Last Post From China

Hard to believe, but it's here at last -- our final day in China, and it's time to say zai jian. We leave early on Friday. We are of mixed feelings -- tired and wanting our own beds; sorry to go so soon. We've had a wonderful time.

We spent our last full day doing the last round of touristy things: one last ride on the ferry, one last tour through a street market, one last round of buying presents (and, I'm embarrassed to say, one new suitcase to put all our new acquisitions in). I just watched the Symphony of Lights for the final time; I never get tired of it (in 12 days, I think I've watched it 6 times).

We've had a marvelous trip and many unforgettable experiences. We will continue to blog about all the things we've done and seen even after we get back home, but I wanted one last chance to post our thoughts from China.

Noah has announced he's used up all the hotel soap, so it's definitely time to go home. Goodbye! Zai jian!

Harbour Cruise

Last night we took the Symphony of Lights Harbour Cruise, in order to get the full effect of the light show with all the music. It was great! Colors, spotlights, lasers -- fabulous! I love this place!

Custom Tailors

There are custom tailor shops everywhere in Hong Kong. In Shanghai, we couldn't walk 5 steps without a hawker asking us if we wanted nice Rolex, Gucci bag, DVD's. Here, it's shills for the tailor shops asking Jon if he wants a nice custom made suit, shirt, trousers. (Apparently they are instructed to ask only non-Asian men.) And all the shills are Indian (subcontinental, that is); apparently, the shops are all run by Indians, but the tailors are all Chinese.

The other day Jon finally broke down and decided to go for it. After all, when in Rome, right? He'd been given some recommendations, but they seemed very expensive, and he didn't want a store that was fronted by shills. So we walked through some shopping centers (which are myriad) till he found one he liked. It was very small, filled floor to ceiling with bolts of cloth.

He described what he wanted, went through books of swatches, looked through bolts of cloth. The owner took a dozen different measurements for the suits, then more for the shirts. He told us to come back only 5 hours later for the first fitting.

We came back and Jon tried on pieces of a suit -- one arm (only pinned on), the lapels tacked on, pants with no waistband, etc. It was a hoot. They told us to come back the next day for the final fitting.

We came back and the suits were done -- 52 hours start to finish! And absolutely gorgeous. Silk lining, Jon's name embroidered inside. Jon wanted another 1/8 inch in the neck of the shirts, so those will be ready this morning.

Jon ended up getting 2 suits, one a cashmere/wool blend, the other a silk/wool blend, plus 6 all-cotton dress shirts with monograms on the cuffs. Anyone want to guess what he paid?

Stanley

Yesterday we went to a pre-colonial fishing village called Stanley. After all, how could we resist going to a place with such a wonderful name?

Stanley is located at the very end of Hong Kong Island. We took a bus along a narrow circuitous road up Victoria Peak and down again on the other side. The view was magnificent.

Stanley has become a seaside resort filled with Mediterranean-looking hotels, pubs and cafes along the beach. Yachts and windsurfers abound. Hardly seems Chinese at all. Then you find the temples and tiny shrines tucked into the corners, and it really takes you by surprise.

Then there's the Stanley Market, dozens of covered winding alleys filled with hundreds of tiny stalls selling everything. Now *this* is very Chinese.

We skipped the touristy restaurants and found an off-the-beaten track kind of place with typical Cantonese food (lots of grouper and other local fish), then came back at dusk and watched the sun set and the neon lights come on while we took the ferry back home. Another wonderful day in Hong Kong.

Swimming

After a long hard day of shopping, we took some time off and spent the morning in the hotel pool. The pool is on the 10th floor deck, overlooking Victoria Harbour. Magnificent view! Noah, of course, is part fish and never wanted to come out, but when the sun goes down behind the building, the water starts to get chilly. However, there's also a very nice hot tub, and Jon took full advantage of that.

Open Air Markets

Yesterday we went shopping in earnest, first at the produce markets, then the Jade Market, then the Temple Street Market. It was quite overwhelming, but proved to be very successful (at least for the global economy, if not for our personal bank account).

The produce market consists of stalls filled with every kind of fruit and vegetable imaginable, from sugar-sweet miniature bananas (thinking of you, Anna!) to giant red dragonfruit, plus a slew of things we've never seen before (2-foot-long eggplants, maybe? Flowering asparagus? Bumpy grapefruit? 12 kinds of mushrooms?). There are also the "wet markets," where the kind vendors will butcher your side of beef, press your duck or fillet your fish to order. Wild.

The Jade Market is a huge, low, covered building with hundreds of stalls selling (of course) jade of every color, size, shape and quality, plus pearls, ivory and other jewelry. Some real, some fake. The vendors are very solicitous but very aggressive. I had one woman holding my arm until I had to physically shake her off. I did very well here.

The Temple Street Market consists of tiny outdoor stalls lining the streets for blocks leading away from the jade market, offering everything from t-shirts to i-Pods to mah jongg sets, all at great prices. We had a blast just looking at everything.

For more details and some photos, check out this link:

Open Air Markets

(if the above link doesn't work, try http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/touring/popular/ta_popu_open.jhtml)

Light and Laser Show

Every night at 8 pm, there is an amazing synchronized light and laser show across Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, and we have an incredible view of it from our hotel. The show has been named the "World's Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show" by Guinness World Records, and includes 44 buildings on both sides of Victoria Harbour. It lasts about 12 minutes, and even includes fireworks on holidays like Christmas and Chinese New Year.

Apparently the best way to enjoy the show is on one of the ferry cruises, so you can get the music and narration as well. We'll try that soon.


Our cameras can't possibly do it justice, but we have found a video on YouTube that it very good. Click on the link below and enjoy!

Hong Kong Symphony of Lights

(If the link above doesn't work, try http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=AHWmFkpondw&feature=related)

Hong Kong

Nei hou from Hong Kong! (We have switched from Mandarin to Cantonese.) We came over from Zhuhai on Monday, crossing over the South China Sea by high-speed ferry in only 70 minutes. Hong Kong is a Special Autonomous Region made up of several islands. They have their own currency, they drive on the left side of the road (the British colonial influence), and we can finally drink the water. We are staying in a beautiful hotel in Kowloon, across the water from the main business districts on Hong Kong Island, pictured above. In fact, the two photos above were taken from our hotel suite. Pretty cool, huh? (BTW, the building at right with the illuminated girders is the famous Bank of China building designed by I.M. Pei, quite a scandal when it was built because its stark, angular lines go against all rules of feng shui.)

Jon has been working, teaching at the University of Hong Kong (the Harvard of China, he tells us), and meeting again with some of the people he met there. We hope to start sightseeing (and shopping) in earnest tomorrow (although Jon has managed to buy one new suit already, and we briefly found the Temple Street Market, which is similar to the old world market we had gone to in Shanghai. Believe me, we'll go back there again.)

The funniest thing we've seen so far is that everything here is decorated for Christmas, and I mean everything -- entire sides of huge buildings, every inch of our hotel, etc. It's a bit disconcerting, this being a supposedly non-religious country (or at least a Buddhist one), but it makes for good sales at the stores.


The buildings pictured above are 12 stories tall. That's a lot of Christmas lights!

Stay tuned for more Hong Kong photos coming soon!

Macau

Yesterday we went to Macau, a small island reachable from Zhuhai over a pedestrian bridge. Macau was under Portuguese control for 450 years before being ceded back to China in 1999, and is now considered a Special Autonomous Region, similar to Hong Kong (but much older). We needed our passports to get in and had to go through Chinese customs to return to the mainland. They have their own currency, the pataca, but every store and restaurant seems to accept (and prefer) the Hong Kong dollar, which is of equal value (about 12 U.S. cents each).

Macau is a city of juxtapositions, with Catholic churches and European plazas nestled just down the road from gigantic casinos awash in blazing neon. All signs are in Chinese, Portuguese and English, though very few people seem to speak or understand the latter two languages. Macanese food has strong Portuguese influences, and many dishes feature bacalhau, or dried salt cod, which is quite delicious.

Macau has always been very poor, and the gambling has been quite a boon. In fact, gambling revenues there have recently surpassed Las Vegas (although the Chinese government has had to crack down on local mainland officials going over to gamble with municipal funds). We watched a water and light show at the Wynn casino to the music of "Money Makes the World Go Around" from Cabaret. That pretty much said it all.

We are off to Hong Kong tomorrow -- more news to come!

The Zhuhai Fisher Girl

Local legend has it that an angel descended to earth one day and fell in love with the beauty of the land around the South China Sea. Reluctant to return home, she turned herself into a fisher girl, weaving nets and searching for precious pearls to earn a living. In addition, she unselfishly used her knowledge and powers to heal villagers who were ill, and so she was well loved by one and all.

Soon she met a young fisherman named Hai Peng and they fell in love. Not long after, however, Hai Peng listened to malicious accusations and demanded the fisher girl to give him her magical bracelets as a token of her affection. The fisher girl tearfully explained the origin of the bracelets. While she was still the daughter of the South Sea Dragon King, the eight bracelets were given to her by the eight palace mistresses, to guard her against the thought of abandoning immortality. She would die if she even removed one.

Tragically, Hai Peng did not believe her story and turned to leave. The fisher girl, to prove her love for Hai Peng, removed her bracelets and died in his arms instantly.

Hai Peng was filled with remorse and grief. His great sorrow moved the Jiu Zhou Huan Elder, who taught him the way to bring the fisher girl back to life. For this he had to go to the Jiu Zhou Island to find the Resurrection Grass, which had to be fed with man's blood. After much difficulty, Hai Peng found the grass and grew it with his own blood. Days turned to years, and the grass was finally ready and used to revive the fisher girl. Henceforth, the fisher girl became a true mortal.

On the day of their wedding, all the girls in the village together found a gigantic, magical pearl at the seashore. In gratitude, the fisher girl presented this to the reverent Elder.

Isn't that a lovely story for such a lovely statue? She's 9 meters high and weighs 10 tons. She's very impressive -- sort of the Statue of Liberty of Zhuhai.

Pudong

While we were in Shanghai, we took a ferry across the river Huangpu to the island of Pudong (the name means "east of the Pu;" mainland Shanghai is called Puxi, which means "west of the Pu"). We went over on the luxury air-conditioned ferry, which cost 2 yuan per person (28 cents).

Pudong has some of the tallest buildings in China. The Shanghai World Financial Center is over 100 stories tall and looks like a giant bottle opener. We went to the observation deck on the 97th floor and enjoyed some amazing views. (The observation deck is just below the opening at the top of the building -- very cool effect to be up there.) The next tallest building is the Jin Mao tower, which looks sort of like the top of the Chrysler Building made into a full skyscraper. And then there's the Oriental Pearl Tower, the largest TV transmitter in the world, and an incredible sight to see.

We came home on the commuter ferry, which mainly cater to bicycles and motorcycles. It was quite an experience, but only half a yuan (7 cents), so we couldn't really complain.



The photo above shows the boys posing with the mascot for the 2010 Expo, who is pictured all over Shanghai the way the Olympic mascots were plastered all over Beijing. He looks sort of like a blue Gumby, but cuter. We never actually found out his Chinese name. We'll just have to come back in 2010. ;-)

Arrival in Zhuhai

This morning we flew from Shanghai to Zhuhai. We were very nervous, both because we had read how difficult the local airlines might be and because UIC, the school at which we are staying, has been very poor at communicating with me.

The day has been a series of pleasant surprises. We flew out of the Shanghai International Airport, which is the largest airport I have ever visited. Each of three terminals was larger than O'Hare. The terminal we were in had 40 check-in sections, each with over 20 desks (so 800 passengers at a time could theoretically check in). Since we are traveling off season, there were almost no lines for check-in or security. The only bad aspect of that was they had the time for a very thorough search and Stacy was forced to give up her small crochet scissors because they were a bit too long.

The plane was a modern Boeing 737, complete with in-flight movie (in Chinese) and hot lunch (so we ate the rolls and fruit).

Arriving in Zhuhai, an assistant from the university met us and we are staying on a hotel next to campus which caters to the two adjoining universities. They have an extremely busy schedule for me, with three separate talks given to six different classes over the week, as well as some days of formal gatherings.

We had a lovely welcoming dinner with a number of the faculty and staff. Everyone was quite nice. They did not get the information that we needed vegetarian dishes, but quickly adjusted what they were ordering to accommodate us. We had three different kinds of fish (only one of which could we readily identify, but all were real fish with fins and scales). We ate bamboo, Chinese leeks and huge mushrooms, and watched the others try jellyfish, shrimp, pork and many interesting looking items.

Tomorrow we will tour the area a bit, then on Monday I go to work. It should be an interesting week.

Bike ride on Xi’an City Wall - Post by Noah

Last week, my father and I went bike riding on the Xi’an city wall. The city wall is a high stone wall that surrounds the old part of the city.


It had four archway gates when it was made, but now has twenty gates to allow for traffic.

We rode on a double bike. It was scary. There were some wires (conduit cables) sticking out, bricks in the pavement were gone, and ramps changed the height of the wall.

We only had one hour. We had to ride fast on the way back because we had to go to our train for Shanghai.

Not many people do this and that is kind of cool.

Suzhou

We went on a day trip to Suzhou, the birthplace of silk, and toured a silk factory. It was utterly fascinating to watch the process, from silkworm to cocoon to sorting machine to skeins of raw silk, through dyeing and weaving to the beautiful new silk duvet cover we will proudly be displaying on our bed when we return home.






Suzhou also boasts many beautiful gardens and the Grand Canal, which was started in the fifth century BCE and took a thousand years to build. It is the largest man-made waterway in the world, stretching over a thousand miles from Beijing to Shanghai and beyond. It is about 50 meters wide and 15 meters deep. All rivers in China flow east--west, and the Emperor decided he needed a waterway to go north--south, so he conscripted 5 million men to build the canal, which is still in use today.

Shanghai Photos by Avery

Shanghai

This is an incredible city! The whole place is like a Times Square explosion. The first night we were here, it was raining. Between the rain, the endless neon, the crowds of people, the lights on all the gigantic buildings (all changing colors), the Jumbotron screens on the sides of buildings, the moving and talking ads -- it was like something out of "Blade Runner." In the daytime it's not quite so surreal.

The heart of the city is the Bund, a major thoroughfare that follows the river. On one side is a pedestrian walkway, like El Malecon in Puerto Vallarta, but much bigger (everything in Shanghai is much bigger). It looks out on Pudong, an island neighborhood that used to be all slums and brothels. In 1990, it was named a special economic zone, and now boasts the largest buildings in China, such as the Oriental Pearl Tower, pictured above. The walkway is jammed with sightseers, vendors, and people taking pictures from all angles. I've never seen so many cameras in my life. Our guide tells us that locals rarely go there.

The inland side of the Bund features European-style buildings constructed by Victor Sassoon, the Jewish founder of the city in 1850, and his peers (and competitors). The street looks like it was lifted straight out of London.

The main street leading away from the Bund is Nanjing Road. It is lined with shops of every description (and, in fact, many I cannot describe). The eastern part is the cheaper side; the western part (where the Ritz Carlton is) is the more expensive side. There is a noticeable difference when you switch sides.

Today we will go to the Yu Yuan Market in the Old City. This is a tangle of tiny alleys filled with little shops and stalls that sell everything you can imagine (and some things you couldn't dream of). This is where we will do the bulk of our gift shopping. We are just doing our part to support international economic relations.

Will post more photos soon.

Ohel Moshe Synagogue in Shanghai - Post by Avery

Today we visited the Ohel Moshe Synagogue in Shanghai. To memorialize the success of protecting Jewish refugees during the Holocaust, the Chinese government turned the former synagogue into a museum to show the rest of the world that they are better morally than anyone gives them credit for. Unfortunately, too few people know about the museum for there to be an impact on the world’s mindset.

The Jews fled to Shanghai from the Nazis, because they were being persecuted. From the rise of the Nazi party in the early 1930s, Jews had been looking for places to flee to. Most countries had set up “quotas,” or limits to the amount of people allowed into the country. When the quota was filled, no more immigrants were allowed in. However, Shanghai let in as many people as would come. In all, 30,000 Jews fled to Shanghai.

Once they got to Shanghai, the Jews began to set up their community. They brought over their culture from Europe, with their own Kosher deli and corresponding schochets and rabbis. They had their own German newspaper, the “Echo,” and its journalists, reporters, and writers. They also built seven shuls. Only two still stand, and one has been converted into a government office building. The Jews built a simple synagogue to keep their culture together.

The remaining shul, the Ohel Moshe, is a small, plain shul. The brickwork is a simple red and brown pattern. In the actual sanctuary, there are an upper and lower seating sections. Men sit downstairs, on long wooden benches, while women sat upstairs on small uncomfortable chairs. The bema is a small, mahogany construct, without any sort of carving or mark.

Three months ago, the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administrative Commission finished the renovation of the Ohel Moshe. The blueprints to the original synagogue had been found in the city archives. The renovation was funded by the SMTAC and by donations from various Israeli businesses, and was meant by the Chinese government to show that China stood the moral high ground. When almost everyone else started blocking the immigration of Jews, China welcomed them with open arms. It maintained its open-door policy until Japan controlled Shanghai.

The Chinese government created the museum to try to show that they are morally better than the rest of the world thinks they are. Unfortunately, because few people know about the museum, it has had no impact on the rest of the world’s mindset.