Yet another adventure in China.

[northernsoul]

So I've finished my teaching in the mainland and I've been spending the last fortnight in Hong Kong. Here are a few of the highlights:

Hong Kong Island at night from across Victoria Harbour.



And by day.


The view from Victoria peak:


A bit of history, the place where the British first planted the Union Jack in 1841.


The two lions, Stephen and Stitt, outside the HSBC headquarters on Hong Kong Island. Both are riddled with bullet holes and shrapnel from WWII, as seen in the third picture.




The giant bronze Buddha on Ngong Ping Plateau on Lantau Island.



The best way to sell ice cream . . . ever!


Oh, and this is my shower partner every morning:


For more pics check out my blog: http://sino-dreaming.blogspot.com/

 

[LoneSage]

Beautiful pics. Wish I could get some decent shots during nighttime. How have the Chinese been treating you?
Whenever I go out and stand and watch something, someone always comes up to, starts talking to me and then wants me to try...
I just got back from dancing in front of a huge crowd, a week ago I got to play the drums at someone's funeral, a few days ago I cracked a whip...all because I was standing there just watching at first, and then someone noticed me.
It's amazing how nice these people are.

 

[Marek]

It's amazing how nice these people are.

Quite a disparity between the common person and their government.

 

[LoneSage]

Even the authority (police) are chill. I never see cars pulled over or cops getting on people, really. I've even seen guys around our age get out of their car, take a piss in the street and jump back in. Clearly they have no fear of being arrested.
And I think back home, where we talk about our freedom and the right to assemble and protest, and yet there are all these police crackdowns on Occupy, people being arrested for ... for what? I don't even know.
I've googled 'Tank Man' and I haven't had anyone knock on my door and take me to a cell, never to be seen again.

People talk about China and human rights abuses as if America is any better (not directed at you Pop, just in general). Do I know everything the Chinese govt does? No. Do I know everything the USA govt does? No.
just sayin'.
The people here truly are amazing, though. I mean it.

 

[northernsoul]

I just had to write a short essay on this very issue for my professor, to quote myself (something I've never done):

"My non-teaching perspective has been greatly altered by my time in China. I once again have found that national identity is a construct of media and government machinations. It becomes quickly obvious that China is not what Western and Chinese media would have us believe. Communism plays little part in most people's lives. Chinese people do not want to be the new enemy of the West, in fact the opposite is the truth. Like a dry sponge, most of my students, and people I meet are desperate to absorb any small detail of Western culture. It maybe a country under a singular strict government, but rules and regulations are far more flexible than in the West. In fact, my everyday life feels far more regulated in the West. Yes, it goes without saying that there is censorship, government restrictions, and harsh punishments for those that speak out, but on a day-to-day basis, Chinese life is extremely unregulated and bound by few rules."

I've lost count of how many times I've been bowled over by the kindness, and acceptance of strangers shown by the Chinese. I ended constantly apologizing for the fact it would not be reciprocated if they ever went to the West. I remember watching a man pay an Er-du in the park. He proceeded to gesture me over and began to teach me how to play on the spot. This sort of behavior is not unique.

 

[Marek]

People talk about China and human rights abuses as if America is any better (not directed at you Pop, just in general). Do I know everything the Chinese govt does? No. Do I know everything the USA govt does? No.
just sayin'.
The people here truly are amazing, though. I mean it.

I dig it. Just saying, they have a mobile execution chamber, the whole Tibet issue, house arrests, disappearances.

I'm sure the people are kind and brilliant. Between your posts and northernsoul's it is plain to see.

Ooo speaking of which, will you please go check out a local table tennis league match and report back? That would be high up my list of things to do in China.

 

[skotgun]

never had any desire to go to china.
after reading this thread, i totally want to.

 

[aria]

never had any desire to go to china.
after reading this thread, i totally want to.

Don't go in August, that's all I have to add. I would love to go back in cooler weather; I saw HK in cooler weather and it was pleasant.

It's amazing how fast the country is modernizing. I went 7 years ago and what I've seen, especially in the lead up to the '08 Olympics, has been a step in the right direction from where it is now.

I had a classmate in grade school go with her parents in the late-1980s, her parents brought a slideshow to our class: At that time everyone was still on bicycles, you had to have an official minder with you, and things looked almost like what you associate with rural China nowadays. It made sense as they were still recovering from the devastation of the Cultural Revolution. My father-in-law was a visiting professor there in the mid-80s and he remembers and has photos of a totally different place. That's still in the memories of most Chinese who are 30s and older. It's amazing to think what those in their 80s and 90s, who remember the Republic of China, WWII and the rise of the PRC have witnessed.

There are some exceptional Chinese movies on that sweeping change --my favorites are "To Live" and "Farewell my Concubine", both are top notch.

 

[totoro]

I so much want to visit China...
I envy you

 

[HeartlessNinny]

Wow, great photos and great stories. Sounds like Neo Geo Society of Gentlemen Travelers material to me.

 

[LoneSage]

Ooo speaking of which, will you please go check out a local table tennis league match and report back? That would be high up my list of things to do in China.

People play ping pong all the time; in my apartment complex there's a building/recreation center where you can play badminton and ping pong. Everyone in China knows how to play ping pong, and they are all very good at it. This is not racist but merely a fact. Another popular sport-hobby is hackey sack. The kids play hackey sack as do the adults, and they're amazing. I've played ping pong a few times, mainly in my first month or two here, but there's such a disparity in skill it's embarrassing so I stopped. I can't hit the ball fast, and that's what it's all about.

The common person's athletic prowess in China is pretty fucking good. Something that is 'cool' to me is just a normal thing to them. Exercise is a huge part of their lives, although not in the same sense in America, where you have a gym or go running - in China, they incorporate it as part of their daily routine. The old people (60+) surprise me the most, they're all incredibly limber, always stretching, always active (be it dancing, playing volleyball, whatever). The way they stretch at their age is mindboggling.

 

[Marek]

Dude if you could go to the regional championship or something it would be insane.

I hold my paddle Chinese style, "pen grip." In a year, practicing all the time, I'll be a legitimate ping pong player.

 

[LoneSage]

Some asshat raped a girl in Beijing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrNGk_YLdwQ

So, for (supposedly) 100 days, there's going to be a crackdown on foreigners in Beijing. Cops can ask to see your passport, shit like that.
Not sure if it'll last 100 days but it must suck to be a white guy in Beijing right now.

 

[aria]

Some asshat raped a girl in Beijing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrNGk_YLdwQ

So, for (supposedly) 100 days, there's going to be a crackdown on foreigners in Beijing. Cops can ask to see your passport, shit like that.
Not sure if it'll last 100 days but it must suck to be a white guy in Beijing right now.

That video is nuts.

I wish Brits wouldn't keep living up to their stereotype of being the louts of Western tourists.

 

[Marek]

'Louts' doesnt really do the situation justice.

The British are the original Earth Rapists. Yeah yeah Spain and Portugal gave them a run for their money, but the British are the OG World Rapists.

Brits have been invading other countries and raping them for hundred of years.

That colonial mindset is still in their blood, obviously.

 

[northernsoul]

Thankfully, I managed to contain my inner British rapist whilst in China and Hong Kong. Although, I did have to save my American travel partner many times from cab drivers, whom he felt the need to insult and curse at. He had a penchant for abusing cab drivers if they failed to understand his instructions, even after he was kind enough to repeat himself, only louder.

If the Brits are the stereotype louts of Western tourists, then from my experience, Americans fit the bill of spoilt brats. A side effect of the concept of American Exceptionalism maybe?

 

[Marek]

Americans fit the bill of spoilt brats. A side effect of the concept of American Exceptionalism maybe?

Oh absolutely. Even in our own country they fit that bill.

But where did American Exceptionalism even come from? A mere spin off of the colonial mindset.

"Oh we shucked the yoke of colonialism, maybe we should steal all the land from these Godless Indian heathen then make a regular colony out of the Philippines."

I'm half British, half Polish. So I feel a hint of the inner British rapist, and also the Polish rape victim. Its a strange balance.

 

[SNKorSWM]

So, for (supposedly) 100 days, there's going to be a crackdown on foreigners in Beijing. Cops can ask to see your passport, shit like that.
Not sure if it'll last 100 days but it must suck to be a white guy in Beijing right now.

Sounds like Arizona.