Terug naar ” ‘t stad “, Shanghai dus

So… I am back from my weekend getaway to Shanghai and because the greatfirewallofchina has blocked wordpress (and facebook and youtube), I wasn’t able to post an entry. Yeah, it was a low key visit and it lasted no more than 3 days but it was an amazing adventure.

I have stories upon stories to regale but I also have this horrible monster called inertia. But I shall at least get the first post out so that I can retain the life of the blog. There’s a greater purpose to this blog (which I will reveal in time) and I shall not allow a Shanghai hiatus to take it away.

On a grander scale of things, I guess everyone goes through a period of inaction during their lives. As a sanguine, I cannot keep still, and as a choleric I cannot be unoccupied; I almost always am doing something all the time. It’s not a bad thing it’s not necessarily a good thing either.

But over the last couple of years, my phlegmatic has risen and I’ve learnt the art of waiting and just observing. It’s no excuse for not writing in the last few days but this is what’s on my mind at the moment. There’s a beauty in waiting and sometimes silence can be the loudest noise. I think God speaks regardless but sometimes it’s easier to hear Him when it’s quiet.

All right, now that I am writing again… May I continue this tomorrow. That’s all for today. It’s out of my system for now!

I’m thrilled to learn that our China campaign for PUMA won this year’s MMA Award! That’s the fun part of working here in an ad agencies…:-)

Enjoy reading:

- http://mmaglobal.com/news/mobile-marketing-association-announces-2009-global-award-finalists

- http://www.mobiadnews.com/?p=4168#more-4168

Cheers!

A subway tunnel between Pudong and the Bund in Shanghai.

(National Geographic)

La canción “Nobody” realmente se ha elevado para conquistar mitad del cielo. Ayer, los reporteros se enteraron que después del anuncio del concierto del grupo surcoreano, Wonder Girls, el 1ro de diciembre en el Shanghai Grand Stage; muchos artistas locales se mostraron interesados y empezaron a llamar a los organizadores para reservar boletos (entradas). El popular grupo surcoreano, 2PM, también estará presente en el concierto como invitados especiales.

En vísperas de su concierto en China, las Wonder Girls mostraron mucha emoción, regresando a Corea del Sur desde los EE. UU. antes de tiempo para ensayar; la líder del grupo, Sunye, dijo mediante su bitácora: “Hemos dejado a un lado toda actividad para ensayar detrás de puertas cerradas y queremos ver a nuestros fans en Shanghái ¡lo antes posible!”

Su manejador, JY Park, dijo que el concierto completo será una gran fiesta de baile de las 5 Chicas, el magnífico escenario estará resplandeciendo en rosa, con una plataforma en forma de “T” extendiéndose hacia el área de la audiencia, mostrando la versatilidad sexy, joven, adorable y encantadora de las Wonder Girls; mientras en el escenario principal una gigante “W” adornada con incontables cristales.

Al mismo tiempo, objetos únicos de la era de los 1960s estará en escena, un hechizante sofá rosa, sillas, brillantes cortinas perladas, puertas con arcos circulares, etc. para proveer un festín a los ojos; mientras las 5 Chicas mantendrán sus característicos trajes pegados mostrando su figura de ‘S’.

La audiencia será invitada a cantar y bailar con las Wonder Girls durante “Tell Me”, “So Hot”, “Bad Boy”, “You’re Out”. “Goodbye” y otras canciones representativas. La más esperada, “Nobody” será mezclada en una versión remix y, además de los movimientos característicos ya globalmente conocidos, se le añadirá un estilo de baile nuevo.

Según los organizadores, las Wonder Girls han dado mucha importancia a esta presentación en Shanghái, por lo que llegarán antes para los ensayos, y en la tarde del 29 de noviembre estarán en persona en Daning: The Life Hub (Plaza Comercial Internacional de Daning) para el “warm up” del concierto invitando a todos los espectadores a bailar “Nobody”.

[Fuente: cqnews.net]
[Crédito: 晨报记者 高 磊]
[Traducción al inglés: qoxie@soompi]

*Daning: The Life Hub es una plaza de comercios, donde hay tiendas, restaurantes, hoteles y muchas cosas más, brindándole entretenimiento de toda clase a las personas.

*Traducido al español utilizando el artículo original en chino y la traducción al inglés.

Organisée du 1er mais au 31octobre, 186 pays et 47 organisations internationales ont annoncé leur participation à cet évenement. Ces chiffres sont très démonstratifs de la volonté d’ouverture de la Chine face au reste du monde ainsi qu’une culture artistique en plein essor malgré la crise.

Shanghai 2010 a pour thème: “meilleure ville, meilleur vie”.

 Et l’un des must de cette grandiose exposition est la visite de l’expo ONLINE, en effet un site en complément permettra aux internautes de visiter le Pavillon de chez eux. Et comme les chinois font tout en grand, le site sera doté d’animations en 3D, simulation de lumière,pluie ainsi que de nombreux effets spéciaux…

Alors pour ceux et celles qui ne seront pas sur place Internet reste une fois de plus le meilleur moyen de communication, d’information, de divertissement.

Ville la plus cosmopolite de Chine, Shanghaï en est aussi la plus occidentalisée. Place forte du commerce et des échanges internationaux, la municipalité directement administrée par le pouvoir central est souvent vue comme la capitale économique chinoise.

• Shanghai上海 (Shànghǎi)
• Province : bordée par la province du Jiangsu à l’ouest et celle du Zhejiang au sud
• Statut administratif : municipalité autonome
• Superficie : 7 037 Km² pour l’ensemble de la municipalité
• Population : environ 20 000 000 habitants en 2008
• Préfixe téléphonique : 21
• Code postal : 200 000 ; 202 100

Le savez-vous ?

• Shanghai est la plus grande ville chinoise en terme de population, et l’une des plus densément peuplées au monde.
• Entre 1920 et 1930, la ville a profité d’un grand essor culturelle
• Jusqu’à 1992, et le choix de Deng Xiaoping d’en relancer le développement, Shanghai a été fortement contrôlée par le Parti communiste depuis l’avènement de la République populaire de Chine
• Le nom Shanghai signifie «surplombant la mer» ou «sur la mer». Son nom actuel est apparu sous la dynastie Song.
• Avec 20% de la production nationale, Shanghai est vouée à être le centre financier de l’Empire du milieu, d’où son surnom «La Perle de l’Orient». Associée à son côté cosmopolite, cette caractéristique lui vaut souvent la comparaison avec New York.
• Si le mandarin reste la langue officielle à Shanghai comme dans le reste du pays, la langue traditionnelle utilisée est une variante du Wu, la seconde langue chinoise la plus parlée après le Putonghua.
• On présente souvent Shanghai comme une ville raffinée et la capitale de la mode en Chine. Les habitants ont souvent tendance à mépriser les autres villes qu’ils considèrent comme des ruraux mal éduqués à l’exception de Hongkong.
• Shanghai a une très forte activité culturelle.

Présentation

Au large de la province du Zheijiang à l’embouchure du Yangzi, également appelé le Fleuve Bleu, Shanghai aborde une superficie de 6340 Km². La métropole est également l’une des quatre municipalités administrées directement par le pouvoir central. Son système politique est identique à celui de Pékin, Tianjin ou Chongqing.

Une ville moderne et architecturale

Shanghai est mondialement connue grâce à ses célèbres tours dans la Nouvelle Zone de Pudong. Cet ancien port de  pêche est devenu en quelques années, une ville moderne avec d’imposants gratte-ciels, florissant le paysage shanghaien.

La ville possède des structures considérables telles que le train Maglev reliant l’aéroport de Shanghai au centre ville, les deux grandes autoroutes surélevées de six voies qui se croisent et traversent tout le centre ville. Et d’ici 2020, la ville compte se doter de tunnels routiers car elle doit faire face à l’explosion de son trafic.

Une ville très peuplée

Vue de Pudong à Shanghai

Avec plus de 13 millions d’habitants, la ville demeure la seconde agglomération la plus peuplée de Chine après Chongqing. Les nombreuses constructions réalisées permettent de loger tout ce monde dans des HLM modernes. Forte d’une densité d’environ 2129 habitant par Km², 1/3 de la population shanghaienne vient des campagnes pauvres avoisinant la métropole.

Les shanghaiens vivent avec plus de 5000 euros de PIB par habitant et par an. C’est l’une des villes les plus prospères de Chine avec Pékin, Canton et Hong Kong. Shanghai doit faire face à un baby boom d’environ 500 000 bébés d’ici 2011 et doit prévoir la construction de jardins d’enfants.

La métropole compte déjà plus de 300 000 enfants et un millier de jardins d’enfants et indique un accroissement de la population en hausse constante. Cette forte natalité est due au calendrier lunaire chinois indiquant que l’année 2007 et le début 2008 est l’année du Cochon, l’année de la chance.

Une économie prospère

Shanghai est la principale plate-forme du pays pour le commerce mondial. La ville est le lieu de toutes les nouvelles tendances chinoises. Le port de Shanghai était la capitale économique de l’Asie dans les années 1920-1930.

Mais aujourd’hui, c’est un atout majeur dans l’économie de la Chine moderne. Premier commerçant au monde pour le vrac avec 400 millions de tonnes qui y transitent et  troisième pour le trafic de conteneurs, Shanghai est également une importante plate forme aéroportuaire.

Shanghai souhaite devenir une ville de services mais c’est son aspect industriel qui reste dans les mémoires. L’économie shanghaienne peut compter sur les nombreux investissements étrangers dont la France qui investit de plus en plus.

«Une ville meilleure pour une vie meilleure».

Nanjing Road

Slogan de la ville pour 2010, Shanghai ouvrira ses portes à l’exposition universelle. L’exposition aura le même effet que les Jeux Olympiques de Pékin, c’est-à-dire un important développement de l’urbanisme et un accroissement du nombre de touristes.

La ville qui a vu naître le Parti Communiste chinois

Shanghai signifie littéralement «sur la mer». Cet ancien village de pêcheurs fondé au XI^ème siècle de notre ère est devenu, au fil des siècles, l’une des plus grandes villes de la République populaire de Chine.

La ville se développe en majeure partie grâce au Traité de Nankin signé le 29 août 1842 entre la Chine et le Royaume-Uni. Le traité met fin à la seconde guerre de l’Opium et impose aux chinois l’ouverture du port de Shanghai, devenant ainsi une ville cosmopolite.

Cependant, durant la dynastie Song (960-1279), Shanghai est aussi prospère et développée qu’après la signature du traité de Nankin. Cette prospérité est jalousée par les Japonais qui décident d’attaquer la ville.

Mais face aux incursions japonaises, les habitants décident de barricader le lieu en construisant des remparts situés au sud du Bund (quai rebaptisé Zhongshan Donglu en 1949), détruit en 1912. L’intrusion des Occidentaux dans la vie de la cité conduit les Shanghaiens à un radicalisme politique.

Shanghai est la ville où est né le Parti Communiste Chinois en 1920. Shanghai représente jusqu’en 1930 environ, une ville cosmopolite et capitaliste. Toutefois, en 1949, les communistes mettent fin au développement de la ville. Les hostilités à l’encontre des étrangers bloquent l’économie urbaine devenant nationaliste et planifiée.

Shanghai est le point de départ de la Révolution Culturelle chinoise de 1966. C’est durant cette période que les élites de Shanghai quittent la ville pour Hong Kong ou Taiwan. Après 1978, Shanghai tient toujours sa position de pilier économique et social.

Ce n’est qu’en 1990 qu’elle reprend les devants et se développe rapidement. Deng Xiaoping met en place de nombreuses réformes entraînant l’augmentation de la production industrielle et la hausse des investissements étrangers.

Article revu et corrigé par Nicolas Jucha, paru sur IcilaChine

Phew, also zuallererst ein aufrichtiges, dickes Dankeschön an alle, die mir hier im Blog aufmunternde Worte gespendet haben und auch an die, die sonst immer mitlesen! Mit soviel positiver Reaktion hab ich nun wirklich nicht gerechnet! Bin ganzschön stolz, dass so nette Menschen den Blog mitverfolgen Da lohnt es sich wirklich weiterhin zu schreiben. Aufhören wollte ich nicht aber in den schlechten Stunden gestern gingen die Gedanken drunter und drüber. Für mich war das eins der tiefsten Tiefs seit ich hier bin. Wenn man überlegt sind es ja erst drei Monate hier in Shanghai, oder darf man da “schon” sagen?

Ähnlich, wie wohl beim Ami, haben mehrere kleine Dinge das Fass zum überlaufen gebracht. 
Am Ende kam ich einfach wieder nur zum Schluss, dass ich mich manchmal ziemlich allein fühl, da irgendwie jeder irgendwen hat, nur ich nicht, obwohl ich eigentlich dachte, dass ich damit klarkommen würde?
Damit hatte ich schon vor Shanghai zu kämpfen. Es ist also kein “neues” Problem. Andererseits sag ich mir dann auch immer, dass es sowieso keinen Sinn machen würde, hier jemanden zu haben, mit dem man enger vertraut ist, da man ja nach ein paar Monaten eh wieder abhaut und dafür bin ich nunmal nicht gemacht.

Kaum macht man ein paar Schritte in dieser verfluchten Selbstbewusstseinsangelegenheit nach vorne, schon gibts den nächsten Rückschlag im Kopf. Versteh einer, wieso das passieren muss! Muss man eigentlich immer alles als “Challenge” ansehn? Vorallem ist Selbstbewusstsein ja nicht etwas, wofür man kämpfen müssen würden tun soll (wählt eins davon aus), sondern man soll es selbstverständlich bekommen dürfen, wie alle anderen, die es schon haben, auch. Keine Ahnung, ob das jetzt so ankommt, wie ichs mein..

Jedenfalls muss sich niemand sorgen machen, dass ich nix mehr zu schreiben weiss. Bevor der Tag eintrifft werde ich euch sanft drauf vorbereiten, wobei der Zeitpunkt noch lange nicht da ist!  

Erst einmal gibt es sicherlich zu erzählen, wie mein Geburtstag verlaufen ist. Sofern mein vergessliches Gedächtnis nicht schon getan hat. Ich glaube zwar nicht und wenn, dann lest ihrs halt nochmal, höhö.

Letzten Montag haben Anja und ich bei mir zu Hause reingefeiert. Um 12 Uhr hat sie mir gratuliert und schon Tagsüber erwähnte sie, dass sie was für mich zum Geburtstag hätte. GESCHENKE! Tolltolltoll
Sie holte also etwas aus dem Wohnzimmer und stellte mir einen grossen Karton vor die Nase. Für ein paar Milisekunden konnte ich mir denken, was es ist, mochte aber nicht wirklich dran glauben. Und doch! Ich machte die Verpackung auf und vor mir lag diese entzückende Erhu!
Wieso gab sie bloss so viel Geld für mich aus? Das wäre doch wirklich nicht nötig gewesen! Wow, war das super! Allerdings muss ich sie jetzt nur noch spielbereit kriegen, aber weiss der Teufel, wie das geht. Der Musikinstrumentehändler wirds hoffentlich können.
Von meiner Mutter und Oma gabs finanziellen Zustupf, welchen ich wirklich auch sehr gut gebrauchen kann. Hab nämlich ein fettes Paket mit Weihnachtsgeschenken in die Schweiz geschickt. Hoffentlich gefällts allen.

Vorgestern hab ich dann von Niki noch was bekommen. Ein geknüpftes Bändchen mit einer silbrigen Erdnuss, welche “langes Leben” bedeutet. Sehr schön!

Blendet einfach den pelzigen Arm dahinter aus
(Sorry für die grässliche Bild/Text Aufteilung..WordPress will nie so, wie ich)

Ein geknüpftes Armband ist eigentlich die perfekte Überleitung zur nächsten interessanten Sache.
Damals in Guangzhou hab ich mir ja das komplette Equipment zum Bänderknüpfen gekauft und nun am Sonntag noch zwei Bücher dazu. Schliesslich muss man es ja von irgendwo her lernen. Die Bücher sind auf Chinesisch aber hab welche mit Bilder ausgewählt, verständlicherweise. Dennoch bin ich aber ab und zu etwas zu blöd dafür, diese Knüpferei richtig nachzumachen und das nicht nur einmal. Zweimal, dreimal, zwölffünfzigmal. Es wird nicht besser aber Übung soll ja den Meister machen. Mal schauen, obs demnächst klappt. Für den Winter ist es jedenfalls eine willkommene Arbeit.

Wir waren zum Mittagessen beim Koreaner. War lecker! Nikkie, unsere Klassenkoreanerin hat uns was bestellt. Es ist wirklich toll, dass hier so viele Nationalitäten aufeinander treffen. Am Tisch waren wir 12 Leute. Japaner, eine Koreanerin, eine Thailänderin, zwei Deutsche, eine Brasilianerin, zwei Kolumbianerinnen, eine Norwegerin und eine Schweizerin. Wir müssen öfter mal essen gehn! Man erfährt so viel über das Leben der Menschen auf der anderen Seite der Welt und das macht grossen Spass!

Hello I´m Mister Shrimp! (wäärgh..)

Wollt heut eigentlich noch meine neue Jacke (jahaa..) abholen aber erst hat mich der Taxifahrer versucht zu verarschen. Er fuhr einen Riesenumweg, weil er wohl dachte, dass ich nicht weiss, wo ich genau hinwill und nach ein paarmal Beschweren meinte er: “Ja dann zahlste halt nur 25 Kuai!!” anstatt 30-32. Es war trotzdem noch zuviel.. Er wollte mir nämlich die Quittung nicht geben, hat sie sich einfach in die Hemdtasche gesteckt und mich angeschnauzt. Hab mir dann sein Täfelchen mit der Fahrernummer fotografiert, um ihm ein bisschen Angst einzujagen. Vielleicht kommt es mir nur so vor, aber ich hab das Gefühl, die Taxifahrer werden unehrlicher..

Dann der nächste Frust. Die Ladentante hat meine Jacke nicht fertig gemacht. Warum sagt die mir bitteschön nichts? Letztes mal hatte die den Mantel schon vergessen! Ich war so sauer. Vorallem auch, weil der Reissverschluss des Mantels abgerissen ist und die den Aufhänger, um den ich sie einige Male gebeten hatte, immernoch fehlte. Obwohl man als ehemalige Einzelhandelskauffrau weiss, dass es scheisse ist, wenn Kunden so unfreundlich sind, war ich es diesmal selber. Ich liess sie spüren, dass ich enttäuscht war und habe mich auch nur mit einem kurzen “bye.” aus dem Staub gemacht. Das schlechte Gewissen liess auch nicht lange auf sich warten…
Bin dann etwas durch die nebenangelegenen Gassen gelatscht und hab ein paar Fotos geschossen, welche man dann in der Gallery anschauen kann. (Den Link werd ich noch anfügen)

Naja, nun ist der Tag vorbei, ich müde und mit immer krüppliger werdendem Schlafrhythmus. Muss langsam etwas auf mich acht geben… Ist aber irgendwie schwierig hier in Shanghai. Wenn ich wieder in der Schweiz bin, gibts erst mal Wochenlang nur Salat und pünktliches zu-Bett-gehen.
Nachtrag: Hab mir jetzt nochmal die ganzen Comments vom letzten Post durchgelesen und bin wirklich gerührt! Nochmal ein Dankeschön dafür!

En Chine, survivre au barrage des Trois-Gorges

Plus de 1 million de personnes déplacées par la gigantesque retenue d’eau s’entassent dans des villes nouvelles.

Le Monde.fr

Un ouvrage gigantesque

• Capacité de génération d’électricité : 18,2 gigawatts.
• Dimensions : Longueur : 2 335 m ; hauteur : environ 100 m.
• Réservoir : Long de 660 km, sa largeur varie de plusieurs centaines de mètres à quelques kilomètres. Sa superficie est de 1 084 km2.
  En tout, 13 villes, 140 bourgs et 1 350 villages ont été submergés.
• Déplacés : Quelque 1,27 million de personnes ont été déplacées. Plusieurs milliers ont été accueillies par d’autres provinces (dont Shanghaï), dans le cadre de leur contribution à la construction du barrage.

Voir aussi

• Le Monde.fr – En Chine, la vie après le barrage des Trois-Gorges

Su popularidad es al rojo vivo, sin embargo, la mayoría de las personas solo han escuchado una canción, “Nobody”.
En varias páginas de videos ‘online’, esta obra maestra ya se ha convertido la canción favorita de los ‘netizens’ para hacer ‘covers’ con su propia versión o hasta hacer parodias.
La parte más increíble es, que con una gran popularidad de solo una canción, tienen la oportunidad de abrir un concierto.
El 1ro de diciembre, el quinteto surcoreano, Wonder Girls, llevará a cabo su primer concierto en Shanghái, China. Según fuentes, para acompañar el concepto y estilo, una enorme plataforma elevadiza se construirá en el escenario, y la audiencia podrá ver y bailar junto a la exitosa canción “Nobody”.

Las integrantes, Min Sunye, Park Ye Eun, Sunmi, Ahn Sohee y Kim Yubin, las 5 jóvenes señoritas que forman el grupo, Wonder Girls, desde su debut, sus canciones fueron pegajosas y han sido populares entre las personas, con caciones tales como “Tell Me”, “So Hot”, y especialmente “Nobody”, la cual tiene un alto grado de ser conocida aquí en China.
En todas las páginas web y foros, podemos ver videos de los ‘covers’ de la canción “Nobody”, hechos por los fans.

Según los organizadores, “The 1st Wonder Live in Shanghai” será la última parada de su gira por Asia. Sorpresivamente, hay bastantes fans coreanos que vendrán a Shanghái para este concierto en particular. Basado en el informe de la venta de boletos, más de la mitad de las reservaciones eran de fans del extranjero.
Representantes dijeron que aunque las Wonder Girls se hicieron populares recientemente, como quiera tienen muchos fans leales, la preocupación original sobre los resultados de las ventas de boletos ya no es un problema.

En la noche del concierto, una gigantesca “W” saldrá desde el fondo del ‘Shanghai Grand Stage’. Siguiendo la música y los efectos especiales de iluminación, las Wonder Girls cantarán sus famosas canciones en la plataforma elevadiza en el escenario. Según las Wonder Girls, “Esperamos poder brindarles una experiencia increíble a la audiencia. Cuando estemos cantando nuestro éxito “Nobody”, esperamos que todos puedan cantar junto a nosotras. Y eso sería el momento más feliz para nosotras”

[Fuente: China News]
[Crédito: 李佳杰]
[Traducción al inglés: Kazaf10]

*El artículo fue traducido utilizando la noticia original en chino y la traducción en inglés.

The water village of Zhouzhuang was charming and made for a relaxing day trip. But in taking a street scene that included an old woman at work, even she charged Robert for "her" photo.

I thought the US was the consumer capital of the world until I went to China. Shanghai is mind-bogglingly commercial. Everywhere I went, I was sold to. The hawkers were relentless. Walking down the main shopping streets such as Nanjing Road, I could tolerate it. I was there to shop after all.

“Hey lady, you want watch? You want bag? No buy, just lookee. Cheap today, just for you.” The litany of suggestions was repeated to me continually, by one salesperson after another as I walked the shopping gauntlet. It was crucial to not make eye contact and keep going. Making eye contact always guaranteed a longer pitch.

While I got used to the relentless offers on the street, it depressed me to be relentlessly sold to in a Buddhist temple. The instant I stepped into the Jade Buddha Temple, I was approached by a guide who attached herself to me with the intent to tell me a bit about the temple, but more importantly to sell me souvenirs. As soon as I bought, she moved on.

Another view of Zhouzhuang.

It was the same in the water village of  Zhouzhuang. This beautiful water town is the oldest in China and dates back to 770-476 BC. It is appropriately called the Venice of the East (much in the same way that Stockholm is called the Venice of the North). You feel like you have stepped back in time to a kinder, gentler place. But don’t be fooled. The locals there expect you to shop, too.

Städtereisen nach Rom, London oder Brüssel ermöglichen es, Europas kulturelle Metropolen besser kennen zu lernen. Ob das Kolosseum in Rom oder der Big Ben in London: es gibt viel zu bestaunen!

Städtereisen können aber auch in die Ferne gehen, wie z.B. nach Peking oder Shanghai. Die beiden chinesischen Millionenstädte vereinen sowohl historische Spuren als auch moderne Entwicklungen gekonnt miteinander. Erleben auch Sie pulierende Städte rund um den Globus und nehmen Sie Teil an einer geführten Städtereise.

Günstige Städtereisen weltweit können Sie dem folgenden Anbieter entnehmen und gleich online buchen:

Städtereisen bei e-kolumbus

I love coffee. Any coffee. Starbucks coffee. Leopard Forest coffee. Folgers coffee. Coffee from the closest BP. Old Furman Dining Hall coffee. Brew it, and most likely I’ll drink it (I know this doesn’t say much for my taste). But here in Shanghai I have come upon one of the most beautiful, supernatural uses of the coffee bean I have ever encountered — coffee Vietnamese-style. Has anyone ever heard of this? I was intrigued by the “Vietnamese coffee” at a new coffee shop today (Cafe Mojo on Taikang Lu — excellent) and ordered it only to be told it would take FIFTY minutes to brew. Say whaaaat? But man was it worth it. Apparently, this strong Vietnamese coffee is freshly ground when you order it, put in a specific filter which resembles a tin top hat, and then combined with hot water to drip ever-so-slowly over a cup of sweet condensed milk. After waiting so long I probably would have enjoyed anything that remotely tasted like coffee, but within the next 20 minutes of sipping this incredible concoction I experienced sweet sweet caffeine-enhanced nirvana. In fact, in honor of Vietnamese coffee (and probably because of the caffeine high I’ve been on ever since), I’ve written a song for it, sung to the tune of Beyonce’s Ego.

It’s toooo bold. The milk’s white. It’s toooo strong. I want a sip.

It’s too much. Can’t drink enough. It tastes like this cause it’s from Vietnam.

Ok so that wasn’t particularly creative, but it does go to show that this coffee has inspired me. It is now my coffee muse upon which many future coffee tastings will be judged. Can’t wait to go to Vietnam in February and taste the real thing!

I met George Zhao at our first Conspiracy Theory/ Bulletproof Funk performance in 2007.  I remember him as a handsome bboy with an embarrassingly happy smile.  George helped to build Conspiracy Theory at BC and has very well-sculpted legs.  George is now at Fudan University in Shanghai studying to get his Master’s Degree.  He’s actually started his own crew there called DIRTY FRESH which has the potential to change up Shanghai’s bboy scene.  Apparently, many don’t really know how to dance and only focus on moves—George is set on introducing them to the fanciful world of rhythm/originality/flavor/dancy feeling.

Figure 1. King Curious George leaping forth from that famous tower in Shanghai.

Okay!! Let the interview begin!!

Dave:

how do you feel about the union of bulletproof funk and conspiracy theory?

George:

the two groups are a culmination of the great tradition of lovers who have been entwined by the forces of destiny- the love of romeo and juliet, marge and homer, jay-z and beyonce, all pale in comparison to that fateful moment whence i first laid my eyes upon duke and aj. deep within the most treacherous boundaries of my heart, i knew that a golden child would be born out of the throes of our three-man passion (that’s when i met dave and greg too). the continued union between bulletproof funk and conspiracy theory was also greatly helped by the arrival of a lone orphan from taiwan, the one who possesses the tree trunk thighs of the immortals- some of you may know this enigmatic man as the legendary slowbro. while we were initially just a group of rag-tag b-boys, eventually our following included people from the distant lands of france and an assortment of countries from the far east coast, as well as a rapidly growing group of disciples from the continental US. hopefully, my vision of assembling an army of street dancers that will eventually establish a one-world danceocracy will be realized by the current and future leaders of our bulletproof theory killas.

and there’s this one scene from v for vendetta that is so badass that always reminds me of bulletproof.. embed this shit!! it’s the last fight scene:

[after a hail of gunfire doesn't stop V]
Creedy: Die! Die! Why won’t you die?… Why won’t you die?
V: Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof.

Dave:

ah, you are so eloquent! the idea of having a danceocracy is interesting—maybe politicians would have to battle their way into office. imagine vice-president rawbzilla haha. george, i’d like to let you know that i’m currently a 46% Hero in mousehunt, have once been ranked 2 in starcraft on the US East server, and have completed final fantasy 7 over five times. does this intimidate you?  several people have asked me if they can get down with bulletproof theory and they ask me what they have to do to get “in”. it’s always really difficult for me to explain that there’s no process to be bulletproof and that we’re not a typical battle squad or a typical college performance group. if i claim that though, what characteristics actually make us different from those two things? what are your thoughts?

George:

hell yes i’m intimidated!! i have to go with a story i was told by my man bruce lee to explain this one: a group of thugs walks into a restaurant trying to start trouble with the owner. without a word, the owner picks up his chopsticks and uses them to snatch a fly out of the air. the thugs look at him in utter surprise and fear, and immediately run out the door. why do they do this?? it’s because they realize that a feat such as catching a fly with a set of chopsticks must have taken countless hours of grueling practice, and a man who possesses that kind of perseverance and discipline has probably mastered all sorts of other things, in this case the guy is a master martial artist. a man who has the discipline to get to number 2 on starcraft east, not to mention that godly mousehunt status and the whole final fantasy obsession… that’s a man that you don’t want to fuck with!! who knows what kinds of secret abilities the ghostofthemachine has got up his sleeve?

ok in response to that other question:
we’ve already established a couple ground rules for initiation into bulletproof. the first rule is that you have to engage in anal shots. the second rule is that you have to engage in bukkake. after you’ve passed these initiation rituals, basically anyone can be in bulletproof. we are a family that will accept anyone, regardless of your age, whether or not you go to bc or bu, or how bangin your body looks in a bikini. bulletproof is a group that not only encourages its members to push the limits of how dope they think they can be as a dancer, but as an individual as well. you don’t have to battle to be in bulletproof, you don’t even have to perform to be a part of it. but once you get to the level where you know, really know that you’re dope.. you will want to represent to the fullest!!

Dave:

great response! this is truly how i feel about bulletproof–we’re an outlet for creative and technical potential. i think many of us feel very comfortable in the boston scene—we feel like the boston bboy community is our family and neighbors. who’s a local bboy hero of yours? and your hometown is near washington DC—any hometown favorite? or how about an overall favorite dancer that makes you feel humble? any video clips or memories?

George:

well there are a lot of b-boy greats in the boston area, it’s a tough city to beat on the national level as well as the international level. problemz kru is probably my favorite crew in boston.. jet liem, step2, xcel are all nasty, well-rounded b-boys, can’t forget the new pk cats either, like jun and the lim bros. the two b-boys that have influenced my style the most have been gyroe (this guy is a footwork genius!!) and donny for his super-crispy clean style. in the DC area i would have to say stelf (this guy is a footwork genius too!!) and fatrawk from arrive to defy. other dancers who have influenced me hmm… one of the first bboy videotapes i ever had was the storm tape, that guy was way ahead of his time. some others that come to mind are bboy free from circle of fire, dyzee, puzzles, bridge, jester from supernaturalz, megas from boogie brats, born, cloud, abstrak, remind.. and a bunch more that i’ll probably think of later.

Dave:

wow what a killer list–seeing some of those names reminds me of how powerful the US is at the international level. personally, i don’t think any country can step to american battlers. what are your goals in dancing?

George:

funny that you should ask that!! i just made it back from a jam where i got to the finals.. and lost to one of the greats of the va bboy scene that i’ve looked up to since i started dancing back in 2000/2001. it’s my new year’s resolution to win a jam this year, not a college jam, but a real jam, so i’m still working on that goal. i’m gonna be going to china around september and i plan on battling my way across the country, maybe even to compete in battle of the year china. but aside from that, i feel that this dance is an artform through which i can express the funkiest parts of my self.. it’s a way for me to transcend my own perceived limitations and i’m going to try to get as dope as i can before my body gives out, best believe it!! i hope that people will feel my style and that my dancing will influence a whole generation of other b-boys and dancers across the world holla!

Dave:

congratulations! bulletproof comin up! i remember when i first started popping and i thought i was really good (i was absolute shit and didn’t know how to hit actually). and as a get better, i only realize how much more work there is to do—keeps it really exciting for me too. you mentioned that you’re gonna keep dancing until your body is gone—i’ve actually heard this from several of my bboy friends who are in their early 20s now. it seems like bboys will keep goin until some sort of permanent injury. have you had any serious injuries, or is risk of injury ever in the back of your mind?

George:

i’ve been lucky enough to have avoided any serious injuries over the course of my b-boy career. spraining my ankle has probably been the worst thing that has happened to me, it put me out of practice for about a month. my style doesn’t revolve around powermoves or crazy freeze transitions, so i don’t worry too much about getting seriously injured.

Dave:

what are your plans in life now?

George:

break long and prosper hahah. on my way to china next year, hoping to be blessed to have the opportsunity to study the development of youth subcultures (hip hop!!) over there.

btw can u send me that vikter duplaix manhood remix song

Dave:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V1JA6L6R

thanks for the interview! any last comments?

George:

peace and love to my bulletproof theory family!! it’s been an honor and pleasure to have met each and every one of you and i will miss you fuckers immensely. stay fresh into the future, and i’ll see you in the cyphers of tomorrow!!

George:
oh yeah and i have some footage and commentary to post for part of the interview:

i watched this video almost four years ago, and at the time, i paid a lot of attention to the moves as opposed to the dancing. i just watched it again for the first time since then, and i’m blown away by all the intricate movements from both sides that i hadn’t noticed back then. in my opinion, the japanese bboy scene has produced some of the most original and intricate styles that i’ve ever seen from some of the rawest bboys and bgirls on the face of the planet. this is what battling should be about, just having fun and expressing yourself… hip hop is a feeling!!

ghost_of_the_machine

Shanghai is China’s most cosmopolitan city. What was once a fishing town is now one of the country’s commercial centers (the other is Hong Kong). With impressive architecture including futuristic skyscrapers, and endless shopping opportunities, it’s a must for every tourist.

The city, situated in the east of China at the banks of the Yangtze river delta, has a roaring past. For a long time it was the largest port of the Chinese Empire, but in the early 19th Century it fell in British hands. Later Americans, the French and the Japanese controlled parts of the city.

Many migrants from Europe and America came to Shanghai and the city became the biggest financial center in the Far East. In 1949 the Communist Party of China took control. Foreign companies left and went to Hong Kong, but with the reforms in 1992 the city regained its economic force.

There are now 18.6 million people living in the municipality. The city is divided into many districts. The nine disricts at the west bank of the Huangpu river govern Puxi, the part of the city that is often called the old town.

Most residents live in Puxi. If you are searching for shopping, entertainment and culture, you should go to Puxi. People have nicknamed the city the “Paris of the East” and you will find this no surprise once you’ve been to Puxi. The newer part at the east bank is Pudong. It’s Shanghai’s commercial and financial hub, with an impressive skyline, dominated by the Oriental Pearl Tower (a 468 meters high TV tower) and the Jin Mao Tower (420 m).

Thanks to its history, this city will get you a taste of “east meets west”. With modern architectural marvels among traditional Chinese buildings, it’s no wonder why many around the world are flocking to this busy metropolis to enjoy every bits of the action.

Some tips:

Walk along the Bund, the city’s most popular boulevard, at the end of the Nanjing East Road at night and get a good view of Pudong, across the Huangpu River.

Shopping is likely to occupy most of your time and the most interesting shops are around Xintiandi and the French Concession.

Hang out in the narrow alleys and shopping mall of Xintiandi, known as “Yesterday meets tomorrow in Shanghai today” and you can see well-heeled expats and locals hang out.

Stroll along Dongtai Lu Antique Market, an open air street market which is the best place to take home memories of your Shanghai trip.

Also, don’t miss the Shanghai World Financial Tower, a brand new 101-story tower which will measure 492 meters and include a hotel with 175 rooms.

For the best deals on hotels in Shanghai, check out http://www.hotelscombined.com/City/Shanghai.htm?a_aid=4d780272

Estamos practicando y preparándonos todos los días para nuestro concierto en Shanghai ¡estoy muy emocionada! Y.. ¡¡felicidades 2PM!!

[Fuente: WGsun]

Eigentlich wollt ich über was ganz anderes bloggen. Aber jetzt bin ich deprimiert und sorge mich nebenbei um die Besucherzahlen meines Blogs. Was mach ich falsch? Leider kehrt halt auch hier irgendwann mal der Alltag ein, tut mir leid.

Ausserdem regen mich so zwischenmenschliche Dinge auf und ich mich über mich selber. Is doch scheisse..

Gute Nacht.

Mobieltjes zijn ook in China intussen niet alleen voor de happy few. Alle leeftijden en zo goed als alle lagen van de bevolking hebben er één. Een prima oplossing voor een land waar er bijlange nog niet overal telefoonleidingen waren. Die zijn nu niet meer nodig.
Dat ze niet persé moeten roepen om aan de andere kant gehoord te worden, hebben nog niet alle Chinezen begrepen

Tuesday night turned out to be a really great night.  So good it seemed my run-in with the would be thief was in the distant past.  Not really, but it was nice to be out enjoying myself and not festering over it.

I met up with Bev, a friend of my friend Lisa’s, whom I electronically reached out to before embarking on this trip of mine.  We went to Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese restaurant specializing in soup dumplings, located in the midst of a very happening ex-pat area.  I overheard more English (and French) than I’ve heard since I left the States.  It felt like home.  And I was very, very under dressed.  The whole travel thing has been great and all, but being forever costumed as a backpacker is starting to bruise my ego.

With the help of Mandarin-fluent Bev I was able to order my first 100% vegetarian meal in China.  And it was DELICIOUS.  I had big soft steamed vegetarian buns stuffed with spinach and mushrooms, and Taiwanese noodles in a slightly spicy peanut sauce.  Soooo yummy.  We split a plate of Asian greens, and Bev had pork soup dumplings (the house special).  I was a very happy camper.  From Din Tai Fung we hopped in a cab and went to a restaurant with fantastic Taiwanese desserts.  We shared two different iced treats: one with fresh mangos and coconut milk, topped with fresh pumelo, and one that was a creamy milky ice, half black sesame and half peanut.  They were soooo good!  Amazing.  Loved them both.

Thanks to Bev I had the best night (and meal) in China yet.  Everything was delicious, and it was SO NICE to talk with someone from my own background, who felt and perceived things the way I did, yet also had the enormous perk of being able to speak the native language and help navigate certain cultural hurdles for me.  (She was also a wonderful resource in the Chinese politics department.)  She helped pick Shanghai back up for me, and really turned around an otherwise ugly day.  So grateful.  Thanks Bev!

Seeing as the dessert place wasn’t that far and I was familiar with the part of the city we were in, I opted to walk home (rather than subway).  It was a nice enough night, and I had a full tummy to walk off.  About midway home I was stopped at a corner, and overheard a big booming southern accent talking about North Carolina in response to a local’s inquiries.  I was doing everything in my power not to laugh outright; it was pretty comical listening to this exchange.  That’s how I met Bill.  We exchanged a few pleasantries and he invited me up to his lobby for a drink.  So off we went, to the swank J.W. Marriott, to sip a long overdue (and ridiculously delicious) glass of wine, forty stories up, overlooking Shanghai.  Sadly, at this point, it was just after 10, and the city turns off its lights along its skyline at 10pm.  So the view was rather dark and limited (read: nonexistent), but it was still very nice to be sitting in a posh hotel lounge savoring French wine.  YUM.  It was the perfect nightcap to a delightful evening.  Even if I was self-consciously squirming under everyone’s looks in my backpacker getup.  Yes I know I am under dressed, thank you.  Please stop making me so keenly aware of it.  Although, in their defense, I fire the same laser beams when the tables are turned; if you want to wine and dine with the big boys, you better be dressed like one.  Sounds like this buckaroo needs to find herself a decent outfit.  Stat.

Yesterday was a hideous, hazy, gross day.  Hideous.  It was so hazy many of the skyscrapers were obscured.  I was up late the night before swapping anecdotes and travel tips with a British couple, and so lazed about in the morning, alternating between blogging and banging my head against the wall in frustration at the censorship in this country.  Not only can I not access more than half of the sites that I want to, but the internet is so unbelievably clogged and slooooooowwwww.  If the CCP is going to block people, they should at least do it in a speedy manner so we can get on with our lives.  Just sayin’.

So I took my sweet time and walked back to Nanging Road (yes, AGAIN), figuring I’d find some food and make my way down to the Bund, before crossing through the pedestrian tunnel and over to Pudong, so I could check out the view.  The haze was so thick and horrible that I doubt there was any view to speak of, which is comforting, seeing as I never made it through that tunnel.

When I said the entire city is under construction what I meant is THE ENTIRE CITY IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.  I don’t think you understand.  EVERYTHING.  Apparently Shanghai is hosting something called “Expo 2010,” which meant nothing to me (Who calls anything an expo?? I mean, really. Sounds like a mind-numbing conference for the IT industry or something.) until I finally deduced (and it was later confirmed) that by “Expo” they really mean World’s Fair.  I’ve never been to a World’s Fair so clearly I’m no expert at these things, but my understanding is that the World’s Fair is a BIG fucking deal.  HUGE.  So yes, the ENTIRE CITY is under construction.  And they must have realized that shit still looks horrible and they’re WAY behind schedule, because these little buggers are going at it all day and night.  Oh yes, all night.  Right outside my window.  Jackhammers (PLURAL) and all.  I’m listening to a miserable symphony of them now.

To paint you a picture of this construction, it is unlike any construction I have ever come across before.  There are no hard hats or clearly marked areas or covered pedestrian walkways or signage marking blocked streets and appropriate detours or even proper tools and machinery.  It’s just kind of like millions of people sitting around covered in dirt, occasionally laying a brick if they can be bothered, or throwing them at random through a gaping hole in the side of a building and narrowly missing a pedestrian (ahem, ME), firing up those jackhammers like more holes in the streets and sidewalks is what Shanghai needs, spitting, smoking, screaming and so on.  I’m not sure there is any real progress being accomplished.

And the dirt.  The dirt is EVERYWHERE.  Dirt dirt.  Remember Busan and Gyeongju and Seoul?  That kind of dirt.  Where does all this dirt come from??  It’s not construction dust, it’s not caulking, it’s not cement powder or any of that.  It’s DIRT.  Since when do people build state of the art cities with dirt?  Don’t get me wrong — I’m fully expecting China to be dirty.  All sorts of dirty.  I just didn’t anticipate it in Shanghai, the one city that is praised as being the wealthiest, most advanced, most cosmopolitan of the Chinese cities above all others.  Yes, New York is dirty.  But that’s like litter and urine and homeless people pushing around four shopping carts loaded with crap apiece.  There isn’t any DIRT in New York.  Shanghai has the litter and the urine and the homeless people and then some, and it also comes with a disgusting choking layer of haze.  And once you’re over all those assaults on your senses, you realize you’re walking in unending mounds of dirt, kicking it up, coating your skin and clothes, breathing it, and wondering how on earth is it possible to have SO MUCH DIRT IN A CITY?!??

On top of the dirt and the haze and the feeling that you’re probably breathing in cancer, there is the noise.  Shanghai sounds EXACTLY like what you expect China to sound like.  Car horns, motorbike horns, motorbikes revving their loud crappy engines, masses of people talking to each other, people screaming, babies screaming (the adult yelling matches outnumber the wailing babies 100 to 1 — people are CONSTANTLY screaming), people in your face soliciting or begging or both “watch! buy watch! money! money! hello! watch! money!,” and the symphony of jackhammers on top of it all.  It’s LOUD.  And it’s relentless.  It makes New York seem downright tranquil.

And here I was grossed out with the haze and fed up with the dirt but patting myself on the back for being a good trooper and dealing with it all in stride.  I even managed to find a tiny little hole in the wall (literally: I sat at a stool with my knees touching the wall in front of me and if I leaned back I’d touch the wall behind me) that served piping hot noodle soup with heaps of bok choy (and a hunk of supremely unappetizing fried tofu, but we’ll give them a pass and high marks in the vegetarian department, even if it was chicken broth) as I was circling back from my fruitless attempt to cross the tunnel into Pudong.

Oh, and quick but related side note: The other night a Dutch girl was telling me about a weekend trip gone awry and how she had horrible weather and was stuck in some town that only had shops selling hammers or nails or screwdrivers or screws (never all three together, and no other shops to be had).  That wasn’t the point to her story, but I thought that all the shops in one little town selling hardware and nothing else was beyond bizarre and figured I somehow completely misunderstood that segment.  She was trying to tell me how frustrating China can be, and how when you need something simple and basic it’s never simple or basic to find it, as you have to go far and wide for the most common things.  Three days into Shanghai and I know EXACTLY what she meant.  And yes, she was being quite literal and not exaggerating.  It seems shops for things are clustered together.  The first day I was here I passed four bookstores on one street, all lining the same side of the street for that matter.  Two small private bookshops, one medium-sized but definitely bigger than your neighborhood place, and one on scale with Barnes and Noble.  Four in a row.  And not two blocks later there were four office supply stores all in a row.  I thought it was odd that all these competitors would choose to be housed shoulder to shoulder, but beyond that didn’t give it a second thought.  Yesterday I covered quite a bit of ground, and saw many of the ugly bits on the north side of the city that tourists don’t go to.  (It wasn’t intentional, that damn tunnel didn’t work out and I didn’t want to have to double back around so I took a left and got more funny looks wandering that hood than I ever have in my whole life.)  It was here that I found the vegetarian noodle man.  And here that I realized this is what that girl meant.  I found a street that had six fruit stalls all lined up, all in a row.  And then three grocery stores.  You know me and grocery stores — I felt like I struck gold.  So I darted in the first one, was smacked in the face by hot, humid, putrid air that reeked of public bathroom and long expired urinal cakes, made a detour through the first aisle (noticing everything even INSIDE the grocery store was coated with dirt too) and got the hell out of there.  Enter store number two and exactly the same experience.  No way was I testing out door number three.  So that was the market street.  Then a few blocks on there was the sweatshop underwear and socks street, with dozens of little store fronts crammed with the same underwear and socks by the thousands.  Closer to my hostel is the beauty supply street, with no fewer than ten shops selling nail polish and brushes and make-up.  It’s SO WEIRD.  And wildly inefficient.  So in other words, if it’s a Saturday morning and you need to pick up some produce and an extension cord and maybe a notebook and then some hair dye, you’re going ALL OVER the city to get these simple things that would otherwise be under one roof (i.e. Target or similar) or within close proximity to each other (enter the strip mall or any street with a stoplight in suburbia).  I see this not boding well for me in the future.

So anyway.  Pre-side note.  So I’m trudging along through all the ugliness, and while it’s not nice or particularly enjoyable, I’m not having a bad time of it.  I figure I’m seeing the “real” China and that cars nearly hitting me as I cross the street (on the pedestrian green!) is par for the course.  One guy didn’t stop until he TOUCHED my knee!  NOT.EVEN.KIDDING.  Can you say LIVID?  So it’s hazy and dirty and I decide I’ve breathed enough second-hand smoke and pollution for one day and head back to the hostel.  The girl at the front desk asked me if I had been to the Yu Garden yet.  And I said no, and I heard it was pretty, but wasn’t it kind of out of the way, and I did plenty of walking for one day, and I’m sure it’s just as nice as the next garden I’ll come across.  And she’s all oh no, it’s beautiful, really peaceful and gorgeous and very traditional Chinese and totally worth it and not really that far at all, just twenty minutes, you should really go.  So I did.

Enter related side note number two: Two days ago when I was wondering around with those Chinese buddies of mine, the boy of the group asked me if I was going to go to the Yu Garden.  And I told him I hadn’t heard of it.  He said it was very nice and very famous and that a lot of people go there, but that it was in a bad part of town.  He said I should go, but that I shouldn’t be carrying any shopping bags or anything with me, and that I should wear my backpack on my front and go even further and physically hold it pressed to my chest.  This, from a local.

Ok, I think that’s sufficient foreshadowing.  You can see where we’re going with this.  So I’m walking from my hostel down to this famed Yu Garden, long since forgotten the warning that it was a bad part of town.  Forgive me for being the ignorant American tourist, but right now MOST of Shanghai looks like it would easily be classified as the “bad part of town.”  Again the dirt and the motorbikes and the screaming and the injured beggars and you follow.  It’s not pretty.  So as I’m walking there it looks EXACTLY the same as what everything else has looked like, and I don’t feel any less safe than I did all day.  And then I felt my backpack being unzipped.

I’ve never been robbed or pick-pocketed or any of that before.  Yes, I’ve had things stolen from me, but it’s always been “my fault” for leaving something in someone’s trunk or in a locker or whatever.  Never off my person.  I can’t exactly describe it, but on top of being incredulous I was FURIOUS.  Fear didn’t even cross my mind.  I wanted to break that guy’s face.  And it was like I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins.  I was acutely aware of all of my senses.  It was surreal.  I whipped around and screamed in his face “EXCUSE ME!,” and he merely smirked at me and kept on going, without so much as missing a beat.  I really, really wish I had punched him.  Or grown muscles like the Hulk and beaten him to a pulp.  This, coming from someone who considers herself a nonviolent pacifist.  I was OUTRAGED.  That, and he was like half my size.  I was easily a head taller than him, if not more.

What’s worse is as I was walking back (I did an about-face right there, a few blocks short of the garden, any and all interest totally evaporated), two construction dudes sitting on the side of the road (I told you they don’t actually do anything) pointed to me and my backpack (now slung across my front) and gestured down the road behind me and made gestures as if they understood.  And I nodded fiercely and shrieked “YES!” and they nodded gravely.  It only pissed me off further that they saw him, and either recognized him and knew what he was up to or actually saw him trying to steal from me and just sat there.  JUST SAT THERE.  Didn’t utter a peep.  Gee, thanks guys.  You watch some solo foreign girl have her backpack violated by some asshole and you just kick back and enjoy the show?  Bloody hell.

And get this — I get back to the hostel and the girl is like how did you like the garden?  So I tell her what happened and she goes “oh” and thinks for a second and then says “you should be more careful.”  %$&@#!!  WHAT?!?  BE MORE CAREFUL?!?  I’m not walking around dripping with jewels and wearing a sign “LOADED WITH AMERICAN CASH, PLEASE ROB ME.”  I’m dressed like a freaking backpacker for crying out loud.  I look scruffy as hell.  And I AM careful.  So I said something or another and immediately came upstairs, so I wouldn’t have to fight the supreme urge to punch her too.

I’m still not over it.  It was the last thing I expected in Shanghai.  Never would have thought that would happen here.  I’d like to think I haven’t been walking around with my head in the clouds the last few weeks, but I certainly didn’t expect that in Shanghai.  Beijing, yes.  Xi’an and Chengdu, yes.  Guilin and Guangzhou, hell yes.  Shanghai?  Not whatsoever.  NOT cool.

On Monday I set out relatively early, as I wanted to get a jump start on tackling this amazing city.  My first stop was the Shanghai Museum, which is hailed as one of the best museums in the country.  The structure itself is very nice looking (as most museums are), and even though I’ve always considered myself more a fan of Western art than Eastern art, I thoroughly enjoyed the different paintings and calligraphy on scrolls.  So very delicate and intricate and meticulously done.  Really beautiful pieces.  Other exhibits included sculptures made from bronze or wood or stone, hand-painted porcelain, a variety of combs and jewelry and assorted adornments made of jade, and a whole manner of coins and money than spanned centuries.  And, even though it goes without saying, China being both massive and old as hell, pretty much everything in this museum was mind-boggling and cool.  An impressive collection, to say the least.

As I was leaving the museum a group of locals approached me and asked if I would take their picture.  So then we’re talking and the “Where are you from?… Oooooh, AMERICA!” comes out.  It never ceases to amaze me just how delighted the Japanese, Koreans, and Chinese have all been to discover a real, live American in the flesh, like they can’t believe their luck.  I used to think this was the standard response for all foreigners, be it French or German or what have you, but whenever I’m with a Brit or whoever, the question comes out, they answer first, the response is “ooh, England” then my answer comes out and is greeted with fireworks and shrieks of joy and “AMERICA!!”  It really is quite hilarious.  Particularly how much it pisses off said Brit who has pretty much the exact OPPOSITE view of us Americans.

Anyway.  So these three delighted Chinese, who are so visibly excited they’re practically hopping and twittering with glee, invited me to come along with them to a traditional tea ceremony.  Don’t need to ask me twice.  So off we went, peppering me with questions along the way.  They asked how old I was, and were completely taken aback: “but you look so young!”  And it’s like hey easy there, I AM young.  They were 22 (and still students), and immediately started deferring to me like I was an elder.  They were all ma’am this and ma’am that.  And I was all whoa cowboys, a couple years does NOT merit this elder treatment, and nobody’s going to be calling me ma’am anything.  (For the record, the elder treatment persisted throughout.  It’s deeply ingrained in the Chinese culture and etiquette.)  They also wanted to know how many brothers and sisters I have and what their assorted occupations are.  Enter the perfect time to ask how many brothers and sisters they have, but of course as soon as I answered I was asked another question and the topic was completely changed.  Seeing as I’ve been warned the whole politics thing is a sensitive subject best left alone, especially when talking to the well educated, I figured it was best not to delve into the one child policy (to the supreme disappointment of other travelers when relaying the whole story later that night — apparently there are a whole mess of foreigners just itching to talk politics with the locals).

We walked through some abandoned shopping arcade, fairly similar to all the ones I came across in Japan.  The tea room was tucked in a nondescript storefront, and we sat down in a tiny small box of a room (the walls papered with beautiful red and gold silk), with a table and four chairs and not much room for anything else.  The traditional tea ceremony was AMAZING, one of my favorite experiences of my trip so far.  It was very complex and detailed and involved, and really fascinating that this is how wealthy Chinese have been communing over tea for centuries.  I imagine we got the sweetened condensed chop shop version, and it was still that good.  The big bummer is they wouldn’t let me take a single photo, not of the room, not of the tea, not of different brewing methods, definitely not of the actual ceremony itself — nada.  BIG bummer.

The “ceremony” involved just us four plus the girl who worked there.  It started by her plopping a menu in front of us to be sure we were ok with the fee.  I did a double-take — you want how much for tea?? — but of course consented immediately.  It wasn’t expensive by other standards, but it was LOADS of money as far as pricing in China goes.  So she starts by explaining that this was the traditional tea ceremony used by emperors and lords and the wealthy upper-class for centuries and centuries.  (I should say here that she didn’t speak a word of English, everything was translated for me bit by bit as we went along.)  Each tea had its own specific brewing vehicle (only one being a teapot as you and I would recognize) and specific brewing temperature and duration, all very precisely calibrated.  For each tea the jar of leaves was held to each of our faces in turn, so we could inhale their bouquet.  Then the tea was measured out and put into its particular contraption, the water boiled and added to steep, the tea strained, and our little thimbles filled.  I say thimbles because in essence, that’s what they were.  Very small delicate china, shaped like a perfectly round bowl and hand-painted with a predominantly yellow pattern, and about a quarter of the size of your average tea cup.  And we’re not talking American or English tea cup, we’re talking Asian tea cup.  The ones that are already small and hold no more than four or five ounces.  The delicate little tea cups we used were about half the size of a shot glass, so what’s that, half an ounce?  TINY.  We then drank each tea piping hot and in three sips.  Yes, three sips.  Only three sips, always three sips.  And you hold the cup with your thumb and forefinger around the brim, your middle finger supporting it beneath, females with their last two fingers open and flayed outward, with the pinkie furthest, males with both fingers curled under.  We cheersed our tea nearly every time, and the elder treatment came into play here too, as I met their cups halfway, they’d correct me and immediately lower their tea cups, so mine was always the highest, not to be touched midpoint or higher by their (young? inferior?) cups.

We drank six kinds of tea, each tea being refilled three times.  Numbers are not random or inconsequential in China; EVERY number has a meaning and a purpose.  Six teas, three cups each, three sips each cup.  Apparently the dude who had the Forbidden City constructed was wild about the number nine (which is thought to bring a long life), so there are 999 rooms in the place.  He also had 3,000 concubine “wives.”  THREE THOUSAND.  I don’t care what kind of math you do, with three thousand wives you know those women had it good.  They were probably required to show up once every fourth year and wave the flag, maybe collect some jewels and treats to bring the parents back home, before retreating for another few years of vacation.  And you know he probably had a few dozen he saw once and then never again.  And let’s be serious — you know that number was dreamed up to show the powerful almighty man flexing his big burly muscles and “yeah I’m the emperor, check out those perks,” and never made it past the first hundred or so.  (Can you tell I’m exasperated with the strings and puppetry involved to create some bullshit facade which the ENTIRE POPULATION then gobbles up as the infallible truth?)  THREE THOUSAND.  Dude had a lot of wives!  Then of course the whole “he did it, so I can too” syndrome kicks in (what IS it with men??) and all the succeeding emperors felt it was their right to have three thousand too.  Don’t even get me started.

The tea ceremony was lovely.  Educational, entertaining, delicious — all the things required for a truly enjoyable time.  I got along quite well with my new friends, and the two hours flew by between history lessons and sips of tea and fits of giggles and me horrifying them by eating pumpkin seeds without peeling them first (which then prompted them to peel “the elder” something like five hundred pumpkin seeds between the three of them).  A really great time.

At the end of the ceremony we could buy one of the teas we sampled if we liked, and yes please, sign me up.  Have we met?  I’m all about throwing my money at people in the name of shopping, particularly when there are local gems in pretty packages to be had.  So then the bill comes out.  And I squint and rub my eyes and blink and yep, I read that correctly the first time.  That’s a lot of zeros.  Particularly for a country whose money starts with the number ONE, like mine does.  We’re not talking Yen in denominations of one hundred, or Won in denominations of one thousand, but Yuan, in denominations of ONE.  HOW many zeros??  Apparently that nifty little number that startled me when we first sat down was per tea.  It had been stressed to me that it was per person, not to be split by the group.  So I knew that and was expecting as much.  But apparently it was per person per tea.  We had six.  Times three.  And all those snacks you’ve been feasting on?  The assorted nuts and seeds?  Those were all per person per snack too.  (This irked me; no one asked us if we wanted snacks or told us we’d be charged for them — they just appeared mid tea for all to eat.)  Then there was the matter of the big beautiful box of tea sitting on my lap that I purchased as my “genuine souvenir.”  Let’s put it this way: my accommodation for the whole of China will just surpass what I paid for tea.  Five weeks’ accommodation vs. two hours’ tea.  A LOT of zeros.

From the highway robbery disguised as tea (that I’m STILL smarting over, two days later) we parted ways.  I walked along East Nanning Road, the biggest shopping street in all of China, and down to the Bund and back.  The Bund is a strip of buildings along the river that were constructed in the 1920s and 30s by Europeans (and was the center of commerce for Shanghai for decades, in fact many banks are still housed there), and as such they’re done in the grand Greco-Roman fashion, with impressive arches and pillars and all that good stuff.  I imagine it’s quite beautiful ordinarily, but seeing as the whole area is under construction (as is the ENTIRE CITY, more on that later), it’s really dirty and grimy and the river has an enormous blockade running the whole length of it and you can’t see squat.  Not very nice to walk around at all.  So I doubled back to the hostel, dumped my overpriced tea, and headed out with Stuart (a British traveler I met the night before) for dinner.  He was wildly jetlagged, having just arrived in Asia the day prior, and hadn’t yet seen any of the city.  So back to the Bund and Nanning Road we went, and finally settled on a little restaurant on a side street off Nanning Road.

Stuart had a giant bowl of beef soup, piled high with noodles and spicy dark broth and hunks of meat, and I had eggplant.  While yummy, it was heavy and oily and really horrifying to be served a bowl of something literally just sitting in a pool of grease.  We’re not talking grease at the bottom of the dish when you’re done, we’re talking maneuver your chopsticks through a vat of liquid grease and pull out each piece, letting it drip as much off as possible before eating.  (China is wreaking HAVOC on my eating habits.)  We also shared a plate of delicious fried rice (I haven’t had fried rice that good since Australia, whose Chinese population is massive) and potatoes and green peppers, that were sliced to resemble straws, and also dripping with grease and oil.  Greasy obese feeling aside, it was a pretty good meal.  We were there pretty early (just before 5pm), but by the time we left the place was packed with locals.  Kudos to us!

From dinner I pointed Stuart toward the hostel and jumped on the subway and headed across town to meet up with my Chinese pals from earlier.  They had asked if I wanted to join them to watch some acrobat show, and I hesitated, but they likened it to the Beijing opera “When you’re in Beijing, you see the opera; when you’re in Shanghai, you see acrobats. It’s very famous,” so I jumped on it.  It was only after I handed her the cash and she set off down the street (this was hours earlier, when we first stepped out of the tea house) to buy the tickets that my brain finally kicked in and said “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING??  Who wants to see acrobats?!  Save that money for the OPERA, you idiot!”  I really wish my brain had chimed in a bit sooner.  The show was boring.  Sooo boring.  And SO Chinese.  I don’t know how to better explain that.  It goes back to the strings and the puppet master.  It wasn’t anything spectacular; it was a bunch of limber teenagers running around doing somersaults or juggling straw hats or doing one-armed pushups on a pedestal that was raised ten feet in the air.  And the audience!  You would not BELIEVE the audience.  Ooohing and ahhhing and gasping (yes, literally gasping, dramatically, CONSTANTLY) and clapping after every little thing.  PEOPLE!  I can somersault too!  How ’bout you pay me back for that overpriced tea and this ridiculous show, I’ll do a few somersaults and throw in a cartwheel or two and we’ll call it even.  I mean, seriously.  GET AHOLD OF YOURSELVES.  Have you never seen Cirque du Soleil?  Clearly not.  It was a SNOOZEFEST.  And a poorly executed one at that.  Every tenth somersaulter would miss his mark and knock down a hoop, or a girl throwing her baton would drop it or someone peddling their bike with no hands would swerve and nearly crash.  And the Chinese were WILD for it.  (I should clarify and say they were wild for the properly executed stunts, not the hiccups.  The politely turned a blind eye to any botched acrobatics.)

More frustrating still was that I never found my friends.  The tickets we were issued didn’t have seat assignments; you then turned that one in at the door and were given a seat.  I pointed this out at the time, and they kept saying they’d find me.  And I was like yes but aren’t we going to an auditorium?  Don’t those things have levels?  And seat thousands of people?  How on earth are you going to find me??  (The assumption was that I’d be the only foreigner sticking out like a sore thumb.  They were mostly right — there was a French group and I spotted a few other stragglers like me, but probably fewer than two dozen of us in total.)  We agreed to meet out front, just inside the doors.  I didn’t want to be late and didn’t know where I was going so I was a full hour early.  Which means I saw literally every single person walk into that theatre.  I waited and waited and waited and waited.  The moon started setting I waited so long.  Finally I went inside when I realized the show had started and I could hear loud music and roars of applause.  So I exchanged my lone ticket for my seat assignment and sat all the way in the back, forcing myself not to leave early, swearing that if these people pay this much money to come see a bunch of teenagers doing somersaults, clearly there was some big surprise in store worth hanging around for.  No such luck.

The evening was frustrating and the day was crazy expensive thanks to the tea, but it was a good day overall.  I really enjoyed that tea ceremony, and am glad to have participated in it.  It was fun to meet some locals and make new friends and have a small piece of their culture translated and explained for me.  Ridiculous “acrobatics” and all, I enjoyed my first peek into China.

My flight to China was easier than anticipated.  To fill you in on the backstory: I received an email three weeks ago saying my flight was canceled due to the typhoon.  Yes, the typhoon.  That wimpy ridiculous drizzle that somehow made international news.  The one that “hit” Taiwan and Japan and didn’t so much as sneeze near Korea or China.  THREE WEEKS AGO.  Somehow this affected my flight on Sunday.  What do these people do when there is ACTUALLY a typhoon??  They said they put me on their “partner airline” of the Korean persuasion, but didn’t tell me which airline, what airport, what flight number, things of this sort.  Crucial information.  Nor could I get my hands on a confirmation number.  I HIGHLY expected to lose an argument at the ticket counter and be forced to buy another ticket.  For some reason or another the travel gods decided to kick me a bone.  I had to stand around for fifteen minutes or so while they sorted out their paperwork, but otherwise was given a seat on Korean Airlines hassle free.

Better still, the flight was nowhere near full, and the airbus was a massive (standard international-sized) one, and I had a segment against the windows all to myself.  Nice.  As with every flight I’ve taken thus far (except the one from Busan to Jejudo that involved an older Korean woman elbowing me like it was her life’s mission), it was all too short.  Yes, too short.  Yes, even the long haul to Tokyo.  ESPECIALLY the long haul to Tokyo.  DAYS too short.  Hey, if you were being waited on hand and foot, you wouldn’t want it to end in a mere thirteen hours either.  I now have a new found appreciation for Bose noise canceling headphones — those things WORK.  We’re talking perfect silence.  And they pass them out with a smile and a “Can I bring you anything else, Miss Smith? Perhaps some Belgian chocolate? A three course snackeroo?  A pony?”  Anyway, I digress.

I was hoping to be fed, but considering the flight was a quick up down in under two hours, I figured I’d be tossed a glass of orange juice and kicked out the door.  (My choices on Korean flights thus far have been orange juice and orange juice.  No other “choice” to be had.  Glass given to you half empty, which is a cruel tease as far as my American stomach is concerned.)  Much to my surprise and delight, we were fed.  And a decent meal at that: curried shrimp and veggies with rice, a roll, a small side salad (I haven’t seen a salad since my first week in Japan — I attacked that thing like it was the fountain of youth), and two perfectly soft fresh and tender mochi.  Two!  Proper silverware and dishes and everything.  And to top it all off, I was offered a beer.  A FULL beer.  An ENTIRE can of beverage!  Korean Air, you’ve got to show your domestic competitors how to run their businesses.  And then they came around and offered tea.  It was NICE.  They probably thought I was some ill-mannered American who shoveled food into her face at an alarming speed, but I’m pretty sure I’ve left that impression on everyone I’ve come across thus far.  At least I’m consistent.

I wasn’t worried about immigration in China, but I was expecting some sort of cross examination or another.  I mean, everything you hear it’s like don’t so much as scratch your nose or you’re pounced on.  They’ve definitely got the eerie thing down pat.  It’s your standard row of airport border patrol stalls and it’s DEAD quiet.  Can you say palpable unease?  But then they stamp your passport and wave you on your way without so much as glancing in your direction.  Thirty seconds tops.  The Japanese finger-printed me.  The Chinese couldn’t be bothered to so much as utter a syllable.  And customs doesn’t even exist.  All those signs saying no fruit or exotic animals or narcotics from abroad?  Bring whatever you like kiddos, they couldn’t be bothered to search your bags even if you begged them to.  Not exaggerating, there literally was no customs check whatsoever.  Not a single official to be found.  Stamp the passport, grab your luggage, walk through the door.  Done.

I then walked to the Maglev terminal, which is the world’s first train propelled by magnets.  Yes, magnets.  I don’t understand it either.  It’s also the world’s fastest train.  Apparently it’s the fastest ANYTHING you can go on the ground.  (Except you’re actually hovering above the ground because again, magnets; there is no actual contact to create friction.)  435 kilometers per hour.  FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY FIVE!  The shinkansen clock in at just under three.  Yee-ow!  That being said, my heart (and admiration) firmly belongs to the shinkansen.  The Maglev may move fast, but it’s bumpy and noisy.  How it can be so bumpy when there is no contact and no friction and you’re supposedly just hovering over the earth at rocket speed, I’m not sure.  But the whole time you’re being jostled in your seat.  The ride is just under twenty minutes; according to the guidebook the first eight are spent accelerating (with a speedometer helpfully clocking away in each cabin), and as soon as it hits top speed it immediately deaccelerates.  Immediately.  C’mon guys.  With that kind of advertising I want to be wowed for longer than I can count to five.

Aside from not being able to get my hands on a map of Shanghai (disconcerting much?) and the total and utter unwillingness to offer assistance from those who are EMPLOYED TO DO SO (i.e. ticket window attendants and similar), China’s been great thus far.  The directions to the hostel were simple and straightforward, the subway system is a dream, and the city is laid out on typical grid that makes the no map thing possible (if I were in Korea there’d be NO WAY I could get anywhere without a map — that country is ANYTHING but intuitive and straightforward and grid-like).  Even better, EVERY single street I’ve passed is CLEARLY marked with great big legible signs.  Every single one.  Wow.  Thank you, Shanghai.

The big doozie for me at the moment is the censorship thing.  I can’t access basic sites like Twitter and Facebook and YouTube and WordPress.  (The others I get.  WordPress throws me.)  Sites that allow and foster and encourage dialogue and communication and community-building.  What’s that?  You want to connect with a friend outside the country?  Sorry pal, ain’t gonna happen.  I’ve been given a list of sites for proxy servers that are supposed to be encrypted to allow you to bypass the firewalls, but China being big and smart and oh, CHINA, is one step ahead and has blocked all those too.  So I turned to Google and even that has been of no help thus far (although I’m sure Google’s got something up its sleeve I’m just not aware of).  There’s a service you can purchase for access, and I will probably do as much in the next day or two.  In the meantime I’m holding out to be sure I’ve exhausted all the other options.  If anyone knows of any proxy sites they recommend, please send them my way!  Hugely appreciated.  Also, Bill Clinton, I hope you’re reading this.  When it’s my turn to be bailed out in a few weeks I’ll be calling you directly.  Thanks Pumpkin.

Internet censorship aside, the easing into China is going quite well.  (Now that I’ve said that I’m sure I’ll be kicked in the face.)