Tongli

We recently welcomed our friend Tom from Milwaukee (although we met him in Minnesota) for a visit. I love having friends and family visit because I get to see China all over again for the first time through their eyes. I have grown accustomed to so many really strange things here that I often forget how different it is from the US until I see our visitor's eyes bug out of their head upon encountering something that I consider normal!

For Tom's visit, we decided to venture out on a little day trip to the small water town of Tongli. There are lots of water towns around Shanghai (a nearby town was used in filming Mission Impossible 3). They are unique because the main part of the town is built up around creeks and small rivers that run through the center. The towns are crissed crossed by a series of bridges and much of the daily life centers around the water. People wash their clothes and veggies in the river, fish, and unfortunately dump some garbage and sewage in there as well. It's best described by the pictures below.

*Warning*- Tongli is also famous as being the home of the China Sex Museum (which we obviously couldn't pass up since we were there anyway). Regardless of the content of the museum, the grounds are beautiful as it used to be a private girls school- how ironic. Graphic pics below so if you are prudish, you may want to skip the last couple photos.

A typical Tongli canal view.

Tourist boats which take you around the town.

Tongli ladies doing the laundry.

The old men sitting around and watching the tourists walk by.

Spare roof tiles.



Another shot of the old streets.

Inside one of the historic courtyards of Tongli. How cool would it have been to live in a place like this (well, actually, it would have been down right cold- there's not much insulation)!

My friend Jodi checking out the Tongli towel head fashion. For some reason which we couldn't figure out, several of the older ladies were wearing hand towels on their heads...

Accidents happen. A 3-wheeled scooter took a curve a little too fast and nailed the large cement ball right in front of us. Good thing we weren't a few seconds earlier or this would have been us instead of the ball! Amazingly, no one got hurt!

Tom and I getting ready to check out the Sex Museum.

The beautiful gardens of the sex museum- most of the statues you see in the distance were X-rated (hee-hee).

The title of this piece was "A woman's dependence"...well, I don't know about that- should have been titled "A man's dependence!"

My favorite statue in the museum. Title "The only part of the body you can't chain down". Pretty much.

McDonalds!

Lately I have noticed a plethora of American chain restaurants popping up around town. Here is a brief overview:
1)Baskin Robbins - pretty much exactly the same flavors as in the US, and about $3.50 for a single scoop- ouch.
2) KFC- The Colonel rules. THE MOST POPULAR place to eat in all of China. Pathetic. I've never actually tried it here but I guarantee it's chock full of trans fats.
3) Dunkin Donuts- The newest addition to the city and I must say, my personal favorite. After nearly two years of deprivation, a chocolate glazed never tasted so good. But, they have definitely "China-fied" it. You can choose several variations of green tea flavored donuts as well as pork floss and seaweed. Yuck.
4) Dairy Queen- good, same as back in the USA. Cheap and full of local milk products so probably contains melamine (see previous posts).
5) Pizza Hut and Papa Johns- Both have taken on a local flavor and are no where near as good as home- offers include tuna pizza. Between the two, I like PJ's for take out and PH for eat in (both offer very nice eat in options compared to the US).
6) Starbucks- Like the States, there is one on every corner. Very similar to the US in their offerings; however, all flavored drinks are much less sweet. Mega expensive so mostly full of foreigners and rich Chinese.
7) McDonalds- one word- DELIVERY. Just ordered 2 cheeseburgers and 2 sundaes which were delivered to our apartment within 15 minutes for a total of less than $5.00. Hmm, this could be dangerous.
So if any of you faithful readers actually make it over here and you are hankering for a taste of home- no worries, we got you covered!

Domestic air travel in China

I know, I know- I've been slacking on the blog. Thanks for the reminder Grandma! Anyway, I've been meaning to blog about this for a long time- domestic air travel within China. It is yet another culturally eye opening experience for most Westerners. Everything starts off innocently enough. Very routine- get in line to check in, check your bags, go through security. But then the fun begins. It usually goes something like this: Boarding announcement is made and there is a mad rush to the boarding doors. Sometimes, on a good day, a line will form but inevitably, several people will pretend that there is no line and just cut in front of everyone else. At the gate, not one but two airline employees will check your boarding pass. Then you are ushered onto a waiting bus to go out to your plane. Again, the usual China "area cram" ensues with as many people as possible being loaded onto the bus. Bus drives to plane. Bus doors open and there is a literal stampede to get to the plane. Come on people- everyone has a seat assigned- no need to push! At this point, there is no chance of a line, just a scrum of people fighting to get up the steps onto the plane. The group is held up by not one but two airline employees who once AGAIN check your boarding pass. If you are keeping count- that's four people who have now checked your boarding pass (I am convinced this goes back to the communist principle that everyone needs a job...but I digress).
Ok, on the plane now. If you have an aisle seat, the person in the window seat will not ask you to get up when they get into the row, they will simply climb over you. I am not making this stuff up, I swear! From here, it's pretty much normal except that there is often someone who gets up to go to the bathroom as we are taxing down the runway for take off. Oh, and also normally someone who tries to sneak a cigarette during the flight. And then you have the people who let their kids play video games at full volume with no headphones. And the TV monitors that come down from the ceiling have NO volume control so unless you have your ipod, you are forced to listen to a bunch of very annoying Chinese programming blasting during the entire flight.
And let's not forget about the guy in the next row who keeps hocking spit balls into a plastic bag (better than on the floor, I guess).
Finally, we descend for landing. Once again, someone will get up to go to the bathroom just minutes before we land. Then, the second we hit the ground, several people will stand up and try to get their baggage down. And, last but not least, my ultimate pet peeve. Once we arrive at the gate and the plane stops, everyone will try to squeeze into the aisle and push their way off the plane. If there is nowhere to go, they will just push up against you with all their strength in hopes that somehow, that will get the line moving. I finally learned how to say "please stand a little further from me" which I think will be a very useful phrase for the next time I fly within China! Is it any wonder that Sev and I usually need a drink the minute we get off the plane?

The Chinese Countryside

After living in China for a year and a half it dawned on me that I haven't really been outside of a major city here.  So I talked my friend from Hong Kong into taking a little mini-vacation with me (minus the kids) to the town of Yangshuo in the south of China, along the Li River.  We rented bikes for two days and peddled around the countryside.  To be honest, I was expecting worse living conditions than what I saw.  People's lives are simple- work the fields (mostly rice and peanuts), take care of the chickens and water buffalo, and take your scooter/bike wherever you need to go.  Cars were few.  Most homes have no running water (they use a well) but I did see plenty of electric poles running through so at least they have electricity.  The majority of the homes are built by the owners themselves, made out of bricks.    I think the pictures tell the best story of our trip so enjoy!

Men selling chickens in the market (they are inside the bamboo cages).  

A grandpa uses his granddaughter to balance out his basket.  He was selling yellow beans at the market.

Ladies sewing with the old fashioned pedal sewing machines.

Fuli Town is famous as the maker of paper fans.  Here is a shot of a fan makers house.

I couldn't resist getting my fortune told by this little old guy.  Several locals gathered around to hear my fortune as well!

Fiona and me on the Li River- we cruised around on a "bamboo raft" which actually turned out to be made of PVC piping!

Ok- I couldn't resist being a cheesy tourist and taking a picture with the Cormorants.  These birds are used by the local fisherman to catch fish at night.  There is a string tied around their necks to prevent them from swallowing the fish (although they are allowed to eat every 7th fish).  A well trained bird is worth as much as $700!

A traditional fisherman on the Li River (his raft is real bamboo).

A shot of the cormorants fishing at night. The light attracts the fish and then the birds dive under the water and catch them.

Here the fisherman is extracting the fish from the birds mouth.  For the pleasure of the tourists in this case!

A typical view of the rice fields and "karst peaks"- this area of China is famous for these beautiful peaks.

This lady on the moped was herding her buffalo down the street.  I couldn't help but think "ancient China in a modern world".

On the other hand, here is a shot of a man with his cow along a tiny village street.  I asked how much the water buffalo cost and was told about $600 for a grown cow, already trained.  It takes one week to train them how to walk straight while plowing the fields.  I did not see one tractor the entire time I was there.

A group of school girls in the village.  They were thrilled when I showed them the picture on the digital camera!

A graveyard in the countryside.  I asked our guide if there were designated areas for graveyards and she said no, you can bury your dead wherever you want.  Interesting... and yet a little worrisome!

The kitchen in a typical village home.  The lady we rented our bikes from let us in for a look around.  No running water, no stove, no oven.  I am still not really sure how she cooked her food.

And finally, no blog is complete without the scary food story.  I thought this was a veterinarians office until I noticed the giant iron woks.  Then the light bulb slowly came on and yes, it was a restaurant selling dog, cat, cow, and pig.  Lovely.

Nose picking and other personal habits...

So I have noticed that nose picking in public is definitely OK here.  Men and women alike engage in this sport of digging for gold whenever the mood strikes them.  The worst is when your taxi driver picks a "Shanghai pollution booger" (as I like to call the black ones) out of his nose and then hands you your change- ewww.  You can observe this behavior pretty much anywhere here- on the street, in restaurants (yep, the servers do it too), elevators, etc.  And since I am on the subject of personal habits, staring at people, picking your teeth, and shouting into your cell phone no matter where you are- all OK here.  Oh, and I would be remiss to mention the Chinese habit of hitting the close door button thirty times the minute you enter the elevator (as if you were the only person in the world), regardless of anyone else trying to get on.  Unfortunately, I kind of like this habit and have adapted it myself.

And I have one other funny story to tell- since I have discovered the joy of taking the bus here, I have almost become addicted- why pay $1.75 for a taxi when you can pay 30cents for the bus?  But I did have my "I am a stupid foreigner" moment this week.  I have always taken the bus in the same direction but as my confidence has grown, I thought I would try a new route.  Mistake.  I didn't know where the bus stopped so I watched as the stop I wanted came and went.  And then, as the next stop approached (already way out of the way of where I wanted to go), I fought my way to the exit doors.  In China, you exit from the middle of the bus and enter from the front.  Well, by the time I got to the middle doors, they had shut.  When I had previously taken the bus in Minneapolis, you could simply touch the handles on the middle doors and they would open but apparently not in China!  So I desperately tried to push the doors open to no avail.  I had to wait and get off at the following stop.  I asked my ayi the next day how to get the doors to open.  She replied that the driver opened them.  "But what if you get to the door and it's already 

shut?"  "Well," she replied, "you have to shout 'Wait a minute, Wait a minute'!".   Oh.  Now I know.  Next time, instead of looking like a clueless foreigner, I'll just look like a foreigner with bad Chinese as I shout out "Deng yixiar!"  That's wait a minute in mandarin!

Singapore & Malaysia

Since everything shuts down during Chinese New Year, and it's cold in Shanghai (well, not compared to Minnesota but 30 degrees here is considered the dead of winter) we decided to head for warmer weather- right around the equator.

First we hit Singapore for a brief stopover on our way to Malaysia. It's a beautiful country in the middle of the rain forest. The city is amazing- clean (no wonder - you can be caned for littering), orderly, and totally modern. The official languages are English, Mandarin, Tamil, and Malay. So, everyone speaks english which was a refreshing change. Other than the US, I have never been anywhere that was a diverse as Singapore. There are people from all descents which makes for some amazing food experiences. We were only able to spend one full day so we chose to hit the zoo (of course). It's a fantastic zoo with a lot of animals I've never seen or even heard of before: white tigers, Proboscis monkeys, malaysian tapirs, pygmy hippos, mandrills, and jaguars.

The kids loved it and a good time was had by all.

Here is a picture of a sign at the Singapore zoo near the mountain lion enclosure.  Of course, it's only written in Chinese (even though every other sign at the zoo is posted in enlglish) and basically says don't feed the animals or get too close- you WILL get hurt (see previous post on Shanghai zoo for more info).

The next day we headed to Malaysia. This was my first time in a muslim country. In terms of religion, Malaysia is definitely not full of extremists. Although the muslim women did keep their heads covered (but not their faces), they can work and go about daily life unescorted. And, like Singapore, there seemed to be a lot more diversity than I had expected. Freedom of religion is granted even though it may not be encouraged. We saw mosques, along with hindu and buddist temples, and even some churches. After a connecting flight through Kuala Lumpur, we finally reached a small island off the coast of Malaysia, called Langkawi. Situated on the Andaman Sea, we could actually see one of Thailand's islands from our resort. Throughout our weeklong stay, the weather was 85 degrees and sunny. The beach was actually a bit disappointing- although the water was warm and extremely calm it wasn't clear and the sand was pebbly and full of small shells. But it was clean and practically deserted. The resort itself had 3 amazing pools which was where we spent most of our time. We were able to do a 1/2 day boat tour through the mangrove forest where we saw monkeys and eagles. We also saw quite a few large monitor lizards (about 3 ft long) around our resort which the kids loved and Sev and I did not! All in all, we had a great time although I would love to go and spend more time on mainland Malaysia next time.

The view from the beach.  At low tide, a sandbar would appear and you could actually walk out to the rocks in the distance.

A view of our resort from the water.

Malaysian fisherman using the traditional net method to catch giant prawns on the Andaman Sea.

Some of the many monkeys that live on Langkawi.

A giant monitor lizard at our resort.  About 3 feet long...but no worries- we were assured they only eat fish.

Grace posing with another monitor lizard.  A favorite activity for the kids on vacation was checking if the lizard was "home" under the deck- about 50 times a day.

Year of the Ox

Chinese New Year is finally over and we have officially entered the year of the Ox. Turns out that I am an Ox under the Chinese zodiac which means that since this is my year, I am supposed to wear red somewhere on my body at all times to ward off bad luck- and I thought a person was supposed to have good luck in their own year! Anyway, most people choose to wear red underwear in their year but after much debate with myself, I have decided to take my chances and forgo the red undies so we will see what happens...

Chinese New Year (CNY for short) is a HUGE deal here. All the migrant workers return home to their provinces to spend time with their families. I recently read that over 250 million people travel by car/bus and another 5 million by train. That's nearly 75% of the population of the USA to put it in perspective. Crazy. Although the holiday is technically 1 week long, it seems to stretch on for about a month. The kid's school has a big family event so I thought I'd share some pics of the girls in their traditional Chinese clothes (red is the color of luck and symbolizes wealth so you'll see a lot of red everywhere this time of year).

G & A in their traditional outfits.

The girls in A's class: Kitty (China), Aika (Japan), Clemintine (France) and little A.

Another tradition around CNY is the Lion Dance.  There is usually a drummer and several cymbal players who accompany two men dressed in a Chinese lion costume.  One guy is the head, the other is the tail.  In the dance that we saw, the "lion" jumps up on pillars which are about 10 feet high with just enough room on the platform for your foot.  They leap back and forth on the cylinders with one guy holding the other up on his shoulders- scary!  But cool if you're just watching and not participating.  The kids loved it of course!

G with some guy in a Chinese opera costume. No idea what the meaning of the costume it though..

The "Lion" perched on the low pillars.

An action shot of the lion leaping from one pillar to the next.

Here you can see the 2nd guy standing on the shoulders of the lower man.  Now imagine jumping around on the pillars like that!