Final Shanghai Thoughts

First, wrapping up some loose ends:

I have been meaning to write about an interesting conversation I had with Jian Shuo about Chinese naming. But he beat me to it and explained Chinese naming much better than I could.

Second, I got a haircut today. A bold move I realize, since “not too short” was not one of the mandarin phrases I have learned. But it’s very hot, and I can’t go the whole summer with no haircut (when I have a job). It was a nice place though, and it is a good haircut, just too short. I look a bit like a white, 5’11” Yao Ming (no disrespect intended for Yao Ming or his hairstyle).

Finally, Beijing is planning to ban 1 million cars from the road for two weeks to test its effect on reducing pollution (Thanks Susan!)

Now, on to some Shanghai thoughts.

I was very surprised when I realized this week that I am not at all ready to leave Shanghai. As everyone knows, I am always ready to move on to try new adventures. But my time here has been great and I wish I could stay longer.

I have been going through and trying to hit some hot spots in my last few nights here. I went to the top of the Grand Hyatt in Pudong for some drinks (although my shorts and flip-flops kept me from the bar on the 87th floor, the view was still pretty cool). I have been back to 3 on the Bund and had drinks at the roof café there overlooking the river. Probably my favorite place in Shanghai. I went back to Xiantiandi and to People’s Square and walked around and ate some food. I went to Yueyuan and bought some souvenirs. I took some pictures from the office and from the walk to and from work.

I think Shanghai is a great city. People complain that it is too much about spending money. They say it’s like New York, but without the cultural and artistic side (though some would say the real culture has been pushed out of Manhattan and into the boroughs anyway). Most local Chinese think Beijing is a better place to live because there is “real culture” there. Apparently there are 10 artists in Beijing for every 1 in Shanghai. That may be true, but I would pick Shanghai over Beijing for sure.

Another common complaint is that Shanghai is too western. I think Shanghai may be western-friendly but it is decidedly non-western. There are definitely McDonald’s and KFC’s and Starbucks all around. But there are countless more tiny restaurants and shops and local establishments. Somehow, the colonial influence of the French Concession and the modern skyscrapers with neon lights work together and give Shanghai a feel that is not western, and probably isn’t Chinese either, but is something all its own.

A few final photos:

Views from the office

Pudong

Xujiahui (taken on my commute)

More miscellaneous China thoughts

Language
I am quite proud of my Mandarin development over the past few weeks. I can now do such useful things as: get the waiter and the check (fu yen, my dan), say I am feeling “ok” (ma ma hu hu), and of course order ice cream (bing ji ling).

I can also very consistently tell a taxi driver where I live (near Xujiahui, at Tianyaoquio Lu and Nandan Lu). This morning, it was raining, and I had left both my umbrella and map at the office. I had not successfully taken a cab to the office without the map but I felt confident and hopped in a taxi.

My office is at Guanyuan Xi Lu and Huashan Lu. I struggle with the Yua and Hua sounds. But I tell the driver the address and think I get the point across and we set off. 20 minutes later we are at Guanyuan Lu and Hengshan Lu. Not right. I try again, and we set off again. 10 minutes later we are at Guanyuan Xi Lu and Hongqiao Lu. Not right either. Finally, I convince the driver to just go to Xujiahui. Going to Xujiahui, we pass my intersection. I tell the driver to stop and he says “Oh, Huashan Lu!!” 45 minutes later, I am at the office.

Pollution
The World Bank released a report on pollution in China today that is summarized in the Financial Times. They claim 750,000 people die a year due to the air pollution, though Beijing forced the World Bank to cut that statistic from the final version of the report, saying it would cause “social unrest”. It does say the China has made improvements at curbing pollution over the last few years.

Sino-Japanese relations
I think most people know that Chinese people and Japanese people do not get along. But I did not appreciate how tense the relationship is. Many Chinese truly hate Japanese people after the war crimes that were committed in WWII. In Xi’an, one of our friends joked that he was Japanese and that was why he didn’t speak Mandarin (he actually is from Hong Kong and speaks Cantonese). It went over very badly. Our friends told him to not even joke about that. I have also on several occasions seen World War II referred to as “The War of Defending against the Japanese Invasion”. I don’t think it was used as lightly as the War of Northern Aggression is sometimes used today in the US.

Five Fun Facts about China

• The MagLev train from the Shanghai airport to downtown is the new fastest train in the world, with top speeds of 267MPH (though when I took it on arriving here, we topped out at only 186MPH). The trip into town takes 7 minutes and 20 seconds.
  

• According to CCP reports, there are more 75,000 “incidents of rural unrest” per year in China (that is >200/day).
  

• 31% of the world’s ketchup is produced in Xinjiang province (northwest corner of China).
  

• Wuxi, a city of ~4.3 million people, has been without running water for several weeks now. Poisonous blue-green algae caused by water pollution bloomed in the city’s water source, the 3^rd largest freshwater lake in China. Temperatures have been in the 80s and 90s but city residents have no ability to wash or shower. CCTV news tagline “China learns from algae crisis”.
  

• There are 49 cities in China with a bigger population than Houston, Texas.
  

Also, my hotel has a gun club on the first floor (sign on the left side of the picture below).

Three battles

Battle 1 - Hangars

I am matched in a small war with the hotel staff here at the friendly Home Inn. A quick introduction, Home Inn is a new chain of hotels that is striving to become the Comfort Inn of China. This specific location is actually nice enough, but I am not sure how often they have visitors staying here for a month.

Since I left home for 3 months, I brought more than an average amount of clothes. The Home Inn provides its guests with 6 hangars. Now I know that many of you think I do not have 6 articles of clothing worth hanging up, but I can assure you that I do.

The first day I was here, I went downstairs and asked for 8 more clothes hangars. After a minute or two, they nodded in understanding and I thought hangars would be sent up. Nothing happened. Evening Two, I ask again for more 8 clothes hangars. I don’t know if they don’t want to give me that many, or they truly didn’t understand, but again nothing happened. Evening Three, I come home, get a knock on the door, and receive one hangar. Morning Four I ask for clothes hangars again. Somewhat confused nods from the front desk. I resolve to get the word clothes hangars written in Chinese for me, but later forget. Evening Four, I come home, get a knock on the door, and get one hangar again. Evening Five, temporary ceasefire.

I am not sure how this battle of wits will end up, but I think I am no worse than a 2 to 1 underdog.

Battle 2 - Pollution

I have learned how China plans to deal with the pollution during the Olympics. Our general counsel mentioned that he had heard about this plan from a few government officials in Beijing and Yahoo News seems to support it also.

The Chinese Air Force apparently has cloud seeding capability. They launch missiles that emit silver iodide which explode in the air and cause clouds to form and then rain to fall. The Air Force plans to use these missiles to encircle the city with clouds and rain in the days before the Olympics to temporarily help clean up the pollution by making it rain.

Apparently they also did this when some Olympic Committee officials came to assess the pollution problem before choosing Beijing to host the Games.

Battle 3 – Citizen behavior

The sign below from a park in Beijing shows some of the restrictions that the central government is trying to impose on individual freedoms. Line 7 is my favorite.

(I think if you click the picture you can make it bigger)

Impressions of Beijing

Beijing is not my favorite place. I would rate it a 2 out of 14 on the pH scale. Tons and tons of traffic. Dirty, hot, overcrowded, extremely polluted, very little culture or feel to it (which is odd, since historically the city has been so important to China). But there is so much destruction and reconstruction going on now that the city doesn’t feel like much of anything.

Some highlights were a very fat man riding me around on the back of his bicycle through a bunch of hutongs (small traditional, alleys). Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven were all OK. Some of the less touristy parks and padogas were cooler. But all in all, nothing awesome to report (except the Great Wall).

The pollution in Beijing is unbelievably terrible. It is permanently gray outside. You climb to the top of something to see a view and you can barely see the buildings a few hundred yards away. The sun shines a creepy orange color. I was coughing and sneezing the entire time I was there. I also had my first asthma attack since I was like 12 years old and had to sit down on a bench and try to catch my breath after walking around outside for only about 6 hours. They say that spending a day in Beijing is the equivalent of smoking 70 cigarettes. I am not sure what they will do when the Olympics are here. Somebody said that they may ban people from driving during that time, though that seems crazy (but maybe not so crazy for China).

Also, taxi drivers are ridiculously bad. First, I started off by taking the name of the place that I was going written in Chinese. Taxi drivers either would not or could not take me where I wanted to go - even to major attractions. Then I started bringing both a Chinese map and the Chinese name of where I wanted to go. Still, we would circle around, ask questions, and take forever to get where I was going. And I was not much better on my own. My hotel the last night was in a little dilapidated alley (too small for cars, people sold melons out of carts pulled by donkeys and fried up fresh dumplings outside my hotel, which was kind of cool). Since it was a small street though, nobody knew the name of it and I could almost never find it. I got dropped off by taxis twice very close to it, walked the wrong way, and ended up spending over an hour both times trying to find my hotel again. Very frustrating, especially in summer heat. I was definitely the sweaty American in Beijing.

On a good note though, since there has been so much deforestation to the west of Beijing, in the spring there are these massive sandstorms that come from the new deserts and blow sand all over the city. I am pleased to report that while it was in the high 90s when I was there, the skies were sand-free.

Will try to post some pictures when I can.