Shanghai so much and want to stay here for a while I had to enroll in another semester of Uni to easily extend my visa and if you are here more than 6 months you have to get a medical exam. Thinking this was no big deal, probably just a check of my height/weight/blood pressure/heart beat/etc, an easy formality to get a visa, I rejoiced in my soon-to-be visa extension success. UNTIL I talked to a few folks who had been through the "formality" and was met with sly grins and phrases like "rite of passage". Oh. dear. All I prayed for was no use of needles or blood drawing or, for that matter, coming within 20feet of a needle. Yes, I have a phobia. Yes, it's all mental, I know, but its there and I get really lightheaded and hot and sweaty and would rather lick a Chinese Metro handrail than get my blood drawn in China! Again I was met with the sly grins and "rite of passage" jargon. Noooooo!

Naturally I put this off until the last minute but finally couldn't escape it. So off I went to the "Shanghai Quarantine Service". The word quarantine jut gets it all going on a bad start. Like you're entering the Int'l House of Disease or so. But, it started out normal enough with many foreigners joining me. What I would soon find out is that we go as a group of about 15 for each appt time and do different stations. What I DIDN'T know, that apparently everyone else did, is that I should have worn pants b/c you have to dress in a gown for the exam but can leave your bottom apparel on. WELL, being nearly 100 degrees in Shanghai at the moment my choice of clothing usually resorts to dresses and did on this particular day. AWESOME. The gown, naturally, was fitted for Chinese people who, on average, are "slightly" shorter than my 5feet8inches. So I had to walk around the quarantine area in front of everyone else in this tiny Chinese dressing gown, holding it down as far as it would go to not show any, um, backend real estate. Uncomfortable from the get-go?? YES but moving on.

Test #1 was an xray. Really?? Is this necessary?? I swear I haven't stolen the torch and swallowed it. I clearly angered the tech in the brief 5 seconds it took me to enter the room b/c he pushed me in front of an apparatus and concocted me in this incredibly odd position, quite forcefully, and told me not to move. I stood there for about a good 5 minutes not moving a muscle but also not hearing anything happening then finally hearing the techie say something that sounded a mix between "don't move" and "good". "What?" "Don't move" "Ah!" "Good" "What?" This went on for about 30 seconds when he finally came in the room and removed me from the apparatus (clearly calling me a stupid foreigner in his head all the while).

Next room...duh duh duh...NOOOO are those??? Yes they are! NOOOOOO! Needles and rubber strips NOOOOOOOOO! It took me a good minute tomentally pump myself up for this and sit down in the seat while the Chinese nurses kept saying "please be calm". After deep breaths and serious closing of the eyes, it was over but not before I had to sit in the room another 10 minutes and listen while 3 more people got their blood taken. UGH! The snap of the rubber and taping of the vein almost made me puke! But I survived. Which I am so happy b/c I got to experience the rest of this lovely exam. I have to say this was probably the most normal of all the tests as it only got weirder from there.

Next was my doctor exam. Let me set the scene first. This hospital is what you would expect out of a 1950's Chinese Hospital, and it hasn't changed since. Pink cement walls, steel gurneys and blue curtains. Nice. The cute little old doctor told me to get on the bed (no sanitary changeable paper here) and started to feel for my heartbeat, etc. Normal enough right?? NO. He then pulled out a sonogram machine!!! Wha??? And started poking and prodding my ribs and stomach which happened to be quite sore from yesterday's yoga session! Why am I having a sonogram in China?? Why?

NEXT, was my ECG whatever the heck that is. I KID YOU NOT. They hooked up electrode CLAMPS to my right ankle and both wrists then stuck suction cups to my chest! Where am IIIIIII??? Please take a moment to picture this and don't forget the skimpy robe that I was wearing as well. The doctor finished after about 5 minutes and proceeded to tell me that everything was normal. No. I'm sorry honey. There is NOTHING normal about this.

When all was said and done I had x-rays, a sonogram, was hooked to electrodes, given an eye test, blood drawn, and a full body doctor exam all within 45 minutes. At least I can say it was efficient.

And so continues this odd but fabulous life I live in China.

N-B-A

It is probably no surprise that the NBA is very, very popular in China (thank you Yao Ming). What is a surprise is the lengths Chinese people have to go to to watch games. The recent NBA playoffs have been banned from being shown on CCTV- China's state-owned television provider- and those are the only channels you can get unless you have illegal satellite. Reason being, allegedly, a Laker player sent around a petition to officially condemn China for their role in Rwanda. Hm, first Sharon Stone now this. LA is not boosting its profile with the Chinese government. So watching a game means waiting for them to download from copyright-infringing internet sources.

However despite these lengths the Chinese people love their basketball. Some of the best conversations I've had have been with cabbies and my security guards about the sport. Just mention one of the trifecta: NBA, Yao Ming or Kobe, and you've got an instant friend. Just last night all the guards had gathered outside my building and were chatting when I got home from watching the replay of Lakers-Celtics game3. I was in a good mood since the Lake-show FINALLY won one and decided to indulge a little. I told them I was watching NBA (pronounced by drawing each letter out a bit) and Kobe (or Ke-be). A collective "Ohhhhhhh" was released from the group and immediately the rambling off of every NBA name known began. I have to say, Kobe is probably more popular than Yao. I see so many Kobe jerseys and Laker shorts I could be in LA (kind of...not really). And don't even bother asking if Yao is going to play in the Olympics despite his injury. It's a non-issue. He WILL play. The highlight of my conversation last night was when one especially enthusiastic guard exclaimed that he likes Tracy McGrady. Now I don't know too much about basketball outside the Lakers so I searched for TMac and discovered he was on the Rockets. This pretty much cemented my belief that no matter who you are if you play for the Rockets (Yao Ming's team), you've got an instant 1.4billion person fan base!

Go Lakers!!

New Videos!

Here are a couple treats.

This first clip is during my parents' recent trip when we traveled south to Xishuangbanna. My Dad had some fun sharing some very useful American idiosyncrasies.



And here is a recent rush-hour metro trip my friend Katie and I took while she was visiting Shanghai. To say it got a little crowded is a bit of an understatement and just when you thought they couldn't cram in any more people...they did. I couldn't really move my hand very far to get the whole scene but I think you get the picture.

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.