China part 1

China Part 1
October 3 – 13, 2010
Oh great. Dianne wants to go to the land of chain smokers, smog, and communism, so we went.

Di is of course having a better time than me, but my reward is getting to spend full time with her with no work, phones, or computers (except right now). If it were not for being home without Dianne for 3 weeks, I would not go. I would rather watch a travel-log on China than leave home. I can learn about the people, customs, and places just fine from watching a film without having to be there in person. Just like I can see a wonderful painting in a museum and not feel like I have to own it.

To see the funny 1 1/2 minute cartoon video "Rennie Does Not Want to go to China" click herehttp://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7442923/

Sunday October 3: We leave from LAX at 2 am and change planes in Hong Kong for our first stop: Shanghai. We arrive at 11:20 am on Monday. On the cab ride into town Di and I were struck by the level of construction: 25-30 story apartment/condo buildings were everywhere. In China you can buy your apartment, but not the land. The government gives you a 70 year lease. If you are still alive, you can continue to live there and pay rent on your lease.

Monday, October 4: The hotel was beautiful, definitely built or remodeled for American and European tourists. But the cab driver drove off with our suitcases right after I paid him. Fortunately, I took down his license # that was posted in the cab and the receipt had the company info. Being fluent in Chinese I asked the concierge to call and get the driver to return. The cabby came back about 30 minutes later. The funny part was when he asked me to pay him the 80 Yuan ($12) on the meter for driving back with our luggage. The doorman and I both laughed at him and the doorman chased him away.

That evening we met our guide, Jason (Wang Zhe zhegct@yahoo.com.cn). He has been terrific with his suggestions and attitude. Since we had a free day before the rest of the tour group would arrive, Dianne wanted to visit the Synagogue Museum (there is still one active synagogue in the French Concession and then we'd go to the 2010 World Expo.

Jason gave us the address and direction in Chinese for the cab drivers. All I had to do was show the paper to them and off we went. Cabs are very reasonable. We could cross the whole city for about $3-5.

Tuesday, October 5: We went to the Jewish area which was really important to Di as her Uncle Walter's parents escaped Nazi Germany during WW II and lived in this part of Shanghai. We got to read stories of many Jews that lived there, how they got there, how they lived, and what they did after the war. It was amazing. Read more about the museum at http://gochina.about.com/od/whattoseeinshanghai/p/OhelMoishe.htm>

After our visit to the Synagogue Museum we went to the Expo. What a mob! China was celebrating its National Holiday that week so everyone from China was there at the same time. What a waste. It took 2-3 hours in line to enter any of the country pavilions. We passed on all of them, but the architecture of the buildings was very unique. The Expo was as large as a small city and was built on both sides of the Huangpu River that runs through Shanghai. We had to take a ferry boat from one side to the other. All of this was included in the price of admission: $30 each for all day, or $15 each after 4 pm to closing at about 11 pm. The expo started in March and I think ends this month. Word is that if you don't like someone, send them to the expo. We waited until 4 pm to enter and saved half the ticket price. Thank goodness.

The driving in China is CRAZY. I found out that they actually are required to have a driver's license; it costs about $600 and requires passing 4 tests over 2 months. However, the traffic lights, one way streets, sidewalks, cross walks, and traffic lanes all appear to only be suggestions. People drive in either direction on either side of the street, motorcycles, scooters, bikes, cars and buses all share lanes. Scooters use no headlights at night, riders use no helmets ever, and red lights only mean slow down to see if anyone is coming from the other direction.. But motorcycle riders are required to wear helmets. I guess the pavement is softer on the heads of scooter riders. Vehicles turning left appear to be permitted to cut-off on-coming traffic.

Pedestrians cross any and everywhere, and in crosswalks they have to dodge any type of transportation from bicycles to buses that may be coming through from any direction. Again, at night no headlights are used on the scooters. I guess that’s to make it easier to hit the pedestrians. I can't believe how few accidents there are. It must be because everyone understands that no one has any right of way, and everyone has to watch out for every vehicle coming from any direction. Everyone is honking horns all the time to warn other drivers and pedestrians. I believe it is connected to the gas pedal, and if the horn is broken, the vehicle probably won't work.

We knew our tour group would be small; ten people total. On our first day with the tour group we went to a silk carpet factory. I forgot how tours work: You get on a bus and in addition to Jason, another guide in each city talks about the city and takes you to the tourist factories and restaurants. It reminded me of Morocco where after lunch we were herded into a large Persian rug and souvenir shop with enough time for the sales people to explain how the goods are made and then spend time bargaining with you to get you to buy things. Guess what, everything is negotiable. There is no such thing as a fixed price. Same way in China.


Our lunch was at a Mongolian BBQ restaurant in the same building as the carpet factory. What a surprise! The policy at all the restaurants is that you get one glass (about 6oz size) of soda, beer or bottled water. If you want a second glass you pay for it. Tap water would be free, but there is no way any American should drink it; not even the Chinese can drink their tap water. I think it comes unfiltered from the river shown behind us.
Wednesday, October 6: We went to the Shanghai Museum. To find out what we saw there you can go to www.shanghaimuseum.net

Thursday, October 7, 2010: we took a bus to Suzhou (pronounced like Sue Joe). Don't ask me how the pronunciation of the English translation works. It makes no sense to me. For certain, it has nothing to do with how English is pronounced. Q is pronounced like "ch". And NONE of the translations to English have been done by anyone who speaks real English, nor edited by anyone who is a native English speaker, let alone an editor.
Example: "Beacuse (sic) being under constrction (sic) cause inconvenience to you, invite respectively forgiving." These are not handwritten signs but printed ones in Chinese and something like English at tourist destinations, like the Ghost City of the King of the Underworld in Feng Du. (See Monday Oct. 11 for info on the Ghost City)

In Suzhou we visited the home of an ancient government official Shi Zhengzhi: The Master-of-the-Nets Garden. A Chinese garden is not like a Western garden. To create a Chinese garden requires four elements: Water, rocks, a building, and flora, like trees.

This home built in 1140 AD was originally known as the Fisherman’s Retreat and laid out in the Southern Song Dynasty. It was renamed Master-of-the-Nets Garden in the reign of Quinlong (1711-1799) in the Qing Dynasty. To see more click on http://www.chinatourguide.com/suzhou/master_garden.html

It seems like I lost what happened on Friday, Oct.8 before we got on the boat for a cruise on the Yangtze River. Aren't you glad? Wow, this blog is getting too long.
Saturday, Oct 9, The Three Gorges Dam: Wow, what an engineering marvel and a possible environmental catastrophe. This project is so massive (the dam is about 1 mile across) that you cannot get a photo of it unless you are in an airplane. So, I provided a photo of a model of the dam and the ship locks. You can read more about this amazing project at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam

Sunday, Oct 10. Tour on the Shennogxi tributary. We took a small Sampan up the stream, which is now more like a river after the Three Gorges Dam was built. It raised the water level by about 150 meters. During some parts of the year the stream would only be about 1-3 meter deep. To read more go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shen_Nong_Stream

Monday, Oct 11: My daughter’s birthday, Davida. Happy Birthday Sweetie. Tour of the Ghost City in Feng Du which became known as Ghost City in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) when two officials from the Imperial court married and settled on Mt. Minshan just outside the city. Their combined surnames, Yin and Wang, sound like King of Hell in Chinese. Read more at http://www.china-travel-tour-guide.com/attractions/fengdu-ghost-city.shtml

Tuesday, Oct 12. End of the tour in Chongqing. Saw the Pandas at the zoo. They are so cute and lazy. I saw a keeper and a Chinese tourist go into the habitat and put an apple in each paw of a Panda who was lying on his back. The Panda put the apples in his mouth and then looked around, still lying on his back, as if to say, "Are you going to give me some more?" I took a video of one eating bamboo that I will share later.

At 5 pm we arrived in Guilin. It has 4 features: 1. Hills, 2, clear water, 3. caves, and 4. spectacular rocks. It also has Osmanthus trees from which the flowers can be used for Osmanthus tea. We had some while we were there. Very good. Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guilin

Wednesday, Oct 13: Guilin still, and a tour on the Li River: 4.5 hours. Just way too long for me, but the scenery was just what you'd expect to see in China based on the paintings and silk prints. We got to learn just how the tourists are ripped off after buying some objects in the bazaar in a city at the end of the river cruise in Yangshuo.

The photo of the carved wood shutters are similar to what Dianne thought she bought at a stall at the bazaar in Yangshuo, that did not get packed with the other items Dianne purchased.
Well that brings you up to date. It's 10 pm here in Guilin (population 30 million) and 7 am Wednesday at home in Los Angeles.

Note: After I got home I made a funny 1 ½ minute cartoon movie about my resistance to go to China. You can see it at http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7442923/