Warm welcome coming back from US

I got back from a 10 day trip from the US last Monday.  I'm astonished at how much my Chinese degraded from just those 10 days!  I had a few stops- in St. Louis, Chicago, and then San Francisco to see friends/family on the weekends, and then work during the week. So good to see friends there! Here's a pic from the "Bean" in Chicago and a view of SF from Mt.Tam on a hike with Eli.
When I got back to Shanghai, we had to stay on the plane an extra 45 minutes as the guys in hazmat suits tested everyone's temperature with an infra-red gun.  (China is still overly concerned about H1N1... or maybe it's all just an excuse to lock certain people away for a bit)  Not the most welcoming gesture, and I think my temperature rose .4 degrees just being worried if I'd pass. whew! no one was quarantined on the flight.

A Shanghai Stroll

So even though I'm currently in the US on business right now, I wanted to write about the Shanghai streets, and some interesting behaviors you'll find.

I know the newspapers aren't doing so well in the States, but in China, people communally read them like this guy on his bike. It's a nice way to save paper and discuss with others about the news. They are all around on public streets.













The summer heat is already starting, and with it comes pajamas. Yes, for some odd reason in Shanghai people wear pajamas in the summer, in public, and go about their daily activities in this attire. Like this couple here.


















More so in the local streets, you'll see people gathering around to watch a game of cards, chess, or majiang.













There are no bikes at this "bike parking lot" but I like that the city has these all around .


















Also, most Chinese don't like to get too tan from the sun. I'll have to wait and snap a picture of all the ladies and their umbrellas, but at some crosswalks, they will have shades that people crowd under.

Beer Bash

Christine from work had an event in QingDao last Monday and invited me to come up with her on Sunday to tour that city. The tickets were affordable (about $100) and it was only an hour flight away so, sure! You may have heard of this city in another Romanization- TsingTao- yes, the beer! QingDao is halfway between Beijing and Shanghai and is close to the ocean. It's hilly, has a lot of hiking in the LaoShan mountains, and has clean air; I think I read an article how it is similar to Northern California, maybe that's why I liked it.

We got there late Sat night and stayed at a "local" hotel. I tend to bucket hotels into this category if they have a call-girl call around 10pm at night. I swear... Anyway, the next morning we drove an hour to Lao Shan, took a cable car, and hiked up a trail. From my experience with Chinese hiking so far though, it is nothing like the west. Besides the fact that people wear high heels and tight jeans, the main path is always paved. Oh, and I forgot to mention the amout of vendors selling the most random of things all along the path, shouting, annoying you... I felt like I was at Disney going up a path waiting for a rollercoaster ride. Not until the very top did we ask a local if there were any "offbeaten" tracks and she pointed for us to climb some boulders. So, we did, and that was one of the best experiences as we sought out a path and walked awhile to get a great view of the mountains.
After that, our taxi driver drove us to a beachy area and we had some fresh fish and walked along the ocean. We also helped a bunch of people look for crabs that were hiding beneath rocks.
In the afternoon we went to the TsingTao factory and did our own leisurely tour of the place. Germans had originally started the factory in early 1900s and there was a huge German community living here then. The factory was on "QingDao Beer street" and you could see vendors with numerous kegs sitting around selling beer by the plastic bag. They would give you a bag, and you could fill it up as you liked, and then they'd weigh it and give you a straw! My bag 'o beer cost me 20 cents. And it was cold and fresh- very awesome. Afterwards we took a stroll around the city, got dinner, and then I headed back on a flight later that evening.

Hainan Hawaii

I'm going to catch up on some posts while I'm here in the US and can actually log on (wow!)...

Eli came to visit over Memorial Day and we spent a few days in Shanghai and then flew to Hainan. It's a tropical island near Hong Kong that is attracting tourists from the mainland, but when we went, most of the vacationers seemed to be from Hong Kong. We got a great package at the Mandarin from booking it on the Chinese Ebay called "TaoBao." The resort had its own beach so we stayed there for the whole time. Surprisingly it had just opened in February so it was stll pretty new. During the Danwu jie (Dragonboat holiday) we took a cooking class where we learned how to wrap zhongzi and there was also a gym, four pools, pingpong, movies...
Since we had to leave out of Haikou, not Sanya, we had to take a 3.5 hour bus ride up to the north part of the island. Because of this, we also booked a place to stay that night. It was called the Crown Spa Plaza Hotel (I had originally thought it said Crowne Plaza) and was known for it's "fish spa treatments." What's this you ask? imagine a warm pool with fish about 1-2 inches long nibbling at your skin! It's like animated exfoliation! After sitting in the pool for a few minutes, fish would come, but I could only stand at most five at a time and then had to shake them off. The picture here is a woman who seems to have hundreds of fish on her while sitting still. It was fun, but next time I think I will stick to loofa!

Construction Junction, what's your function?

Shanghai is getting ready for the 2010 Expo (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/world/asia/31expo.html) and even though I, and a lot of my local friends, don't really see the point of this "World's Fair" it is an excuse for Shanghai to modernize itself. With it comes lots of Expo marketing and construction everywhere. There are supposed to be 5 new lines or extensions of the subway as well as a ton of new buildings situated in an area that was cleared just for this.
Right near my apartment there is a ton of construction, and I think it is the junction of a new subway line. The road in front of my apartment has has so many different construction vehicles I feel like it's been a "Catapillar runway." It's been a hassle as there's a lot of noise, the walkway is a deathtrap, and I can't get a taxi since the road is blocked off. However, the other day, all of a sudden, what was that? no noise? The road was finally fixed! After 6 months, wow. Here is a series of photos of the road. Also, a photo of me and the Shanghai "Haibao" who was on the Subway and accosted me for a photo and a model of the new Expo site.

Insect Market

So I wandered around the Shanghai insect market last weekend. Wow. It is loud with the sounds of crickets chirping, filled with smoke from shop owners' cigarettes, and made up of tight passageways with customers holding large plants and their purchases. There are a variety of insects, birds, turtles, dogs, fish... but I'd say half of the market is just for crickets. Some are sold just for show, and others are for fighting. It's illegal to gamble on cricket fights, but I saw lots of men "testing" out the crickets. One man told me that he's looking for long legs, long antenna, and aggression. Aggression? He takes a stick and gently agitates the cricket in the ceramic box, and then it will charge at the stick. Alas, they wouldn't tell me where a local "match" would be held.