tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34436795796718702292024-03-06T01:54:31.765+00:00Shanghaier EducationFinal year PhD student goes to Shanghai for a three month research exchange, and a bit of travelling, to learn about the land of EastAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-52931759802642472015-07-06T10:06:00.000+01:002016-09-05T17:09:33.790+01:00Nanjing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My previous blog-post was a very self-indulgent nostalgia-laden reflective piece of writing, and as some months have passed, I realised that I did very little explanation of what I actually did while I was there! So, in the hopes of providing a more descriptive and educational account of my visit which may be of use to tourists or other expats currently living there, I thought I might write a further post on my last visit (that, and I just can't stop talking about Shanghai).</span></div>
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<strong style="font-family: arial;">1. Trip to Nanjing</strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Due to a slightly restrictive set of circumstances with funding, visa and university timetabling issues, I was pretty much forced to have my visit during a brief week in June. If you can, avoid visiting Shanghai or most of the South Eastern regions of China during this month, because it is known as the rainy month (and can last until early July too), and quite rightly so. During these few weeks, rainfall often equals 25% of the city's annual total! And it's not just drizzle, like you'd expect on most days in the UK, it is a very heavy, drenching kind of rain. Nevertheless, my love for this city wasn't going to let that put me off. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">However, after much debating about whether or not to spend one of my precious days visiting Nanjing, a major city and former capital of China to the North of Shanghai, the weather forecast finally sealed it. As rain in Shanghai promised to put a stop to many of my plans there, when we saw the sky was clear for Nanjing and the fact that it also meant a chance to visit an old expat friend who had moved there meant that the balance went in its favour.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I didn't know much about Nanjing prior to my visit, save for a Christian Bale-starring semi-historical dramatization of certain events prior to WWII, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1410063/">Flowers of War</a> (more on this later). I knew it was a historical city, and with roughly 8 million inhabitants today, it was still a significant metropolis with well-respected universities and a metro (which for some reason used weird plastic coins as tickets, much like childhood dodgems).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First stop, Nanjing Museum, which my Chinese friend assured me was a must-see while in Nanjing - one of the largest museums in China. It houses a vast quantity of paintings, sculptures and ceramics.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjIfwyMPj6BAK89TvHVysOjf6X6MeWqiuaRTey79AOFBpsJFPTS63ggzdRLlSWWvFHsh5RmWzUXelM6xSfhzQls_ZwZgvtRpO_A0ww8TtnTbsx9erp_tvIReBTBI2iFAjgeZ9AZgzFvCk6/s1600/IMG_8272-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img alt="Nanjing Museum Entrance" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjIfwyMPj6BAK89TvHVysOjf6X6MeWqiuaRTey79AOFBpsJFPTS63ggzdRLlSWWvFHsh5RmWzUXelM6xSfhzQls_ZwZgvtRpO_A0ww8TtnTbsx9erp_tvIReBTBI2iFAjgeZ9AZgzFvCk6/s1600/IMG_8272-1.JPG" title="Nanjing Museum Entrance" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Outside the Nanjing Museum</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next stop, lunch with an old SJTU dorm pal Daniel, whose Chinese was renowned as the best in our dormitory, and had only continued to improve in the two years since I left. He now had the distinguished position of being the only non-Chinese student enrolled on his master course at a Nanjing University, which caused much ensuing hilarity as his teachers would turn up to the class confused as to whether they or he were in the wrong class. After much meandering through several multi-storey shopping centres, we finally found a delicious restaurant in which to have lunch, and had yet another satisfyingly tasty meal (Cantonese of course). Our meal included these upside down dumplings covered with hair-like pastry, don't know why, but they were delicious nonetheless!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPVxcvxRudGlB1pds-0Eof3vpdU8-0mNXk5ajJ8u_VdRFstqd7XDwR5j9lKpxZotbXjrjUTgKOCV9QggLAA1kboSjcghzTR6FcQHEm6H7mrAo9RXIbokb1BU9GKMFJ_kKGy-rMpH7lxbBy/s1600/Photo+20-01-2016%252C+16+11+36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPVxcvxRudGlB1pds-0Eof3vpdU8-0mNXk5ajJ8u_VdRFstqd7XDwR5j9lKpxZotbXjrjUTgKOCV9QggLAA1kboSjcghzTR6FcQHEm6H7mrAo9RXIbokb1BU9GKMFJ_kKGy-rMpH7lxbBy/s400/Photo+20-01-2016%252C+16+11+36.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After that, we were on our way to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, commemorating the tragic events during the Japanese occupation just before WWII, during which many atrocities were committed. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzXOA6ZDIkXcKhk5PC__eTeSnzV24kO1P4ROn9RXUwXy74gFF0iNEIqLkT_hJcNY5lKvYbGlLowWpkqBb_44lr15Bpf__gfdxNaCD4mozEuYtWvMJuOBzM3RXIx7O5RiFWQp2scyVHc8jH/s1600/IMG_8316-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img alt="Statue at Entrance to Nanjing Massacra Memorial Hall" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzXOA6ZDIkXcKhk5PC__eTeSnzV24kO1P4ROn9RXUwXy74gFF0iNEIqLkT_hJcNY5lKvYbGlLowWpkqBb_44lr15Bpf__gfdxNaCD4mozEuYtWvMJuOBzM3RXIx7O5RiFWQp2scyVHc8jH/s1600/IMG_8316-4.jpg" title="Statue at Entrance to Nanjing Massacra Memorial Hall" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Entrance to Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The terrible fate that befell many of Nanjing's inhabitants during the occupation is dramatised in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1410063/">Flowers of War</a>, which paints a very graphic, if somewhat idealised portrayal of some of the events during that time, but its gravity, impact and passion helped it to become a huge blockbuster in China and was released in several Western countries. The events that took place during the occupation left a huge scar on both the city and Chinese national identity, which is only fuelled by the Japanese denial (paralleling Holocause denial). Visiting the museum, I couldn't help but draw comparisons with the House of Terror in Budapest, which documents the occupation of Hungary and quashing of the Hungarian uprising by the Soviet Communists. The same dark atmosphere, faded photographs and belongings of victims as well as tragic stories illuminated a time of extreme suffering that we as a subsequent generation should feel grateful not to have known.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCw1m7BA2vaT_QKjYnDKbEgcMUzPJAmS1ZL8QEngB-3ZEKiZ-YZj9iPIflo8RD2yqakaGmZqXUHFc7UFb-ocfwVFPsbAoVhG3vDStxkM7leDVM9_OJot-UDSCIZ8LhVXJoYjMW270mXO7I/s1600/IMG_8321-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCw1m7BA2vaT_QKjYnDKbEgcMUzPJAmS1ZL8QEngB-3ZEKiZ-YZj9iPIflo8RD2yqakaGmZqXUHFc7UFb-ocfwVFPsbAoVhG3vDStxkM7leDVM9_OJot-UDSCIZ8LhVXJoYjMW270mXO7I/s400/IMG_8321-5.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Display of regimental badges of fallen soldiers at the </span><span style="font-size: small;">Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next stop was a long bus trip to the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge. I was unsure about how a bridge could merit a journey of roughly 1 and a half hour round trip on a bus. However, I put my trust in my Chinese companion, who seemed to speak of this bridge with great nationalistic pride and assured me it was an essential tourist stopping point in Nanjing. The journey on the bus from the city centre was hot, sticky and crowded (of course), but when my travelling friend decided to give up his seat for an older gentleman, he ended up striking up a lovely conversation with us. Of course as the only westerner on the bus, he asked questions about me curiously, and although I still needed help in translation from my friend, I was pleased with how many words I actually understood. Moreover, when he asked where I was from, I carefully rolled off 我是匈牙利人 (</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.5px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wǒ shì xiōngyálì rén), his face was almost aghast with surprise, commenting how impressed he was that I could accurately say words which are quite difficult to pronounce. Sadly my conversational Chinese doesn't go much beyond these stock phrases, nevertheless, he he invited me to guess his age. His face clearly showed many years of experience, and although I correctly guessed roughly 75 - 80, I took away 5 years in my answer out of politeness. I later learned that this actually a mistake in China - with age comes wisdom, so older people generally very proudly boast about an age they have reached.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The old man got off the bus and the rest of the seats thinned out as we got closer to the bridge (it was almost the end stop for the bus' journey). Upon seeing the bridge, it was definitely an impressively sized construction, spanning across China's largest river (and also third largest in the world). But the truly impressive feature of this bridge is that it was the first bridge built by the Chinese without outside help. The construction was instigated and completed under Mao's rule, so there are plenty of markers of his influence on this bridge:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjklRwBahh02D5Mc9hlxBLN9Fh386ZO9l91LOMT-fLNnKPVMvHw6pUrgVb_xYYnbmx09OaPIT-9HBcZ0h9rfINXw8YJ9lvkb2UcJL28R2js9F1bRvrGXfxSYCo9qBBoPjkjCa4MUpO98kYi/s1600/IMG_8328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjklRwBahh02D5Mc9hlxBLN9Fh386ZO9l91LOMT-fLNnKPVMvHw6pUrgVb_xYYnbmx09OaPIT-9HBcZ0h9rfINXw8YJ9lvkb2UcJL28R2js9F1bRvrGXfxSYCo9qBBoPjkjCa4MUpO98kYi/s400/IMG_8328.JPG" width="266" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Elaborate statue of Mao at one end of the bridge - possibly the only part of the bridge that isn't looking quite dilapidated now</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0wxM0zyAVNmCsxrnaAi_MZ3AqNoDOd458TsuDLcpPKuR0eZ_mVdP0gAFAYiDNfvmPeT_ayciN0hVIOWpMvlRB2V0O1VinXyoippKgDTboE9ViEkAasVXKpeIWIiNALGfJUBkcwNWgaPKn/s1600/IMG_8339.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img alt="Communist Comrades - each holding a copy of Mao's Little Red Book at Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0wxM0zyAVNmCsxrnaAi_MZ3AqNoDOd458TsuDLcpPKuR0eZ_mVdP0gAFAYiDNfvmPeT_ayciN0hVIOWpMvlRB2V0O1VinXyoippKgDTboE9ViEkAasVXKpeIWIiNALGfJUBkcwNWgaPKn/s400/IMG_8339.JPG" title="Communist Comrades - each holding a copy of Mao's Little Red Book at Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Communist Comrades - each holding a copy of Mao's Little Red Book</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Quite why there's an entrance fee (roughly 15 RMB) to see a bridge which clearly has none of the money ploughed back into it, I'm not entirely sure. However, it made my Chinese companion very happy, so for that alone, the bus trip was worth it.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0p-qz0TDBrGlqv5ZFPm_twjh4uxtyAybjV3qV4BJO42zqRKNRJb9TI2A1wpp3dtlIGrsgmsZweJPWeRn9bFRYL2i00dKpxnIRJTiJj18CUP83_h9imTvE6DuZGx9Zc4InRtqh0IWG_pQ/s1600/IMG_8329-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0p-qz0TDBrGlqv5ZFPm_twjh4uxtyAybjV3qV4BJO42zqRKNRJb9TI2A1wpp3dtlIGrsgmsZweJPWeRn9bFRYL2i00dKpxnIRJTiJj18CUP83_h9imTvE6DuZGx9Zc4InRtqh0IWG_pQ/s400/IMG_8329-1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">View over the Yangtze</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After returning back into the city, we stopped off at the old (but touristy) part of town by the Qinhuai River, to grab something to eat before our train home. This has to have been my favourite part of the trip. Although there were plenty of tacky tourist shops, I love the hustle and bustle of all the sellers trying to flog their vast array of nick nacks or snacks to tourists and visitors. The riverside is decorated with many lights which I'm sure look very beautiful at night, and there are also boat rides along the river to take in the sights, although we couldn't stay because we had to grab dinner and then head for our train.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBkLQx621TQw4l8m-XRZ2ndNgbA7-thHVlOJrsCQjeZJQ3mMZDsVMD81VhXQPYWzxhoZJH8w8vioo2pz24ke_w2cnGrWQwFodbCOzXieN-byGak4nAKu3fqghcrmqd70C7OzLtnjs6C9Lz/s1600/IMG_8370-2-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Chinese Gate by Qinhuai riverside, Nanjing" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBkLQx621TQw4l8m-XRZ2ndNgbA7-thHVlOJrsCQjeZJQ3mMZDsVMD81VhXQPYWzxhoZJH8w8vioo2pz24ke_w2cnGrWQwFodbCOzXieN-byGak4nAKu3fqghcrmqd70C7OzLtnjs6C9Lz/s400/IMG_8370-2-2.jpg" title="Chinese Gate by Qinhuai riverside, Nanjing" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Gate by Qinhuai riverside, Nanjing</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV7CHSSvZV2X9Ie20BIQ4QNZixQNFiECSoUCU43xzFVmwIOAQDdl6gluoO_abgrvAYXLlbYO8vvlu7gHGvYU4tceyTYFMd0AQaVoqqon38cYDQj7mJWdft12q6b1d9dClV2OSxUpH48kfv/s1600/IMG_8375-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV7CHSSvZV2X9Ie20BIQ4QNZixQNFiECSoUCU43xzFVmwIOAQDdl6gluoO_abgrvAYXLlbYO8vvlu7gHGvYU4tceyTYFMd0AQaVoqqon38cYDQj7mJWdft12q6b1d9dClV2OSxUpH48kfv/s400/IMG_8375-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">View by Qinhuai River, Nanjing</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What I didn't know was that dinner was going to be trialling some new elements to my diet that I hadn't tried before - duck black pudding and duck tripe soup! My companion was very vague about where we were going to dinner, but that he knew a really great place that specialised in a "duck soup" - and he gave no more details until I actually started eating. Admittedly, it wasn't too bad, I actually enjoyed the black pudding part, and ate some of the liver that was also in there too, but I just wasn't a fan of the tripe texture, so when I could see the glee in his eyes as I proffered my pieces, I could see that they would be wasted on me anyway ("This is the best and most expensive part!" apparently).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At only 270 RMB in total for a return ticket on the bullet train from Shanghai, I'd say the trip is definitely worth it.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-58994707479793362262015-07-02T22:52:00.002+01:002016-09-05T17:04:51.478+01:00Shanghai Reunion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When I recently got the opportunity to go back to Shanghai and visit my friends in the SJTU lab, of course I jumped at the chance! I had the chance to not only go back to all my old familiar places that I used to know and love as well as cross off a few things on my list that I didn't get to do last time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also realised several things. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Things I missed (apart from my friends of course!):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1) The smell! It's hard to describe, but the smell of the streets, of the lab, of the metro, everything. It's funny how smells really link back to memories, and I don't know what it is, whether its the aromatic mix of smog, gutter oil and street food that's so quintessential to China, or just the fact that there's nothing quite like it back in the UK, but they really cause memories to flood back, because there's nothing like it back home</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2) Hearing Chinese everywhere again! Since last time, when I knew next to no Chinese, I've now passed HSK2, and even this low level of Chinese was enough to mean that I had a much better idea of what was going on around me on some rudimentary level. People were very impressed with my new vocabulary and even my pronunciation. It also meant that I could order food by myself a couple of times. If there's one thing I can definitely, definitely recommend prior to going to China, it's to learn some Chinese, any level at all will go some way to helping you get by in China and impress some of your Chinese friends.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3) Chinese hospitality! It was great to be spoiled by the renowned Chinese hospitality, and my friends spared no effort in spending time with me and making sure that I had a great time. I also left with approximately twice the volume of presents that I brought with me, making it very difficult for me to close my suitcase for the way home! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was surprised that on this occasion much fewer people asked to take photos with me, which is probably an indication of how much Western culture has infiltrated China now. We did draw some attention from a few strangers in Nanjing, but actually they were very polite, and tried to speak to me in English, or at least attempted to have a conversation via a translating friend. Which goes to show that a lot of progress has been made with regards to China's attitudes to Westerners. And just in case anybody is disappointed by lack of celebrity status, you can still go to tourist hot spots such as the viewing platform of any of the skyscrapers to get your hit of photos-with-strangers and a plethora of new WeChat friends! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgSdAUrPeSztnnI77zZr2PiVKIPwIX5nfMGZfj5I3HOYr-AKUncHe4loxbgIZ4waZ8mTl4FGfmjPhmCrBx2sF1Ckb7kRAaH-uXedP71VT_l2_HXMhtOnAeof9xIbKBKvjFa1ljaSSCaye/s1600/unspecified.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgSdAUrPeSztnnI77zZr2PiVKIPwIX5nfMGZfj5I3HOYr-AKUncHe4loxbgIZ4waZ8mTl4FGfmjPhmCrBx2sF1Ckb7kRAaH-uXedP71VT_l2_HXMhtOnAeof9xIbKBKvjFa1ljaSSCaye/s640/unspecified.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">On the transparent glass viewing platform of the Oriental Pearl Tower</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Incidentally, I met a lovely girl with excellent English at the Oriental Pearl, who helped me out of the labyrinthine building designed to make you stay in it as long as possible so that you spend as much money as possible, but she didn't write down my WeChat name properly I think, so I don't have any way to contact her! If you're reading this now, please add me! ~ UPDATE - she had added me correctly, I'd just gotten her confused amongst the numerous people who'd added me that day).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Things I didn't miss:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1) The cough/spitting. It happened as soon as I got my connection from Dubai. Yes, really. A middle-aged Chinese man started that horrible retching-like sound of clearing his throat and then spat in a sick bag during the flight. Quite a wake-up call to remind me of the negative aspects of China that my memory had conveniently erased.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2) The traffic/queueing. I actually don't mind the hustle and bustle of a busy city with lots of people, but it does get annoying when sometimes you're going at snail's pace on the hectic Chinese roads, taking 2 - 3 times as long for a journey, which of course is just a recipe to get everyone mad at each other.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3) Not realising the true significance of the fact that since I left, Google has been blocked. I thought this meant that it meant that you could no longer do Google searches. But oh no, it didn't end there. Not only the search page blocked, but also ALL other apps and pages owned by Google in any shape or form. This includes Google Translate and Google Maps, which I pretty much lived out of the last time I was in China. This new development meant that the Samsung phone I brought to use in China was now effectively useless, except for text, calls and WeChat. Hooray for VPNs when they worked!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And lastly, I felt like that even through the medium of blogs and the thousands of photos I made, it still wasn't enough to really give an accurate representation of the general "vibe" of China. I still feel like there are a lot of misconceptions about China, about the food, about the people, so I made this video of my visit, to help show people the awesome side of China and spread the Sinophile love :)</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-70174728469203837762015-06-17T22:06:00.000+01:002016-09-05T17:11:12.856+01:00Zhujiajiao (朱家角) - Chinese Venice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNR7T-ORjCwRZXcFLfTzafb4utHY7Mh4ANS7aTzIQjpHcuGHd6Up9SbGv3TheuDeAYGGG_ES3S_tNmMHKebkzerOPO4EfMFKUptgWZR2o849SyQ1ORBczGMv6EMKMpnMk17ur2Hc4YUazu/s1600/IMG_8171-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNR7T-ORjCwRZXcFLfTzafb4utHY7Mh4ANS7aTzIQjpHcuGHd6Up9SbGv3TheuDeAYGGG_ES3S_tNmMHKebkzerOPO4EfMFKUptgWZR2o849SyQ1ORBczGMv6EMKMpnMk17ur2Hc4YUazu/s400/IMG_8171-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Zhujiajiao (朱家角 - "Zhu Family Settlement") is one of the</span> best-preserved Chinese "water towns", which became prominent cities in history through trading on rivers and canals. I'd never heard of these water towns before my friends suddenly decided to make a day trip there, but it was definitely worth it! Comparisons with Venice are obvious when you see pictures or visit - the dreamy gondola rides, the houses built precipitously close to the water's edge, and the breath-taking stone bridges - all with China's unique oriental twist. Zhujiajiao is also steeped rich in history, having originally been founded 1700 years ago, and then rose to prominence for its trade and markets. It is clearly a town that since slipped into a sleepy state, as it became overtaken by the bigger cities in China's industrial revolution, but is now coming into a new era, turning its attention to tourists and bohemians alike. Although during peak times it can get a little busy because of this, it still makes a pleasant relief for a day away from the hustle and bustle of the streets of Shanghai. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Initially, to get in to the old part of town, there is supposed to be an entrance fee, but we were stopped by a fellow on our way in, who promised us an alternative route into the city to avoid this fee, and a place where we could park our car, for another, but slightly lower fee, of course. I struggled to believe how my friends could buy this guy's story, but they assured me that this is quite normal in China, so we paid him some nominal sum and we did actually end up at a convenient parking spot. I've since found out that there is supposed to be a 10 yuan fee to get into the old part of town, but with so many entrances, it is difficult to patrol, and so it is almost never enforced.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The little alleyways and side streets offer up an immense number of street stalls and shacks selling everything from sweets, snacks and little trinkets to take home for tourists. I bought several things, including crispy fried beans, some sweets that I had no idea what they were but were delicious, some stinky tofu (Chòu dòufu 臭豆腐) and also some folded leaf figurines as gifts for family. There were also a vast array of other items available to buy, and since it was nearing the Dragonboat festival time, there were plenty of making and selling zongzi (<span lang="zh" xml:lang="zh">粽子) which are packets of glutinous rice filled with different things and all wrapped up in a pyramid shape by a big bamboo leaf.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="zh" xml:lang="zh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With my visit being so short, we were limited for time, which meant that we ended up going on a cloudy afternoon. This actually worked out quite well since it was less busy, and we saw some beautiful sights that I imagine must be breath-taking on a beautiful sunny day:</span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLH4WYfHrcQM6OeWpIBBP1vkN-MPIWU8PRZnGRR2MWRXHm_TbgnvdGiyryxy227QuXG1gljx0zWKc6xNYB6c2zVREStwHhchpHtXpuD8osPJ8wGGdJIIeC37vHE9-mkhPCChE5VI0vkv6/s1600/IMG_8179-3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLH4WYfHrcQM6OeWpIBBP1vkN-MPIWU8PRZnGRR2MWRXHm_TbgnvdGiyryxy227QuXG1gljx0zWKc6xNYB6c2zVREStwHhchpHtXpuD8osPJ8wGGdJIIeC37vHE9-mkhPCChE5VI0vkv6/s400/IMG_8179-3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">The town has no fewer than 36 stone bridges intact, yet somehow, I only managed to take a picture of this one during the trip!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO25RJC28P_YyIAK54EBUqTD_9GlZ7Znq9QJkkkgli3aUEFp0-FHF5mBRRLgTSS2T3J-6uv3D1slLRFbQtaxDJFFVhtWMuyAoJGQvxzTUxJsiSCCzPgX83O4B9d2E6wc306ymsBsFtQRUV/s1600/Windows+Media+Player+13062016+082425.bmp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO25RJC28P_YyIAK54EBUqTD_9GlZ7Znq9QJkkkgli3aUEFp0-FHF5mBRRLgTSS2T3J-6uv3D1slLRFbQtaxDJFFVhtWMuyAoJGQvxzTUxJsiSCCzPgX83O4B9d2E6wc306ymsBsFtQRUV/s400/Windows+Media+Player+13062016+082425.bmp.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="zh" xml:lang="zh"><span style="font-family: "arial";">The most iconic bridge is the 70-meter long Fangsheng bridge (which I'm really disapp</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">ointed about, because I only took pictures from its summit, not OF it), that carries the grandeur of the Rialto bridge, as a clear focal point of the town. It provides a wonderful view of the city down the river, and is also a point where I saw locals buying strange tortoises and other sea creatures.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> I assumed they were being bought to eat, since the Chinese know seemingly no bounds for what could make it onto their platter. But my friends explained that the creatures were being sold to be re-released into the river, as part of an ancient Buddhist "life release" ceremony - or "Fangsheng" (放生) - the very name of the bridge. The ceremony of saving an animal in this way is a means of bringing good karma for oneself or one’s relatives, living or dead (although I don't quite get how this works out if you have to catch the animal in the first place). </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtX5-v389L83GyblMAdkwTabnkT4YL8pESv3Rh3BUHqvZRdOzW-SVrF_CbJsINru-cR76Jbt4xGPzc3fB7Nhq5Aozh3wLCoK0Xufj9fbQwrVPMa38_oE-somkmlGAGo2KdXAel_tXQsw8M/s1600/IMG_8181-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtX5-v389L83GyblMAdkwTabnkT4YL8pESv3Rh3BUHqvZRdOzW-SVrF_CbJsINru-cR76Jbt4xGPzc3fB7Nhq5Aozh3wLCoK0Xufj9fbQwrVPMa38_oE-somkmlGAGo2KdXAel_tXQsw8M/s400/IMG_8181-8.jpg" width="377" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Red-eared slider turtles, waiting to be bought so that they can be released into the river, as part of Fangsheng or "life-release" ceremony are non-native, invasive and can damage the local ecology</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Traditionally, the practice involves buying an animal that was previously destined to be killed, such as a fish from a market, or a cow from a slaughterhouse, and then setting it free. But since this practice seems to be having a bit of a resurgence at the moment, this is a growing business, so the obtaining of animals is now somewhat dubious, and the release of non-native species having some potentially negative consequences for the environment, out-competing native species. This means that fangsheng has become a contentious topic, and a very good discussion on this can be found</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><a href="http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/dangerousdharma" style="font-family: arial;">here</a><span style="font-family: "arial";">.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig6qwgKAFTmPt_MgXu6A3k7d2kuNkwbcX5vmuHA8Y0eCrVmKDo4zgm53qLUSs_JI5q7aHVlZQexwcPDCsOFSNDQBsXQVFsZSicxIHWTg5pWi4T9qqdYMe1G8HuofjZKZyJ-Yg5ozNJ4Gp2/s1600/IMG_8182-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig6qwgKAFTmPt_MgXu6A3k7d2kuNkwbcX5vmuHA8Y0eCrVmKDo4zgm53qLUSs_JI5q7aHVlZQexwcPDCsOFSNDQBsXQVFsZSicxIHWTg5pWi4T9qqdYMe1G8HuofjZKZyJ-Yg5ozNJ4Gp2/s400/IMG_8182-10.jpg" width="266" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Similarly, alligator snapping turtles are also not native in China, hailing from North America, and has similarly devastating effects on local ecology</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Th</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">e sounds of the alleyways mingle with calls from the street-s</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ellers, freshly frying </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">food </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">but also music. We came across a lady practicing her Guqin (<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">古琴)</span></span></span>, an ancient Chinese instrument known in English as a type of "zither" , which is k</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">ind of like if you took out the strings of the piano and plucked them yourself. It makes a beautiful harp-like sound, and is an integ</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ral part of traditional Chinese music. I initially mistakenly thought that this was a guzheng </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(</span><span lang="zh-Hant" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;" xml:lang="zh-Hant"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">古箏), a more commonly seen instrument in modern day China, which is</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> brilliantly showcased in this popular </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEvQXSkfoUs" style="font-family: arial;">cover of "See You Again"</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> by Whiz Khalifa and Cha</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">rlie Puth. </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg96_ibrLMoW0w4TgkXZE96oNDKD7R3tSrM8k9byV1jWrjGdEFUz9QwVvAiZ_Nicw1cuu2kv8jFAY_wPdhHf_vomKz1KTfvFJatt6jeeJKyn4SxwndY0Kh2BU9zwcX6AG4xU_wl0eDgQ3Go/s1600/Windows+Media+Player+11062016+223433.bmp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg96_ibrLMoW0w4TgkXZE96oNDKD7R3tSrM8k9byV1jWrjGdEFUz9QwVvAiZ_Nicw1cuu2kv8jFAY_wPdhHf_vomKz1KTfvFJatt6jeeJKyn4SxwndY0Kh2BU9zwcX6AG4xU_wl0eDgQ3Go/s400/Windows+Media+Player+11062016+223433.bmp.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="zh" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;" xml:lang="zh">The guqin however is a predecessor to the guzheng, and in ancient times was considered integral to Chinese cultural skills, alongside calligraphy and painting. However, nowadays, there are very few people still able to play it.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="zh" xml:lang="zh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Not only was this lady very gifted in playing the guqin, as we approached closer, I realised that she was not an instrument seller but a painter. She had many beautiful paintings to which we were drawn, and my friends decided there and then that they would buy me a painting as a 30th birthday gift, with which I can always remember them (de</span><span style="font-family: "arial";">spite having completely spoiled me already, as Chinese hosts are wont to do). </span></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">My friend's husband Hang (航) perusing through the choice of paintings</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="zh" xml:lang="zh">It was hard enough to choose from between the beautiful designs, but I didn't realise until the lady got out a clean scroll that they had asked her to paint a new picture especially for me! I was somewhat taken aback by this (and even more surprised at the low price for such a service - roughly 120 yuan), so I filmed the whole process from start to finish, which ended up being the most talked about part of my <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7_IUJpmDSc">video</a> that I made from this trip. It all became very soppy towards the end, as they asked the painter to write "A gift from Hang and Lu to Eva" with the date added. Now I have the painting hanging up on the wall of my bedroom and I see it every day. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKig4bZpaJl9JGwm_tp0i4awW9RY-8Oma4egNa7A9dbKiG6h5mUIr0nGLrVp9WGnjDSh8onPkdUSy18KTnYqY67gHpm4Zj6xBGuVC8CajqsITGIl-qzr1ycfqY7Pe8rxdrzeBOUwnp6IpD/s1600/Windows+Media+Player+11062016+223959.bmp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKig4bZpaJl9JGwm_tp0i4awW9RY-8Oma4egNa7A9dbKiG6h5mUIr0nGLrVp9WGnjDSh8onPkdUSy18KTnYqY67gHpm4Zj6xBGuVC8CajqsITGIl-qzr1ycfqY7Pe8rxdrzeBOUwnp6IpD/s640/Windows+Media+Player+11062016+223959.bmp.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="zh" xml:lang="zh">This painting was certainly a special memento from my trip, and definitely a memorable one of this beautiful village. If you do get a chance to go, I definitely recommend a visit to Zhujiajiao, and catch its charm before it is completely overwhelmed by tourism. </span></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-36627768457646270952013-12-31T15:47:00.003+00:002015-04-27T17:03:01.866+01:00Re-entry culture shock<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been home for over a week now, having had a bit of time to adjust back into UK life. Three months isn't a long time, but I got very settled in Shanghai and made some friends who I'll miss very much.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I left very early on a Sunday morning (again!), and in accordance with Chinese hospitality rules, my Professor offered to drive me to the airport, which meant that this was the second time he had to wake up ridiculously early for me! Furthermore, a few people in the lab had grown accustomed to my presence, so three additional lab members woke up at 5:30 am, just to join our ride to the airport and say goodbye. I was really touched and it was a very emotional goodbye. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4WeBrQlZwqnexgwUpsp59KhnU1XBBDwQ_8hCGeqFtvZGoewxAHYlGcwlt9COVkPlWAQ_M-CwOPfJOE_CZxiwo1uB_Z2FRgmBBOK5Ee6tpknQHiQhkka33TQl_l2aQ9IIFY7b2AhlHvt0A/s1600/DSC_1934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4WeBrQlZwqnexgwUpsp59KhnU1XBBDwQ_8hCGeqFtvZGoewxAHYlGcwlt9COVkPlWAQ_M-CwOPfJOE_CZxiwo1uB_Z2FRgmBBOK5Ee6tpknQHiQhkka33TQl_l2aQ9IIFY7b2AhlHvt0A/s1600/DSC_1934.JPG" height="400" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>With Lu, who was a great friend to me during my time in China that I'll miss very much. She was one of the people who kindly woke up at 5:30 am to come and accompany me to the airport</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While settling in to the first, 12 hour leg of my journey home, I discovered that the chap sitting next to me was a Spanish business man from Barcelona, who was importing Spanish wines like Rioja into the big cities in China (Western wines have become very fashionable in China, and they are big business at the moment). However, his English wasn't that good, and my Spanish is pretty terrible (Italian words just kept flooding my brain), which meant that we had a great half an hour communicating via the Google Translate app for the 30 minutes while we waited for a space on the runway (just when I thought I would finally stop living from that translate app!) It dawned on me during that conversation that my Chinese was now better than my Spanish, and I would have been better able to communicate with him through that language if he had known some Chinese. I didn't really expect to ever get to this stage, but it was a pleasant surprise at the end of my journey that I'd managed to absorb some of a language that was completely different to the other European languages which I know. I guess I owe more to Michael, my language exchange partner than I previously gave him credit for!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite only being able to communicate via pointing and simple words for the rest of the flight, I didn't really sleep much, on account of being a bit emotional about leaving behind this part of my life. But upon landing, I was glad to see my mother and husband, who came to greet me at Heathrow airport. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being back in the UK, obviously I was greeted with drizzly weather, but it was that familiar British rain. However, the joy of being able to go indoors where it's warm was just bliss. Not having to run down and back a freezing corridor just to go to the bathroom was great. I got so used to layering up that during the first few days I just automatically kept my coat on instead of giving the heating a boost, which lead some people on Skype to ask me "Where are you going? Or have you just got back?". Having a thick goose down duvet was also a welcome relief, since I wasn't staying in Shanghai for long enough to merit investing in one, I'd been using a summer duvet and a blanket only. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, now I'm no longer stared at in the street, since I'm now not a w<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.5px;">àiguó rén (</span><span style="line-height: 19.48px;">外国人</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.5px;">), and it was a little weird doing some Christmas shopping and being completely ignored, but to some extents, it was a relief - at least people don't watch me for several minutes to see what I do like a zoo animal! The biggest relief is being able to understand everything I see and hear around me, although my ear still picks up whenever I hear Mandarin from the Chinese exchange students around Leicester, and I try and figure out what they might be talking about. I will certainly never look at exchange students the same way again!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Food-wise, there was a brief moment of weirdness getting used to a knife and fork again after three months (why are their no sticks? Using both hands at the same time for utensils?!). I am also surprised as a Hungarian, that I actually got used to the absence of dairy in the diet. At home, I would think nothing of having full fat milk porridge every morning for breakfast, but I got used to the steamed bread rolls (b<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.5px;">āozi, </span><span style="line-height: 19.48px;">包子) </span>so now it just seems far too rich. Also, I looked forward to cheese, but I'm having trouble dousing my food in it as much as I used to! And bizzarely, I'm getting cravings for white rice/sauce combos, which I never thought I would, and I'm actually missing some of the flavours, like the red bean paste (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.5px;">Dòushā </span><span style="line-height: 19.48px;">豆沙</span>), </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">which I may just have to fork out for at the local Chinese supermarket soon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I realise I've been writing a lot online, and I appreciate everyone who has looked at my blog, but I don't expect many to have read a lot of my posts thoroughly, as they are far too long! I have treated this blog more as an open diary, to write down all of my thoughts and experiences. And in addition, I thought that letting everything all out here would help prevent me from talking about China too much when I get back. I watched one of the Halloween episodes of the Big Bang Theory on the plane home, where Howard just got back from space and he finds a way of incorporating his trip into every conversation, regardless of the topic. I think I'm pretty much the same, and I can link anything to China, so please don't hesitate to tell me off if I'm talking too much about my trip, and I'll try not to go too crazy like Howard and just start shouting "China! China! China!" when I don't get to talk about it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But seriously, it's been a great journey, and I've definitely fallen in love with what I've seen of the country. It's a weird collection of contradictions that somehow charms its way into people's hearts. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) It's technically still developing, yet their technology, gadgets and infrastructure are way ahead of ours.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2) It has a reputation for rudeness, and people don't hesitate to push you out of the way in the street or metro if you're a stranger, but if you are a friend or a guest, then people will treat you like the most special person in the world, far above what people would do in the UK.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3) People are very concerned with relationships an</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">d <i>g<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.5px;">uānxì</span></i> (关系) and about saving face, yet they think nothing of getting up in front of their friends to sing a song, approaching strangers for photos or dancing in the park uninhibited.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4) Poverty is still quite a problem, which means that status is everything. This means that people are happy to pay through the nose for esteem goods (hence the popularity of the iPhone). I've never seen so many large, expensive cars driving around broken, potholed roads.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5) The government has a ridiculous level of control over people, and hires so many to keep its large population in check, yet it can't regulate the hygiene standards of any of its restaurants. There is no guarantee that anywhere you go you will not get ill. In general, there is this same theme running through everything, where some rules are adhered to far too rigidly, whereas others are just disregarded so easily.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6) Tied into the last comment, the governments thinks its controlling everyone, but the excessive control has turned everyone into criminals: as far as I could tell, nearly everyone I met was downloading TV shows online, watching Breaking Bad, House of Cards or other American TV shows with Chinese subtitles. Also, nearly everyone can access Facebook if they really want, but since none of their friends are on there, they don't see much point.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7) It's supposed to be a communist country, but it's a country where you have to pay to have extra children (as opposed to getting money from the government, like in the UK) and where healthcare is very expensive, and not provided automatically, and where competition for jobs has never been more rife.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite being full of surprises and strange things to the Western eye, it's a safe and friendly place, with such a wide variety of things to offer, that it's hard not to fall in love with this country and the people's determination and enthusiasm. I hope that my blog has given it justice, and inspired people to go there, or reminded them of good memories from their time in China. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks for reading, and hopefully there'll be another blog in future about another country! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Happy New Year!</i></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-52582156489865314202013-12-26T09:57:00.000+00:002014-03-29T22:04:12.931+00:00An incredible experience - where to next?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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So, I'm back in the UK now, getting used to the time zone and food again. To say goodbye to my time in China, I wanted to show a collection of pictures from my favourite times, or from stories that didn't make it to a blog post.<br />
Thanks for reading about my adventures, we'll see where I'll go next!<br />
Merry Christmas<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV7-kOWryc6NFcPR0FH4OYAU-MOd84eYKzWqysWILM9DnDFR3DFtaHMjo5BR5ejVUFLDyI9qM0UDg_lgdCvWklcso9xDifVRlooCB_RNX2YElcSDsLjYhrm0QzgmSc0vJGkLAc4dBIiUbr/s1600/DSC_1856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV7-kOWryc6NFcPR0FH4OYAU-MOd84eYKzWqysWILM9DnDFR3DFtaHMjo5BR5ejVUFLDyI9qM0UDg_lgdCvWklcso9xDifVRlooCB_RNX2YElcSDsLjYhrm0QzgmSc0vJGkLAc4dBIiUbr/s320/DSC_1856.JPG" height="320" width="212" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Wu kang lu</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRbWCayO5P-Uyp7GVgv3EKBKO7rsVlliAAUL9dP171TMH8OMGfQ4Us6IeF99tCjn5z2sU0_8xmyWBHBoNIWAgC_lYMUzuBRc23vp9NygOIsXAnYejIJjdZYxm6cVHLJV4dNAG2DZ0nctK/s1600/DSC_1875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRbWCayO5P-Uyp7GVgv3EKBKO7rsVlliAAUL9dP171TMH8OMGfQ4Us6IeF99tCjn5z2sU0_8xmyWBHBoNIWAgC_lYMUzuBRc23vp9NygOIsXAnYejIJjdZYxm6cVHLJV4dNAG2DZ0nctK/s400/DSC_1875.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">At Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrE7gYS3Y5oMT3nUmDJG1H0RexgINqihedJqvYgPlGdqzDOHZINfdbqRnIWtS-UlQimDQTnudhM_IhhAbAufAsaotzkUmt4q-7A2vCmHH1HKHHi8-rmPQlelquVPjRpmgvCYQh0soKb9PZ/s1600/DSC_1898.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrE7gYS3Y5oMT3nUmDJG1H0RexgINqihedJqvYgPlGdqzDOHZINfdbqRnIWtS-UlQimDQTnudhM_IhhAbAufAsaotzkUmt4q-7A2vCmHH1HKHHi8-rmPQlelquVPjRpmgvCYQh0soKb9PZ/s400/DSC_1898.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">At Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBO8Sigq90s1nKXBktT26RAxxAlqGzKqlz_kPpqAfz4RLXrsoY3PXDvbDezL3YEXPekMHCSN12VNdMbaKTCkGbDOoz7o_xfU1ETzW-qJf_SvAyjtUPSvaywa1a3K4HXRDrnu0Qb-r1NPw/s1600/SAM_4427.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBO8Sigq90s1nKXBktT26RAxxAlqGzKqlz_kPpqAfz4RLXrsoY3PXDvbDezL3YEXPekMHCSN12VNdMbaKTCkGbDOoz7o_xfU1ETzW-qJf_SvAyjtUPSvaywa1a3K4HXRDrnu0Qb-r1NPw/s400/SAM_4427.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Sundial at Century Avenue</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZniwqAwr_86_wjC_diIlq9lsZfV84_DnzOAsIZ3EPYu1qSG7V8iaSCAuEbyD-QuvbUo9Jv_4J4c8AcsBFin7Af_FrQc-vDhAE8YAX_vEXx0bcPLPMJVbUy4GAhi7iuRByWcW7rO7hKf0A/s1600/SAM_4584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZniwqAwr_86_wjC_diIlq9lsZfV84_DnzOAsIZ3EPYu1qSG7V8iaSCAuEbyD-QuvbUo9Jv_4J4c8AcsBFin7Af_FrQc-vDhAE8YAX_vEXx0bcPLPMJVbUy4GAhi7iuRByWcW7rO7hKf0A/s320/SAM_4584.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Cooked pumpkin stuffed with sweet rice</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDa9oZaBFq8aqdhdYC2rIzNcoAaw8sULtsaoF1SA7KHj4599_LeGXRHbG7lTUPZS44rbI2yx2jB0rX2HO_Fi-TBxfWJlEXHuZVp7_TGqNUJjyWHe5GsKOPd7V-MninACB6WntE9LuzcKwI/s1600/SAM_4647.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDa9oZaBFq8aqdhdYC2rIzNcoAaw8sULtsaoF1SA7KHj4599_LeGXRHbG7lTUPZS44rbI2yx2jB0rX2HO_Fi-TBxfWJlEXHuZVp7_TGqNUJjyWHe5GsKOPd7V-MninACB6WntE9LuzcKwI/s320/SAM_4647.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">A street seller blowing sugar figurines - talk about asbestos hands!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ejb8LnysuGX8YBhe01pOpH58igjdQlrV8XGK8uBUsdz19jHVJBj-Uuwcr4iihkVOsT_f9091Qg3IIJXE29QkVPAS4uGdBGR1vly69IO0aYbGV7PicaSywYmL_eoKWO7_5rhnxWn6IEKV/s1600/SAM_4865.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ejb8LnysuGX8YBhe01pOpH58igjdQlrV8XGK8uBUsdz19jHVJBj-Uuwcr4iihkVOsT_f9091Qg3IIJXE29QkVPAS4uGdBGR1vly69IO0aYbGV7PicaSywYmL_eoKWO7_5rhnxWn6IEKV/s320/SAM_4865.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Korean potato swirl on a stick</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgayf0cqvXOnyuJDY-MjXHN0141yaHFY9FdLXWu57kBBOwpSpgJJYFeIGRtxkJSLvpHlm6UvbmVA1kJ6uIcbeEOR3uG8gQxBFNd9JF0lGQpPxRWcO_hkCfL-sEF17Jyj_OCg6Ji-DFuJqjS/s1600/DSC_1345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgayf0cqvXOnyuJDY-MjXHN0141yaHFY9FdLXWu57kBBOwpSpgJJYFeIGRtxkJSLvpHlm6UvbmVA1kJ6uIcbeEOR3uG8gQxBFNd9JF0lGQpPxRWcO_hkCfL-sEF17Jyj_OCg6Ji-DFuJqjS/s320/DSC_1345.JPG" height="400" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Pouring sugar shapes of Zodiac animals</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3MO2axuFtRizglRaxLTCpk3OgCZjXDs-_DBl9glI65hGCMfU4P5JZEyb_dP_v8QI5gSHiMptp7rP15NYDcV1FMsyLjS6jiZnosoJpJpM-E1A7ycQlTbOpBycDmUv4SmE3PVbaLr-Z8dVG/s1600/SAM_4911.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3MO2axuFtRizglRaxLTCpk3OgCZjXDs-_DBl9glI65hGCMfU4P5JZEyb_dP_v8QI5gSHiMptp7rP15NYDcV1FMsyLjS6jiZnosoJpJpM-E1A7ycQlTbOpBycDmUv4SmE3PVbaLr-Z8dVG/s320/SAM_4911.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Sugar dragon</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8kF5sBqWaS28RHHAF_AGhVKIg1iuDGRDta-UmRtPKaBv_CWkS7JsCJIYPD-sPfS59YpFOQb_Lyze31lqCcwDtI224E70m8TAfkqBBnsnTJmgvuJPsuvYjJMVHI_X20JmSsdDHvwDjbaGk/s1600/SAM_4922.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8kF5sBqWaS28RHHAF_AGhVKIg1iuDGRDta-UmRtPKaBv_CWkS7JsCJIYPD-sPfS59YpFOQb_Lyze31lqCcwDtI224E70m8TAfkqBBnsnTJmgvuJPsuvYjJMVHI_X20JmSsdDHvwDjbaGk/s320/SAM_4922.JPG" height="221" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">A snail I found in my dish at the campus canteen!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWJIwyQNLPJhThv2f8LJSaykJKOj20T9hcg7qEVUzVWlnMuxfU954mK5l6b_8PWR9AMbVpPDLjTX7UB87Vndw5JQwTVnMaJgdnT8cyWRvSNVC9ujBoVQSoheuQRdYcRuAWUd7FeuNznSo-/s1600/SAM_4926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWJIwyQNLPJhThv2f8LJSaykJKOj20T9hcg7qEVUzVWlnMuxfU954mK5l6b_8PWR9AMbVpPDLjTX7UB87Vndw5JQwTVnMaJgdnT8cyWRvSNVC9ujBoVQSoheuQRdYcRuAWUd7FeuNznSo-/s320/SAM_4926.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Carving a pumpkin for Halloween in the lab</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRW-wDtqJf5FwyBP68vJaU3ADzm5H477lIBEQELDLEGrkj4I4x78Q6psvusVAzjfJMuja6ro9wvQQv2Am38B0ffacong8WV0batHNacl_bVrm1kPikuuC5IxQRd4xmbcAF2vpaRUTrbDvE/s1600/SAM_4935b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRW-wDtqJf5FwyBP68vJaU3ADzm5H477lIBEQELDLEGrkj4I4x78Q6psvusVAzjfJMuja6ro9wvQQv2Am38B0ffacong8WV0batHNacl_bVrm1kPikuuC5IxQRd4xmbcAF2vpaRUTrbDvE/s400/SAM_4935b.jpg" height="337" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Bund on our pumpkin - which won us the Halloween competition on <a href="http://instagram.com/p/gRpIJsQ5VI/">Zai Shanghai</a>!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfLq4SZX14iEXqdJlT3ceb83f95UKBPr28VXHh3H-GPXnd1BmvWV8Z0oDhLbDdabMT1_PD_zdawotUSFYvFt97m6uXeJqVSuHzM0W-akO13DOik1IMSXKPCcCVsV1Ei0bvcILPQIGZ6cAh/s1600/SAM_5290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfLq4SZX14iEXqdJlT3ceb83f95UKBPr28VXHh3H-GPXnd1BmvWV8Z0oDhLbDdabMT1_PD_zdawotUSFYvFt97m6uXeJqVSuHzM0W-akO13DOik1IMSXKPCcCVsV1Ei0bvcILPQIGZ6cAh/s320/SAM_5290.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Let's see how much fun we can have with dry ice</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW6m4XurEL-hhZ4inhMX9RlL1Pzb09uHbZR77KoIpDEIq6gbQqN2_B96avDKSlKXuLJRIpZmxWJAefEUJyZc7gZwlyq23f-wpWV-hLzm3U9yR5LPqJhG1BgvpukHyAdPfXgX0CO5R0XYz5/s1600/SAM_5514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW6m4XurEL-hhZ4inhMX9RlL1Pzb09uHbZR77KoIpDEIq6gbQqN2_B96avDKSlKXuLJRIpZmxWJAefEUJyZc7gZwlyq23f-wpWV-hLzm3U9yR5LPqJhG1BgvpukHyAdPfXgX0CO5R0XYz5/s320/SAM_5514.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Lights at Nanjing Road West</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharLQH2cWG6hOpescZmG9wWfa4i6BxeHDXr79xck75tQ-6ittTDpipmAdqPPTsKxexwQNhyphenhyphenttGlKgpJuceOAaKF8Aaw9LvxTkulR2HZS7m-fG8REsq2o_EU-FRYuWKi5XVtzZfOa68-1N9/s1600/SAM_5582.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharLQH2cWG6hOpescZmG9wWfa4i6BxeHDXr79xck75tQ-6ittTDpipmAdqPPTsKxexwQNhyphenhyphenttGlKgpJuceOAaKF8Aaw9LvxTkulR2HZS7m-fG8REsq2o_EU-FRYuWKi5XVtzZfOa68-1N9/s320/SAM_5582.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">What?!</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4g2veP-EV9V1PeIQFWucZAAP2zqGsrRTR8fxVLCTe-WgiXJLPNeh8NuCbFaFh9sjQhNWD5ob_pc_EyO2GosSBPy-OB6zaKs1vdyeBckuGj9o9QKQOTY_-Gx7O7GxYyiwa_TJzLeQiirZY/s1600/SAM_5595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4g2veP-EV9V1PeIQFWucZAAP2zqGsrRTR8fxVLCTe-WgiXJLPNeh8NuCbFaFh9sjQhNWD5ob_pc_EyO2GosSBPy-OB6zaKs1vdyeBckuGj9o9QKQOTY_-Gx7O7GxYyiwa_TJzLeQiirZY/s320/SAM_5595.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkITwRqQYiWKVrgaCmZdP-z5Mzrr3MMeUiIHgsY3wM_77I4Vgnvd4KjbpzvY2eGpueHrCSJ2kGvRnzPunAYPyCLwxhqbQ5kd0IW1DpJFHelMQUWX4PRh7ixfUdKFdp_z4xZY5vCKX0szu0/s1600/893638_626811054044336_1019899395_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkITwRqQYiWKVrgaCmZdP-z5Mzrr3MMeUiIHgsY3wM_77I4Vgnvd4KjbpzvY2eGpueHrCSJ2kGvRnzPunAYPyCLwxhqbQ5kd0IW1DpJFHelMQUWX4PRh7ixfUdKFdp_z4xZY5vCKX0szu0/s400/893638_626811054044336_1019899395_o.jpg" height="400" width="252" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">My Hungarian friend </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Kálmán</span> from my dorms discovered this bust of <span style="line-height: 115%;">Pet</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">ő</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">fi Sándor</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">, a famous Hungarian poet (whom incidentally, we had a reading of at my wedding!) Check out <a href="http://shanghaifeeling.blog.hu/" target="_blank">Kálmán's Hungarian expat blog here</a></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9kT-59j6suteUjpzvzTOFAxt0YEMs0_pmReDXBv-zCf2CPn0nEMUcjMatQSndEApAEHxjzsSFn_jICGpqADhXzSKXsTop3rypsVR1cpU82i1KR6OTbMOFIVfw9dvKTc7hYEVRSdkJAzfV/s1600/SAM_5610.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9kT-59j6suteUjpzvzTOFAxt0YEMs0_pmReDXBv-zCf2CPn0nEMUcjMatQSndEApAEHxjzsSFn_jICGpqADhXzSKXsTop3rypsVR1cpU82i1KR6OTbMOFIVfw9dvKTc7hYEVRSdkJAzfV/s400/SAM_5610.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Lotus pond at Renmin Park</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieL0HvhEPoAns-X2AVyauGAc5fi6-l9Lmq-R-4u81Y-A9Jv9izpjBbYaeiBzL04alCceaDfcyfBZS6_BQ5y7o3-Rfxf5WBXcbaCZGVm53Y-cC4eJKezZVv6VnGu7TjqFcTxvNlGYJuTASS/s1600/SAM_5614.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieL0HvhEPoAns-X2AVyauGAc5fi6-l9Lmq-R-4u81Y-A9Jv9izpjBbYaeiBzL04alCceaDfcyfBZS6_BQ5y7o3-Rfxf5WBXcbaCZGVm53Y-cC4eJKezZVv6VnGu7TjqFcTxvNlGYJuTASS/s320/SAM_5614.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Plate spinning</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJy95G5gCyXjj9NAYoEVZ7eiKfqbEHxXPOWLMmi7nqGRGQ4Ot2W_ViNoougggv9HARlViMDzpBiMqxIudg0BuBqIToCT_j1z-tFeQtYp7AzoJGJe1383_8DK3hsbmflZsgRE0Bii6b5NbJ/s1600/SAM_5618.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJy95G5gCyXjj9NAYoEVZ7eiKfqbEHxXPOWLMmi7nqGRGQ4Ot2W_ViNoougggv9HARlViMDzpBiMqxIudg0BuBqIToCT_j1z-tFeQtYp7AzoJGJe1383_8DK3hsbmflZsgRE0Bii6b5NbJ/s400/SAM_5618.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Sweet potatoes with melted sugar!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiBCVTenFv75URvE1tELBf_IEGBF5vePIj-3nRw6hnLWMVfrDyfZZ6U8t20cxtTX9Txu0IHeHkSZpaioDr_ALteFpeox1L8w1VN_IRaZ-DdmzIQ57OmPsf26gIgJPAQX60fL4qMKaVOx5D/s1600/SAM_5622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiBCVTenFv75URvE1tELBf_IEGBF5vePIj-3nRw6hnLWMVfrDyfZZ6U8t20cxtTX9Txu0IHeHkSZpaioDr_ALteFpeox1L8w1VN_IRaZ-DdmzIQ57OmPsf26gIgJPAQX60fL4qMKaVOx5D/s320/SAM_5622.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Cathedral at Xujiahui</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSuNK-ERh55MngDpshqM8boNZa4lQ3vwJFEWavfSOIcoRXyPbLUkADr71FopJcTYLA7oK2zriD0dgWo-yZDRaeBn-bbSXyre28ACgTvG47FvxGqIRbXOte7l1Ux-G4ErlTNih_iF4KctV6/s1600/SAM_5628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSuNK-ERh55MngDpshqM8boNZa4lQ3vwJFEWavfSOIcoRXyPbLUkADr71FopJcTYLA7oK2zriD0dgWo-yZDRaeBn-bbSXyre28ACgTvG47FvxGqIRbXOte7l1Ux-G4ErlTNih_iF4KctV6/s320/SAM_5628.JPG" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Crying with laughter at KTV</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIPu17W5qKYcHicIxe6M7Mn5aWakaoPrypK-abRNUqB3Ep_aPGn_gMknL-b2ToGXJSNmR_36K8K1HX78sM7z9p_qQYZTP6cbbh0b0RStz8cgVxENXT8o6Ag-PhGLGjeJvQ8QC6CEsC22AL/s1600/SAM_5631.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIPu17W5qKYcHicIxe6M7Mn5aWakaoPrypK-abRNUqB3Ep_aPGn_gMknL-b2ToGXJSNmR_36K8K1HX78sM7z9p_qQYZTP6cbbh0b0RStz8cgVxENXT8o6Ag-PhGLGjeJvQ8QC6CEsC22AL/s320/SAM_5631.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Smoggy days</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHeDl6ekmi7zvNxig-2fOcEnN22ZzBxdyd9D_m1AjICg1ta2a1Jaog1XyUbha8r7plh2I-DIjaCQady1Tmgr1cXZWt-UfJBnhjPmQ-xtzwp4I5rAlTA9kBrW6TkTcZxuY7OAiFf6mjn0wy/s1600/SAM_5676.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHeDl6ekmi7zvNxig-2fOcEnN22ZzBxdyd9D_m1AjICg1ta2a1Jaog1XyUbha8r7plh2I-DIjaCQady1Tmgr1cXZWt-UfJBnhjPmQ-xtzwp4I5rAlTA9kBrW6TkTcZxuY7OAiFf6mjn0wy/s320/SAM_5676.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Fresh hot pot ingredients ready for cooking!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfptDvy2nzKo7cbBqGGENPecyVmitHfS7MmGgR87t2U0YtmeXHUFyedp4-rPlUDHKzs9i724yqLxVGx5dX5WYgSXUNJUgAtR3VY4Cg3Vy8OHd5x9DX6YccCYkJ-U0a6KAhGy9M5YvUO-iU/s1600/SAM_5680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfptDvy2nzKo7cbBqGGENPecyVmitHfS7MmGgR87t2U0YtmeXHUFyedp4-rPlUDHKzs9i724yqLxVGx5dX5WYgSXUNJUgAtR3VY4Cg3Vy8OHd5x9DX6YccCYkJ-U0a6KAhGy9M5YvUO-iU/s320/SAM_5680.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Ridiculously long sheet of tofu</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQOyv7CIxIL5mzfCcczmPvJLWIaxo3udSq60n80Y5sOOB_ctQMUvgAhRWzihxaA1YhxHSySU5hIbg6MoWo6veqK16czM-Y5bano40sUTduVorX0-uh_vMaSLkVNwDurFjg2ufnwr7glBy/s1600/SAM_5682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQOyv7CIxIL5mzfCcczmPvJLWIaxo3udSq60n80Y5sOOB_ctQMUvgAhRWzihxaA1YhxHSySU5hIbg6MoWo6veqK16czM-Y5bano40sUTduVorX0-uh_vMaSLkVNwDurFjg2ufnwr7glBy/s320/SAM_5682.JPG" height="218" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Ice sculptures of polar bears at Xujiahui</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-6xRV1It2ivkeWfHLY_4KFQeoryTjeqqkrLTZaSuZpz8aTz7Rv_eJHb6g4eZRi7Ynr51v0Clbh-A27aME38BB8XYiqEpqTilOSzD9RIW99yviQ7ZmV2x2NBU9mKl-ECy2jk8xsWtsRKn/s1600/photo+(20).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-6xRV1It2ivkeWfHLY_4KFQeoryTjeqqkrLTZaSuZpz8aTz7Rv_eJHb6g4eZRi7Ynr51v0Clbh-A27aME38BB8XYiqEpqTilOSzD9RIW99yviQ7ZmV2x2NBU9mKl-ECy2jk8xsWtsRKn/s320/photo+(20).JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">My favourite little guy at the orphanage - I wish I could have adopted him!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsHrm9xNrGrgJn4GVyyvbZKKHpwT7LbIvKH_j7LdYrrftaPSe8jHz7dgNu8s68RLyCIVlHoaIC-GCQMmxpqOJH5MdrN-a4lfA2Ef5c0aGy42TI_tMNCIOuiBtEtvoOrvMNqpXFt-TBzOYz/s1600/photo+(21).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsHrm9xNrGrgJn4GVyyvbZKKHpwT7LbIvKH_j7LdYrrftaPSe8jHz7dgNu8s68RLyCIVlHoaIC-GCQMmxpqOJH5MdrN-a4lfA2Ef5c0aGy42TI_tMNCIOuiBtEtvoOrvMNqpXFt-TBzOYz/s320/photo+(21).JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">So cute! I miss him so much</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdrVVcs9W85v6CO-iw-x7oNOADe8JIE1uCzuDx9C4hcHH2cTkbWc5ZBwFD0qoYIxg0pF690YyL6ucYsxVDPN_n6xhCifWagCo1kyLiMWeRr4su7k6kprR0wTYB0LUmzlwteDzh1GU3lCOC/s1600/Michael+and+room+mates+with+robot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdrVVcs9W85v6CO-iw-x7oNOADe8JIE1uCzuDx9C4hcHH2cTkbWc5ZBwFD0qoYIxg0pF690YyL6ucYsxVDPN_n6xhCifWagCo1kyLiMWeRr4su7k6kprR0wTYB0LUmzlwteDzh1GU3lCOC/s320/Michael+and+room+mates+with+robot.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">My friend Michael who taught me some Chinese, with his room mates (L -R Constantine, Chris, robot, Michael and Eric)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9B6NmxHsv3ViFvSXvXzVMoTzsKVFAN4CKiP7NFPODOWIdlJntwOtXgvweC5WJ_O3tD7TNo9ThDgg6NLHR7u2aYSkMjBzty5o8HQ2aMVy-Si2Je6_2_JVJtcgagYr0FTRAci6urTnaM9G/s1600/SAM_5295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9B6NmxHsv3ViFvSXvXzVMoTzsKVFAN4CKiP7NFPODOWIdlJntwOtXgvweC5WJ_O3tD7TNo9ThDgg6NLHR7u2aYSkMjBzty5o8HQ2aMVy-Si2Je6_2_JVJtcgagYr0FTRAci6urTnaM9G/s1600/SAM_5295.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Blizzard thick ice cream milkshakes, so thick, they're served upside down!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtWjmNsCYIg-LYOzutusbLG0vWdaXepx5adO8OyqAGFTRdHDDrvprpc4EPJcJAgZsvY7649SwH_096E__mTr3uyW2aUB7ZL6_dGVZQti8pnU2HntsUeRJ6JLg5ZHdju8picqoLAFW4Joq/s1600/SAM_5297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtWjmNsCYIg-LYOzutusbLG0vWdaXepx5adO8OyqAGFTRdHDDrvprpc4EPJcJAgZsvY7649SwH_096E__mTr3uyW2aUB7ZL6_dGVZQti8pnU2HntsUeRJ6JLg5ZHdju8picqoLAFW4Joq/s1600/SAM_5297.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Blizzard thick ice cream milkshakes!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeJqte2GHyhwfr9m0yHMPoBE9iq70yiP-_sMltKPswTBwoRE-f2M96xCvCBlK8inNAgkY_zGs4ckdA3hdYSgUB0s9ThPzCge9tbK5SbKcataqdFBRyzopYiNli4Ou_mnOzyld4dAVv31Hv/s1600/DSC_1777.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeJqte2GHyhwfr9m0yHMPoBE9iq70yiP-_sMltKPswTBwoRE-f2M96xCvCBlK8inNAgkY_zGs4ckdA3hdYSgUB0s9ThPzCge9tbK5SbKcataqdFBRyzopYiNli4Ou_mnOzyld4dAVv31Hv/s400/DSC_1777.JPG" height="400" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Jin Mao Tower from the ground up</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Looking down all 88 floors at Jin Mao Tower</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLT48s8E5-EfMm-qEM-vFn64HQhRNGJy7JgycLtLmC3_GeQ-B-ZFpYqEU4pjnsxR0MZi7hyjh21QiLGmH07b10IJk4vT967q2hYtklOffma34LWeEPPjoxR0gTgO1ohWy4DBtUTvqpV51c/s1600/DSC_1774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLT48s8E5-EfMm-qEM-vFn64HQhRNGJy7JgycLtLmC3_GeQ-B-ZFpYqEU4pjnsxR0MZi7hyjh21QiLGmH07b10IJk4vT967q2hYtklOffma34LWeEPPjoxR0gTgO1ohWy4DBtUTvqpV51c/s400/DSC_1774.JPG" height="400" width="265" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Shanghai World Financial Centre (or the "bottle opener")</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So that's China done. Where to next?</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-88051957303661173662013-12-25T20:29:00.000+00:002014-03-29T23:11:36.318+00:00Christmas in China<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Technically, I've spent the day before Christmas Eve onwards in the UK, but the whole of the run up towards Christmas was in Shanghai, and my department also held Christmas party before I left, so I thought it would be interesting to report on how Christmas is celebrated in a country to which it is so new. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, Christmas is not a traditional Chinese festival, and they don't get any holiday for it, but as with everything, there is a keen interest in anything Western at the moment, and nowhere more so than in the expat haven that is Shanghai. As with Halloween, Chinese people were aware of these Western traditions, and many people erroneously wished me Happy Thanksgiving when it was on (not realising that it is only a celebration for Americans), and the shops had sales for Black Friday. They also started to have Christmas decorations up when December started and were playing western Christmas songs by the time I left, but most people don't really know what any of these celebrations are about, and the shops just seem to be using it as an excuse to drum up more sales. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Definitely, I was very pleased that interest in Christmas only seemed apparent after Thanksgiving had passed, unlike in the UK, where supermarkets encourage us to start stocking up from October onwards! The Chinese love of lights also meant that there were some really beautifully lit up shopping centres and streets.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3iNqdSMw85NL3Kn9K2SgJt9qNoWqt61ftSwzjzIB2g3LPPMGIVrPngvzOqmd4gm38MeGXvpq9nELH_zZnVTTT_f0L8zRAvBm4q86DHyowsLEpe1Da9KpPGMbVwkgTyfqno4PE2Z8feI33/s1600/DSC_1571-TWINKLE.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3iNqdSMw85NL3Kn9K2SgJt9qNoWqt61ftSwzjzIB2g3LPPMGIVrPngvzOqmd4gm38MeGXvpq9nELH_zZnVTTT_f0L8zRAvBm4q86DHyowsLEpe1Da9KpPGMbVwkgTyfqno4PE2Z8feI33/s400/DSC_1571-TWINKLE.gif" height="361" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Christmas lights on a street near Lujiazui</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxO-DoeCL336DrZ9DP_jWmL_kk0Wv-q61kXRSd6Bzbthxwfg51dZ-1yoceRE_2uboxm9wRC2uHF8SPp0oPcn37fdZRH32M8sZYlLkYsXyZYL_Xvdy4g_6wklzArEnRFk5JuSPP6-bbbVCS/s1600/DSC_1542+b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxO-DoeCL336DrZ9DP_jWmL_kk0Wv-q61kXRSd6Bzbthxwfg51dZ-1yoceRE_2uboxm9wRC2uHF8SPp0oPcn37fdZRH32M8sZYlLkYsXyZYL_Xvdy4g_6wklzArEnRFk5JuSPP6-bbbVCS/s400/DSC_1542+b.jpg" height="292" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Christmas lights on a shopping mall at Lujiazui roundabout</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlbPdmZCWEJp7kLbQQmeLYpXW_1Cp-z_JzQSwZIuvLwQF9tAAHrmJkezcWEkvcQPaxJcqUSNLS6RKWQGEAu_MwBo4CZpqvgU2IgkdPDIC34BR3Tp6Ihg-zwHDGx7sk92uH-nGMdR9eMf9/s1600/SAM_5562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlbPdmZCWEJp7kLbQQmeLYpXW_1Cp-z_JzQSwZIuvLwQF9tAAHrmJkezcWEkvcQPaxJcqUSNLS6RKWQGEAu_MwBo4CZpqvgU2IgkdPDIC34BR3Tp6Ihg-zwHDGx7sk92uH-nGMdR9eMf9/s320/SAM_5562.JPG" height="400" width="327" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Lights at a shopping centre on Nanjing Road West. A little bit premature during November, but pretty nonetheless! This photo was featured on the <a href="http://instagram.com/p/iluX9JQ5f3/" target="_blank">Zai_shanghai Instagram page</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the first weekend of December, there was also a really lovely Christmas market in the French Concession part of Shanghai, that was so close to an authentic one that it suddenly made me homesick. Until that time, I didn't really think about Europe, because I was so busy exploring and learning about Chinese culture.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIGWsWbquQSGlsmZC3cho4oUGu2IvLflBwlkVarI4x3DWLVMxWE09vtJKK5lokP_xvvbS1zVDb8vpERr_Y9ip9kEgHnnbQEtnMdj2qIGN6QE7SzTEavsvHTkD6IeYkMoiKFGCB6ANuK51v/s1600/SAM_5649-TWINKLE.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIGWsWbquQSGlsmZC3cho4oUGu2IvLflBwlkVarI4x3DWLVMxWE09vtJKK5lokP_xvvbS1zVDb8vpERr_Y9ip9kEgHnnbQEtnMdj2qIGN6QE7SzTEavsvHTkD6IeYkMoiKFGCB6ANuK51v/s400/SAM_5649-TWINKLE.gif" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Christkindlmarkt at Paulaner Brauhaus on Fenyang Lu</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was fairly busy and packed with people, not just because it was squeezed into a fairly small space. When I went, I saw several of my dorm mates there and on top of that there were plenty of curious Chinese people there too, eager to learn about these Western traditions (I guess this is just like how I like to turn up at the Chinese New Year celebrations in Nottingham each year!).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA1-HyPKMfv9zQUVxnR9iCt5Mdz7z4sjcsnyt-LJO_fpoeZIibciZ3Jf69sCzE_zwk4KiqoGIBduUXeJtHBQfh4oqW18cXSc-oQ1RkiicPpK38yTn1RhCZLVPy7ZalDJt3U4WSQDfv19Vq/s1600/SAM_5644-TWINKLE.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA1-HyPKMfv9zQUVxnR9iCt5Mdz7z4sjcsnyt-LJO_fpoeZIibciZ3Jf69sCzE_zwk4KiqoGIBduUXeJtHBQfh4oqW18cXSc-oQ1RkiicPpK38yTn1RhCZLVPy7ZalDJt3U4WSQDfv19Vq/s320/SAM_5644-TWINKLE.gif" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apparently this place has a Christmas market on every year, and this year was better than ever. They had the most amazing tasting Gluhwein (German mulled wine) I've had in a very long time, and it was worth every penny. The 25 RMB entrance fee we thought was a bit unnecessary, but it turned out we could use the cost of the ticket on something from one of the stalls inside, so essentially, entrance was free, as long as you bought something. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We didn't buy too much else, but it was a great experience, really pretty, and the quality I'd say was on almost on a par with any of the Christmas markets at home from Prague or Vorosmarty, and better than some of the ones we get even in England. The only thing that was missing was some kurtos kalács! Oh well, we can only dream!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Generally, the Chinese don't really give presents for special occasions like we do (which I discovered almost as soon as I got there, when certain lab people had a complete inability to wrap anything prior to autoclaving!) When it's someone's birthday, friends don't buy them drinks, but they buy their friends drinks! There were two birthdays in the lab while I was there, and on the first occasion, the birthday girl bought everyone milk tea, and on the second one, the birthday girl bought a big cake to share with everyone. On another occasion, a professor in the department had just had a new baby, and to celebrate, he bought everybody in the whole department a little box of some sweets, a bit like a favour box at a wedding. I didn't really understand how this could be a sustainable social rule, and I tried to explain that having babies was very expensive and that when someone has a baby in the UK, we get them presents or vouchers, to help towards the cost of looking after the baby. They just laughed and said, "yes, but in China it's the other way round". Nevertheless, some of my Chinese friends tried to be part of the Christmas tradition and got me some small gifts, a fan and chopsticks to remind me of my stay there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Early December, it was also decided by the lab management team that this year we would have a departmental Christmas party. I suspect this was in no small way due to my presence, seeing as the last time the department had a Christmas party was three years ago (which coincided with the last time a western person visited the lab at Christmas time) and also because the party was conveniently scheduled just in time before I left. Nevertheless, I was very touched and happy that the lab were marking my presence and/or departure in some way, and although I didn't know everybody in the department, I thought it would be a great way for everyone to have a little fun and time off from the lab.<br />And boy, did the department put on a spread! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglkTM9YTmoyaabgA3L6uwlQ-OB0dk_W12xMOHGCqjLUXQQ3Wvp3AL50cdQ5iEMM6IqDVlacuUKxKq7gwtXkWu1sRfkmIdlgTGJMX9eCEaJwwcuJk49KbSzP0QWTCNopuql9cEYBPMS-HIP/s1600/photo+(23).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglkTM9YTmoyaabgA3L6uwlQ-OB0dk_W12xMOHGCqjLUXQQ3Wvp3AL50cdQ5iEMM6IqDVlacuUKxKq7gwtXkWu1sRfkmIdlgTGJMX9eCEaJwwcuJk49KbSzP0QWTCNopuql9cEYBPMS-HIP/s400/photo+(23).JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Christmas party spread in our meeting room, with Prof Ou on the right hand side in a Santa hat</i> </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They spent hundreds of pounds on food, drinks, microphones and decorations, including Santa hats, reindeer headbands and light up Minnie Mouse headbands too. There was also a tombola with prizes like phone chargers, memory sticks and the first prize was top of the range speakers! Clearly there was no expense spared, and I know that they spent the equivalent of about six hundreds of pounds, which is a huge amount in Chinese prices. It was quite clearly going to blow out of the water anything that my department at home has ever put on, simply because this department allowed a bigger budget for the party.<br />But the best part was that this party was going to be done in the Chinese way, which meant that everyone was going to do some kind of performance, kind of like a cabaret or variety show. Apparently, this is a very traditional way of parties in China, and my Chinese friend who's lived in the UK for nearly ten years was surprised that this way of celebrating had survived this long. I was happy to give it a try and excited to see what it would be like. And as the guest of honour, I was asked to perform first!<br />This came about because since it was discovered that I could play guitar (I mentioned that I used to play one time, so this automatically made me an expert apparently), so I was asked to perform some Western Christmas songs. But I'm really not that good, and I'm terribly out of practice. Last time I played seriously was when I had lessons with a self-taught, ageing rocker ten years ago, above a second-hand record store in Hull. I could remember most of the chords, but I'd never performed a song whilst playing guitar at the same time! The prospect slightly terrified me, but I didn't want to back out of a Chinese tradition and let the team down. So after some surreptitious practice sessions in my dorm room which I attempted to do as quiet as possible, followed by some louder sessions in the park (during which I was approached by some Chinese guys who were very interested in taking pictures, including borrowing the guitar to pose with it, while I tried to protest in my best Chinese: 这不是我的吉他!这是我朋友的).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSDerAKN4PjfFqereGm_G3O6xV9Zhr1EDkgDPfWtNswiyN1JQiMU8yILQeI9RmB7LNN6VYZSbMcfXnjM0wpR2UV9qzKN26tUGcCbBJ93TjDGG3qK2PW_lvnIox4sgwt1TtaMkHxqHEq21z/s1600/IMG_2223+b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSDerAKN4PjfFqereGm_G3O6xV9Zhr1EDkgDPfWtNswiyN1JQiMU8yILQeI9RmB7LNN6VYZSbMcfXnjM0wpR2UV9qzKN26tUGcCbBJ93TjDGG3qK2PW_lvnIox4sgwt1TtaMkHxqHEq21z/s400/IMG_2223+b.jpg" height="361" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Performing "Last Christmas" and "All I Want is You" as the opening act at our departmental Christmas party</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The performance went relatively well, although I forgot to take a microphone, so the end result is available to watch, but very quiet and a poor quality recording. If you're still interested, it's here on </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9NF9BD1874" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">YouTube</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><a href="http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjUyMTE5Nzcy.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">YouKu</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, depending on what country you're in and how good your VPN access is! The two songs I chose to do were "Last Christmas" (a massive hit in China apparently, so I was compelled to do it even though it's so simple and boring, just same four chords over and over again) and "All I Want for Christmas" (a much more challenging song, which I actually like, although I can't possibly live up to the Mariah standards, and her trained whistle register).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was followed by some hilarious Bollywood dancing from a group upstairs:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis3Wxdhi8RIxWKpZoNkAcDPe32Z221pAe17ZwcGBRIKoDS4m6OktqR9Nsxn6PUeA4ruJYZvslI3aaHawYihw-CjIkYIPrDOnL5YE8DMa-54p2WVmMxjfXIFz3YYcitaz_jXejjiZfmjxx6/s1600/IMG_2237.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis3Wxdhi8RIxWKpZoNkAcDPe32Z221pAe17ZwcGBRIKoDS4m6OktqR9Nsxn6PUeA4ruJYZvslI3aaHawYihw-CjIkYIPrDOnL5YE8DMa-54p2WVmMxjfXIFz3YYcitaz_jXejjiZfmjxx6/s400/IMG_2237.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Hilarious Bollywood dance performed by another lab. Had everyone shouting for an en core</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My lab also performed a song together, although it was all in Chinese, so they didn't ask me to join in, but it was really cute, and there is also a video <a href="http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjUwODkyMDg4.html" target="_blank">here</a>:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRRmTP25CqrWURWUtK5kVjqXFwjwvAL9yCPvY_hyAwDHUdoHKa0bN3AyeGWUrY8QZg2oWapxY1E6WeP1589qdMycUM8ZJN4f283qTnNUcM1E0B6XsrAWcaVLUxaYJHI0z4DczklPqkN6vu/s1600/IMG_2332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRRmTP25CqrWURWUtK5kVjqXFwjwvAL9yCPvY_hyAwDHUdoHKa0bN3AyeGWUrY8QZg2oWapxY1E6WeP1589qdMycUM8ZJN4f283qTnNUcM1E0B6XsrAWcaVLUxaYJHI0z4DczklPqkN6vu/s400/IMG_2332.JPG" height="237" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>My lab singing a cute Chinese song. Even Prof Ou joined in on the extreme right!</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rest of the evening had several more performances, including a duet by two of the married supervisors in the department, and also a song by the head of department, Professor Deng! After all the official, scheduled performances were over, the evening descended into a home KTV, where the guys accessed what seemed to be a karaoke version of Spotify, where you could stream any song that was converted to a backing track and had the lyrics appear on the screen, so it was a free-for-all to ask for any song they wanted. I was asked to sing the Dido part for Eminem's Stan in a duet with DB's room mate, which was great fun. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDVgI30aQkkIwEnar2mTSCNqeLsskRyjUSi7K1xUolHdM498t_sdK9HCRqAMiaCgMSVR-5A9DZksznIXorC4SUOU10m2MMOyCMBqwwHxZprlmI_roT-wBlNr1J3AoBz4kxZVeZFi7_HmRl/s1600/075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDVgI30aQkkIwEnar2mTSCNqeLsskRyjUSi7K1xUolHdM498t_sdK9HCRqAMiaCgMSVR-5A9DZksznIXorC4SUOU10m2MMOyCMBqwwHxZprlmI_roT-wBlNr1J3AoBz4kxZVeZFi7_HmRl/s320/075.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Duet with Xu Min, doing Eminem's "Stan"</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I really enjoyed my evening, and I much preferred it to English parties, where people just turn up and get drunk! Even though I strongly suspect that this was a show with the main intention that I go home and tell everybody how awesome China was, I think everyone had fun, so it was worth it. I think it's safe to say that their plan worked!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only downside of Christmas in China was that the cleaning lady and one of the security guards were a little bit surly, and when we got the Christmas tree we had in our dorm out from underneath a staircase, they proceeded to break it and throw it away, followed by replacing it with a very ugly plant. I can only assume that these Shanghainese workers objected to us having any fun because they had grown tired of looking and cleaning up after us, and so they wanted to give us some kind of personal insult. But other than that, everyone else seemed very friendly and inquisitive towards Christmas, and I know that my dorm mates who are studying Chinese also had a party organised for them. The other downside, of course, was that the imported Christmas foods at the Western supermarket cost double the price than at home! It was £5 for one imported chocolate Santa! So I gave that a miss. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But overall, just because it's the other side of the world and not a traditional festival in their country, I think there is a great Christmas to be had in Shanghai :)</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-47513605196710208982013-12-21T14:42:00.001+00:002014-03-29T23:38:32.544+00:00On leaving China<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, in less than 24 hours, I'll be boarding a plane to go back to the UK. After three months, I've had such a great time here, it will be an emotional goodbye, but I am looking forward to certain things:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) Christmas dinner with all the trimmings! I'll be home in time for Christmas, but due to complications with my family and my husbands working hours, I'll be staying in Leicester for Christmas. This means I will be making Christmas dinner all by myself, but at least I can do it just the way I like it :) So this means roast potatoes! Stuffing! No sprouts! Brandy butter! Cointreau cream! Snowballs! (although I did have a very tasty snowball this week at a western bar).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2) Radiators! Or not having to sleep with all my clothes on and coat and gloves and socks just to keep warm during the night. My air con has a warm setting, but the timer is limited to one hour, so I always wake up at some point during the night when it has been off for a while, and due to the poor insulation and lack of double glazing in my huge window, the temperature of the room pretty much goes down to a similar level as what it is outside. I'm so looking forward to going to home to my 13.5 tog down duvet and central heating!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3) Washing my clothes! This is one of the first things I'm doing when I get home. The laundry in the campus is really so terrible, and my clothes frequently come back with the same stains on that I'm not sure if they ever really washed my clothes or just made them wet so it looked like they did something. I know a lot of people suspect that they just use cold water in the machines which makes their washing power much lower. But I have also tried to hand wash things myself with hot water, and the "detergent" (if it can be called that) is pretty much useless with any grease stains. Sure, it lathers up nicely to look like it's doing something, but if you ever have a mishap with greasy food, that T-shirt will now become your lounging-around-in-your-room T-shirt. Several of the others in my dorm have told me they have the same problem. On top of that, one time they just took my money and didn't wash my clothes at all, so I swore never to use their services again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4) Being able to read menus and being fairly certain of what's coming! This was more of a problem at the beginning, but now that I've got a fairly good experience of what Chinese dishes are like, I know what kind of food to order and roughly what to expect. Since I've picked up a few words, I am better able to ask for what I want when I'm by myself too. My reading is still very poor, and my speaking needs a lot of improvement, but I do feel a little bit like just as I'm starting to get the hang of some phrases, I'm leaving. Overall though, I made heavy use of translator apps, Google Translate, which I mention a lot, but also another app <a href="http://www.pleco.com/" target="_blank">Pleco</a> which was recommended to me by a Hungarian dorm-mate, and was really, really so helpful with translating text, as it was excellent at recognising characters, even when drawn by someone without any knowledge of how to write Chinese, like me. But in general, I am looking forward to not living my life out of translator apps!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5) Being able to cross the road without fearing for my safety! I guess this is also a little bit redundant now, as I've gotten the hang of knowing when to cross Chinese roads. However, they could still do with realising the benefits of filter lights and lanes, and also roundabouts! (Maybe they just don't get roundabouts yet, like how at first they didn't get the wheel?) Another important thing that all road goers need to discover, whether bus or bike rider, or even metro driver, is to oil their breaks!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Linked to this, I'm happy not to be holding on to a door handle in fear in taxis as the drivers swerve around negotiating the insane traffic that makes you wonder how some people passed their test, whilst not providing functioning seatbelts! I'm also looking forward to journeys not taking three times they should do due to the traffic. It once took an hour and a half to get just to the other side of the river from the campus! Driving really is so terrible in Shanghai.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6) Not having to take toilet paper with me everywhere. Chinese toilets are on a whole other planet. They could have a blog post all of their own. While squatting toilets are not new to me, as they are common in Turkey, Egypt, and we even had them in Crete on our honeymoon, the receptacle isn't really the issue, rather the standards at which they're kept. Also, in 90 % of places, they do also have western style toilets as an option if you're too squeamish about the squatting ones. But, toilet paper is not always guaranteed, and it shouldn't be flushed down the toilet either. On top of that, Chinese people either have a massive aversion to cleaning toilets, or are just not that picky about the cleanliness of them, because so many that I've been to have an intolerable smell, and at one of the more shocking experiences were when Sam and I had the misfortune of using the facilities at Beijing South Railway station, where we both almost fainted from the smell of the ammonia. It was actually hilarious but tragic. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7) Not having to hear outrageously gratuitious spitting and clearing of phlegm anymore. I can't believe I almost forgot this! Clearly I'm getting used to this sound!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8) Not having to wait ridiculous amounts of time for a table at a restaurant. It's no secret that China has a lot of people, and especially living in a city with the largest population in China, it can get quite busy. When DB arrived in my lab in the UK in May, I did wonder if he was a little bit bored, because I knew Shanghai was a big city, and Leicester is relatively quiet. But he told me he loved the quiet, and that he especially loves not having to queue for restaurants. I didn't really understand that at the time, because I didn't really see how bad it could be. Surely if there were so many customers, they would just build more restaurants? How wrong could I be. Many restaurants provide seating areas outside their establishments for the people queueing and there is usually an electronic system where you get a ticket for your place in line. We once had to wait for one and a half hours! I'm so glad I never have to do that again!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9) Not having to sit through hours of people talking in Chinese while I sit in silence! Obviously, everyone in the lab couldn't speak English all the time, since it would be weird for them to speak English to each other, but there were a few times when they seemed to forget I was there and I didn't understand what was being said all afternoon! The flipside of this, is that I didn't get distracted half as much in the lab, unlike how it sometimes happens in the computer room in Leicester, and we end up in a massive conversation and before you know it, an hour or two has disappeared. So I managed to be more productive in my lab hours as a consequence, but I'm sure I'm not going to miss going to the lab meetings and just reading the English text on the slides whilst wondering what they hell they're talking about for two hours (actually, I pretty much stopped wondering, and just used the lab meeting times to keep up with my e-mails and check the internet on my phone!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10) Not having to listen to the Xfm's graveyard shift anymore while I'm in the lab. I was happy to find out that the app for my favourite radio station still worked in China, however, the time difference meant that I listened to some really weird music that is normally only enjoyed by shift workers and insomniacs. However, the up side to this was that after lunch, I could catch the whole of the John Holmes breakfast show (which would start at 6 am back in the UK), which I discovered was on the whole, quite funny, and deserving of its awards. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">11) You may be wondering why cheese hasn't appeared so far on this list. Actually, there are a number of things that I'd like to add to both things I'm looking forward to, and things I'll miss. For although I actually really missed cheese at the beginning, I could see that it wasn't necessary in Asian cooking, which tasted great without it, and after a while I just got used to it. That, and the lack of a sweet tooth in the Asian tastebuds meant that I lost a lot of weight, simply by cutting out cheese and sugary things! I'm sure it did me the world of good to lay off these things for the last three months, especially in the run up to Christmas!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But of course, there are so many things to miss about this place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) The food. I never thought I would hear myself say this, after coming to the country with such trepidation from hearing horror stories of dubious ingredients and food hygiene standards, not many of which were assuaged by my attempts to familiarise myself with Chinese food before leaving, by watching Ken Hom and Chin-He Huang travelling and eating their way across China in the "Exploring China" series (really Ken, fried rabbit's head on a stick?!). However, as I've discovered the wide variety of Asian cooking with completely different and inventive ways of cooking, there are several meals that I've fallen in love with. My love for m<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.5px;">áqiú (</span></span><span style="line-height: 19.488636016845703px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">麻球) I think was adequately expressed in my <a href="http://shanghaiereducation.blogspot.com/2013/12/more-than-toilet-delicious-and-happy.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>), and although it seems difficult to make, I am undeterred in trying so, and if I am successful, my lab mates are sure that I stand a good chance in becoming a millionaire, since there is a massive gap in the market in the UK. And despite all of this eating, I've somehow managed to lose about 5 kg without noticing. Who ever said that Chinese food is unhealthy?!</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.488636016845703px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, I never really understood what the fuss was about in hot pots (</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">火锅)</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">, but honestly I have come to love them so much, that even my last supper that we just came back from was hot pot. It sounds so simple on paper - get a soup and put your vegetables and meat in and wait for it to cook in front of you. I don't know if it's a combination of the spices (I have stolen one of the bags of sauces from the restaurant! Well not really stolen, since they are free) or the freshness of the cooking, but it's really so delicious.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.488636016845703px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also love the way that the Chinese have milk tea (</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">奶茶</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">), which is pretty much the way I used to make my tea as a child - 50 % tea, 50 % milk and lots and lots of sugar! The Chinese also add a random selection of things inside, like sweet red beans, cubes of pudding, tapioca, nuts and a whole manner of other things. At least this is something I can more or less recreate at home. There is so much other food to talk about but either I don't know the name, or it's so difficult to describe that I don't have the space here, but these are my top three favourite things!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">Before I left for China, I asked DB if he wanted me to bring anything back, or what he missed the most about China. He said that I didn't need to bring anything, but that the thing he missed the most was the food, since you couldn't quite get the same food from the UK. I didn't think this was anything remarkable at the time; of course, anyone away from their home country would miss the tastes of home. But having experienced the breadth of Asian cooking during my stay, I can honestly say I agree with the sentiment!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">2) The people, without a doubt, I will miss my lab mates very much, who have been with me every day, answering all my questions, and helping me get by in a new lab as well as a new country in which I don't speak the language. Without them I would not have lasted very long here, and I don't think I would have enjoyed it half as much. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRlGT65xz89tlucfLIU-FTAuFEz1SWCRM0cqJ42ytqSaOu5xc4gp6FKzCc0DqG0khQSfczrXtkyx4E4WYECb1NyAM9y-TOwdXMxvoMqfMgGKo67ToV5rVH56UcIqs_ZA0QUifuCxsqSmQY/s1600/DSC_1930.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRlGT65xz89tlucfLIU-FTAuFEz1SWCRM0cqJ42ytqSaOu5xc4gp6FKzCc0DqG0khQSfczrXtkyx4E4WYECb1NyAM9y-TOwdXMxvoMqfMgGKo67ToV5rVH56UcIqs_ZA0QUifuCxsqSmQY/s1600/DSC_1930.JPG" height="312" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>I will miss all the members of Ou's group who all showed me the meaning of Chinese hospitality</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">They took special care to make sure that I had a good time, and included me in all their lab activities, which were many. Not just eating together twice a day but also going out together at the weekends or other trips. I think this must be to do with Chinese culture, since I see all the other labs always hanging out together as groups, and they always seem confused when I tell them that it's very hard to get my lab at home together for a meal, when it seems so natural to them. The realisation also dawned on me that Dona won't be in the lab when I get back, so there'll be no one to chat to on those long evenings in the lab, and no one to have musical exploratory journeys with! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">But I loved the guys in the lab here and I really can't thank them enough for their friendliness and hospitality. It's a real testament to their friendly nature that no less than three of them are accompanying myself and my professor to the airport in the early hours of the morning tomorrow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">3) Not having to have any meeting with my supervisor (largely because he is out of practice with his English!). While we're on the subject of lab people, I have to say thanks to my professor, who has been very welcoming and just let me get on with things. He didn't say anything derogatory when the work was going slowly, and I managed to work through the problems to the point where he was very happy with my end results. Granted, I am just a visiting student, so probably I get special treatment. But overall, I think he is a fair supervisor and I think he is doing a good job at leading the group. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">4) The weather. Despite the unusual day of freak weather conditions which meant that the smog in Shanghai hit a new record while Beijing was basking in unusually pleasant air conditions, overall, the weather has been heavenly. When I arrived, it was a balmy 30 degrees during the day, with long, warm evenings that were great for exploring, and the autumn has not been a let down either (apart from it being too cold to sleep, but that's not the weather's fault, it's the inability of the South of China to adopt radiators). The weather has stayed largely dry and sunny, and even today I wore my sunglasses to go out for lunch, which means that there is no danger of vitamin D deficiency or SAD here! Absolutely perfect for me, and reason enough to be tempting me to move here more permanently. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">5) Cheap standard of living. Yes, my scholarship was proportionally lower to fit in line with the Chinese standard of living (only £200 a month), but still, it is perfectly possible here for students to live fairly exciting lives on this little money. The accommodation is extremely cheap (something like £10 a month, or free if you are staff or on scholarship), the meals cost about 70 p each, as I mentioned in one of my first blog posts, and even going out, you can eat a big slap up meal for under £4, if you go to the places aimed at Chinese rather than tourists. Also, the metro takes you from one end of the city to the other in about 2 hours for about 40 p, so it is perfectly possible to explore and visit around different parts of the city on a budget. Even the bullet train is excellent value for money, and I visited Yangzhou and Hangzhou for about £10 - 15 return tickets. Yes, the tickets to Beijing were £50 each, each way, but it was travelling over 800 km!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">6) Fantastic ordering and delivery service, right to your door. With personal couriers (or put simply, guys on scooters) going around doing deliveries from 8 am until 9 pm sometimes, delivery can be really fast. In addition, this service goes on throughout the weekend, which is really convenient if you're in the lab and urgently needs some primers or sequencing done. If you order a package, they don't leave if you're not in, they come in to your building and leave your package at reception (yes, this is permitted by the university, although you shouldn't leave your package lying around for very long). This has made buying things so convenient, and living in a big city like Shanghai, it sometimes even means that you get same day delivery for very little charge (Lu once asked me whether it was okay to order something that I asked if it has a 5 RMB delivery charge. I told her that back home, delivery can cost six times as much!). It might be sad to think that this means some people give up their weekends just to deliver our shopping, but at the end of they day, there is a gap in the market for this, and if these people didn't do it, there are plenty of others who would come along who would fill the gap (this is a little like the problem of the builders I described in my skyscraper post). </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">7) KTV! Or the plush karaoke bars with their glittering decor and touchscreen selectors harbouring thousands of songs in many languages. I will miss how much the Chinese share my love of singing, and how easy it is to impress them, thanks to my many years of singing in choir!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">8) Eating dragonfruit for breakfast every morning! Which I picked up from a local fruit shop run by a cute couple who politely put up with my rudimentary Mandarin. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">Perhaps many of these plus points are due to the fact that I'm living in a big city like Shanghai, and especially one that is particularly friendly to foreigners. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">Definitely, everything here seems pretty fast paced. In the lab, they always use fast digest enzymes, and run gels at a high speed to get them finished within half an hour and so this generally means that work gets done much faster.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">Some people may say that Shanghai is not the real China, but I think that is like saying New York is not the real America, or London isn't the real England. Shanghai is every much a product of Chinese culture as the smaller villages and rice fields, and it will definitely always have a place in my heart. Yes, there is the spitting, and as my friend said "people use the street as the dustbin", but right now I want to say "It's okay China, all is forgiven!" I have really loved my time here and I cannot say enough good things about it. But it is a very emotional time now as I write this, as I must go to bed in order to wake up tomorrow for the flight, so this will be my last post from China! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">Merry Christmas, and see you all soon x x x</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-65503676754619347922013-12-21T02:38:00.000+00:002014-09-01T13:43:23.172+01:00Chinese wedding photography<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chinese wedding photography - always crazy and over the top?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I first arrived and my new lab mates found out I was
married then inevitably we ended up discussing weddings. They initially told me
that weddings in China weren’t really that big of a deal, but somehow I think
that was playing things down a bit! My impression of Chinese weddings is that
they can be very elaborate, and above all, a lot of effort and money is spent
on the photography. All my friends here who are married that I’ve talked about
this with had a photography session (usually before the wedding – so none of
these superstitions about the groom seeing the bride before the big day and
being put off), and the photos tend to focus on these staged shots, with
several outfit changes, rather than the ceremony itself. And when it comes to
dress changes, I'm talking about five or six dresses. Nowadays most brides will have at least a few white dresses, but
there will also be some of coloured evening gowns in addition to one in traditional dress. My friends told me that most of the dresses
are loaned, so they don’t incur that much of an expense, but I know that the
photography package can be quite pricey, and many start at around £1000. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you see the photographers going around with a couple in
the city and in the parks, it’s not hard to see why. Normally, wedding
photographs will be taken at beautiful or exotic outside locations, and there
will usually be at least one photographer, and one assistant carrying around
capes to keep the bride warm in between the shots, or extra changes of
clothing. Sometimes more people make up the entourage, such as in night shots,
when someone is required to hold a spotlight to make sure faces are well-lit. I
also saw a few photography groups that included bridesmaids, although
traditionally, Asian weddings would only have one bridesmaid, or none at all
(so this is probably another aspect of Western influence on the young people of
China).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, after this brief introduction, here is a selection of my
favourite wedding photography sessions that I’ve seen on my travels:</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl_OpMJecCPCYfgWju7XlgW55-RqIPnEQ-Y10W4LX4ZZPzfuUGoArK47TSbhmCRLHROBAEtZ9AFMXhlv04D1ysz8dXkpTUzp3C3PyEwuo36Jb92YqtRW__4mqQgVWSeylauukPSlFo9hUT/s1600/SAM_4122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl_OpMJecCPCYfgWju7XlgW55-RqIPnEQ-Y10W4LX4ZZPzfuUGoArK47TSbhmCRLHROBAEtZ9AFMXhlv04D1ysz8dXkpTUzp3C3PyEwuo36Jb92YqtRW__4mqQgVWSeylauukPSlFo9hUT/s400/SAM_4122.JPG" height="400" width="352" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Posing at the Bund was massively popular throughout the hot summer nights</i></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSCOIuYDToU9kqpKgVJlL9eMqaxO7a3YvhHEgo1v9mZpaOv5S6bYTiw-PaX0S178i5i-KhFmPQRLOOaWBBmC7DxPXO3Mwwg5fmTHufw_AKw6O3_GQwyg4bsaEaYDXq7p1Qq3l4WEH_7oXE/s1600/SAM_4151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSCOIuYDToU9kqpKgVJlL9eMqaxO7a3YvhHEgo1v9mZpaOv5S6bYTiw-PaX0S178i5i-KhFmPQRLOOaWBBmC7DxPXO3Mwwg5fmTHufw_AKw6O3_GQwyg4bsaEaYDXq7p1Qq3l4WEH_7oXE/s400/SAM_4151.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">A brave bride catches a chance lull in the traffice to pose at the famous and romantic Wai ba du bridge</span></i></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilk2Jr-l5gI9QnP5MVrjQpPIvgAkINgCGcssA8Ns_LBwUzSyT-4Q706yu_gKrvlQHnW3GDrfHe0f6stSDKfsXSlzvh5zoSAZiDTCfMgFPHscR50EJZLiWw-Jw-105l52v8lPAYPtBuQWiq/s1600/SAM_4299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilk2Jr-l5gI9QnP5MVrjQpPIvgAkINgCGcssA8Ns_LBwUzSyT-4Q706yu_gKrvlQHnW3GDrfHe0f6stSDKfsXSlzvh5zoSAZiDTCfMgFPHscR50EJZLiWw-Jw-105l52v8lPAYPtBuQWiq/s400/SAM_4299.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">As one of the oldest universities in China, even my campus attracts some couples hoping to get some romantic shots with the help of their entourage</span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJhtw2j5aoHPy99Bmqwlj-UYFdUZmoywPxKDJpoUXmtnObLM1xvdSRz_5EWuvhm8oXT6r5PV3fkzGKM49arPSOI6feX9vVLDkpjoNZNWe_oWA9aoVi5559SHQLbU3xqgumOOSmMWcaf2GK/s1600/SAM_2959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJhtw2j5aoHPy99Bmqwlj-UYFdUZmoywPxKDJpoUXmtnObLM1xvdSRz_5EWuvhm8oXT6r5PV3fkzGKM49arPSOI6feX9vVLDkpjoNZNWe_oWA9aoVi5559SHQLbU3xqgumOOSmMWcaf2GK/s400/SAM_2959.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The recently built Century Park is so huge that you can even hold a wedding there</span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5hibtJV7n80BA3J2bCJELYtmbSIzYTRheJLg8I7osKnfXiQ4JqS-Lu3w3ABeL0_ouv8E6gXn27N3a9SJzVdCh98cFEuXnujOYrqE-bVZEIw6icQxPe2zuzE9trRZzrrUccjyzsrqrqlUc/s1600/SAM_4899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5hibtJV7n80BA3J2bCJELYtmbSIzYTRheJLg8I7osKnfXiQ4JqS-Lu3w3ABeL0_ouv8E6gXn27N3a9SJzVdCh98cFEuXnujOYrqE-bVZEIw6icQxPe2zuzE9trRZzrrUccjyzsrqrqlUc/s400/SAM_4899.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Western style bridesmaids and groomsmen are becoming increasingly popular, as showcased by this group posing at Fuxing Park</i></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXfKI0I9viWYXUOYxxhivbeXaQQ5M4IxxnOpWMh-yy5Pn5n8j4SmG-IENpUKc8wPRrlKxBtGimyv8V7zYH9uH-0TY3GtPTdVsikqvb_JZkHW2nX_YQ-geDYcema9jSeTmPYYGLgy9XwXl/s1600/SAM_4801.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXfKI0I9viWYXUOYxxhivbeXaQQ5M4IxxnOpWMh-yy5Pn5n8j4SmG-IENpUKc8wPRrlKxBtGimyv8V7zYH9uH-0TY3GtPTdVsikqvb_JZkHW2nX_YQ-geDYcema9jSeTmPYYGLgy9XwXl/s400/SAM_4801.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSL83wzjGx9H8wtErwpoKfLOpOh9Btjt3g0elsIh5cUwm6ZoVC4iRmoYyMSPTEQLM7ZPHLJ90v3xaun5I2_uFlHjgCiERCKCrgz-92s4dWGaTUjrJiwt-W9aXX2qTkesJhJ1rjbtOTIvXB/s1600/SAM_4799.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSL83wzjGx9H8wtErwpoKfLOpOh9Btjt3g0elsIh5cUwm6ZoVC4iRmoYyMSPTEQLM7ZPHLJ90v3xaun5I2_uFlHjgCiERCKCrgz-92s4dWGaTUjrJiwt-W9aXX2qTkesJhJ1rjbtOTIvXB/s400/SAM_4799.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The prize for the most adventurous couple has to go to this pair, who drove out to a relatively remote part of the Great Wall, about 2 or 3 hours away from Beijing in order to get what must have been stunning wedding shots</i></span></td></tr>
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The competition to have better and more unique wedding photographs has driven a highly lucrative market to become more and more inventive. How about <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28957305">underwater photography</a>? Or dressing up in your <a href="http://9gag.com/gag/aGVVWZK?ref=mobile.s.cp">policeman work gear</a> for a swat-themed wedding shoot?</span></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-80471811883736518602013-12-21T01:24:00.001+00:002015-01-04T13:00:57.766+00:00What do people get up to in Chinese parks?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This post would be much shorter and simpler if I were to ask
the opposite question, what <i>don’t</i>
people do in Chinese parks. Because the short answer to the question in the
title, is in fact, <i>everything</i>. In
Chinese culture, the park seems to be another one of the major hubs of social
life, where people treat it as their local community centre. People come to
parks whether it’s sunny or cold to do pretty much everything. Need to practice
your Èrhú (<span lang="EN-US">二胡</span>)? There is space for you here, and no one
will mind the noise. Want to have an aerobics class with your friends? Bring
your stereo and your friends and do it for free. Want to catch up with the guys
over a game of mah-jong (májiàng <span lang="EN-US">麻将</span>) or cards? This is
the place to go. Even when it gets dark in the evenings parks can still be
quite busy, with ladies doing a dance routine to keep fit or other activities and people doing exercise.
So nothing like the deserted, empty and ominous English parks at night, where
secret exchanges occur or lovers meet up. So what do people mainly get up to? Well
each of the following activities could probably have their own mini blog post,
but I’m just intending to give a brief summary of the most common ones here,
and most of my blog posts turn into essays anyway. To any Chinese people reading, I hope you are not offended by my comments, they are not meant to be patronising, I just find these kinds of things fascinating because they don't happen in the country where I'm from!</span></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 1) <u>Older ladies getting together with friends for a
little exercise - <i>Guangchangwu</i> (</u></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>广场舞)</u></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuBH4vuPLKjhg1kOi-zaDs9JaNj6X_aCwy6Zpd8Vyx9kTZVceLi_WFJbXlGqMMyDIcQ0SbgTjsaPPJoJxgLrWBfpB4rlcWuNcmI5jgejpRapvZNnyAZpGFG8MJZS1IDTrtBD5NJ09lXUE-/s1600/SAM_4197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Ladies dancing China Guangchangwu 广场舞" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuBH4vuPLKjhg1kOi-zaDs9JaNj6X_aCwy6Zpd8Vyx9kTZVceLi_WFJbXlGqMMyDIcQ0SbgTjsaPPJoJxgLrWBfpB4rlcWuNcmI5jgejpRapvZNnyAZpGFG8MJZS1IDTrtBD5NJ09lXUE-/s400/SAM_4197.JPG" height="296" title="Guangchangwu 广场舞" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Dancing with fans at the campus park early in the morning</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you ever wondered how Chinese women manage to stay so
slim through the years? Well wonder no more, because I'm about to tell you one
of their secrets! Ladies dance together at the park or even in the street, all
year round (yes, even in winter, when it’s cold) while a mini stereo is playing
on the floor. I often wondered how they know the routine to do, but my Chinese
friends assure me that one of them is the leader and all the others follow.
These women are easily 40 + and more, so it seems cute that they still get
together with their friends for some fun times, not to mention getting some
good exercise which you so seldom see in the west.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They dance with a range of accessories including fans and
scarves. One of my all-time-favourite dancing shots is <a href="http://instagram.com/p/bhcxwtQ5aN/" target="_blank">this one</a> of these ladies dancing on the Bund with fans, but unfortunately the photo
quality is rather poor.</span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They also dance with scarves, which looks really beautiful,
and I took many shots of these women dancing at Hangzhou, while my Chinese
friend looked on, bored, wondering what the big deal was all about.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFsSn0XQJvIHj9ysGbDzQSEF1cCmCTWJgm02ZXQ3-kjwrHlbcBghuTG-1K4nM2VFXjtvMkVQILySaore_DEkjzMR0X7Oc6cUGO-N9C2nBiKneIgeXqN2UUse7Ao5VvIb4WbStrnsGCDv-/s1600/DSC_1218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Ladies dancing Guangchangwu 广场舞" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFsSn0XQJvIHj9ysGbDzQSEF1cCmCTWJgm02ZXQ3-kjwrHlbcBghuTG-1K4nM2VFXjtvMkVQILySaore_DEkjzMR0X7Oc6cUGO-N9C2nBiKneIgeXqN2UUse7Ao5VvIb4WbStrnsGCDv-/s400/DSC_1218.JPG" height="265" title="Guangchangwu 广场舞" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpM22b3rBhC5sOjhOJcGz4OOOIXI8ZJeLrsoj7fOgM5IznPBJi_xQDo0WZHwe08bAmnFGdp7HaYY6zDo3IWnWeIrzbQAkBUn0YcfeD_HWKQ2L79_XRZizBmc5mmT7aiM89PsbiZ8qVlbfJ/s1600/DSC_1219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Ladies dancing Guangchangwu 广场舞" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpM22b3rBhC5sOjhOJcGz4OOOIXI8ZJeLrsoj7fOgM5IznPBJi_xQDo0WZHwe08bAmnFGdp7HaYY6zDo3IWnWeIrzbQAkBUn0YcfeD_HWKQ2L79_XRZizBmc5mmT7aiM89PsbiZ8qVlbfJ/s400/DSC_1219.JPG" height="265" title="Guangchangwu 广场舞" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The range of accessories extends to many more items, some of
which I’m not even sure what they are!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_PZ8ngGgRAXExLk6rZ1I6W-ChjNVLWLmIeHsZT9RLb36TKdjyLhZW7JcXLUgH0q93vCUFMahANMIKIVFQntRJgGNobN-LmTYIIoZduDRhae0AvWEECShXiVYRQq5yNkKybGZyPQEmco0/s1600/DSC_1224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Guangchangwu" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_PZ8ngGgRAXExLk6rZ1I6W-ChjNVLWLmIeHsZT9RLb36TKdjyLhZW7JcXLUgH0q93vCUFMahANMIKIVFQntRJgGNobN-LmTYIIoZduDRhae0AvWEECShXiVYRQq5yNkKybGZyPQEmco0/s400/DSC_1224.JPG" height="288" title="Guangchangwu" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While we’re on the subject of exercise in parks, Western
people are not averse to it either, as I once witnessed a group of white people
running an aerobics class in the park, complete with instructor and boombox.
The Chinese found this equally fascinating, and crowded round the group,
cheering them on, as though it were a dance performance.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPHbPBZkozhlKI2bRyW_WpZ0jKgyi3Rhfj1V4oq9JCTjLq_z9eTKm-2XKbeCAxq141f3OMab6yTKJOa71iRoGNxtYs4SpWL_DKWGugYxH6yDvJL_Wla7DKUXF_BlVa_Nh-8XQeoiFB7_3/s1600/SAM_4891.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPHbPBZkozhlKI2bRyW_WpZ0jKgyi3Rhfj1V4oq9JCTjLq_z9eTKm-2XKbeCAxq141f3OMab6yTKJOa71iRoGNxtYs4SpWL_DKWGugYxH6yDvJL_Wla7DKUXF_BlVa_Nh-8XQeoiFB7_3/s320/SAM_4891.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Chinese people crowded around some westerners running an aerobics class in Fuxing Park</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While we're on the subject of Western hijacking of park space for their own crazy uses, allow me to show you the antics of what seems to be the local tight-rope walking society meeting:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivan53oV6qRZJIYTpiAwYz3ODg72VYtmwNXa1E8D8BwsgNCQon9uWl662HDewnmSUheUrSEzgUcqAaTpkUJtAIYgXB_kFn-L1TV6KXdevdbHjYQKbuOdf9mZlzO62e8KY8flR0_I1HpfMD/s1600/DSC_1844.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivan53oV6qRZJIYTpiAwYz3ODg72VYtmwNXa1E8D8BwsgNCQon9uWl662HDewnmSUheUrSEzgUcqAaTpkUJtAIYgXB_kFn-L1TV6KXdevdbHjYQKbuOdf9mZlzO62e8KY8flR0_I1HpfMD/s320/DSC_1844.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2E3vhWALhLzyGFNCuH63ycyxhzUj37dfOfqa8scMhxSV5z_su7NXb8AdSCJYAIsdUEc5e_HG7CJWpCGIx4S0rtdUsixQEIiEwatcHTs-174kqDhqlLSrWR1Bd0oZ5IrsCqubgdQbEGR8r/s1600/DSC_1831.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2E3vhWALhLzyGFNCuH63ycyxhzUj37dfOfqa8scMhxSV5z_su7NXb8AdSCJYAIsdUEc5e_HG7CJWpCGIx4S0rtdUsixQEIiEwatcHTs-174kqDhqlLSrWR1Bd0oZ5IrsCqubgdQbEGR8r/s320/DSC_1831.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Tight rope walking practice at SJTU campus park</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This group seem to be at the university park every Sunday, and more Asian people seem to be joining in too, although the police didn't seem that keen on them attaching their ropes to the trees this week, and soon put a stop to them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2) <u>Dancing lessons</u><u> </u></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People also do full on dancing lessons in the
park, as demonstrated by these couples at Fuxing Park:</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOr78ngyygprsou4PvGSk3Y9iqLjAhOEUOmgqiKVlh4VAb8Z2k4qICMM0rVp5wFxvqs_KQHBGlH-q0qB7e4PXPExHI5qfbmkj4QyyDs5LEKRwDCQPVQzvxZBBWcP7wyZVfSln2U2STATPs/s1600/SAM_4895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOr78ngyygprsou4PvGSk3Y9iqLjAhOEUOmgqiKVlh4VAb8Z2k4qICMM0rVp5wFxvqs_KQHBGlH-q0qB7e4PXPExHI5qfbmkj4QyyDs5LEKRwDCQPVQzvxZBBWcP7wyZVfSln2U2STATPs/s400/SAM_4895.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Couples dancing lessons in Fuxing Park</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Furthermore, they don’t seem to mind anyone stopping to
stare at them or taking any photos. They just carry on, completely unfazed. I
think it’s cute that older people do proper dancing like this. Who said that
romance was dead!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">3) </span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><u style="text-indent: -18pt;">Card or board games</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The park is also a place where older Chinese guys get
together to play various games, about which they get very enthused. This, I
guess is not so specific to China, because it’s common in other countries, as
I’ve often seen men out, late, playing chess or some game in some European
countries, particularly Greece. But here, the Chinese seem to be so
enthusiastic about it, and apparently a little gambling over cards is very popular.
It seems like some games get quite exciting, and it is hard to actually get
near enough to see what they are playing, because there are so many people
crowded round the players! But I know they play mah-jong, Chinese chequers and
card games amongst others. Also, this seemed like a definitely men’s only
territory, so I didn't want to stray too close for fear of crossing some
cultural boundary of which I was unaware.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuz2QWktWBlRCmm2CIJxG3-MbC7X-e6jD24T7mFuK5iK6uDGC5Tpu9BKPIQvJcFeQFdKB7nMBDUD5uQ_A-m4f0JnpS4nf5DP1jivsOumzsRPE7ktnC3eo6VjD_Png4m4JJ6DuJ5XzoTHtF/s1600/DSC_1911.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuz2QWktWBlRCmm2CIJxG3-MbC7X-e6jD24T7mFuK5iK6uDGC5Tpu9BKPIQvJcFeQFdKB7nMBDUD5uQ_A-m4f0JnpS4nf5DP1jivsOumzsRPE7ktnC3eo6VjD_Png4m4JJ6DuJ5XzoTHtF/s400/DSC_1911.JPG" height="288" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Card games at Renmin Park</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNj12P4HDS0_i19Fd3mYS8w06BMQz191mfox71Vf-keLROLIvPLB512nWVP2SdBkRCtLJHb5SbcDEWzFEbE0v1PpNIX88dahBsH2hOi8kW02F-EkGX8nFP4fQfKZL6bdl-EQvpUgQcfUo/s1600/SAM_4885.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNj12P4HDS0_i19Fd3mYS8w06BMQz191mfox71Vf-keLROLIvPLB512nWVP2SdBkRCtLJHb5SbcDEWzFEbE0v1PpNIX88dahBsH2hOi8kW02F-EkGX8nFP4fQfKZL6bdl-EQvpUgQcfUo/s400/SAM_4885.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>An intense game of something. I'm not sure what, since there were too many people crowded round to see!</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">4) </span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><u>Water calligraphy on the pavement – </u></span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.5px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Dìshū</u></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><u> (</u></span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-decoration: underline; text-indent: -18pt;">地書</span><span style="text-decoration: underline; text-indent: -18pt;">)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is very commonly seen in parks and on the street,
apparently this art form first became popular in the 1990s in Beijing and then
spread to other major cities. Basically, it involves writing on the pavement
using only water as the ink with sticks and foam as brushes, allowing an ephemeral
artistic expression. It’s a beautiful way of expressing oneself in a transient
manner, as artist write poetry, quotes from literature and aphorisms in a
cursive style of the traditional Chinese script. With characters requiring up
to 20 or so strokes, each character is an art form in itself and people who can
write such complex characters are regarded as highly skilled and attract awe
and appreciation from passers by, foreign or locals alike. It’s very beautiful
to watch the words being painted, then slowly disappear as the water
evaporates. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe387Q2I7TOIqiZPYkDBax3NiYx1LqbS9zrPXQJF5gIxtaUwfq411oiOYf2DR8UK57bnvcwAR37yydtkZBfVfIwWTHZBQGZlx8Ho9ZGPzSbhFzVop0HxJmuqqR0sxLD347W7rH5vIHvX1L/s1600/SAM_4902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Dishu 地書" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe387Q2I7TOIqiZPYkDBax3NiYx1LqbS9zrPXQJF5gIxtaUwfq411oiOYf2DR8UK57bnvcwAR37yydtkZBfVfIwWTHZBQGZlx8Ho9ZGPzSbhFzVop0HxJmuqqR0sxLD347W7rH5vIHvX1L/s400/SAM_4902.JPG" height="400" title="Dishu 地書" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 19.48px; text-align: left;"><i>Dìshū</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i> at Fuxing Park</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCC6tfJtFenI1beXEnkKAaGseHpAnZmL4X4uaCKF8KplNjjOjsPHklAD0sy6CCF9UKp8zSffo1eVOT177pWZhngInjEdEVH96tVyb91HtarqroKfk9wJI5qhA_-7oUZW8ZnR9JuOL1195K/s1600/di+shu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><img alt="Dishu 地書 Hangzhou" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCC6tfJtFenI1beXEnkKAaGseHpAnZmL4X4uaCKF8KplNjjOjsPHklAD0sy6CCF9UKp8zSffo1eVOT177pWZhngInjEdEVH96tVyb91HtarqroKfk9wJI5qhA_-7oUZW8ZnR9JuOL1195K/s320/di+shu.jpg" height="320" title="Dishu 地書 Hangzhou" width="212" /></i></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 19.48px; text-align: left;">Dìshū</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> at West Lake in </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Hangzhou</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are several really great posts out there on this topic, so I won't repeat them, but my favourite one is <a href="http://theculturetrip.com/asia/china/articles/dishu-a-look-at-china-s-street-calligraphers/" target="_blank">this one</a>, because of its beautiful pictures that really give justice to this art form. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u style="text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></u>
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;">5) </span><u style="text-indent: -18pt;">Tai chi</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You see older people doing tai chi at all hours of the day,
and not just in the parks, but also in the street or car parks, and generally
random places! They do tai chi, a very slow type of meditative exercise that’s
loosely based on martial art moves in order to relax, and keep their muscle
tone. It’s a really great way to stretch yourself, a bit like yoga or Pilates,
and also to calm the mind. I tried it during my undergrad years, and it was
great, so I thought I might be able to take it up here. However, when I
mentioned this, my suggestion was met with laughter, and my lab mates just
pointed to the people in the park and said that “maybe you can ask some of the
old people over there to teach you”. For tai chi is pretty much as uncool as it
gets now. (On another note, when I also expressed a love for orchids and
boasted that I have three at home, this was also met with more laughter and
dismissal, as another “old-fogey” type interest. I guess I am an old lady on
the inside!). I think tai chi can be really cool though, and there are many
versions, including ones with implements, such as swords!</span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, young people prefer more fast paced kind of martial
arts, like Wushu, or pretty much they have started adopting western sports.
Basketball is by far the most popular sport here, having imported the NBA from
America, and you see loads of Chinese guys playing it enthusiastically every
day, or watching it on their computers in the lab. I think this might be partly
due to some successes of the taller Chinese players who have made it really big
in America. For example Shanghai-born <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yao_Ming" target="_blank">Yao Ming</a>,
who unwittingly became a big internet meme for his “Bitch, please!” face during
an interview.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMkcJLLk-v0Kiw3_gcDyEH5HnDXdUzbSBn4xZvVUdnN9zcPeBJGwA7vwgLeR_dOPPK08u6hgkNh06bNwIW_3nPFEiO-wBY6JuKQXFTbpUNMN4E3ChZ2SoWq9aIGunyVBQJw1EYpr2m7og/s320/yao-ming-memes-chinese-DM.jpg" height="320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="194" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Yao Ming - internaitonal basketball star, and current SJTU student</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMkcJLLk-v0Kiw3_gcDyEH5HnDXdUzbSBn4xZvVUdnN9zcPeBJGwA7vwgLeR_dOPPK08u6hgkNh06bNwIW_3nPFEiO-wBY6JuKQXFTbpUNMN4E3ChZ2SoWq9aIGunyVBQJw1EYpr2m7og/s1600/yao-ming-memes-chinese-DM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After playing for the Houston Rockets for several years, he decided
to retire due to recurring foot injuries, and is now currently enrolled at a
degree course at SJTU! The others tell me that this is quite common for Chinese
sportsmen to focus on becoming a success in their athletic career while they
are young, and then starting their undergraduate degree when they retire, in
order to have a proper life for themselves afterwards. Unfortunately, he has
mainly private tuition on the other campus, to avoid causing a distraction since
he is a national hero, particularly here in his home town, both for his
successes on the court and his humanitarian work. This means that I don’t
really get the chance to see him!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u style="text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></u>
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;">6) </span><u style="text-indent: -18pt;">Kite flying</u></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a big one, since China is the land where kites originated
from, as there were readily available materials that were ideal for making
kites: <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">silk, a lightweight but strong material to catch the wind; and bamboo<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>for a sturdy,
but lightweight framework. Young and old both like to fly kites in the
park, and there are plenty of kite sellers hovering around the major touristy
kite spots. I too succumbed into buying a kite, reliving my childhood days
where I would spend a crazy amount of time flying my huge kite in the fields
behind our house, and later sewed my own kite (I know, I was just the coolest
kid at school, right?).<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvpkgIaD0CITLa_6a3wEPyl5_twCL9SKcMRh5GtI8ej_NRQ_CCnqcaKzkCEGVEMa-fOzYBU1QvOuzUl1u5SgBqb1vTaL3YZQuHqsQqkIJHLevTpbGvuTGeHsvqo8HjOYunqb8t_YsqcQdg/s1600/SAM_3004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvpkgIaD0CITLa_6a3wEPyl5_twCL9SKcMRh5GtI8ej_NRQ_CCnqcaKzkCEGVEMa-fOzYBU1QvOuzUl1u5SgBqb1vTaL3YZQuHqsQqkIJHLevTpbGvuTGeHsvqo8HjOYunqb8t_YsqcQdg/s400/SAM_3004.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Flying my kite at Century Avenue</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At only 100 m line, my kite
was pretty tame in comparison to the pros who also frequent these kind of
places. There are some guys, who can keep a kite going at what seems like above
the levels of the tallest skyscrapers. Take for example this guy:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifpK6pcLyJ5tLnopl0Q6ZzN-358qXwoWDWIV_ZEU8ySh7GNfksegF6Zuj83rVZtB1v-tBKghjN9isfA6nuB79hEwseoA1Q8UuCAzcXp6wuD771vLz99LmXJq9DXngioDUI7RFxqOxwYMT-/s1600/SAM_4892.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifpK6pcLyJ5tLnopl0Q6ZzN-358qXwoWDWIV_ZEU8ySh7GNfksegF6Zuj83rVZtB1v-tBKghjN9isfA6nuB79hEwseoA1Q8UuCAzcXp6wuD771vLz99LmXJq9DXngioDUI7RFxqOxwYMT-/s400/SAM_4892.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Serious kite flyer at Fuxing Park</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">You can see from his pretty serious</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 15.45px;">-looking reel that he means business. And even at the highest magnification possible on my little compact, I could only get this image of his kite flying high as a tiny little speck:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"></span><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCIOkXU8USf4YSESeQALJETaCAtb49KQ0Opc1llHxHHH5qCSnPyKvz34GjJKf-nkmorf0IrZNRwBANRCDOP-4s4C0FY4Ccfs10wFQsF7Rf2FQP_kXAC2uAJErYf4Npt6ADmKcLDLP56_A0/s1600/SAM_4893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCIOkXU8USf4YSESeQALJETaCAtb49KQ0Opc1llHxHHH5qCSnPyKvz34GjJKf-nkmorf0IrZNRwBANRCDOP-4s4C0FY4Ccfs10wFQsF7Rf2FQP_kXAC2uAJErYf4Npt6ADmKcLDLP56_A0/s400/SAM_4893.JPG" height="258" width="400" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">
</span>
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">There are also a string of
mini kites that you can buy, which don’t travel so high, but look really cute:</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">
</span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPQfj0C_lVxycqxWACxqd4qr-rDGar9nMn9OTykAqBy9HvCj1l3oOBXu_Fy5G5VHFJsYai8OSrSmUxFlzEf-jXno-mO8Emaup72NKkzpJf-D7OiyvyGJbaXpSJHVlaAAQBhGtnDGiFqzf2/s1600/SAM_4397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Chineses Kites Century Avenue" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPQfj0C_lVxycqxWACxqd4qr-rDGar9nMn9OTykAqBy9HvCj1l3oOBXu_Fy5G5VHFJsYai8OSrSmUxFlzEf-jXno-mO8Emaup72NKkzpJf-D7OiyvyGJbaXpSJHVlaAAQBhGtnDGiFqzf2/s400/SAM_4397.JPG" height="300" title="Chineses Kites Century Avenue" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Mini kites at Century Avenue</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So, in short, kite flying is
a big deal in China (although probably also an old-fogey thing!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">
</span>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7) <u>Singing</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to these other art forms, there is also plenty
of singing going on. Sometimes people seem to be holding performances, with an
amplifier playing a backing track. I think this is in a similar vein to people
practising their instruments in the park, like the èrhús I mentioned at the
beginning of this post. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, this has now included me, since I was asked to
perform some Christmas songs at the lab Chritmas party! (eek!) Since I had nowhere private to practise where I didn’t drive people insane, I had to
resort to the park option! It was surprisingly good, because on account of the cold weather, there were few people in the park, but those that were there either didn't bat an eyelid, or they just took pictures of me. Some guys also came up to me and took pictures in so many different poses and even asked to pose with my guitar! I couldn't really refuse this, since I have been known to take a fair few photos of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">èrhú players too. It was actually a fairly liberating experience, and helped me to bring up my confidence prior to the big performance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;">8) Marriage markets!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, before match.com, there was the old fashioned paper
version! Except this one is run by your parents! The famous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_marriage_market" target="_blank">Shanghai marriage market</a> at
People’s Park (人民公园) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in Shanghai</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> happens every weekend from 12 pm, where parents of marriageable aged children
who are struggling to find a spouse come to chat with other parents who are in
the same position in the hope of finding a good match. I don’t know what is
displayed on these ads, but I imagine there’ll be much focus on age and profession
and family background, which are very important considerations in Asian culture
when choosing a partner with whom to settle down. This kind of system is quite
out-dated in most parts, but used to be fairly common. Nowadays, children have
much more choice over their partners, although parental approval is still very
important for the Chinese, who are very family-orientated and are taught to
respect their elders. Before the cultural revolution, it was legal for parents to break up a marriage if they didn't approve of their child's choice of partner!</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD5Ow_f83KafC5_PrHpZBUQtRQQhPFnzZOHfXS2ASCSiIsALzVovJH-A4nsKLFuCMi5B1LpVe3Ot630ypjhrAJMcl0QBi3384w8tJ0huu0F7wDqQfDBzUEwbPUddPbcqwy3JUMpb54ZAUT/s1600/SAM_5601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Shanghai Marriage Market Renmin Park" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD5Ow_f83KafC5_PrHpZBUQtRQQhPFnzZOHfXS2ASCSiIsALzVovJH-A4nsKLFuCMi5B1LpVe3Ot630ypjhrAJMcl0QBi3384w8tJ0huu0F7wDqQfDBzUEwbPUddPbcqwy3JUMpb54ZAUT/s320/SAM_5601.JPG" height="240" title="Shanghai Marriage Market Renmin Park" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>A marriage arranger displaying his clients at Renmin Park</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Shanghai Marriage Market Renmin Park" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrGhjARVKvwGyqEheKhq00MDrg1BT5S4KfP_VsWtR8WGYQM3BEBAYiKD29dhbiMBYA-umpkj1pa-x56VMpJ6H4OQPwG44OE5GjYGKpAlWQDYBq2e3tuDcXCR7ZD1oGnRcEibj2fiJDXA2u/s400/SAM_5603+b.jpg" height="400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Shanghai Marriage Market Renmin Park" width="300" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Looking for Miss Right for my son</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUbpZxcepY-CNf7X8Rp7Yn4ZDxNrgFVenCwjeOiDMLfcv_QlFIBHUHiyrCkzeWsDodFz-s5wZbqrxlNsmuwAhDOLksN5jLBOwJQPwrvane7g5WLbvkhboIyz0jfwncbFArqVhWh0JatKQK/s1600/SAM_5604.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Shanghai Marriage Market Renmin Park" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUbpZxcepY-CNf7X8Rp7Yn4ZDxNrgFVenCwjeOiDMLfcv_QlFIBHUHiyrCkzeWsDodFz-s5wZbqrxlNsmuwAhDOLksN5jLBOwJQPwrvane7g5WLbvkhboIyz0jfwncbFArqVhWh0JatKQK/s320/SAM_5604.JPG" height="320" title="Shanghai Marriage Market Renmin Park" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>People displaying their marriage adverts on umbrellas</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiee1m7CBPZNicmlw4ySfewmIcrCNAUszaXUlNaYmMhKGMpcZufYzY-1VXHYPbWttVCt7OXXv5onO-Hkpv0dGhoW2mGWyptI-ReEH7W4d6zwt3zlSTSCxf1Q3Udis7g0nFdR0sVBOrBluEC/s1600/DSC_1923.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Shanghai Marriage Market Renmin Park" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiee1m7CBPZNicmlw4ySfewmIcrCNAUszaXUlNaYmMhKGMpcZufYzY-1VXHYPbWttVCt7OXXv5onO-Hkpv0dGhoW2mGWyptI-ReEH7W4d6zwt3zlSTSCxf1Q3Udis7g0nFdR0sVBOrBluEC/s320/DSC_1923.JPG" height="212" title="Shanghai Marriage Market Renmin Park" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Every weekend, people cram two tunnels like this in Renmin Park as part of the marriage market</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9) <u>Wedding photography</u> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Utilising the parks for marriages
doesn't stop with planning a wedding! Wedding photography is huge in Asia, and
in the warmer months, you’ll very likely see dozens of couples traipsing around
through the town and parks with their photography entourage to take photos in a
range of outfits and locations. This section already has many photos, so I've
decided to dedicate <a href="http://shanghaiereducation.blogspot.com/2013/12/chinese-wedding-photography.html" target="_blank">its own post</a> showing my favourite wedding photography
moments.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One thing that is clear from all these activities is that
just like how there is an absence of “personal space” in China (a concept held
so dear to many Brits), there is also an absence of self-consciousness. It’s
funny because for a culture that’s so obsessed with saving face and maintaining relationships through <i>guanxi</i>, it’s surprisingly hard to get a Chinese person to
feel embarrassed in the way that we know in the UK. Their thresholds are just
in completely different places. It’s so lovely that they are unburdened by any
such social restrictions and are just free to enjoy themselves without worrying about
what others think. If anything people are actively encouraged to express themselves artistically, which is something I love.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Secondly, apart from the marriage related activities, most of my comments seem to be done by people who are middle aged or older. While my interest in these activities probably shows more about me than anything else, I love that this means that old people don't fade into the background here. In China, elders are not regarded as an inconvenience or a nuisance, but rather are respected and revered. Age equals wisdom in China and this means that as you get older, people listen to you more. I think of the situation in the UK, where old people are shipped off to homes as soon as possible, and the Salvation army runs adverts to ask for volunteers to keep old people company, and I know this kind of situation would be unthinkable in China.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>What do you see in your local park? What do you think about the Chinese confidence and sense of freedom in parks?</i></span></div>
</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-8275283021210761372013-12-17T08:35:00.004+00:002013-12-28T09:36:06.945+00:00More than a Toilet - Delicious and Happy! 便所欢乐主题餐厅<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So some of you may recall from one of my <a href="http://shanghaiereducation.blogspot.com/2013/10/chinese-hospitality.html" target="_blank">earliest blog posts</a> where I spotted a sign for a dubiously themed restaurant:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-qsbODCe-t-RGGPf_enwTfxxJlYb8r6usS4rPlWOBD1nq1cWC_u0EQdQ-eDRaCzrwwlNLRWrMzLZwz-yoibW9ck8peHXkfdKsN298sKBCl9OrdiCny4yuiiHGwVizL0XfJlZhojK90mU/s1600/SAM_4294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-qsbODCe-t-RGGPf_enwTfxxJlYb8r6usS4rPlWOBD1nq1cWC_u0EQdQ-eDRaCzrwwlNLRWrMzLZwz-yoibW9ck8peHXkfdKsN298sKBCl9OrdiCny4yuiiHGwVizL0XfJlZhojK90mU/s320/SAM_4294.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enticed by the array of urinals decorating the walls and the pictures I'd seen on the internet, we decided that this was one trip that had to be done before I left. With this chain originating in Taiwan and now having stores in other parts of China, and intrigued by the regular long queues that stream out of this restaurant at peak times, my friends were also interested to find out what the fuss was about.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhETEKKnd8JpP-p8AuvX4K8lXePzuhDsT4_O46TdnCf3XQpDUBAP9nMV_eGvSHoUEUhJl6O-WaQW2IeUtNFhbyQA0XIsbsKUNis1oSGlsSMtQKpvzUAjw9DqtxGwXoWebjQYxMFgvXye0Hv/s1600/SAM_5687.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhETEKKnd8JpP-p8AuvX4K8lXePzuhDsT4_O46TdnCf3XQpDUBAP9nMV_eGvSHoUEUhJl6O-WaQW2IeUtNFhbyQA0XIsbsKUNis1oSGlsSMtQKpvzUAjw9DqtxGwXoWebjQYxMFgvXye0Hv/s320/SAM_5687.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDmr8YgiEUPfwhr8-2cIFaDnuxxgUvosSKXag-Eu8c5shwo389UX8GShQ9OlOw_QVFP0SL7ppY4QCQTxf9tz_y_EHQTsN0KQsRM9jMrzgaPRMw2GPgHsSFVinrTgJpTxwDPb0boQ0xe9gV/s1600/SAM_5688.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDmr8YgiEUPfwhr8-2cIFaDnuxxgUvosSKXag-Eu8c5shwo389UX8GShQ9OlOw_QVFP0SL7ppY4QCQTxf9tz_y_EHQTsN0KQsRM9jMrzgaPRMw2GPgHsSFVinrTgJpTxwDPb0boQ0xe9gV/s320/SAM_5688.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKtkH8xoFWWnzh59pHj7YsfTfowQj98uu7tjT2Kin82h-9yQpFTFReTQS6oJ2vBxK54ZyHj7450a88ERg4FvQ9QCxR1yqyX7qpZcnY3Eo545dxxh0gdLFKfjhP_ubsUvuxnCSonsHnOYk/s1600/SAM_5689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKtkH8xoFWWnzh59pHj7YsfTfowQj98uu7tjT2Kin82h-9yQpFTFReTQS6oJ2vBxK54ZyHj7450a88ERg4FvQ9QCxR1yqyX7qpZcnY3Eo545dxxh0gdLFKfjhP_ubsUvuxnCSonsHnOYk/s320/SAM_5689.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After being greeted by an ominous-looking pair of legs sticking out of a bath tub with dry ice fumes coming out of it, and with poo-shaped cushions welcoming us to the plush seats, we knew this was going to be interesting. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkTdP8MFthFEvhzg3S3jOnV_3P0zk-1t2hLDWsePUJmV0kCrxStrsfRm0ONlRf4Pijtou1bR5AQL_7cBXc8A2aCrdGLLNFdWaIKM0JDH7d5K12o3aRNazKFbb3Z2wlLaqKZBsvqR5L7z0o/s1600/PIC_20131214_115545_C2B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkTdP8MFthFEvhzg3S3jOnV_3P0zk-1t2hLDWsePUJmV0kCrxStrsfRm0ONlRf4Pijtou1bR5AQL_7cBXc8A2aCrdGLLNFdWaIKM0JDH7d5K12o3aRNazKFbb3Z2wlLaqKZBsvqR5L7z0o/s400/PIC_20131214_115545_C2B.jpg" width="237" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Settling in to our comfy toilet seats</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Toilet seats at More than a Toilet, complete with working buttons!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The major downside to this restaurant is that they are taking full advantage of their novelty status and charging an arm and a leg (not the ones in the tub) for the food there. At about £15 for a main meal, we decided to forgo the food experience in favour of a light snack and taking photos. So we ended up sharing only one pizza (costing £8, which wasn't even on a par with a Pizza Hut or Domino's standard) and one desert (chocolate profiteroles served in a toilet shaped bowl). </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0FC7_kHwRLBkSSqWYnxC8_UsE5YRb7_wJ2f8fMC1Vzxmgu3ysFUHRC7PLO2phPkXZKXm6Y0ipLAOcHXKdN0XItBsBtmVoSs6TQsLXCEkRASrDQN4UoP0sIEYkstUSD7-jymFbOqy2rwtn/s1600/SAM_5685.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0FC7_kHwRLBkSSqWYnxC8_UsE5YRb7_wJ2f8fMC1Vzxmgu3ysFUHRC7PLO2phPkXZKXm6Y0ipLAOcHXKdN0XItBsBtmVoSs6TQsLXCEkRASrDQN4UoP0sIEYkstUSD7-jymFbOqy2rwtn/s320/SAM_5685.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Trepidation on the first taste</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The chocolate profiteroles were much better than the pizza and I was happy to tuck right in</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg610_CQkn24CL3N6Ji7o1yAa7E2P3qVvLbEiZ0qOHF5CeVZofX6w-EbxBTm8t6-UljPbncY6u62G1nQbNh-2jNeyD93uWzWeSzeYlAFTYs3UyQX4-NgxAahMuq701AW7WryobuboIApprO/s1600/PIC_20131214_120214_786.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg610_CQkn24CL3N6Ji7o1yAa7E2P3qVvLbEiZ0qOHF5CeVZofX6w-EbxBTm8t6-UljPbncY6u62G1nQbNh-2jNeyD93uWzWeSzeYlAFTYs3UyQX4-NgxAahMuq701AW7WryobuboIApprO/s320/PIC_20131214_120214_786.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFI6sA8x-Ngz3x05K6FndNz2itzPYHikN4_nCXswMhgdT2qdy-PsllSrl9YxKRAd1oVdywT6cQxQCtHL58wFmSFuUxSH012HeaVHGGdYtgFJTqeWWgFy07epTIbxjuOpO_75SeL-MjrykT/s1600/SAM_5686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFI6sA8x-Ngz3x05K6FndNz2itzPYHikN4_nCXswMhgdT2qdy-PsllSrl9YxKRAd1oVdywT6cQxQCtHL58wFmSFuUxSH012HeaVHGGdYtgFJTqeWWgFy07epTIbxjuOpO_75SeL-MjrykT/s320/SAM_5686.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">We scraped the bowl clean on account of the sharing, but it didn't really do anything to reduce the unsavory appearance!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Generally, we concluded that this establishment was in the business of selling pictures, rather than food, so we ended up going for a big slap-up meal afterwards at another restaurant Linglong Town, where we ate a huge amount of food for nearly the same price! They also specialise in a very wonderful version of maqiu (麻球) which is a deep fried glurinous rice dough ball with red bean paste inside, just like a Chinese doughtnut, but rolled in sesame seeds. I discovered maqiu after they started serving is for breakfast in the canteen, and whenever I see it, I always make a beeline for it and buy at least one or two. They are a sublime union of gooey, juicy and crispy tasty goodness that makes them irresistable for me. They are normally small enough to fit in one hand, but this restaurant makes an awesome version that is about ten times the normal size. Although it's mainly full of air, it looks spectacular, and is no less tasty!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfOMOd5czO3Ujuk3VIFclCVEm-E3FvWG6KYZVavoWwZQ_2_7VLJ_G4IDlx-e9zHuDzPFAntKrm2-zP1QreaBSGpfGj64HBYZ2rOrNMc3wJj873-CFzi5c0SoAVwdjPvUsLFKmNYyF6Cia3/s1600/DSC_1823.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfOMOd5czO3Ujuk3VIFclCVEm-E3FvWG6KYZVavoWwZQ_2_7VLJ_G4IDlx-e9zHuDzPFAntKrm2-zP1QreaBSGpfGj64HBYZ2rOrNMc3wJj873-CFzi5c0SoAVwdjPvUsLFKmNYyF6Cia3/s400/DSC_1823.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Giant maqiu 麻球 at Longling restaurant</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZmbop5NNhUmx6J0H_wQ9Qqewd1qQK5QcAov7y6C6FKbFHoDD-3ku4kM9DbFTHVt4sINiOguUvTjw0yNbiiXkG6teRb-jW2AB02vRrEaNyYY53zyNG80lFuSv-mYsRqjV-496DOdS0OMb/s1600/PIC_20131214_131113_A58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZmbop5NNhUmx6J0H_wQ9Qqewd1qQK5QcAov7y6C6FKbFHoDD-3ku4kM9DbFTHVt4sINiOguUvTjw0yNbiiXkG6teRb-jW2AB02vRrEaNyYY53zyNG80lFuSv-mYsRqjV-496DOdS0OMb/s400/PIC_20131214_131113_A58.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd love to learn how to make them at home to feed my habit, but apparently they are quite hard to make and you have to be very skilled to get them perfectly spherical. Sounds like a challenge!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you been to a More than a Toilet restaurant? Or any other crazily themed restaurants?</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-66713322784139748902013-12-06T22:00:00.000+00:002014-05-23T20:25:52.596+01:00Airpocalypse 2013 - smog in Shanghai - 包咳死<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0pIbkadkerv2vX_qWBMjOdMSMxoVVCfVmWNLEncVzRDZFvkztw3oN2_7Y5xTEUNOlMkuUmdDKEne7oAUpSYvaNy7ucPQOdVPdnzPaD0199lGOI09-Hkp5MbjHw6UwCSO6kG9fSLlVk0GN/s1600/SAM_4697.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0pIbkadkerv2vX_qWBMjOdMSMxoVVCfVmWNLEncVzRDZFvkztw3oN2_7Y5xTEUNOlMkuUmdDKEne7oAUpSYvaNy7ucPQOdVPdnzPaD0199lGOI09-Hkp5MbjHw6UwCSO6kG9fSLlVk0GN/s1600/SAM_4697.JPG" height="335" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">What's visible of the sun at 2pm on a smoggy day in the Forbidden City, Beijing</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It's no secret that the pollution levels in China are reaching dire levels, and that despite pressure from its residents and internationally, not too much seems to be changing. The government has tried to implement a few rules, such as cars with odd numbers on their registration plates only being able to drive on every other day, and vice versa, or some other rules like, cars with registration plates from other provinces only allowed to drive in the city within restricted hours. However, none of these seem to be making much of a difference, in fact, they appear to be getting worse every year. The measurement of the levels of pollution is given by the Air Quality Index (AQI), based on the concentration of air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, and particulate matter (PM). The latter is frequently mentioned, because the particles around 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) and 10 micrometers (PM10) are thought to be responsible for the increased incidence of lung and other cancers in China's most polluted cities. In particular, PM2.5 is seen as the biggest problem, since its small size means that it can penetrate deeper into the lungs and is cleared less easily by the natural movement of mucus. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> A collaborative study between American, Israeli and Chinese researchers recently published in <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/110/32/12936.short">PNAS </a>estimated that on average, people who live in northern China have their life expectancy lowered by </span><a href="http://shanghaiist.com/2013/07/09/breaking_pollution_really_bad_for_y.php" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">5.5 years</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. It is estimated by the WHO that in 2010, 223,000 people died from pollution-linked lung cancer, and there must be many more from other cardio-respiratory related illnesses. Recently, the <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/11/131108-lung-cancer-childhood-china-pollution-eight-year-old-girl/">world's youngest lung cancer patient</a> at eight years of age has been identified in China, and undoubtedly, the air pollution must have contributed to this tragic event.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> For the many smartphone users in China, there are a range of air quality apps which help to monitor the situation and give advice on which days are suitable for outdoor activities. They normally give two readings - one for the PM2.5 and one for the overall AQI, which is a combination of all the molecules mentioned. The WHO states that a healthy range for living creatures should be around 20 - 50, but it hovers around 200 in Shanghai on a daily basis. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> When I first arrived, it took a few days to get used to, for example when I first ventured to find a local HSBC ATM (they are not as common as you would think, given that they have "Shanghai" in the acronym), I was recommended to take a taxi, but I looked on Google Maps and saw that it was only a 20 minute walk, so I thought "How bad could it be?" and set off in the general direction, thinking that I could take a scenic route in order to discover and familiarise myself with the local area. I quickly realised that there was not much of any importance in this direction, and that the main roads with quadruple lanes on each side were very busy, and tickled my lungs in a unsettlingly unfamiliar way that I had not experienced before. Generally, I felt like I was short of breath, and wanted to cough every time I tried to take a breath in. I decided to avoid walking along main roads in future, and became a metro devotee.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I asked the others in the lab about whether they ever wore any masks, for which China is so famous, and they all laughed, saying that they thought it was unnecessary and ineffective. Generally, Chinese people seem to be more blasé about their attitude to the smog, just accepting it as a necessary evil to help them on their way to becoming a fully developed country. Some even boast that the Chinese immune system is so resilient due to the high levels of pollution. This is in contrast to the attitude I found in Korea, where people were ready to whip out their face-masks as soon as levels went near 100 AQI. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But the end result was that probably due to their influence, I never bought one when I first arrived. It was surprisingly easy to get used to the basal level of smog, and I didn't notice it after a while, even though average daily level that we have is considered "Unhealthy" by the WHO. It was not so bad on campus anyway, where the traffic was quite low, and even then, the smog was usually better in Shanghai compared to an inland city like Beijing, because we at least had the proximity to the coast and its ocean breezes to help dispel the particles. However, I was warned that in general the smog tends to get worse during the winter, when poorer people start burning coal and othe</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">r materials in order to keep warm, because like other south east Asian areas, Shanghai buildings tend not to have central heating, and most people rely on switching their air conditioners to warm setting in order to keep warm at night. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> So I got used to the smog and didn't really notice it too much, until the day came which we started referring to as "airpocalypse" (although there have been several of these in a range of different cities around China), which was such an unusually bad event in Shanghai that it ended up making the news, even internationally. We had originally planned a trip out on December 6th to the other campus, but as we woke to a thick, grey haze, we knew that our plans had to be cancelled. I knew it was bad as I walked to the lab in the morning and the visibility seemed to be ridiculously low. It reminded me of scuba diving in the murky quarry of Stoneycove during our training course in Leicester, where you couldn't really see where you were going til you got there! Visibility estimates were hovering around less than 20 m, and it was reported that apparently some people when they first woke that morning thought that they'd lost their sight! We all watched out AQI apps for any change in levels, but it just got worse as the day went on. It started at around 450 at breakfast, and by lunchtime it had broken the 500 mark, which was above the currently available scale - so the pollution was literally off the scale!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDZ32tTOSFABWhSWU4-kmSLFza7fsUmkiSKMLj_Kvwj_wm-6rZjKdEMGGLG6nmyNQ1k6mMWJ2cHyIFdAdGLsZAkxmctBFvP4NDXPLwegd3_x38-fSgIkeOj6zgEzI5KZLk9LKhsS8Sq_e/s1600/photo+(24).JPG" height="320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="256" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>AQI levels going "beyond index" levels in Shanghai, while it stayed relatively normal in Beijing. WHO guidelines say 20 - 50 AQI is a healthy range!</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It turned out that due to freak weather conditions, including an unusual lack of wind meant that the daily smog that the city churns out into the air wasn't cleared properly from the whole area around Shanghai, up to other major cities, such as Nanjing, which incidentally was the only place in the world that was (slightly) worse off during those couple of days. The biggest insult of all was that contrary to the normal situation, Beijing seemed to be doing really well.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://shanghaiist.com/2013/12/12/smog-from-space-satellite.php" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpQljiX6Qou7PzzPoMTyYRXeB9azg72PSIEMKt5gvs8eaQIIrwAEpMs2xc8k5sfeieVD8e5eECJTRCfJ0k-VdyrdqqfkgM1jsKVlBwK5i4pDfIINnzRvlCjFhgtpLv4iZqOM6Hlui7RUBA/s1600/Photo+of+the+Day+China's+air+pollution+seen+from+orbit+Shanghaiist+-+Google+Chrome+01012014+142014.bmp.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://shanghaiist.com/2013/12/12/smog-from-space-satellite.php" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>The view of the smog by NASA Satellites</i></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The internet community was furiously commenting away on all the social networking sites, and it even made it onto international sites like <a href="http://9gag.com/gag/aRQB6pQ?ref=mobile" target="_blank">9GAG</a>:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltG4xeSn-MADdomDXGvI1PRCCbJ3P3KaljpGF3sOGIOLPHTIyhPiDZhyzGJ_y52CfChlEGaCKu9i6x7OQnrDKgL1v7YwpwZfYuBfjIyzLCBP6rn3SeapcVVNEwb_QLFGbsva4i3dH3cRF/s1600/Before+and+after+face+mask+in+Shanghai.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltG4xeSn-MADdomDXGvI1PRCCbJ3P3KaljpGF3sOGIOLPHTIyhPiDZhyzGJ_y52CfChlEGaCKu9i6x7OQnrDKgL1v7YwpwZfYuBfjIyzLCBP6rn3SeapcVVNEwb_QLFGbsva4i3dH3cRF/s1600/Before+and+after+face+mask+in+Shanghai.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Before and after shots of facemasks used in Shanghai made it onto <a href="http://9gag.com/gag/aRQB6pQ?ref=mobile" target="_blank">9GAG</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> There was discussion of outrage at why the government wasn't doing anything. Some people in the lab thought the government ought to take proactive action to protect its citizens, such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_seeding" target="_blank">artificially inducing rain</a>, to knock all the particles out of the air. But hilariously, the government instead responded by politely informing the public of all the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/09/china-smog-benefits-advantages-state-media_n_4413043.html" target="_blank">benefits of smog</a>! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px;">1. It unifies the Chinese people. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px;">2. It makes China more equal. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px;">3. It raises citizen awareness of the cost of China’s economic development. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px;">4. It makes people funnier. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px;">5. It makes people more knowledgeable (of things like meteorology and the English word haze).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"> This obvious </span><span style="line-height: 23.99147605895996px;">exercise</span><span style="line-height: 24px;"> in "saving face" was regarded as completely ridiculous by many! Whilst I partly agree with point number 3, in general, it's a pained and transparent whilst weak-hearted attempt at placating the public. The only real positive I can think of from this spell of bad weather is that it provided an interesting few days for photography. People captured some </span><a href="http://online.thatsmags.com/post/shanghai-hit-by-mini-airpocalypse-but-at-least-the-photos-are-nice" style="line-height: 24px;" target="_blank">spectacular images</a><span style="line-height: 24px;"> of the city during this time. This is one of my favourites:</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0W6OT9-ozvyTRYGu_VDy6rTJmCERgYeLGNHNfrl5btU0d1lRQgfyRUUMSvj2iL1UCprGGCjEp8a3mCxVoK4t7npZmZQS7IjlQ8mzHu_SmtMWpl4It2xPdFcrHUdFEGxHOOiVNCGfvAuz/s1600/Shanghai+residents+take+incredible+photos+as+city+chokes+on+smog+-+Google+Chrome+01012014+140105.bmp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0W6OT9-ozvyTRYGu_VDy6rTJmCERgYeLGNHNfrl5btU0d1lRQgfyRUUMSvj2iL1UCprGGCjEp8a3mCxVoK4t7npZmZQS7IjlQ8mzHu_SmtMWpl4It2xPdFcrHUdFEGxHOOiVNCGfvAuz/s1600/Shanghai+residents+take+incredible+photos+as+city+chokes+on+smog+-+Google+Chrome+01012014+140105.bmp.jpg" height="400" width="347" /></i></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Photography of the smog. View on <a href="http://instagram.com/p/hhsVEqrkC4" target="_blank">Instagram</a> or more awesome photos <a href="http://online.thatsmags.com/post/shanghai-hit-by-mini-airpocalypse-but-at-least-the-photos-are-nice" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It really did get worse throughout the day , and by the time we were making our way to the canteen for lunch, it was so bad that you could see it clouding up the dining hall. Even in the lab, it was impossible to keep the smell out, and it felt a bit smoky indoors. That didn't seem to stop some people who were still lighting up for a cigarette outside, obeying the call of their nicotine addiction. This completely flew in the face of logic for the amount of damage the smog must have been doing to everyone's lungs already. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> When I got to my dorm in the evening, it turned out that the powers that be in the University decided that they ought to provide us with free face masks. My labmates later, dismissed these, since they could could immediately see that they were completely ineffectual, since the holes were too big to be able to filter out the damage causing PM 2.5. Since the free masks weren't given out to the home students, I do think that this was pretty much an exercise in <i>g</i></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.5px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>uānxì </i>(</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.488636016845703px;">关系)</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, to make the international students feel like they were being looked after by the Chinese university. I did get my hands on a proper mask the next day which my labmate Lu kindly helped me to buy from taobao, but my overall impression of the mask experience wasn't really that good. The mask got steamed up very quick, so it was moist and uncomfortable to breathe inside it, and people with glasses often complained that it made their glasses fog up. And even though the one Lu chose seemed good quality and had a bendable metal strip across the nose which could be adjusted to your face to create a tight seal, it was nigh on impossible to get it exactly correct, short of sticking it to my nose with glue. So as a result, most of the time there was still a tiny little slit through which the outside air could go in due to the vacuum created by my breathing. So sometimes I got frustrated with the fact that it was ineffectual and just took it off. But I saw many others with make shift masks that had much larger gaps. Optimism in the face of logic!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It was a hard night's sleep as well, since despite closing all the windows and doors, the tiny particles still infiltrated the room through any gaps and slits. Thankfully, the following morning, it had seemed to die down, although there was now a huge white fog everywhere. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFkCBF6XW-GWSGOIGTxrvQ9OiNL8LHW_q0XAvxlhCnRngQ5mAv7GK0VkdStLDQ7Di3NryYkLj_1Z8eFOED0zRTfBhOiqVyXRGyEws86nMMgAO-RTKJKcUZbG6kP8h-givd7OaQQxQ9vb1G/s1600/SAM_5631.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFkCBF6XW-GWSGOIGTxrvQ9OiNL8LHW_q0XAvxlhCnRngQ5mAv7GK0VkdStLDQ7Di3NryYkLj_1Z8eFOED0zRTfBhOiqVyXRGyEws86nMMgAO-RTKJKcUZbG6kP8h-givd7OaQQxQ9vb1G/s1600/SAM_5631.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>The fog that greeted us the next day after the airpocalypse</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It initially had people worried as they woke, but the AQI was moving back down to it's previously normal levels. It turned out this was just fog. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Overall, it was just this one isolated incident during my stay. Some guys who live in the north of China said that in their home town it was like this every day in the winter, so it could have been worse. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it also meant that I got to learn a cool new Chinese phrase: 包咳死 (</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.5px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bāo hāi sǐ) - "Guaranteed to cough to death"!</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-56670731218077884502013-12-03T15:54:00.002+00:002014-03-29T21:58:22.248+00:00David Cameron comes to visit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The massive interest in China from the UK side has culminated this week in the Prime Minister David Cameron visiting China almost a month after London major Boris Johnson also <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2462652/Teach-Mandarin-British-schools-children-China-matters-says-Boris-Johnson-learning-himself.html" target="_blank">paid a flying visit</a>, encouraging Brits to start learning Mandarin, since China is the future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I nearly missed this whole visit, and if it hadn't been for my professor who alerted me about an hour before Cameron's arrival, I would not have known about it. He informed me that not only was he coming to Shanghai, but that he was going to be holding a talk with students on our campus! This was followed by a bit of a wild goose chase, since my professor didn't know the exact details of when and where the talk would take place. After wandering around and talking to a range of not-very-helpful policemen, who didn't seem to have a clue why they were there (or didn't want to share the details), we found a more friendly policeman (with YZ's help) who eventually helped us pinpoint the right building, which was barely a few hundred metres from my lab.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> There was a large queue of people, but it turned out that apparently only Chinese students had been made aware of this visit, because they wanted an audience of Chinese undergraduates. The meeting was designed so that they could ask him questions about the new visa schemes laid out by the government, which would make it easier for them to study in the UK. In addition, you had to register by the previous morning, in order for you to be vetted (we presume). So after many failed attempts to bargain with the unyielding Chinese security staff with a couple of other Westerners I found interested in getting in, we were about to give up. Even the guy from Wales who remembered to bring his British passport seemed to have no luck with waving it around conspicuously.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> We got lucky as the political entourage had started to arrive and a very kind English civil servant lady (I suddenly had flashbacks of various "In the Thick of It" scenes in my head when I first saw them) took pity on us, and negotiated our entry into the venue. Thank goodness a combination of English politeness and genuine joy at finding other Brits in Asia meant that they were very sympathetic, and once they realised our plight, things happened very quickly and they were able to get us through. I'm sure it must have had something to do with my new acquaintance's talking skills, and my emphasis on the fact that the very reason why I was here was due to the Sino-UK Higher Education Research Partnership, set up by Michael Gove (probably one of the only good things he's ever done) presumably due to the current government's very target approach to improving relations with China. I get the feeling that my trip is probably part of a very large movement decided upon by the government, towards embedding a deep financial relationship with the East. It has not gone unnoticed by the West that China has fared well during the global financial crisis and continued to advance in no small part due to their brain and man power, as well as sheer determination.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Nevertheless, the civil servants were all very nice to us, and explained that they'd had a really hectic schedule, and that it was only decided that Cameron would visit China on Friday. We were very grateful for their help and duly made our way through the security, which was just like everywhere else in China - step through the metal detector, get wanded, make every instrument bleep, but actually not have to do anything about it. I joked to YZ that this is because so many people hate him in the UK, maybe they have to be careful, at which point, he joked that when I get through, I should throw my shoe at him. As tempting as that was, since I think a large number of things he has done are either wrong or amoral, I liked my winter boots better, and I didn't want to ruin the staging of one of his policies that I actually agree with. All joking aside, I felt very lucky to be in China and have this experience, so there was no way I would do anything to rock the boat (could you imagine the headlines?!). Also, regardless, I was curious to see what a Q & A with the prime minister would be like, and I certainly doubt whether he would ever be turning up on my doorstep again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> So in we went, and since we were the last to arrive, we only got in at the back, but now that we were given official entry, the staff decided to be nice to us, and even got us chairs. But since we were so far away, my quality of my pictures were fairly poor:</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Soo far away, right at the back, which allowed us to take photos from our phones which were supposed to be banned! </span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> After a short speech by the head of Jiao Tong University, Cameron also chatted for a while about how glad he was to be here, etc. before starting on the questions from the audience. Each question seemed to be very considered and varied and also very well delivered in English by the students, which lead us to believe that probably all questions were vetted before hand, and maybe even passed on to Cameron, so that he (or his speech-writing team) could prepare answers to them. There were a few surprisingly controversial questions such as "We have heard that you faced some difficulties at the start of your time as Prime Minister..." but which the session developed with a more generic question later, such as "...what were the three biggest challenges you faced", to which of course, he said the deficit as number one (although he managed to avoid saying that this was a "legacy that Labour left us with" thank goodness), and the second was that he had to forge a coalition, for the first time in Britain for sixty years, which he pointedly mentioned was under Winston Churchill, as though he felt some similarity between the great man and himself! I was quite happy that somebody asked about the high-speed rail, which I have grown very much to love in China, as it is so convenient, but unlike how I'm sure it will be in the UK, it is very good value for money here, and cheaper than our regular trains back home. He answered this question with comments about how the British rail system is too old to be converted to high-speed rail, and that a new one has to be built to avoid disruptions to the existing line, but that this is difficult, because England is a smaller country, with a higher average population density than China, so it is more difficult to make use of the space there. It is true that on the bullet train in China, you can just see acres and acres of farm land for hundreds of kilometres, which must have made it easier to build the rail lines, but I have heard that some villagers were paid off by the government to move to new places if their homes got in the way of some construction work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> However, he seemed slightly evasive about a question on visas, which I found confusing because I thought that was the purpose of his visit. A student had asked a question about how for Chinese citizens, it is possible to get a tourist visa that allows you to travel freely around all the European countries, except Britain. If they want to go to Britain, they have to get a separate, specific one, just for our country. He talked some waffle in response to this, trying to justify why it's worth going to the UK, but ultimately, his answer to this visa conundrum was "we're working on that".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Slightly confusing, given the reason for his visit, but certainly Cameron was a "smooth talker", as a Bulgarian girl next to me observed. Even if he had pre-prepared all his answers, he acted them out very well, and was compelling to watch. For all his faults, you can see why he makes a good natural leader, in a way that someone like Ed Miliband does not (sorry Ed). I am glad I went, as it was interesting and educational, even if not in the way he intended. Even though I only heard about it an hour before he came, I wasn't about to let this opportunity slip by. We missed Boris by a cat's whisker (well, more like four days) during our trip to Beijing, so I was glad to be able to attend this. It seems so strange that I had to come to China to see the current UK prime minister, that the guys in the lab were starting to joke that maybe YZ and DB will meet the Xi Jinping, the Chinese President while they are in the UK!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-75155076888478078702013-11-30T21:49:00.000+00:002014-01-01T15:49:33.498+00:00Hangzhou 杭州<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are many beautiful canal towns </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ending in "zhou" (州), </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in Zhejiang, the province next to Shanghai, of which I have visited two (the post about </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yangzhou is </span><a href="http://shanghaiereducation.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/yangzhou.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I almost didn't get to see Hangzhou because I nearly ran out of time. I avoided it earlier in my trip, because as the capital city of the Zhejiang province, and attracts a lot of tourists to its large West Lake, so it can get quite crowded. But I figured, by late November time, it must be quieter, but the weather was still sunny, so I hopped on a bullet train with Jing, my labmate, early one morning to take a look at what all the fuss was about. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> We mainly spent most of our time around the famous West Lake (西湖)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, which was very pretty and definitely seemed deserving of its UNESCO World Heritage Site title. What surprised me is that it was much bigger than I expected. It takes between one to two hours to drive from one end to another! I naively assumed that we could just get off at the metro station (for Hangzhou is important enough for an extensive metro network to be planned, of which one line is already complete, and conveniently takes people from the futuristic-looking Hangzhou East railway station to very near the West Lake), and walk around to the silk museum which I was interested in visiting. I think that would have taken all day! We did start off with a stroll though, and saw some beautiful sights. I have to say a proviso here, the photos in this post are of much better quality than my usual standard on account of having borrowed YZ's Nikon dSLR for the day. It was so great and I was able to take the photos I always wanted!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was a fountain show starting just as we got to the lake:</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Fantastic fountain show at the east end of the West Lake</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This fountain show went on for about 15 minutes and came back every now and then later. We spent some time watching it and got lucky in catching this rainbow in it.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwefokySWv2TLYMsbtbOyBex-edzMZQTY_3tOtZBkaZznYMwg1Gln4PS3pP2-GEYIg7hx3BXFyKeZ1R-a83_Jrh3b_ofuMJmTSLfts2whESLvwdRqErYy_MZOYGpb-8XyrB0dmn51wkCyM/s1600/DSC_1246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwefokySWv2TLYMsbtbOyBex-edzMZQTY_3tOtZBkaZznYMwg1Gln4PS3pP2-GEYIg7hx3BXFyKeZ1R-a83_Jrh3b_ofuMJmTSLfts2whESLvwdRqErYy_MZOYGpb-8XyrB0dmn51wkCyM/s400/DSC_1246.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Jing (静) walking along the West Lake <span style="text-align: left;">(西湖)</span></i></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnvQvJoEEbiDWJPxaTb_wGoSMm8duztoE1tk3hHVnmpCk6U4EdIs4SGXMi6yoNIzdacBRqcoIzsTMt7Y0swMPGyru4p-nmoInV_wXRZFwQkrPXqQ-fGz1FOqlNbAkc6KF0IaLAyXtO5ksG/s1600/DSC_1292.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnvQvJoEEbiDWJPxaTb_wGoSMm8duztoE1tk3hHVnmpCk6U4EdIs4SGXMi6yoNIzdacBRqcoIzsTMt7Y0swMPGyru4p-nmoInV_wXRZFwQkrPXqQ-fGz1FOqlNbAkc6KF0IaLAyXtO5ksG/s400/DSC_1292.JPG" height="311" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jing and I had a great stroll along the side before deciding to go to Hefang Street for lunch, which had its usual busy shops selling nick-nacks.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Hefang Street</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and we also saw a brilliant sugar artist who had many crowded around him, admiring his handiwork:</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Pouring a sugar dragon</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is quite a common sight to see around markets in China, where different animals from the Chinese Zodiac calendar are poured free hand and when its finished, mounted onto a stick to make a beautiful candy lolly. I'm supposed to have the ox (牛), from the year I was born, but I think that dragons are much more beautiful!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a taxi ride towards the silk museum, we had a short walk near the lake again, where we saw some lovely sites.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We made it to the Silk Factory, which had a beautiful sculpture in the front entrance.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Entrance to the Hangzhou Silk Museum</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even though part of the museum was closed for refurbishments, it was still a very educational and informative museum. I was mainly interested from a biological point of view, and I got the answers to all my questions such as where does the silk come out from? (apparently it's the caterpillar's mouths) and how do they unravel the silk strands from the cocoons? (it's slightly unsavory - they dip the cocoons into boiling water to kill the chrysalis and then stir the mixture with bamboo sticks until the end of the strand comes loose!). The rest of the museum allowed you to see all the stages of silk production, going through the process of transforming the raw silk strands into fabric by weaving, including an impressive array of old looms.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Old silk loom at Hangzhou Silk Museum</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was followed by different dyeing or decoration techniques, including charting the historical progress of natural dyes and traditional embroidery.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpTYH_QBUMxA8B1Lk62ux28YMbLQgsBO5PU6bUjsWdA2xrp0GBsx-m-sN2NxQjXrEmd7_D_aqoceMYkW2hkgfeHQK2eE3ZSHw25rZRxvSJQ2SnA_bQmkm5q5tn0Q81RTJDSfNuTPAJBxro/s1600/DSC_1388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpTYH_QBUMxA8B1Lk62ux28YMbLQgsBO5PU6bUjsWdA2xrp0GBsx-m-sN2NxQjXrEmd7_D_aqoceMYkW2hkgfeHQK2eE3ZSHw25rZRxvSJQ2SnA_bQmkm5q5tn0Q81RTJDSfNuTPAJBxro/s320/DSC_1388.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Silk sheets dyed with natural dyes hanging from the ceiling of the museum</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were a range of different buildings housing different aspects of silk production and decoration. There is also a building housing the live moths and caterpillars that create the beautiful fabric, but unfortunately it's only open to the public during May, when the mulberry leaves are in season and the caterpillars can be fed. They did have a few pretty bonsai trees in the garden though</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Bonsai trees in the garden of the Hangzhou silk museum</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Afterwards, we went to Zhejiang University (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">浙江大学</span>), which is one of the most famous universities in China, and is known as the "Cambridge of the East". We went to the Yuquan campus, which houses the famous statue of Mao, who looks over the campus park.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Mao statue looking over park at Zhejiang University, Yuquan campus</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNkXOFiVhh2LV_Xx_rH8mm48A1aIqtOw7aj7ln3TqOAH1bjGm89ngR530oUjlitsEB_C53Ip1UmK0R2B-Xu9gnVy3NU069wck1yNHE21ZTJ45hxTld6X0jNvdg2TxmI3UZfa7_R83MFoMb/s1600/DSC_1413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNkXOFiVhh2LV_Xx_rH8mm48A1aIqtOw7aj7ln3TqOAH1bjGm89ngR530oUjlitsEB_C53Ip1UmK0R2B-Xu9gnVy3NU069wck1yNHE21ZTJ45hxTld6X0jNvdg2TxmI3UZfa7_R83MFoMb/s400/DSC_1413.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Mao statue at Zhejiang University, Yuquan campus</i></span></td></tr>
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<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It is also very leafy and makes for a pleasant stroll.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWzXxuEF2EzxUzZ6xiladkEVdtVkxminFXQsVr2HX7i6utbHzqXLnvUzoyrcTS8JeXWuIBVQS-0GyrFeIQlI57SHu5_uPPYCuAm3Tjb_zv7ayJtR5oIRGLExxv4e-EsHWcFEpl1JxnuXsG/s1600/DSC_1416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWzXxuEF2EzxUzZ6xiladkEVdtVkxminFXQsVr2HX7i6utbHzqXLnvUzoyrcTS8JeXWuIBVQS-0GyrFeIQlI57SHu5_uPPYCuAm3Tjb_zv7ayJtR5oIRGLExxv4e-EsHWcFEpl1JxnuXsG/s400/DSC_1416.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>The leafy streets of Zhejiang University at Yuquan campus</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of the most beautiful buildings are at the Zhijiang campus, but unfortunately, it was a two hour bus ride away, south-west of the lake, so we just simply didn't have the time to get there!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But alas it was soon time to go, so we just took one more stroll around the West Lake and caught the sunset there before heading home.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRXh-epW4b14A6jQVjkn30_-2cOvokTl-21eU-K8YnF3mSIftu0puBrDv_AY0lIe2QJOOvo5Lh9IGLbMys9dJQ9BnatFhNGvxYuJYvQxv1eMuazfk9Fiwev_OjCzD1-SW85ExZQjgeTI7o/s1600/DSC_1423.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRXh-epW4b14A6jQVjkn30_-2cOvokTl-21eU-K8YnF3mSIftu0puBrDv_AY0lIe2QJOOvo5Lh9IGLbMys9dJQ9BnatFhNGvxYuJYvQxv1eMuazfk9Fiwev_OjCzD1-SW85ExZQjgeTI7o/s400/DSC_1423.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Taking in the view at the West Lake (西湖)</i></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmdfTTSUuLQEqbnRnkd1rL_SDuWJRNpVtMk49ds53LSs7Kq_Eg61jUQ3YOSDwZMoRf9C4bH_KF8u493qy06YDJ3oU1tDF5zXMkUujkFqBfg4QvJhsrj_RbfDkvN_zDzQzpB1ghrXjihcW/s1600/DSC_1428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmdfTTSUuLQEqbnRnkd1rL_SDuWJRNpVtMk49ds53LSs7Kq_Eg61jUQ3YOSDwZMoRf9C4bH_KF8u493qy06YDJ3oU1tDF5zXMkUujkFqBfg4QvJhsrj_RbfDkvN_zDzQzpB1ghrXjihcW/s400/DSC_1428.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Sunset on West Lake (西湖)</i></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGRG3hiqR-Hj78irNa6Yu7OZdoD-tW8k4fDu3LT50Yy61-qw9lWiZumLMB6EHVl8kYl60vUUxfNxxfBJ4cCmPTXAbxt44wwdeu8IyJ0_kIl344C19JHk1yCrRC4YCua4rABYONCQ48AGb/s1600/DSC_1438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGRG3hiqR-Hj78irNa6Yu7OZdoD-tW8k4fDu3LT50Yy61-qw9lWiZumLMB6EHVl8kYl60vUUxfNxxfBJ4cCmPTXAbxt44wwdeu8IyJ0_kIl344C19JHk1yCrRC4YCua4rABYONCQ48AGb/s400/DSC_1438.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Sunset on West Lake (西湖)</i></span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBvpMd6cLJ3wJ4B2AEjPhyhNonuO9LLIxdprzvxt2u96FHkuPwPTEycjZJ4Z41VdzL_e08zr7lI3mzXSr3aoyoA3aYAX5rDGFpcknPpPu9kKUp6xDQTsYf0DH0bYx55qtJF-lyYj855xwK/s1600/DSC_1445.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBvpMd6cLJ3wJ4B2AEjPhyhNonuO9LLIxdprzvxt2u96FHkuPwPTEycjZJ4Z41VdzL_e08zr7lI3mzXSr3aoyoA3aYAX5rDGFpcknPpPu9kKUp6xDQTsYf0DH0bYx55qtJF-lyYj855xwK/s400/DSC_1445.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJVEX-9OoCtMndUp5ML-DvMUnbZGxVH55z-LgYP3kzjI0NECd3psobkiIQ-7fjVSNx9cHwqKieYgHLw6R_ba_pF3vzbNFqUGMS-XWGxyHjM7XssqDK6-0htjZedGm-6ldKcVzPVUEgdjC/s1600/DSC_1474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJVEX-9OoCtMndUp5ML-DvMUnbZGxVH55z-LgYP3kzjI0NECd3psobkiIQ-7fjVSNx9cHwqKieYgHLw6R_ba_pF3vzbNFqUGMS-XWGxyHjM7XssqDK6-0htjZedGm-6ldKcVzPVUEgdjC/s400/DSC_1474.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIIbQUE1Yft33jQ2xwhpyKzI8lGo75V9pGN2An-a09k3Kjykl_YO4fGLtCUZIHvhRaRvwRfIZcBG0J0xfp39Snj5iY2aX7MRM2Wgqea__OSKOcv8BAd-Qp1JrBGxAKBBX4pGp6ZxQ56py_/s1600/DSC_1479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIIbQUE1Yft33jQ2xwhpyKzI8lGo75V9pGN2An-a09k3Kjykl_YO4fGLtCUZIHvhRaRvwRfIZcBG0J0xfp39Snj5iY2aX7MRM2Wgqea__OSKOcv8BAd-Qp1JrBGxAKBBX4pGp6ZxQ56py_/s400/DSC_1479.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Futuristic-looking Hangzhou East railway station</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Generally Hangzhou was very pretty, and I underestimated the size. Whenever I mentioned that I was going or had been, people asked me if I spent one or two days there, and I naively assumed that one would be enough, but probably people are right, it would be better to spend two days there. Simply because of the size, we spent a lot of time travelling around to different places. Having said that, the taxis were reasonable and the buses were extremely cheap (only 1 or 1.5 RMB per journey). I had wanted to visit the ancient temple of Fei Lai Feng, where statues of Buddha were carved into the rock and cave walls there, however we were put off by the distance, as it is a fair way from the West Lake, and at 150 RMB entrance fee, it was a bit steep. However, the Baochu pagoda would also have been nice to see if we had had more time, which is an old tower that is said to have great views of Hangzhou.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, it was a nice trip out, and I didn't get bothered too much by people who'd never seen a <i>w</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.5px;"><i>àiguó rén</i> </span>(外国人) before, but Jing told me that I got many comments about my height, as the average height of people in Hangzhou seemed to be significantly shorter than in Shanghai! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Have you been to Hangzhou? What did you think of it?</i></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-91561524844650342852013-11-23T19:32:00.000+00:002015-02-21T16:46:44.878+00:00Being a Western Scientist in China<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I mainly started this blog as a way to keep my friends and family updated with how I am doing in China, but I've recently had more questions about my work, so this is going to be a technical post. As most of you already know, the original reason why I went to Shanghai is that I'm a microbiologist PhD student, and I was going on exchange to a lab there to work on a collaborative research project. But I have been making the use of this opportunity to visit some old friends and new places. I've had some of you asking me pointedly asking “how’s the work going?”
and others just being more forthright and coming out with “are you actually
doing any work there, or is it just all fun?”. Yes, I am doing some work! Of course, I've mainly been posting about the fun things that I got up to at the weekend, rather than my daily work, but to balance things out, I will describe how the work has been in Shanghai compared to my old lab. Although things were a bit slow to get started, I'm pretty much used
to everything now, so it’s going as fast as research normally does (ie. not very fast at all). I have also now given three presentations,
including one I was asked to do in Huashan hospital when I went to visit old lab friend Dr Jiang:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOPzTOI6Ya0am3ivIhL0k9GFYKo1MrUSmTfD9uN27i0SGdRuqv87G8bdimQR9jn1VpkRYr-Q6ORgR48_8VWLV4j5GjL8vVXLm09h5wgnmM6WPumRLzqRG1HloUOqVrJKhZRBUn0anpezdP/s1600/17a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOPzTOI6Ya0am3ivIhL0k9GFYKo1MrUSmTfD9uN27i0SGdRuqv87G8bdimQR9jn1VpkRYr-Q6ORgR48_8VWLV4j5GjL8vVXLm09h5wgnmM6WPumRLzqRG1HloUOqVrJKhZRBUn0anpezdP/s400/17a.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Giving a presentation for Dr Jiang, who’s English has improved impressively since he left Leicester</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> People
normally ask about the “culture shock” when you arrive in China, but since I already have a lot of experience with Chinese culture, this was not
much of an issue for me. My younger sister has her undergraduate degree in Chinese and already spent a year in Kunming. In addition, I've made many Asian friends over the years in Nottingham and Leicester, who have taught me many different things about Chinese culture, and helped me prepare for my move. So I think my biggest shock came from how different
things were in the lab. Yes, I expected some big differences, since every lab
does things differently, and this is after all, a country that’s only just reaching comparable research
standards to the West. But as with everything here in China, my lab experience
was full of contradictions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In
actual fact, this lab has significantly more money than my lab back home in Leicester.
One of the reasons for this is that unlike in the West, China has not cut
funding to science in response to global financial issues. On the contrary, they've actually invested even larger amounts of money into research. This has been in a focused effort to raise the profile of Chinese research
and to attain a level of standard that is comparable to that of the West. While
China’s universities still rarely make it into the top groups of the international university league
tables, they have been steadily rising, and their research has been garnering
more respect and they increasingly have equal footing in the community, and as China is approaching an era where for the first time its number of publications will outstrip that of the US, the effort definitely seems to be reaping its rewards.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdAZY5Jo4DX7-5i_NViPBKWms3oLKWlRq1m7GE8-Qm__sZddNMMXzlIW7zFgck9XcYGq7SbuoF89KKkzxZtHowUgAJpHKZ_kkv2ZGs23Bp_3vvvhIENoBFU1Gxetx_oRl0NjFy_1HXp_z/s1600/nesta-r-and-d.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdAZY5Jo4DX7-5i_NViPBKWms3oLKWlRq1m7GE8-Qm__sZddNMMXzlIW7zFgck9XcYGq7SbuoF89KKkzxZtHowUgAJpHKZ_kkv2ZGs23Bp_3vvvhIENoBFU1Gxetx_oRl0NjFy_1HXp_z/s1600/nesta-r-and-d.png" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">R & D spending relative to GDP by top six countries ("China's Absorptive State" Bound, <i>et al.</i> 2010)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> So this
means that they have plenty of high standard equipment for starters:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNLrpCD-TEUq8JacPL2Sl7vLswUHLv3x3uO3cK82pDE_K67wJIhI4mdTC84sjNynsCg24eFOEB6Dp9KM3ndMGvi2QXjqEG6jUa8tUrcx_d4tODU9_E6Ojo_4rLtuV4yawSBYHPVb3k_RGA/s1600/17b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNLrpCD-TEUq8JacPL2Sl7vLswUHLv3x3uO3cK82pDE_K67wJIhI4mdTC84sjNynsCg24eFOEB6Dp9KM3ndMGvi2QXjqEG6jUa8tUrcx_d4tODU9_E6Ojo_4rLtuV4yawSBYHPVb3k_RGA/s400/17b.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Several refrigerated proper eppendorf centrifuges line the lab</span></i></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01EG4q9IFG5zvWSNsCQiUJRe8q2fbH8WRlfH5wFaW2x3JNs_DXnwQad3a8JU25p6aZ5jjqRmpao64t3KNMOmHuGN7l62-y7cdlPThE7d4TcdCRhjKL98Di69w3AihpgtYljWqwVO5ObKI/s1600/SAM_4916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01EG4q9IFG5zvWSNsCQiUJRe8q2fbH8WRlfH5wFaW2x3JNs_DXnwQad3a8JU25p6aZ5jjqRmpao64t3KNMOmHuGN7l62-y7cdlPThE7d4TcdCRhjKL98Di69w3AihpgtYljWqwVO5ObKI/s320/SAM_4916.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="background-color: white; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">These two brand new incubators arrived while I was in the lab</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, since the building doesn't have gas piping throughout
to support Bunsens,
all sterile work has to be done in cabinets. And there are lots of great
cabinets, new and old. Our lab has two new ones, which they boasted were made in Germany:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE96BCAN6wncx6BUu03t647BSDtZBw6M64bGGpm50LigBd9ojH2_hHYfIqNEEpBR29j9lf_YDZ5qwwHFsJ_lL_VczMoPZ-9EXxqA4nimAEmMkwqTuB0nvFiJYe6nd2i-9cvClC5Xb0DYLb/s1600/17d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE96BCAN6wncx6BUu03t647BSDtZBw6M64bGGpm50LigBd9ojH2_hHYfIqNEEpBR29j9lf_YDZ5qwwHFsJ_lL_VczMoPZ-9EXxqA4nimAEmMkwqTuB0nvFiJYe6nd2i-9cvClC5Xb0DYLb/s400/17d.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">YZ working in one of the brand new cabinets (and sporting an unnecessary but apparently compulsory face mask!)</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But as you can imagine, there aren't enough cabinets for
everyone, so sometimes you have to wait, which I find very frustrating, as I'm
used to a Bunsen each, meaning that everyone can do lab work at the same time. Also
it’s annoying because I don’t understand when people have verbally “booked” a
time slot for the cabinet, so that causes some confusion, but I'm getting by. Another thing which frustrates me is that there are only two gel tanks
- one medium, one small - to share between two labs worth of people, so
work is often slowed because I'm waiting for a tank to free up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the best things about working in this lab is that the turnaround time for primer and sequencing services are really quick, operating seven days a week, and pick-ups and deliveries start very early and can go on until 7 or 8 pm. If you order before 12 pm, you’ll get your primers
tomorrow morning. Having these services every day certainly helps to speed up the pace of the work. And I’ve done sequencing twice here now, and it’s the only
time I've <u>ever</u> had over
1 Kb result, with NO Ns! <i>None!</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So the downsides: Most lab meetings are all in Chinese. As I mentioned in one of my first posts, the students are required to write up their PowerPoint files in English, but since many of them and their supervisors sometimes struggle with English, they give the presentation in Chinese. It was cute when Dr Jiang translated my presentation for others, slide by slide, but it does get to be a bit of a drag when I sit for two hours in the weekly lab meeting, without a clue what is going on. Occasionally, they will spend about 20 minutes discussing the minutiae of one slide which takes me less than a minute to read. This is pretty much the time when I catch up on the news from home on my phone, lol. Thankfully, they don't ask me to go to the departmental meetings, since most of those presentations are irrelevant for me anyway because the rest of the department all works on Streptomyces, and the thought of others who don't really know me being forced to speak English just for my benefit would just be too much to bear (for them, and for me!).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> On my arrival in the lab, a new lab coat was ordered just for me, but it was far too big. It quickly became apparent that
this was probably because I'm the tallest person they've ever seen. They ordered me a size XXXXL (yes, that’s right, <i>four </i>Xs!), and I don't think they realised that large sizes were for overweight people rather than tall ones, so I
billow around the lab in my tent like so:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbrtPdqTjZXqV8w1iwzRNc_VVp8P-ImyR9LdC7sYA-Ff0Ph9Xcm7_lwOHAYvKvZlgvemTuLhsfcbXXB3zIP6LUu8LoSOPp-TGrMZ0BnwAYUHmgm3Rb3SQY5sM2O-C5oxKVm4l8Kz9W9oqZ/s1600/17e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbrtPdqTjZXqV8w1iwzRNc_VVp8P-ImyR9LdC7sYA-Ff0Ph9Xcm7_lwOHAYvKvZlgvemTuLhsfcbXXB3zIP6LUu8LoSOPp-TGrMZ0BnwAYUHmgm3Rb3SQY5sM2O-C5oxKVm4l8Kz9W9oqZ/s400/17e.jpg" height="363" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Fun in my tent. No howie-style labcoats here. Nor labcoats with any style at all, really</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, despite the riches,
there is some random stuff that they do to save money, that doesn't make any
sense to me whatsoever, given the resources at their disposal. For
example, using old newspapers or free tourist maps to cover flasks and tying it
up with string instead of just buying aluminium foil! </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_Dd-A647k_BJ_6WEolORTRJF6uFpXj87WnEnoCRFyACucmveUZw0Vxc-Rr2lyb8Tkr2ii1qTTziUOc4KSBOpXvpMlCYQqCELmahEe-AjcQiTHpkBXN49d0ioVDG6p8Nn7Iuak0yBCiTa/s1600/17f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_Dd-A647k_BJ_6WEolORTRJF6uFpXj87WnEnoCRFyACucmveUZw0Vxc-Rr2lyb8Tkr2ii1qTTziUOc4KSBOpXvpMlCYQqCELmahEe-AjcQiTHpkBXN49d0ioVDG6p8Nn7Iuak0yBCiTa/s400/17f.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Random, but cost effective way of covering flasks</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can see from this picture that bottles alcohol and other
flammables are just stored randomly around the lab, in fact, there is no
flammables cabinet as far as I can see. Chloroform is freely used in the open
air, although I can’t stomach the smell so much, and I'm regarded as a bit of a
wuss for only being able to open the bottle in the cabinet. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, there is no blue roll - none! They simply use toilet roll for everything that we would normally use blue roll for. Infuriating when the stuff disintegrates in your hands and leaves tiny clumps everywhere.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> They
are also missing some other, really obvious, and vital items in the lab too.
For example, there are no P10 pipettes! Not even one to share between all the
members of the lab! So we have to make do with our P20s, even for really small
amounts like pipetting 0.5 μl on an enzyme! (For anyone that doesn't know, this
is really, really bad for the pipette – you should not really go below 2 μl on
a P20, as it can distort the spring, and it will get decalibrated and
eventually break!). Even Lu seems confused about this, and she says they had plenty of P10s in her previous lab in Yangzhou University for her masters, so this must just be this lab.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 36pt;">**************************UPDATE*******************************</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since I have whined and laughed about the situation, there has now been a new P2 purchased to share between the members of the lab. I do hope it's not because they've been reading my blog and hearing me complain about it! But anyway, even if it is, it will benefit everyone in the lab, so hooray!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*****************************************************************</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, there are no regular autoclave runs or media kitchen staff. We have to do all our own autoclaving, as and when enough stuff comes together to fill an autoclave.This plays havoc with my OCD/probably mild Asperger's, since I normally plan my experiments around our regular twice-daily autoclave routine at home. However, the plus sides of this system is that there are plenty of people needing to autoclave runs so probably most days will have a run three times, including one in the evening, which wouldn't be possible at home. But due to the haphazard system, it means that people never really know when to go back and get their stuff, so autoclaved things are just piled up on the floor, creating a total mess. Honestly, a few months in China would easily cure anybody of their OCD.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"> They
also don’t buy kits for most things, including gDNA extraction. The in-house
plasmid extraction system is pretty good and working well according to the
standards required. But the gDNA extraction is not so good, to the point where
the people in the lab have to use colony PCR for every kind of chromosomal PCR,
otherwise they get no product. When they asked me what we use, I just gave them
the name of the supplier for our gDNA kit. YZ was so surprised to hear
that the max yield of our kit was 24 μg gDNA from 500 μl, and that I regularly
got 15 – 20 μg. But he told me that nobody else in the department buys kits, so
it would look really bad for them to order one, and cause problems in their
relationship. This is due to some kind of unspoken Chinese social rule called “guānxì”
(<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">关系</span>)
and to do anything to disrupt this would mean causing a lot of problems and “losing
face” and so basically in China it would be social suicide. When I suggested
that other groups in the department are probably also having the same problem
and are dying for someone to order a kit so that they can order one too, this
point was acknowledged, but then I got the shoulder shrug which means “This is
China”. This doesn't make any sense to me, since it seems so obviously to be in
everyone’s benefit for all the supervisors to just get together and agree to
change the procedure in the department, but I could see that this was never
going to happen! However, I know that <o:p></o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: 36pt;">guānxì is very important in China, so I didn't want to rock the boat too much by pushing the issue and risk offending anyone.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In
addition, there is no real system for waste disposal to speak of. This was
pretty much to be expected I guess, but I was still a bit surprised to find
that there is no waste autoclave system set up, there’s just a general
pour-everything-down-the-sink kind of attitude. There isn't even really a
receptacle for waste liquids, you just pour it into the tip box, and then wait
for evaporation to take its course! Tip boxes are emptied into general bins
(not autoclaved), and even for dangerous organisms, tips are just put into a
jar with floor cleaner in, and then this is poured down the sink too! So
generally, there are many things happening that would have a certain technician from home in fits! But hey, when in Rome,
do as the Romans, but I just know from this that I'm going to have to do a lot
of explaining to and keeping an eye on YZ when he first arrives in our lab in the UK,
as our system will be so very different. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"> The
contradictory part of all of this is that despite all the negligence, YZ has to wear a facemask
and other protective equipment when working with <i>Klebsiella</i>,
because it’s regarded as a highly dangerous organism! How can it be that so
many health and safety rules are ignored here, but they adhere to a completely
unnecessary one so rigorously?! Needless to say, I refuse to partake in such
nonsense. YZ has also started to use the mask less since I've been here, and
nobody ha</span>s died yet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: white;">However,
what the lacks in sense, it makes up for in friendliness. For certainly, the
atmosphere in this lab is much more relaxed and friendly. </span></span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Between the hours of 8 am and 10 pm, you’re pretty much guaranteed to see a friendly face there. Yes, this seems like long hours, and yes, they do get up and start working earlier than we do in the Western world, but it's not a crazy amount, it's not like they sleep in the lab (well actually sometimes they do, especially in the summer, because then they can get free air con through the night!). In fact, there is a lab rule that you should not work at night (athough this is mainly a request from the departmental technician to save money on electricity!). Obviously, sometimes people break this rule (myself included!) depending on what deadlines they have coming up. Also, the pressures are much greater here, because every masters student must publish at least one first author paper, and every PhD student must publish two first author papers, totalling to a required amount of IF of the journal they publish in. This isn't a requirement at all Chinese universities, but it seems to be more common in China than the UK, from what I understand. In addition, if a Chinese student publishes in a high impact factor, they can be rewarded for their troubles by the government in the form of increased scholarship! A recent example is a friend from a neighbouring lab who published in Nucleic Acids Research, and may be entitled to up to £3000 extra scholarship next year! Update - the first thing he did was go out and buy an iPhone 6 plus *facepalm*</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My general impression of Chinese research is that they do try to step things up a gear and be more hard working. The whole lab is geared towards getting everything done much quicker, whether this means having primer and sequencing services on every day, or only incubating transformations for half an hour instead of the usual one, right down to using fast digest enzymes and blitzing gels through at 130 V to be done in half an hour. But opposite to what I expected, this actually doesn't feel like working much harder, and the results come much quicker, so it was much easier to stay motivated on the project - you don't have to work late against your will to get some samples ready in time for sequencing pick up days or getting primer orders in before the weekend, because you know they would come every day anyway. So overall, I thought it was a great working environment, and I felt much more productive than I normally did in Leicester.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">But with regards to friendliness, everyone is approachable and helpful, and there
is much more of a lab camaraderie. The lab shares the ups and downs of research and life, as well as meals together twice a day,
helping each other out -
the lab is essentially the hub of the community. This is a great recipe for
collaborative problem solving and gre</span>at science in my opinion. Not to mention
that it’s emotionally healthy. I have to say this has been one of the
highlights of my trip, and the guys in the lab have really made my time here
that much more enjoyable and comfortable. I will miss this when I'm back in Leicester, that’s
for sure.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-27245706163746279772013-11-17T15:10:00.000+00:002014-04-01T13:05:39.366+01:00Yangzhou 扬州<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Shanghai is surrounded by many pretty formerly canal towns that mined the region that became Shanghai for its raw materials and became rich with it's trade. The most important of these towns all end in "zhou" (州) so this is the first part of my tour of two local 州 cities.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first one I visited because I had the fortune of being invited by labmate Lu, who calls Yangzhou home, after completing her master at the university there. It was once a very rich city, and it is reported that even Marco Polo was an important governor here at one point during his travels. I got there by taking a bullet train to Zheijiang where Lu and her husband Hang picked me up, and they were my brilliant guides for the weekend. This meant that my weekend was very well organised by them and I got to see lots of pretty sights. Many of the photos here were taken by Hang on his Canon dSLR, since are much better quality and give a better impression of this quaint little city.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> These first photos are taken from the major tourist point, the Slender West Lake </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(瘦西湖)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEmmDhFCT58tKO2ee1RUjEUk1P50eTXUagywVxyNDq9EUAHLe6-HOyPRTlSdnGnxt9vd9p8qEuGfbCplqh4frw3utilEjl4O71TPHMKTpl_7xDcsgpnfDA4PsqjerfxY0hJygDc13bFRX8/s1600/SAM_5361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEmmDhFCT58tKO2ee1RUjEUk1P50eTXUagywVxyNDq9EUAHLe6-HOyPRTlSdnGnxt9vd9p8qEuGfbCplqh4frw3utilEjl4O71TPHMKTpl_7xDcsgpnfDA4PsqjerfxY0hJygDc13bFRX8/s400/SAM_5361.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>My hosts for the weekend, Lu and Hang</i></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGV1n9aCDwXFBLomxo5XYRfZWofIea3c7O7U5oMq-NBTkxKH3NSpfltTIH0rsQxpMZ8tHPi0Pe5OCJZuQnTEmDOKs3IcWd6AcTQ29DI-mh5PR4bYdfkXM7QupXhVV7nxFPi4cQ-75rikXO/s1600/IMG_2840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGV1n9aCDwXFBLomxo5XYRfZWofIea3c7O7U5oMq-NBTkxKH3NSpfltTIH0rsQxpMZ8tHPi0Pe5OCJZuQnTEmDOKs3IcWd6AcTQ29DI-mh5PR4bYdfkXM7QupXhVV7nxFPi4cQ-75rikXO/s320/IMG_2840.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: left;"><i>They were having a chrysanthemum festival, so the whole place was covered in pots of chrysanthemums in all sizes, shapes and colours</i></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtU84OXea4aclJ6Df03yN0mIO3XLFYzFYVIl69w7dS2WtxMVDK3AClbQXn_eyvBrEXQDhcvyic_qJGogXtdv4FsO5QKh3n4j0VWvLuHZTV8VjaR6Roibgmb9UU75niSjk_E-xpDgK53iJ/s1600/IMG_2856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtU84OXea4aclJ6Df03yN0mIO3XLFYzFYVIl69w7dS2WtxMVDK3AClbQXn_eyvBrEXQDhcvyic_qJGogXtdv4FsO5QKh3n4j0VWvLuHZTV8VjaR6Roibgmb9UU75niSjk_E-xpDgK53iJ/s400/IMG_2856.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>I'm the same height as Lu when I sit down!</i></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHfzdh2_6eVssQFDlwhnrjKRlibHJXgxYj2ijqW2zjSex3uXLnzCbsCCSMywV6OYQV3MqDsaejI0x3KiDqH_YXTR2dMEX1tVCGkWgUufElktnjH9pB1QvkHPa0e0gCJHQFsbD845yCfSDZ/s1600/IMG_2872.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHfzdh2_6eVssQFDlwhnrjKRlibHJXgxYj2ijqW2zjSex3uXLnzCbsCCSMywV6OYQV3MqDsaejI0x3KiDqH_YXTR2dMEX1tVCGkWgUufElktnjH9pB1QvkHPa0e0gCJHQFsbD845yCfSDZ/s320/IMG_2872.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>A hedge turned into a dragon!</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dongguan Street was our next stop for a light lunch which turned into a heavy one, on account of Hang being very keen for me to try as many of the wide variety of food stall available there. I only just managed to escape having to try freshly fried squid on a stick, which him and Lu munched away happily, while I tucked into extra chou doufu (臭豆腐). I know for some of you, squid may also have been delicious, it's just that seafood is a pet hate of mine. It was fried fresh in front of us though, so that's the best and safest way to have seafood, so if you like eating such creatures, this type of snack may be right up your street.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3jG0QS8IuUDaw73he9n6MxbOWUK9juBS5dyxwtixT2Gcw2AcnSnxDzyEnV-Ic9pbXAwLtwl_8dElAjx46h6qvNndvNZreHJopH-R89wPkYY3PkzFsI6Fl1RYacCTa7j1xGw1CSUV6T3E/s1600/SAM_5443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3jG0QS8IuUDaw73he9n6MxbOWUK9juBS5dyxwtixT2Gcw2AcnSnxDzyEnV-Ic9pbXAwLtwl_8dElAjx46h6qvNndvNZreHJopH-R89wPkYY3PkzFsI6Fl1RYacCTa7j1xGw1CSUV6T3E/s320/SAM_5443.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Then we headed over to Dongguan Street for lunch</i></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGnj1kfl1QC3clhdZcg47JdbfIOlPoGO1TKn7UiYQrBHE7tC9SYc6_YgoOue7qv5dLUMBIPhP5DA-yOvanDLPZ14FbVAuQYBEAGFihyphenhyphenzPJmeUaDn7uKT7vmjHgHL4y076N-ZRerfthagVd/s1600/SAM_5452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGnj1kfl1QC3clhdZcg47JdbfIOlPoGO1TKn7UiYQrBHE7tC9SYc6_YgoOue7qv5dLUMBIPhP5DA-yOvanDLPZ14FbVAuQYBEAGFihyphenhyphenzPJmeUaDn7uKT7vmjHgHL4y076N-ZRerfthagVd/s320/SAM_5452.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Squid on a stick. Yum</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqCnaJHNufNnEVt1XYKJ4a8NICjjx3VBHAm6WbbYsDmV34F6ZaE59df8_QsizSdDydv-1LzIUumt-x93XxRi4rqII44tLJcaxSgI0rfiF3pqumjt8quURKIXs1j1SB8H3_8n81ymf3ZfLM/s1600/IMG_2882.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqCnaJHNufNnEVt1XYKJ4a8NICjjx3VBHAm6WbbYsDmV34F6ZaE59df8_QsizSdDydv-1LzIUumt-x93XxRi4rqII44tLJcaxSgI0rfiF3pqumjt8quURKIXs1j1SB8H3_8n81ymf3ZfLM/s400/IMG_2882.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>One of the many funny statues at Dongguan Street</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5APfRacHVAHzhtWiBeBDQiE4pUAlm-WRJE_urP8KCUUkWfQNKJ17hA5FegUoVPZDyZi9nbpbmC_MFOaQyAs0H4vVJflrtAHKdkhaHNI8P0YEUgBXlZnIIveuPgTfiC2SZPb8YUu5vIf9L/s320/IMG_2899.JPG" height="213" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Many unusual shaped doorways in traditional Chinese architecture</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggPSeZH8HirgejZaI-B0VibsjT78ni46F8_mo2ih9Ey-V7CgaWjfeb2SvyLSk2zF78t333hgNDq0cFE0A3ie7qpEix-EEYb5zNnnXSVU7ZidgIJO_jhAO1h-jGEGkP7JlIiDLcPI4ZBEUa/s400/IMG_2901.JPG" height="266" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>I never get tired of Chinese doorways</i></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-wwEkNo4EoM_S-Nyuur7_B7RF9KmkbntfgRjkqwpWEMK57ajcX8N-MfiacESEyzSaDMuqyZhz4V93Wmwrm8s6Uelt3DJnSAJrcjTmYUh4oMdEHNRLxPlJi81SJp5Jek9rVRtR0nB9frj/s1600/IMG_2840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqaj1UGxRzZjhC9B_KfWeaIkyqCIcRu24dJqD15rc-sKreNC7zJI6Ql6PmMBBhjEsxECzFTfqxeu1sb-zkbAME6iR5Z8afQvNLp3WnBKcUtv3JUi4dw7XvHlAi0fqH6kKxZV4kVCIe6ac/s1600/IMG_2879.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqaj1UGxRzZjhC9B_KfWeaIkyqCIcRu24dJqD15rc-sKreNC7zJI6Ql6PmMBBhjEsxECzFTfqxeu1sb-zkbAME6iR5Z8afQvNLp3WnBKcUtv3JUi4dw7XvHlAi0fqH6kKxZV4kVCIe6ac/s320/IMG_2879.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivgjNPkuHhbkwZxTaLDOMQE1NZn1njEiKsqXyh8TsumbrLJ1nH6cSfGm283qD4qa10-83EiMLrja57paqO7-dxUvqBMfpE2CFvSbUPBEaqBxNt5_3SaZQ_MT7ugXi17ZlcPB_3AT0HaGOp/s1600/IMG_2883.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivgjNPkuHhbkwZxTaLDOMQE1NZn1njEiKsqXyh8TsumbrLJ1nH6cSfGm283qD4qa10-83EiMLrja57paqO7-dxUvqBMfpE2CFvSbUPBEaqBxNt5_3SaZQ_MT7ugXi17ZlcPB_3AT0HaGOp/s320/IMG_2883.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a spot of souvenir shopping, we went on to the He gardens, which mainly had beautiful old buildings from a Qing dynasty salt merchant. Apparently he lost his house during the cultural revolution and the triumph of communism, and basically got handed over to the government and is run by what I guess must be China's equivalent of the National Trust.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc_lK9rdBkBV3gwYNvgCHFUW2wZMj-U6kESb3LhNMkaW5SJM7qbBJHecgec93-y4Mv0-fOT8MeW9VKuNVYNL2lhy3b2vNjuWPBPONpJs0Mt5iEOEX6fC6Hd8fKuKDShZt8pdAeYaPJYn82/s1600/SAM_5417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc_lK9rdBkBV3gwYNvgCHFUW2wZMj-U6kESb3LhNMkaW5SJM7qbBJHecgec93-y4Mv0-fOT8MeW9VKuNVYNL2lhy3b2vNjuWPBPONpJs0Mt5iEOEX6fC6Hd8fKuKDShZt8pdAeYaPJYn82/s320/SAM_5417.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Lake at He Gardens</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZijXm9oNItk-HIcTRcX3TIFrk5cEWr6NXmTkWycn1TIuiosUpvrQNqpw5Hl878LbJ2eftAMLbrm8h1gwVeYxO6k9jC0b0Y1A1hIOvn7UOpdayL42kS02cpcWO9lqVa1PsmYxMphVWFY9F/s1600/IMG_2896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZijXm9oNItk-HIcTRcX3TIFrk5cEWr6NXmTkWycn1TIuiosUpvrQNqpw5Hl878LbJ2eftAMLbrm8h1gwVeYxO6k9jC0b0Y1A1hIOvn7UOpdayL42kS02cpcWO9lqVa1PsmYxMphVWFY9F/s400/IMG_2896.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5f88oop5hEpWxUm1RVUbun2VasyXDyuCbXGdNZqOMmZ2w8Y2ZT6QVUvdv7gvJAsWSs_GMYrTdXcm6xcnlUdj0SbNGoHdx_bVZp5_3zd_d17gx1jhgGYyOm8LWws_cnVsT-bvyyMdza5Xs/s1600/SAM_5482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My hosts also took me to a very nice restaurant serving traditional Yangzhou food, and I have to say, it was one of the most delicious and pleasant experiences I've had in a traditional Chinese restaurant (one with the turntable in the middle). We ordered Yangzhou fried rice (扬州炒饭), which has a reputation for being just boring fried rice, but it was actually bursting with flavour from all the different vegetables and spices and ingredients and so I really quite liked it. We also had the ostentatious "lion's head" dish which is kind of like a large pimped up meatball with interesting filling inside. It is called the lion's head because the shaggy appearance of the meat is supposed to resemble a lion's hair (although I personally think that's stretching it a bit). We also had some delicious shredded tofu soup and some steamed fish, amongst other dishes. My friends had previously proudly boasted about the quality of Yangzhou food, and after my experience, I was tempted to agree that it lived up to its name.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, I'd say Yangzhou is a great day out, but then, I partly had such a good time because I had experienced hosts who knew the place so well and were very organised in taking me round all the best places. Great to go to if Hangzhou is too mainstream for you (I hope to cover Hangzhou in an upcoming post soon!).</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-46654345553355775442013-11-16T23:30:00.000+00:002014-09-15T17:43:46.693+01:00Seoul-cialite (Part II - Modern day Seoul) <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is part two of my trip to Seoul, because I had such an amazing experience, I had to split it into two parts. In fact, I should have split it into three. If you would like to read part one, it is <a href="http://shanghaiereducation.blogspot.com/2013/11/seoul-part-i-reunions-origins-and.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite my previous post delving
into much of Korea’s historical culture and development, Seoul is nothing if not synonymous with modernity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is definitely one of the
first things that strikes you when arriving in South Korea. Of course, this is
the land of the tech giant Samsung, etc, but I didn’t
quite expect it to be on the scale that it was. Wherever you went,
there was some technology around. Even most of the lifts contain TV screens playing some sort of adverts
or shows, and there is WiFi EVERYWHERE. And when I mean Wifi, I don’t mean the
crap kind where you have to stand in a corner to get just one bar of signal
strength, and if you take a step in either direction, then you’ve lost it. I
mean the good, four bars full kind of superfast Wifi, where gif downloads on
your phone are almost instantaneous. Every single subway stop and many shops
have WiFi, and although many are paid, most of them, such as one service called
“Olleh” usually cost less than £2 for a whole day’s worth of WiFi, which can be
used at one of their many points all around the city. The vouchers can be
bought at many, convenient locations all over the city, such as any convenience store, just like phone top up vouchers.
The telephone boxes in the street also have WiFi capability, and some places
even have it for free, at familiar places like Starbucks, some other coffee shops
and anywhere where you can pick up a network called “iptime”. The best WiFi was
at the airport, where there were many points with really excellent signals (great when my filght was slightly
delayed), and I managed to upload all my Facebook photos in a matter of
minutes (I was taking full advantage of my precious few days of unadulterated
Facebook access! And I finally managed
to watch the infamous Paxman vs Brand interview!), although it wasn’t
quite good enough for me to Skype my dad while I was waiting for my plane
though!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even at museums, such as Leeum Museum of Art built by the founder
of Samsung near his former home, there
was state of the art technology. The audio guides were essentially a
modified form of a Samsung smartphone, with a retina display
standard screen, and some technology inside meant that it detected when you got
within a 1 m radius of any of the exhibits, and played an audio description of
the item. This came in especially handy when we got to the modern art section,
as that’s something that definitely needs explaining to me.<span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> I was surprised to
find that there is actually a genuine explanation behind some of Rothko’s
paintings (!) I was also glad when Aimee’s husband said he didn’t get modern
art either. The Zaha Hadid structure still under construction at Dongdaemun is
also met with similar confusion, and a touch of resentment at losing their old,
beloved baseball stadium.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPmpKRyhTNhH5sWE8kOjt5pmAG26sBA9tQ5JAhM2wAINqIv_Ky_dPLvzGc8Ai8M9dWn5WNFlM6sFyJ1QQmrqBOTyl4BRFjg-xT4Xi4B6KoBgCXc86liwwxCwwbKW2cHLZxXmPuu8sZex1u/s1600/photo+(16).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPmpKRyhTNhH5sWE8kOjt5pmAG26sBA9tQ5JAhM2wAINqIv_Ky_dPLvzGc8Ai8M9dWn5WNFlM6sFyJ1QQmrqBOTyl4BRFjg-xT4Xi4B6KoBgCXc86liwwxCwwbKW2cHLZxXmPuu8sZex1u/s320/photo+(16).JPG" height="320" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Staircase inside Leeum Museum of Art</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"><br /></span>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since it was an art museum, I
don’t have any pictures from inside, just a few from outside:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyYv_qDzNH0qvNjHL8RhfDSt0lxe6mo4AR7ql5vLrEGhncEqqQ2RjIKNiZYdqz64sYhymjnGY3ZGTuKgcJ2LZAMIgL6oORAk-PWo1xIcfJZbfFULh00VuPmp430I01es6GY1Z6_zLiHCpZ/s1600/15a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyYv_qDzNH0qvNjHL8RhfDSt0lxe6mo4AR7ql5vLrEGhncEqqQ2RjIKNiZYdqz64sYhymjnGY3ZGTuKgcJ2LZAMIgL6oORAk-PWo1xIcfJZbfFULh00VuPmp430I01es6GY1Z6_zLiHCpZ/s400/15a.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Korean friend Aimee and myself</span></i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiaIdTObFzYYuAPoI_I7VWgdYgwxQ8ajozdnVlUlWO35JB16xk8r1K8jYh0miJFA45DlFDSRAsaIg1DHEGzQHlO-tfz8k1bKMHTinexSH6yDlbdweF5erfjkk4TGyKxnUVD99gYnof1XPq/s400/15b.jpg" height="300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;">Installation by Anish Kapoor outside the Samsung Leeum Museum of Art<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, since my friend lives in
Gangnam-gu (the region south of the river), which like in many major cities it
seems in Asia, was the less productive part of the city until the era of
skyscrapers, when many such buildings sprang up and it became a major business
centre, bringing along with it all the economic benefits. This resulted in
Gangnam becoming quite a rich area, what Aimee says might be considered a bit
like Seoul’s equivalent of Chelsea (but with less history), or like Shanghai’s
Pudong region. It also means that it has become the haunt of some rich,
privileged types, of whom the infamous “Gangnam Style” song is making fun.
Since I was staying in this area, I couldn’t resist a visit to Gangnam station,
where there is a light-hearted structure erected to commemorate the surprise
global success of this song:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8cm-b02sJ80x9sWFq1zMI7Hvmx39WA9TmqDREjcEru7OkLOanZn5Gv6v6LBs-_Lvaqc6fTINRw-AAv98IRZwDMyPSKJ26ojDKtNWqATu3rJ0zC74W8q9NYpW_RL5aTuhaQQJbrmLL8Lh/s400/15c.jpg" height="400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tribute to commemorate the crazy success of the "Gangnam Style" song<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Seoulite friends seem pretty nonplussed about the song
though, I guess it’s a bit old for them and the craziness has died down now,
but I still think it’s an amazing achievement - the most played video ever on
YouTube – 1.8 billion (yes, <i>billion</i>)
views at the time of writing, which would no doubt be much higher if YouTube
was available in China! It has helped put Seoul on the map internationally, and
I’m sure it will continue to do much for the economy for years to come, if only
through tourism alone. But when I mention it, it’s met with comments like “oh,
most of the video wasn’t even filmed in Gangnam, blah blah…..” But I guess it’s
not exactly a piece of high-brow culture!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the things the song makes fun of is people’s vanity. A major
effect of the prosperity in Korea has been a spike in popularity for plastic
surgery. In the Asian world where job applications can specify things like height
or weight, image is a very important thing. And nowhere is this more noticeable,
than South Korea, which has become the plastic surgery capital of the world,
where eyelid surgery, jaw reshaping and nose jobs are very common. This has supposedly
resulted in ridiculous situations such as the man who successfully sued his
wife on the grounds of marrying him under false pretences, after she gave him ugly
children (although now it is widely reported that this story was actually
completely false). Nevertheless, you are bombarded with a large number of visual
adverts showing before and after shots of a number of surgeries, plastered all throughout
the subway and other parts of the city. The health care system as a whole seems
to be very commercialised, as there were many shops around for different
specialists, and there was even a urologist next to the 7 eleven at the base of
where I was staying. On the whole though, I would say that Koreans are
definitely the most image conscious of all the Asian people, and in China is it
fairly easy to spot them – the men are much more likely to be wearing they hair
long (like Beatles 1970s style), or dyed
(blonde is quite common, but it just looks so bad!), which makes a contrast for
the more traditional, conservative Chinese look. But many of the Chinese are
aware of this, and are keen to imitate the trendy Korean style. One of the
first questions I got asked when I got back was whether I bought some clothes,
and other people have proudly said to be that they had their hair done in a
“Korean style” for their wedding (I don’t know what this means either!).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Another
thing that was high on my priority during my visit to Seoul was to eat some
proper Korean food. After arriving in China, many people said that Korean food was
particularly delicious, and it was a special treat to go to a Korean
restaurant. My DK guidebook also told me that it’s exceptionally healthy for
Asia, partly because they use much less oil than the Chinese, but also because
they eat a lot of vegetables and cook things very fresh. It seems to be
standard in Korean restaurants to bring bowls of fresh ingredients, and cook it
on a hob embedded in the table in front of you, which means you can cook it
just the way you like, no over-cooking, leaving all the good vitamins and
minerals intact, and it goes straight to your plate, so it’s very nutritious<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, Aimee and Bina took me to the
Bulgogi Brothers restaurant (<a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=15&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CJIBEBYwDg&url=%68%74%74%70%3a%2f%2f%77%77%77%2e%62%75%6c%67%6f%67%69%62%72%6f%73%2e%63%6f%6d%2f&ei=ysiEUvmrCOaQigemjIHQCQ&usg=AFQjCNFqvm6JcmB38EBlHP4DH_TxV8zMVQ&sig2=ja9dqgH4UgvHM6AEkhAi2g&bvm=bv.56343320,d.aGc" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #660099; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Batang;">불고기브라더스</span></a><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">) to have bulgogi, which is a kind of beef stew with sugar and
lots of vegetables, and it also came in this way. Aimee said that foreigners
always like this dish, and I was no exception!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggJl0coWQx2t016uU4k9zzLH22FDGcUog_iR__5M-rzO8kvI__UeOzUc8dtMKKHedQ9QEVPxGBWso2fE_d7HGeET7k3EC3IpZGpLwbqGQJ9NeNOvZXhksBjiLIQNRd7vb_BZ0V1OzVaZoy/s1600/15d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggJl0coWQx2t016uU4k9zzLH22FDGcUog_iR__5M-rzO8kvI__UeOzUc8dtMKKHedQ9QEVPxGBWso2fE_d7HGeET7k3EC3IpZGpLwbqGQJ9NeNOvZXhksBjiLIQNRd7vb_BZ0V1OzVaZoy/s400/15d.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we sat with our food steaming away in front of us, we
nibbled on an array of vegetable side-dishes, including kimchi, mashed pumpkin
and many others, which were all unlimited, so there was no fighting over who
had the last bit, because you could always ask for more! This really was one of
the tastiest dishes I’ve ever had, and the girls told me that this place is so
popular that there are now stores in America, Canada and Malaysia (wish they
would open one in London!).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> After
this delicious experience, I was feeling ready to try anything new, so when
Bina suggested getting Ddeokbokki for lunch the next day, I figured I may as
well try it out. It was mentioned in my DK book under “top ten Korean meals”,
and although it was described as “rice-cake chunks (ddeok) in a thick, and very
spicy red-pepper soup”, Bina assured me that she knew a place in a trendy part
of town Garosu-gil (<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 115%;">가로수</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 115%;">길</span>) that made a more
tolerable version. Bina ordered, and our delicious meal came in all its fresh,
raw glory, piled high with minced beef, spring onions, rice-chunks, noodles and
sauce, all sat on our own personal camping stove.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0GAz3Z_r95b5O5ZmgKPo5BN1bPXQBC0ONoJ3Zf6VClysUVqVuArxvkQ1CNfWAVjg_o3XPVwIOgIkD2oswFk5jeiRPHWLQ2h94AXmwcylvMUfkVJAJRHJk6dy9KkS6SBp6puIDbY-DK4h/s400/15e.jpg" height="299" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bina, with our lunch just after it arrived, ready to cook<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3LKGzq5NBumbgJMb33OoDAq1jxaexU0o1-f8vZH4zCu_ItIc6loLrZ1JbqmAsofTTfHXPQuhoF-oD9LUrpysu4sWoBVVapDVVVwfKln81_WIJHxzNHA2VIZgE0I-jjjPDkRK2C1zKmh_/s400/15f.jpg" height="400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Before trying the ddeokbokki</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking back on it, I probably should have seen the warning
signs, as this place was called “Villa de Spicy”. As soon as we started eating
it was quite obvious that it was going to be a rough ride. Apparently Bina had
asked for a “medium” spice, but even she and Aimee had struggled with the dish,
looking round at the others in the restaurant going “why is no one else
suffering?!”. As some of you will know I have a very low tolerance to spice
anyway, so this was a real effort for me. All the other ingredients in there I
knew were very delicious, and I especially love the rice chunks, so I tried to
battle my way through a small plate. In desperation, we ordered some extra rice
and I got myself a beer, but to no avail. Even a San Muigel couldn’t wash away
all this capsaicin. After a while, it was possible to ignore the spice, mainly
because we had lost all feeling in our mouths. I can honestly say that I have
never tasted anything like this before, but that would imply that I was able to
taste anything. I gave up after a plate and a half, and though the girls
bravely ate some more, they couldn’t finish the dish either, and we decided
that our next stop had to be an ice-cream parlour. By this point I had
succumbed to the pain and it made my eyes water just a little bit!</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjajvps_KpLCLKEy0veWVn6z8e3vsmCPtj1mhfHGimIF1hl_JyPotXnRvXm-SObmuhtLl51A-yOsm7jD2Pc6r6J4qXIQrqJ7i5n0sdWu7HEi01rbwV6mQS60nuEAin-GE2uwC5xwpsynxtN/s400/15g.jpg" height="297" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><em>After trying the Ddeokbokki!</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also developed a sudden
headache, started to wonder whether I would be experiencing capsaicin toxicity
for the first time. It was either that or the beer had gone to my head! It was
a really interesting experience though, and I’d love to repeat it, but first
I’d learn how to say in Korean to the chef “stop torturing people by making
delicious food completely inedible and painful!”</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDspJbtmN_RTGatG1wWX_Pv6p6mumyUihga3o_kQmcr3D2648BwzXH4QXPBonu9U46ZfgYpJMWQ06o5zJeW1rhJvh5hIohvJdFiboQv9IUDxvINRR8SDfHPw8GfpXFHuRmx_0Z3nh_D77P/s400/15h.jpg" height="400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;">Korean “ice flake” after the fiery meal to soothe our tongues<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the toilets! I could write a
whole separate blog post about South Korean toilets! After some horrific
experiences in both Beijing and Shanghai, you realise what a luxury it is to
have a good, clean toilet. Before you wonder whether if I’m a few meatballs
short of a dumpling, toilets in Korea are note worthy because even in most
public places, they were so clean and were electronically controlled to within
an inch of their life. I was so surprised to find that many seats are heated,
even at my friend’s home and at the airport. The electronic seats have so many
buttons at the side to spray water in this or that direction, you don’t really
know what to do with them. Almost everywhere the remaining facilities were
touchless motion sensors, but what really surprised me was that the airport
even had a map of the cubicles when you first walked in, with red and green
lights to indicate which places were free! I was so astonished, I wanted to
take a picture, but I thought this was probably too much, and anyway, the
facilities were so well designed that I would have been in full view of a group
of women at the specially designated area with floor length mirrors for
adjusting your looks (cleverly thought out to avoid having people blocking the
way to the hand-wash basins – is there nothing they don’t think of?!). So,
apologies, but no pictures here of coloured toilet maps and heated seats.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Getting back to more serious
issues, as we sat at our trendy dessert parlour recovering from our experience
and discussing the passage of time, as well as agreeing on when we should meet
up next (the girls want a 10 year reunion with all the guys from our halls in
Hong Kong!), I suddenly felt very lucky to be there, and the realisation dawned
on me I thought that barely a stone’s throw away (about 50 miles to be exact)
was a country at the complete opposite end of the scale of living standards in
Asia. At the end of World War II, as the Japanese surrendered, they also had to give up Korea, which they were then occupying. The US, who had previously maintained troops there during the war did not really acknowledge the temporary government set up to rule Korea. At the same time, Soviet tanks entered North Korea from Siberia. The division was meant to be temporary, but during the years that followed, which precipitated the Cold War, each side began to be suspicious of the other, and would not yield their half of Korea. Each side felt that they had a right to govern the other, and in 1950, the Korean War broke out, when the North side decided to take forceful action to take back the Southern half and create a unified communist country. Of course, the Americans would not tolerate this, so they boosted their military presence by hundreds of thousands of soldiers, as well as from the help of other UN countries. Meanwhile, China got involved on the North Korean side. The conflict reached a stalemate, and eventually, an armistice was signed in 1953, which means that neither side has won, and technically, the war isn't over. It is frightening to think that earlier this year, North Korea had claimed that this armistice was now finished (a decision it made all by itself) and that <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.18px; text-indent: 0px;">North Korea "is not restrained by the North-South declaration on non-aggression." Despite this, people seem to be carrying on as normal for the time being.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The net result of all the conflict mainly caused by North Korea is that it forced America to evaluate the importance of this country in Asia, and it decided that South Korea was valuable enough to protect and keep friendly, so in the subsequent years has maintained a steady presence with much aid in assistance from town planning and businesses, which has benefited the country enormously and is probably ultimately responsible for South Korea's current thriving economy. This small Asian country seems in infinitely better shape than China, a country with much more resources and a larger workforce. I have to admit
that I naively believed that this is what all of China would be like before I came, but definitely,
China is not there yet. South Korea is clearly one of the most comfortable
Asian countries, which others look up to, to some extents. The American influence can be seen very clearly, from the naming of blocks as numbers on very long streets (as in New York), to the omnipresent "Dunkin' Donuts" stores. Never before has
such a political experiment produced such staggeringly different results. The
closest similarity that comes to mind is the chapter in “Collapse” by Jared
Diamond, in which he compares how one Caribbean island split into two countries
– Haiti and the Dominican Republic - has similarly massive chasms in
prosperity. Although some have criticised his review of this situation, it would
be interesting to see what he has to say on the Korean issue. The conflict is
technically still ongoing, but apparently trips out to the Demilitarized Zone
are very popular, and that’s definitely one trip out of the city I’d like to do
next time I go back.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Despite the political conflicts,
Seoul has the luxury to indulge in some really nice renovations within the
city. One night, after we came back early from dinner on account of Aimee’s baby
and because Bina lives outside the city, I just couldn’t help myself, and I
snuck back out to take a look at the lantern festival at Cheonggyecheon. This
is a part of the old city that used to have a small tributary of the main
river. However, due to overcrowding by the poorer communities, it became very
polluted and unsightly and was filled in and turned into a highway by the
authorities during a 20 year renovation of the city starting in 1958. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, in 2003, then mayor of
Seoul, Lee Myung-bak (who subsequently became president of South
Korea) decided that it would be a great project to restore the stream, creating
jobs and also re-introducing more of nature into the heart of the capital
(again, this seems to be a common theme that it held in high importance by
forward-thinking South Koreans). It probably seemed like a good idea at the
time, but the mounting costs to remove the highway, and then the pumping of
water artificially to the site to replenish the now dried-up stream, coupled
with some safety issues, meant that the total cost of the project reached
around $900 million. This left a lot of Korean tax-payers very unhappy, as they
felt that this was a pointless vanity exercise. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, I couldn’t disagree
more! I really like the idea, and I really loved it when I got there. I think
bringing the natural elements back into the city gives a really nice atmosphere
and a very pleasant walk along major part of the city, since the stream
stretches over 8.4 km. The removal of the highway improved the air quality in
the city centre, although the air is already infinitely better than the major
Chinese cities, which made me laugh when I saw the odd Seoulite with face
masks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, since I’m a lover of lights
and night photography, I simply couldn’t resist the lantern festival, and took
as many photos as I could before it closed at 11 pm. I only just made it back
to the last subway home, but I think it was worth it (even if I had to walk the last stop or two back to the hotel!). Each lantern tells a story
and there are full explanations next to them. There was everything from a
traditional Korean wedding scene, complete with guests; to mythical creatures, flying
fish and even something resembling a Christmas tree. These are some of my
favourites:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Qd9J5MP5IilLa7KkF_fiRP2S86-akyW8ltx4AhIdrIqu7Zy1WCXMU3SDDzAKJ1gIeqJeZCaO-CxZfesE2OgZ-hTlhFS8eZWylC2snLyid6RBu1lXU69sXgg5L8sq6BoVbdzBar3VWeFl/s1600/15i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Qd9J5MP5IilLa7KkF_fiRP2S86-akyW8ltx4AhIdrIqu7Zy1WCXMU3SDDzAKJ1gIeqJeZCaO-CxZfesE2OgZ-hTlhFS8eZWylC2snLyid6RBu1lXU69sXgg5L8sq6BoVbdzBar3VWeFl/s400/15i.jpg" height="297" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOGUYM_Ep7kppHqMlP3Q99WMAso5oRWQiGuprfJm7pSeYgDUyTsbYaX2v7cn5ogeoEQcjfvuk1laCIPXMbuswr8vHmWqHtDigiD2_J_WKb1R4bW8-4XlFed9lO41L0PMmGkxfVnwFhG6yp/s1600/15j.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOGUYM_Ep7kppHqMlP3Q99WMAso5oRWQiGuprfJm7pSeYgDUyTsbYaX2v7cn5ogeoEQcjfvuk1laCIPXMbuswr8vHmWqHtDigiD2_J_WKb1R4bW8-4XlFed9lO41L0PMmGkxfVnwFhG6yp/s400/15j.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf2g0lMZVAeNgAiZXkVp1tA5pQQQ1rATxMOKg2NY_yuXRzsHj4mDTg1DKdTsDivskljrfg6Opr2usx8BOdQ8AOUPYOkFLFaKz8TSjjWBeK5-JiQDljT8M8xJ84a5NYp3gumN_lVA7dOFs1/s1600/15k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf2g0lMZVAeNgAiZXkVp1tA5pQQQ1rATxMOKg2NY_yuXRzsHj4mDTg1DKdTsDivskljrfg6Opr2usx8BOdQ8AOUPYOkFLFaKz8TSjjWBeK5-JiQDljT8M8xJ84a5NYp3gumN_lVA7dOFs1/s400/15k.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKuIlChUlDVBjrjZXWW0elppSWv1h8PWk-JurhZGptIn6lMQ-6_IYMz93Bl6uWrKDfo4LPi4GwW3nr0lWSWM0OTJLmh0Ovcq7cHM8PoPX_9V54PWJu6ZAtWt8LrjpRnYcNaetdAADjjK7/s1600/15l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKuIlChUlDVBjrjZXWW0elppSWv1h8PWk-JurhZGptIn6lMQ-6_IYMz93Bl6uWrKDfo4LPi4GwW3nr0lWSWM0OTJLmh0Ovcq7cHM8PoPX_9V54PWJu6ZAtWt8LrjpRnYcNaetdAADjjK7/s400/15l.jpg" height="290" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-QWxxiGCBx4qc-GMwrdpWrTX1m0XHcmT8NLtKNDqXA_VxgPELw-UqGrC92DUQ-3VFlYzm-JhQ9rsW-NJf-gGDG9r-3LKrsRz0MLbaILlT5zA1Mj3p4yTPfZrn1PWzpJ3Ak8i2Kxaik0Kb/s1600/15m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-QWxxiGCBx4qc-GMwrdpWrTX1m0XHcmT8NLtKNDqXA_VxgPELw-UqGrC92DUQ-3VFlYzm-JhQ9rsW-NJf-gGDG9r-3LKrsRz0MLbaILlT5zA1Mj3p4yTPfZrn1PWzpJ3Ak8i2Kxaik0Kb/s400/15m.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Seoul Lantern Festival</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">It was also raining that evening, but there were still plenty of people about who, like me, were undeterred, and many left only once all the lights went out. So, this popularity, combined with the positive effect on the environment means it doesn’t seem like such a failure after all! But then, I could be speaking as a naïve tourist here, who just likes pretty lights!</span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1feVy5AgUKSSBC6w8PoshKINK0RKTnhVFO9ao_8zn0CniQRckNzT6wos9aJ1Td8LC8qXaC4-IVEcIXKKtDZNSRzu16Ablq7fxZl9IbeuwZe8rRkuxMIvZwatwCh3ditwSem9B-OalnUh/s1600/SAM_5031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1feVy5AgUKSSBC6w8PoshKINK0RKTnhVFO9ao_8zn0CniQRckNzT6wos9aJ1Td8LC8qXaC4-IVEcIXKKtDZNSRzu16Ablq7fxZl9IbeuwZe8rRkuxMIvZwatwCh3ditwSem9B-OalnUh/s320/SAM_5031.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
Overall though, my main reason for coming to visit this city was to see an old friend, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover and fall in love with a beautiful city which has such a diversity of things to offer. I would definitely recommend it to others, especially in the autumn.<span style="text-indent: 36pt;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">This trip was my main reason for getting my Chinese visa changed, but the new one they gave me gives me two entries, so now I have done one, perhaps I’ll do another before my time runs out…..</span></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-24648152327109461562013-11-16T19:56:00.001+00:002016-06-02T11:19:38.249+01:00Seoul Survivor (Part I – Reunions, origins and histories)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Apologies for the lack of posts
recently, I've been quite busy with work (I promise I have been doing some, and
there’ll be a science post soon!) but also because I went on a long weekend
trip to Seoul last week.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> I think
most people have known that this was one trip I have been planning ever since I
found out I was going to Shanghai. In fact, my friend Aimee (Korean name Boram)
has been asking me to come and visit her ever since we left our undergraduate
halls in Nottingham back in 2007 (Sherwood Hall! Woo!). I had the very good
fortune of having Aimee as my neighbour during my time there, who was a really
bubbly and friendly girl and we had some fun times in halls that year with her friend Bina, another Korean
girl at our halls from a different building. We did fun things like going to hall formals:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-24kBhL88NU34KpTmEm6F8_UmwSpEc-7z9t2LkPBD6V26duy_WJGzjM7BR1GBhdXsBt0NPGtnXGVKMqXPFsjI2fYaZP2Xf_dXs8b5ta1MuoLdMeu8wCWc9_zBr7hw0H9F7QKVFVZqVBse/s1600/14a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-24kBhL88NU34KpTmEm6F8_UmwSpEc-7z9t2LkPBD6V26duy_WJGzjM7BR1GBhdXsBt0NPGtnXGVKMqXPFsjI2fYaZP2Xf_dXs8b5ta1MuoLdMeu8wCWc9_zBr7hw0H9F7QKVFVZqVBse/s400/14a.jpg" width="398" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;">After one of our hall formals: L- R Jade, Sarah, me, Aimee, Nina and Bina<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">…and we also bravely tried to make <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimbap" target="_blank">kimbap</a> (<span style="line-height: 115%;">김밥</span>) which
are basically the Korean version of sushi (taken on during one of the spells of
Japanese occupation) using our very rudimentary halls kitchen (sticky rice
boiled in the microwave anyone?) and whatever ingredients and equipment we
could get our hands on at the local “Fresh Asia” Chinese supermarket in Beeston. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhFAR3aTSxfg6PHclLQstnSfSwEod52n6fsgrRZ86UsmUtKEcPUPlAbfbl1ZGIjF4qC_HIfEFGWbqiMTh96LhgYCcsa7BmfrCqnSWsv3PgD1WooNARDFjQA3topv6SZCiK3lB8_KwcR2bK/s1600/14b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhFAR3aTSxfg6PHclLQstnSfSwEod52n6fsgrRZ86UsmUtKEcPUPlAbfbl1ZGIjF4qC_HIfEFGWbqiMTh96LhgYCcsa7BmfrCqnSWsv3PgD1WooNARDFjQA3topv6SZCiK3lB8_KwcR2bK/s400/14b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;">Lol, priceless look on Aimee’s face as she takes a first try of our creation!<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOLojCO-GEJ2vXaKQzYoLoJIUVYejYZ0UioxE_cRVN7P1Hna1in0jOloJTnYk595CAkDUk_74d9tzX9cGbTjQxfqUbpXT6QFXuLMXne0erOLEVnmgCIHLlvOYtKDsiwwd83myHGXIYfeDY/s1600/14c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOLojCO-GEJ2vXaKQzYoLoJIUVYejYZ0UioxE_cRVN7P1Hna1in0jOloJTnYk595CAkDUk_74d9tzX9cGbTjQxfqUbpXT6QFXuLMXne0erOLEVnmgCIHLlvOYtKDsiwwd83myHGXIYfeDY/s400/14c.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em><span style="font-size: small;">Bina, busy creating the kimbap, while I’m busy posing with it! Lol. Note the awesome 2007 fashions and hair cut I was trying to rock!</span></em></span><em style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> (I was trying to work the "Pob" at the time)</span></em></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For health and safety reasons we only made tinned tuna,
cucumber and cheese versions, but they turned out really delicious, and it was great fun!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was so nice to catch up with Aimee and Bina after six
years, and seeing how much our lives had changed.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOvPxvjiKLMtPBMHEZUhYMG3V6_qkgKrOrcUsgtobu2u5wrctYxu5fKyf6I_6fU5Y6HwLOXPJj3RV-AukvSCa_HzYpUf5PnaUp_XEMYfixI9e6hqzqoMAsrrSjKhKCpUpMEYlNhaN_ZQOB/s1600/14d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOvPxvjiKLMtPBMHEZUhYMG3V6_qkgKrOrcUsgtobu2u5wrctYxu5fKyf6I_6fU5Y6HwLOXPJj3RV-AukvSCa_HzYpUf5PnaUp_XEMYfixI9e6hqzqoMAsrrSjKhKCpUpMEYlNhaN_ZQOB/s400/14d.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;">Aimee at Changdeokgunk Palace (<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">창덕궁</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">)</span></span></span></em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvtt2JU99zm6Orzm169hIS4AdLcXOKTadZCPgiVlVp4z6kQ0u4le-PIFw8RZSGv3KU-Bc8eGHsY85AI5RN-9bMflcgyBbp_jSOXcIkU4cFSfS1JlIKN82rF4pFvgZIFflhI6LzSTsB6L98/s400/14e.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small;">With Bina during our dinner at the world famous Bulgogi Brothers restaurant (</span></em><a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=15&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CJIBEBYwDg&url=%68%74%74%70%3a%2f%2f%77%77%77%2e%62%75%6c%67%6f%67%69%62%72%6f%73%2e%63%6f%6d%2f&ei=ysiEUvmrCOaQigemjIHQCQ&usg=AFQjCNFqvm6JcmB38EBlHP4DH_TxV8zMVQ&sig2=ja9dqgH4UgvHM6AEkhAi2g&bvm=bv.56343320,d.aGc" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660099; font-family: "arial"; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><em>불고기브라더스</em></span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;"><em><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">)<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Aimee is now almost 30 and has settled down
and after a beautiful wedding, had an adorable baby girl:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXaHD-yksrgWsr2LEEQmY5M4JIqxHhfhH_PeI6oLV3yQTdepXj0cOBWpLi0TLAD8MExaFqYzfdxrpLxDAc0Md6IXTRJJTekzmxHdk_bLkpwLQsG96RbCqGbeqrmdUwbMdXeJP2gIjxjS7n/s400/14f.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="298" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Aimee with her baby girl<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></em></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXaHD-yksrgWsr2LEEQmY5M4JIqxHhfhH_PeI6oLV3yQTdepXj0cOBWpLi0TLAD8MExaFqYzfdxrpLxDAc0Md6IXTRJJTekzmxHdk_bLkpwLQsG96RbCqGbeqrmdUwbMdXeJP2gIjxjS7n/s1600/14f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></a><br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">When you haven’t seen somebody for six years,
the realisation of how much time has passed suddenly hits you and you feel very
old! But it was so nice to be able to catch up, and try to recreate our kimbap
night!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3k39pvf39Ds3kaRh6WOcf23k54OqRjT9c6hw3LUPEZVxzkCUhyphenhyphenYq9GPOv5sIuvm9zfkKvsV7wES557nspBdz7tgnUT2hT3BHxBkodFkzrBj-lO3q_2MBjU_04VBO_zpKaeAdjpMAtt_ae/s1600/14g.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3k39pvf39Ds3kaRh6WOcf23k54OqRjT9c6hw3LUPEZVxzkCUhyphenhyphenYq9GPOv5sIuvm9zfkKvsV7wES557nspBdz7tgnUT2hT3BHxBkodFkzrBj-lO3q_2MBjU_04VBO_zpKaeAdjpMAtt_ae/s400/14g.jpg" width="300" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;">(even though they insisted that kimbap wasn’t
really that cool, and that it’s more of a snack than anything else).</span><span style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> I
originally planned to have my visit during the “Golden week” which is only in
China, and is a good time to leave the country, on account of the huge crowds
(see my <a href="http://shanghaiereducation.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/chinese-national-golden-week-holiday.html" target="_blank">earlier post</a> about this). Unfortunately, even though I handed in my
passport at the Exit-Entry Bureau as soon as I could, I couldn’t get my
passport back in time. But now, I’m so glad that my trip was slightly delayed,
because I caught the last of the mild autumn weather, and the wonderful colour
show of the leaves as they change for the season!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Gilsangsa Temple" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfV-Ewu3cu7HR7Kh14az5T0L5iqBXD-KBhWB82bjJrs-IsnGACizh97I6hRiNgTa3m9DBR0n9-uJMMM7kImaepaUbImW9WeGx0LzS0ngRdwJ8-Hh1FuI1BEaJUeRbFGR5hOtf20tfy5Rpo/s400/14h.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Gilsangsa Temple" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><em>A building in Gilsangsa temple (</em><span style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;">길상사</span><span style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;">) </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">behind the foliage<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></span><br />
<h3 align="center" style="background: white; margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">It’s a little bit out of the way, but definitely worth going for! Much more quiet, secluded and ambient than some other temples<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> The colours in the
October-November season are known to be a popular tourist attraction, and I can
definitely confirm that it's worth it. The colours are really so vibrant in real
life, and my camera doesn’t have the quality to really capture the beauty, so a
few photos have had a bit of autocontrast. Seoul has a really good amount of
greenery in the city, and is one of the few capitals to have an actual National
Park within its bounds (also worth a visit). So many places were awash with
different shades of green, yellow, amber and red, which allowed me to take
photos like this:</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirDkLUFJydJAGVhrsFFDcW0nrS4lp5HIPkrxkDaMfJODf8Um0SE9r-iSjFtJn_hyphenhyphenAIBrZUNvYlOuuazPZdlbH6fDpE_jbZcR7riqHxOov4-j96DOm8jEpRQlL_G4KiJnAwMCci420gZR_/s1600/14j.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirDkLUFJydJAGVhrsFFDcW0nrS4lp5HIPkrxkDaMfJODf8Um0SE9r-iSjFtJn_hyphenhyphenAIBrZUNvYlOuuazPZdlbH6fDpE_jbZcR7riqHxOov4-j96DOm8jEpRQlL_G4KiJnAwMCci420gZR_/s400/14j.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijAudezD5xiXqcJY48m7eADmWNdDoHIQ_y1Iys5Mos5JucM_AE-wz2Tm6Xcx5oIZL4fRk1o3dKqJvqTVQkKCP3GbbkhDtovDMXsbkzf_sgwAlawTIzVqPRFG8rSOj3VweoE44JeC4OubNp/s1600/14k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijAudezD5xiXqcJY48m7eADmWNdDoHIQ_y1Iys5Mos5JucM_AE-wz2Tm6Xcx5oIZL4fRk1o3dKqJvqTVQkKCP3GbbkhDtovDMXsbkzf_sgwAlawTIzVqPRFG8rSOj3VweoE44JeC4OubNp/s400/14k.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQjMTCovVBOj3Gj0t5vrizSmmjeEacuvt5yJ5pQE2BCfYd04m13g5ZfFa1r4Z7Cl6cvLBwQDDsQ4_KfKFZnkwX2GUGe0dHRJrmkHMj72uIvXVhfWHj-mhIsOOK0DQkKnhFWPPkh1BWGzIo/s400/14l.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small;">At Namsangol Hanok Village</span></em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw0lVYI7I39jaf5eilKQtrz-VLessoc8TGaTMAwHxBLwCJUn2wN8Mf7Moqaq8-HCTjdoYzV8j8n-V0vI_wuab5HtZYxI-Vd5jkWcz611hk3FTNz5FCITokPcXWL2CAexaeSiTJs_BppZHN/s400/14m.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small;">Outside Changdeokgung Palace. No photo doctoring – this is really what it looked like!</span></em></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> One of the first things that
struck me about South Korea is that Korean, really is literally nothing like
Chinese, which meant that all the words I’d learnt in the past few weeks were
suddenly useless (although there are many signs and announcements in Chinese,
on account of the large number of Chinese tourists – which is hardly surprising
given the proximity, and how great it is here. People in the west have yet to
discover how really awesome Seoul is as a tourist destination). Yes, the
writing is different, but also none of the words sound the same, and the language
structure and grammar isn't similar either. For starters, Korean is not tonal (phew!),
and there are sounds that are hard for westerners to pronounce, since they are
part way in between <b>b</b> and <b>p</b>, or <b>g</b> and <b>k</b>, or <b>ch</b> and <b>j</b>, and there is only one letter for <b>r</b> and <b>l</b> (hence the
stereotypical joke of Asians mixing the two up frequently when they speak
English, although I’m told it’s much worse in the Japanese). Despite the lack
of tones, it’s quite a melodic language, and it sounds much more pleasant
to the ear than the harsh clashing sounds of all the Chinese tones. (I once
asked the people in my lab how Chinese people express feelings with speech,
since all the usual inflections used in English are used in Chinese tones to give
meaning. They told me that they simply adjust the volume!) I especially love
the way people say goodbye in Korean (<i><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">annyeonghi gaseyo</span></i><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> -</span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Gulim; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">안녕히</span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Gulim; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">가세요</span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Gulim; mso-fareast-font-family: Gulim;">), like a little song with a bow at the end, as if you’ve just given a farewell
performance.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The fact that Korean has an
alphabet (called Hangeul) of only 28 letters, rather than ideographic
characters (as in Chinese) is a blessing, since it’s possible to guess how to
pronounce new words. In actual fact, Korea also used to employ the Chinese
characters for writing, much like the other Chinese dialects and languages,
which means that almost any Chinese person should be able to read the same
text, even if they pronounce completely different words (this is thought to
have partly contributed to China’s success at keeping diverse communities
cohesive throughout its vast territories and time).
However, in the 15<sup>th</sup> century, a Joseon King known as Sejong
the Great (<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">세종</span><span style="background-color: white;">), a very forward-thinking king who, despite opposition,
introduced the new alphabet with the explicit goal that Koreans from all
classes could read and write, not just the nobility. The Hangeul letters were
loosely based on patterns made by the mouth, tongue and teeth when making the
sound related to the character. With this new, simplified system it was
possible for someone to learn how to read in a matter of days. It gave the
people a new identity, and the now instantaneously recognisable text was born.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nevertheless,
some historical sites still show the remnants of times gone by, when the
Chinese characters were still in use, such as at the Changdeokgung palace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpER_WErr3Qfd27TjfPksvObRZ1YsNU9Xt-BWcb0NQ5VklNz_xLq4KrRPs1rv0hY1PeCws6XyL13M__-PReCjo0lUlK_PP3ar9CzF9_g71D4QdD3ynW5i7ck7tXmmQNruxVA-OUB5JzIyd/s1600/14n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpER_WErr3Qfd27TjfPksvObRZ1YsNU9Xt-BWcb0NQ5VklNz_xLq4KrRPs1rv0hY1PeCws6XyL13M__-PReCjo0lUlK_PP3ar9CzF9_g71D4QdD3ynW5i7ck7tXmmQNruxVA-OUB5JzIyd/s400/14n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small;">The Concubine's quarters. Note the Chinese characters on the window frame, remnants from the old style of writing</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" dir="ltr" style="clear: both; text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And generally, the Chinese theme is very much apparent
throughout the historic sites, as can be noted from the general architectural
and decorative styles. Changdeokgung is basically one of Korea’s answers to
Beijing’s Forbidden City.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Changdeokgung Palace Korea " border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5MVX3Ci4Ios_bGmxwVoM0Fvw14qT2dwyt8pnT-rabHg0n8Heiy1wCXAiBA7D_gQpEIMI2zI4j5VLiSysEAIDiL0joKbyfOU_0uTny74rKhF-W00v622l9ysdZIRK1PuYa80zh_k8DzSZG/s400/14o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Changdeokgung Palace" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center">
<em><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small;">Roof detail at Changdeokgung Palace</span></em></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" dir="ltr" style="clear: both; text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> But I think this one is prettier and has more character. Perhaps this is partly
because the Forbidden City is just so vast it seems unyielding, and less of a
welcoming or comfortable place. Seoul has several smaller, but charming, palaces
spread throughout the city, rather than just one, big, imposing one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Unfortunately, we didn’t get into the Secret Garden attached
to this palace, because we didn’t book ahead in time (visitors are limited to
protect the garden and heighten the enjoyment), but I heard it was amazing, and
a must-see, so be sure to book your time in advance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> History is also easily engaged with in other parts of the
city, such as the Namsangol Hanok Village, at the base of the Namsan mountain.
This area is home to several traditional wooden buildings (hanoks) which
regular people lived in (I guess the equivalent of hutongs in China).</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKox71DRo7X-f00XejWSqIx6JBYfz9YukervHqRFjmVEyV2P49ACQ1gIRYLGQcw8w-K_sys-mclVT8O8vLJCEXo-xFevMIXnYQc0NY5hpQdUh4p2l3QJTNKfLuTc-eRAsb_3sxEUj6-Py8/s1600/14p.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKox71DRo7X-f00XejWSqIx6JBYfz9YukervHqRFjmVEyV2P49ACQ1gIRYLGQcw8w-K_sys-mclVT8O8vLJCEXo-xFevMIXnYQc0NY5hpQdUh4p2l3QJTNKfLuTc-eRAsb_3sxEUj6-Py8/s400/14p.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;">Traditional Hanok housing at Namsangol<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" dir="ltr" style="clear: both; text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> This area is really cute, as although it has been a little
bit touristified, there is a real emphasis on interaction with the past, and
getting involved. Here you can watch traditional straw-craft, play ancient
games, try on traditional clothes, and even do a spot of toy archery!</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzhW53oZrCv911COJaWDPwmu1um_tYE-F-kl1dTKE3TiSjbQ-Yzh4Il4dU1M1DKm7qcG_DWkU8WxBMumsM4EaOwV2VTYhyphenhyphenrZKtLUsGLzWWDdugRanDIi77XkLAxTis93NEdgAk5lnDoTY/s1600/14q.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzhW53oZrCv911COJaWDPwmu1um_tYE-F-kl1dTKE3TiSjbQ-Yzh4Il4dU1M1DKm7qcG_DWkU8WxBMumsM4EaOwV2VTYhyphenhyphenrZKtLUsGLzWWDdugRanDIi77XkLAxTis93NEdgAk5lnDoTY/s400/14q.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;">A straw-crafter, making shoes, bags and baskets<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqkSa1HqcJCdI7wu-5hpsZ6RKIwguBG3OdJeWsmgRChHCOQcu9wUkBSoO-6Aiv34fNb6_3UJw7zGALlyJxlLxtbtLuW6CAq01pwROwPCjStw3HAFuylfgnlaEZRYAETeDnd_XP_86OhEBp/s1600/14r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqkSa1HqcJCdI7wu-5hpsZ6RKIwguBG3OdJeWsmgRChHCOQcu9wUkBSoO-6Aiv34fNb6_3UJw7zGALlyJxlLxtbtLuW6CAq01pwROwPCjStw3HAFuylfgnlaEZRYAETeDnd_XP_86OhEBp/s400/14r.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;">Cute kids on a school trip, trying out traditional games (pre- iPad entertainment!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> There is usually a small fee for trying out some of these extras, but it's not more than a few pounds each, and I think it's good because it means you can pick and choose which activities you want to take part in, rather than pay for all with an entrance fee, and it means that entrance to the park for people like me who just want to wander around and take photos, is completely free.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Namsangol Hanok village is also where the Seoul Time
Capsule lies:</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3rPqzXREaEKsXrss64CJHyD4A-vIJyCjZRHZ7x8Uzwf3vSALfdh2T-ncYCZmjzCjs1kufcJP-f8Kswz8EAv8v4G0olMPUwISaFWRfDiCYNaUZIPEaPTXeGDWa6DSj2GbRjY39gW_MVx2W/s1600/14s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3rPqzXREaEKsXrss64CJHyD4A-vIJyCjZRHZ7x8Uzwf3vSALfdh2T-ncYCZmjzCjs1kufcJP-f8Kswz8EAv8v4G0olMPUwISaFWRfDiCYNaUZIPEaPTXeGDWa6DSj2GbRjY39gW_MVx2W/s400/14s.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;">Seoul time capsule, created in 1994, to celebrate the city’s 6<sup>th</sup>centenary<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" dir="ltr" style="clear: both; text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Inscribed with well-wishing messages from mayors of cities
Seoul is twinned with, from all over the world, including Paris, São Paolo,
Jakarta and many others, the time capsule was set up in 1994 as part of
celebrations for the 600<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the setting up of Seoul.
It contains an array of objects including plants, technology (who would be able
to play the tape or disks in 400 years time when it’s finally due to be
opened?!), everyday objects as well as 90s fashion items and traditional Korean
clothing. I wonder how much of it will have survived properly and what future
Seoulites would make of the selection of objects! It’s nice to see that there’s
a real awareness and value of heritage, the passage of time and this effort is a
reflection of that; a gift to the future generations giving them insights into
their past – a glimpse of our current present.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Have you been to Seoul? What was your favourite part? I loved Seoul so much, I had lots more to write about it, so check out <a href="http://shanghaiereducation.blogspot.com/2013/11/modern-seoul.html" target="_blank">part II</a> as well</span></i></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-42778554787845656432013-11-02T00:07:00.002+00:002014-04-01T10:39:25.078+01:00Beijing, The Forbidden City and The Great Wall of China (Sam's visit to China - Part II) <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 12pt 0cm 0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 0gd; mso-para-margin-right: 12.0pt; mso-para-margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 35.45pt;">Before my visit,
everybody told me that while Shanghai is the bustling metropolitan and the face
of modern China, whereas Beijing is the more historical, grand city, steeped in
a long history being the seat of many of China’s dynasties in its cultured
civilization. People spoke with such gravitas and reverence about Beijing that
I assumed it must be a superior version of Shanghai, with its years of wisdom
and antiquity behind it. Maybe I built it up too much in my head, as our first
impressions were that it seemed definitely to have age behind it, which meant
that everything was old, had time to become quite run down and dirty, so it was
a bit of a shock compared to smooth and tidy Shanghai! I did hear warnings that
the smog was also much worse there on account of it being more inland and not
having the same ocean breeze as Shanghai, and when Lu told us that the metro
was busier there, I kind of laughed it off, thinking “is it actually possible
for the metro to be even more busy?”. Well yes, unfortunately, it totally was.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 12pt 0cm 0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 0gd; mso-para-margin-right: 12.0pt; mso-para-margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 12pt 0cm 0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 0gd; mso-para-margin-right: 12.0pt; mso-para-margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having got lost
meant that we had more than our fair exposure to the metro when we first
arrived, and saw people ambitiously piling in until there was no room to move,
and in some cases, people being left on the platform (this happened to us too,
later). Sam became fiercely territorial, and wanted to queue early for the
entrance points on the platform. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But when we
finally got to our hotel, which was quite comfortable (you get so much more for
your money here), we settled in quite well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 12pt 0cm 0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 0gd; mso-para-margin-right: 12.0pt; mso-para-margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Highlights of our
trip included going to the Hutong area at Nanluogu Xiang (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.2px; text-indent: 0px;">南锣鼓巷)</span><span style="text-indent: 35.45pt;">.</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMzqhxRiaptgUyA-ofwUCS69xR1GpmtTcFKbqB_ntZsxt40YKCzLXr3pOdBqKabob7FqWm2lNKFJedKkoJ6QT69xotHlczdbKAfVTCLYqmnTBdBoP-gFIG2I81zy2Ll3YbGGO4cDIL7oF/s400/13a.jpg" height="316" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Lanterns at Nanluogu Xiang</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This area was packed full of cool shops
selling kitsch gifts and little snacks and eateries selling the latest food
fashions, including macarrons and churros!</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGScdgBHPVd3uxGUsCi7FSkxGhRzgsakgH_zgkwTb_Hq0N3DW1lmfrO_Q5HSKeLXKhTd7FoKegEws3xL_UpMH_NADw_BW9NR6zijUjGDENq1O_W1u4c61sUkhPZsUX-qYJkiYE3-5lmzKQ/s320/SAM_3076.JPG" height="320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Churros! In China! With ice cream!</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have to say, we didn't come to China
to have churros, but when we did, they were actually some of the most delicious
churros I've ever had! So soft and chewy on the inside, with a thin layer of crunch
on the outside, it was cooked to perfection. And it came with this delicious
tangy ice-cream, maybe made with some buttermilk or yoghurt. I couldn’t believe
it was better than what I remembered having from Spain! This is a foodie
travesty, I know, but maybe the month of only Eastern food meant that my
tastebuds had faded and suddenly everything Western suddenly tasted ridiculously
delicious.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 12pt 0cm 0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 0gd; mso-para-margin-right: 12.0pt; mso-para-margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also tried a local pancake-come-waffle
type thing with a custard filling, made with a pretty panda imprint on the
sides:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJgQgYJn-Wu1SXOjTQ6dwpkqHuAMOzvQ4qylbCCKbuBinALZ8JYyKs7kCswcbQEYdj7yMAwUiM_LG6Il-0zegHrBjqzubOabseH44VnDPVD_bCWjFHAHn3lS5LqxC9ItNXqmbVJLWTIt43/s400/13c.jpg" height="300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Waffle/pancake combo – how do they get the custard inside?!</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It even had its own Starbucks, which
although I was reluctant to go into, gave me the opportunity to do what I
normally like, which is to try out the items added to the menu tailored to the
local tastes (though not that many Chinese actually go to Starbucks, since it
is expensive, and they’re not even a nation of coffee drinkers!). This meant
green-tea flavoured frappucino and a very delicious green-tea and black-sesame
flavoured swiss roll type slice, which I’d love to recreate at home:</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTrAZ8rBlamv2GPjLS9dxKW7xOI3YcFZUtzGwaTMUMPsfKoRY-ZU4UwfvE8s0V0-aJ6nQohOH5xs52e1K0UkQlpP0u3kPxcMx0Y3FvNrnRBVjOsT6WCFayOJZ3q_WAAJBzg4OmLE-sWsL/s400/13d.jpg" height="295" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Green tea flavour all the things!</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Frankly, this place was so trendy, it
was verging into the territory of “Gap Yah” type of places, but nevertheless,
we couldn't resist the vibe of this place and also picked up a couple of
things, including one of the many paraphernalia bearing the Chairman Meow meme:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhKgTwsErtOSK_MJNWq-iiO5cWhLXbPwuycvNl2GLSDCWOCW1hd_-XYpCLPcsNbhqmvNqNhzefixIllYDc62LUK4lavwizQh2q8vNJhv7M7G5ccrvKeZXZtU-FhGcqTjtsQ1ujhYcZBlMe/s1600/13e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhKgTwsErtOSK_MJNWq-iiO5cWhLXbPwuycvNl2GLSDCWOCW1hd_-XYpCLPcsNbhqmvNqNhzefixIllYDc62LUK4lavwizQh2q8vNJhv7M7G5ccrvKeZXZtU-FhGcqTjtsQ1ujhYcZBlMe/s400/13e.jpg" height="400" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 12pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course one of the compulsory stops was Tian’an Men Square which has
sadly now only one week later become the site of a tragic crash, most probably
linked to tensions with a minority Muslim Uighur group, who feel repressed
under the country’s rule. Much is being made of the censorship in this country,
so we don’t know too many details. All I know is that the social networking
site bothered to post a short news bulletin on the story, yet all but the most
politically benign comments have been censored:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 12pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIrrPhIsYEPzF4frcPvMSxour1f39t_hx-td9oXLcGZO36aI2LmmXjP4aL3HiiZZBn-MuiCgZHO-FVYf4CaGD82VFUGQR29zsWrVALCIEUGG1F1Tup_EstxdZZH6jnI0xex5IKm47WxotQ/s400/13f.jpg" height="385" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Censorship on user comments under Weibo’s news article</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 12pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 24pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The reason why the text looks so repetitive
becomes clear with Google translate:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsr0H4QgFh27L5cV1CkJCtr81jO89cK1NoC9byPqLVxz4wTWU20hDEk66meMGIvqVMsVlMbqUdN8rZIrdtgkRUslYjZnX2I9QfnTS7y6nYp1g94pt7i8OF3L4oaDcWvEzVTfx_oeGP3w3T/s400/13g.jpg" height="400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="358" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Translation of censorship</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 12pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It seems that instead of deleting posts, they just replace the text with
this nonsense! I love how the last comment about it being a traffic accident
has been left in, even though the person might well have been being sarcastic! If
anything is clear from this event, it is that it was no accident, and obviously
politically motivated, since the driver ploughed right into the direction of
Mao’s portrait and the main entrance of the Forbidden City, both emblems of
Beijing’s power. But who knows what the people hired to monitor Weibo think.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 12pt; text-indent: 24pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moving away from the politics, and getting back
to our trip, before this unfortunate event, we had a lovely (if crowded) stroll
through Tian’an Men Square, complete with ridiculously garish and unnecessary
giant floral centrepiece, complete with its own guard (as always in China).</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuIDT7zmucn23O49311fYR7-OoWoXpkVWWt5V7M8k9ukCTVa9-jvN_ndCi-0PsnOAkOYcQSVO3Ieg5xAgM25Xbpz9gqcFohhYabxyQLdG5lVtn3B9KUykEZ6gCHFukwZA60kbov6aP2aQO/s400/13h.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Ridiculously large floral centrepiece at Tian’an Men square</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuIDT7zmucn23O49311fYR7-OoWoXpkVWWt5V7M8k9ukCTVa9-jvN_ndCi-0PsnOAkOYcQSVO3Ieg5xAgM25Xbpz9gqcFohhYabxyQLdG5lVtn3B9KUykEZ6gCHFukwZA60kbov6aP2aQO/s1600/13h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; text-indent: 24pt;"> After a brief walk round the square, we made
our way into the Forbidden City, which was the exclusive complex for the
imperial court and where 24 of China’s emperors had ruled for nearly 500 years.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 12pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On our initial entry, it was clear that the city still had some kind of
military importance, because there were cordoned off areas and even basketball
courts up just through the front arch. We were also greeted by some kind of
military choir, singing a very well practiced and orchestrated song, presumably
to boost army morale:</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcuxcmZXYQ3g5dxtJUu3okSe8VNdJAn011znSaUd-_dj5VrzkNL2-Uv9bN37ojyL2D9JCfktdckZFXGqSX2OIVfq6AJPle4uUmy8HV2L-15MED94inv0nPmqFUFTbFWy_z_7LiaolgzO3D/s400/13i.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Carefully prepared military song delivered during a peak visiting time</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">Music and singing is very important in China, and military singers can
reach quite a high standing rank in society, as we recently heard in the
unfortunate case of Li Tianyi.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 12pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 24pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Further in to the Outer Court, you started to
see the true scale of the place:</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCMh6jiJRacbD2i3JEY2aG1_YraIDVh7U3YEumCLDQ9UOLS0h94rmrPXEZBAr3A_iNyLF1Xkgg1j5B9jPtBljWXujEr9Q8Fnfnp434gx1St_en1bUUluKfsjFwPYFUQpRWtQxyibSxU7hh/s400/13j.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Outer court of the Forbidden City</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; text-indent: 24pt;">All the buildings were decorated in a very
lavish fashion:</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwEy9xNUY8SILJ1mx-cM2vSEnJaP2iCJb92g-tBfXZ0PLy2uWYOKRHb4PMd5xU2jxNaj8snaAdtNIYwZ7HnDwXQ8THKmRfEJJAoTRSfl7x0HE4NmWDfRzGbalIHD8cZWSTmdnOmU73QJA/s400/13k.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">An intricately painted recurring motif throughout the roofs of the Forbidden City</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwEy9xNUY8SILJ1mx-cM2vSEnJaP2iCJb92g-tBfXZ0PLy2uWYOKRHb4PMd5xU2jxNaj8snaAdtNIYwZ7HnDwXQ8THKmRfEJJAoTRSfl7x0HE4NmWDfRzGbalIHD8cZWSTmdnOmU73QJA/s1600/13k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsJP-ltqYbnZlpuh0qpnb1d9RpoigKX93hC8x2gks4Fuvh0EDDAi2Ev7W4xhPeMJ_AlbzbE-2jtSic8fklTyOLP7J3-eSDy5dQwWQT5MI6lUaHZ39oYq2OjpHYHPgljzLjl6u-J0AhKm8g/s400/13l.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Carefully constructed figurines at the end of roof ridges</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgav86bR14_B44b58S_zBqdRclkuqMTHEWnyvGoeXYrCvuJYs-GN_JM1rpuFl-KojoPQEXcwUcE4ErpQBZNEpesmvEju8lDCwOe89nKhhKu1IEpF8yFxfhii7gSBm28x9_-L8_gVtxgXqow/s400/13m.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">One of the great Halls</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, the Forbidden City was quite breathtaking in its size and
grandeur, but I have to say, after you’d seen one building, you’d pretty much
seen them all, so I'm not quite sure if it’s entirely worth the 60 RMB entry
fee! Nevertheless, they know tourists will pay this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 12pt; text-indent: 24pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps my views were slightly coloured by the
unfortunate spell of heavy smog Beijing was during the week when we were there.
It was so thick, that it was drowning out the sun, even on an otherwise
cloud-free day, at about 2 pm:</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWe2wf9IreknWe3zYn9SM4JHdK13joJ0iUePc14LoeHMtCXUAQbekyLDNa1mgI83qBNL3OrQ_Pdf8sNuchiWlHq5uGsg3WsdwXtQs-H_TI2xPjKDTnDAKy7UZWgaEd9EqMGuHDWwDxnwDg/s400/13n.jpg" height="331" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">An eerie-looking sun, blocked by the thick smog</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It gave the sun a very eerie,
orange glow, which almost made you feel like you were on another planet. It
also somewhat ruined our later shots of the city view from the top of Jing Shan
Park just north of the Forbidden City.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMtfkVsfcs00YuEvkjIMN3G7D3p8WLWE9-HuGQaaqC8qblnIoKHrN_BUkMSTtDVGLILraZtouodxv4ryWnwKmHbExk-6EEWAFaKKxpat659mVhm8hyiXFkTgwJKEGsiiYvblGHK4wDY7Qc/s400/13o.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">From the top of Jing Shan Park</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here, there were some beautiful
buildings are the top of a little hill which had a great view over the
Forbidden City.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnsOWXQa3M7YWijOumcXUiub0kqM-dUic9Ijfhx3ZP3hmQ1ECdpS41-zEjcD91v9_DzLioCclND6zKt6R2p9OTEggr4T_UdSKNdgvOnLhc7n74RNAoOihvX_VC3B8bQxY3eFfwSgKfagfN/s400/13p.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Building at Jing Shan Park</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As well as a random fruit bowl
made out of a hedge!</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyleEMAh-9BrKZCM9QSgwHljOl1bBUsNXAL4yg6zokq4HjHJlrAAT2S4c8vmKa1PAOz6TyGDdrYxy0tedcKwI9ZZ7abXNKMo-5KNWJDZGsXLiB3TYuU0S1zhTOS2ohaYeKrcObS6V89YeK/s400/13q.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Random fruit bowl hedge sculpture at the entrance to Jing Shan Park</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, I have to say that without
a doubt, the best part of our visit was the trip to the Great Wall. We went on
an excursion organised by <a href="http://www.backpackingchina.com/" target="_blank">Beijing Downtown Backpackers</a>, on the
recommendation of a friend who had recently been to China. They run several
trips to different parts of the Great Wall and even offer an overnight camping
trip to see the Wall at its most beautiful at sunrise and sunset, where there
would be no other tourists around. Overall, I have to say, they seem like a
great hostel, and run some really good excursions at great value for money. Our
trip to a relatively far region of the wall (3 hours drive away from Beijing,
with an English speaking guide, “body guard” to check on us that we all make it
back to the pick up point, where they drove us back and dropped off some people
at useful metro stations before taking us back to the hostel, all for about £28
per person! We paid more for our trip to Samaria gorge, which was closer, but
maybe it was because it was longer (17 km vs 6 km on the wall). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 12pt 0cm 0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 0gd; mso-para-margin-right: 12.0pt; mso-para-margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But
what an awesome, yet challenging 6 km it was! We started off with a fair amount
of people with us, as there were several other groups arriving at that time,
including what looked like some athletic groups on tour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Y9o5Tcrf_O_KAWsA3hvH7mOoNz3R7tPnrMC5xH8ayHwUeCJLV72jxpUZr08pGQ1aTp51Sufga9Ci3SoQCd24gi1FjUts5naRhNuFHoa8mlgNHb3k7TkxJTMFMY1RBPl-usY4pXvJ2LOT/s400/13r.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Statue at the start of our walk along the Great Wall at Jin Shan Ling</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">We went to the section of the
wall starting at Jin Shan Ling and ending at Simatai, which is a section that
is partially restored, but some sections are still left untouched and
authentic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Originally a
collection of ramparts from separate states, the walls were created and joined
under the Qin Shi Huangdi (221-210 BC), with the same intention as Hadrian’s
Wall, or “The Wall” in “Game of Thrones” (we made many jokes about keeping out “wildlings”
as we went along). Out trip was going to take us through 22 towers over the 6
km, which were supposed to always be placed two arrow shots apart, so that all
parts of the wall could be protected, provided each tower was adequately
manned. However, it was not infallible, and eventually, the Mongols broke
through in the 13<sup>th</sup> century, and then the Manchu did also in the 17<sup>th</sup>
century. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The wall hugs
the ups and the downs of the hills keeping its path regardless of the twists
and turns of the countryside<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIxqbLaynZd5s0YAhGg0s97STMmGNgYmnR1vFFk4ErCBfy0vqS6h2aVcmF5JYaa9lNQRZLL_7dl5hZJGoISPdpIlIYaZldRBSynnm8vWY-nwN38hwrS_A4-X9j88KQ1pcd7Va6quzQSC94/s1600/13s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIxqbLaynZd5s0YAhGg0s97STMmGNgYmnR1vFFk4ErCBfy0vqS6h2aVcmF5JYaa9lNQRZLL_7dl5hZJGoISPdpIlIYaZldRBSynnm8vWY-nwN38hwrS_A4-X9j88KQ1pcd7Va6quzQSC94/s400/13s.jpg" height="297" width="400" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6bRRopwCZcOr2Rm_DVfPM-shf0uFsuQEviMnMXIizE9qVv3XOAN6ZPFCqdwzeaJopLuqnWwujOanzjpJqfLW8UdPYiBXHrQx5SwKJrd5AgBDcy8nHryOQZ3qomlghP0PbEKMi-7Bwy0Fj/s1600/13t.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6bRRopwCZcOr2Rm_DVfPM-shf0uFsuQEviMnMXIizE9qVv3XOAN6ZPFCqdwzeaJopLuqnWwujOanzjpJqfLW8UdPYiBXHrQx5SwKJrd5AgBDcy8nHryOQZ3qomlghP0PbEKMi-7Bwy0Fj/s400/13t.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we went along, the Wall
became progressively steeper, and less restored, so that at some points, we
were almost walking on all fours!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIMBQgEj8SJ8kQ0b0fNlrdKUn-64D5M9oaLw0e7lRlrB7UcWvTUPnn0B5BuuFVWUE4ioyk2J991xP6HlgNo4UM9I821V43AP545TvPeSdsr_G751QfORBWqKTV0Futehw_FK7fUg7jsRYX/s1600/13u.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIMBQgEj8SJ8kQ0b0fNlrdKUn-64D5M9oaLw0e7lRlrB7UcWvTUPnn0B5BuuFVWUE4ioyk2J991xP6HlgNo4UM9I821V43AP545TvPeSdsr_G751QfORBWqKTV0Futehw_FK7fUg7jsRYX/s400/13u.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggL1Y3Shs5H-5VsRm6BD6-HRmwoAAflP-_NWXSkgGQz9IF73ztrmi4esACq2xdraFLW2XSKVzbMQTxYDN2WfvEzVy8AEQAAWIXwF2KreI95ZM2RFi9hPTIgFe5U6hnqmLBMtmzBJ_eIMP-/s1600/13v.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggL1Y3Shs5H-5VsRm6BD6-HRmwoAAflP-_NWXSkgGQz9IF73ztrmi4esACq2xdraFLW2XSKVzbMQTxYDN2WfvEzVy8AEQAAWIXwF2KreI95ZM2RFi9hPTIgFe5U6hnqmLBMtmzBJ_eIMP-/s400/13v.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvOWaTaA8YEs1CWCwUSWQYFOuepYSJk8hDWZrOQcCxd8ITYT62BmcdSbPjj3M_ZXGQdwpKFm4rcJ9SVQdvhTBz-HTg-glM3BXwus9o4PG9fSDyDDFpv9qKhLGg6GZPYTP1y2FkykrP5CWV/s1600/13w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvOWaTaA8YEs1CWCwUSWQYFOuepYSJk8hDWZrOQcCxd8ITYT62BmcdSbPjj3M_ZXGQdwpKFm4rcJ9SVQdvhTBz-HTg-glM3BXwus9o4PG9fSDyDDFpv9qKhLGg6GZPYTP1y2FkykrP5CWV/s400/13w.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The good thing about this part
of the wall is that once the groups spread out, it was fairly quiet, and not at
all crowded. This is a contrast to some other parts of the Wall, such as what
I’ve heard of the section at Badaling, where it can be very crowded because
it’s so close to Beijing, and consequently full of touristy sellers. We were
warned about some “souvenir sellers” who apparently come up to you at the
beginning of the hike and befriend you, and that if you don’t say to them “bù
yào, xièxiè” (“I don’t want anything, thank you”), then they will follow you
all the way to the end of the walk! Certainly there were not too many people
trying to sell things, and initially we didn’t even really notice these two
ladies latching on to us, one of whom can be seen here on the left:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlCNkPrHLA0EJckLY9zmLYSof5crPhWBCvSUFceYd23AuuY9INiX0Je8CVuENPgl3pE-zR6Ri7fWYgBLdqnUpVfH8nd6eGmAJnu5n6poAcNJ5I30kVO9eoAboE-9jbGzUkFDqjm7D5INr7/s400/13x.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">One of the friendly souvenir sellers on the extreme left</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be honest, they were not too
pushy or in your face about selling anything. They just seemed to be friendly
helpers at the beginning, and spoke reasonably good English, so we didn’t
really mind. They also seemed happy to take some nice pictures of us together,
which Sam was very pleased about, as so often couples holidays are full of
individual photos or bad couple selfies. They also helped us with some of the
more perilous bits of the wall, where the ramparts were not restored or the
walk was too steep. However, it soon became obvious that they really were going
to follow us all the way to the end, and I was beginning to feel like their
never-ending presence was starting to ruin the romance a little bit. Luckily,
Sam stepped in and politely explained to them that we were not interested in
buying any souvenirs, but we were very grateful for their assistance to us and
for taking photos, and he was happy to reward them financially for their
efforts. They seemed pleased with the offer of 20 RMB each that Sam made them,
and then promptly scuttled off, never to be seen again by us, presumably having
found another group to latch on to, while we were able to go on to take in the
serene scenery at our own peaceful pace.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAMcVqS_QAGI_dtOM3gdGHAt_Vyq8nJnxL2hzg35LHgQIAFmxhZcPwy_qjbhAngVckcOzYr87GCVKRAi1LQrU368Kao-D-BvhjOlfinNEJGRm0j1IDsu0v1BFMz9e2UKFNsMKvD-4UdV2F/s400/13y.jpg" height="297" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The beautiful climb down from the wall at the end of our hike</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And what a joy it was. Even on
the steps down from the Wall leading back to our pick up point was so
beautiful, with the rolling hills covered in the rust and green of autumns
colours, which shone through so vividly now that we were clear of the enveloping
cloud of the smog’s oppressive haze.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQS2rl7Ak0vWqOb8xL7u5mj-z0VGt4KeQoMHSreJ9r0O_ARQSbCrOkpKSTpy_QekXAmBVC2mIw8c9-JPDSeWjgL2SUcecRWuvqTZVTv2am49BAQZwJKIz7wl_Cuzx_DiBpGaq0_gCAs5p/s1600/13z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQS2rl7Ak0vWqOb8xL7u5mj-z0VGt4KeQoMHSreJ9r0O_ARQSbCrOkpKSTpy_QekXAmBVC2mIw8c9-JPDSeWjgL2SUcecRWuvqTZVTv2am49BAQZwJKIz7wl_Cuzx_DiBpGaq0_gCAs5p/s400/13z.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, I would rate this as
one of the best experiences I’ve had in China by far and would recommend it to
everyone. Sam was very glad that I’d dragged him along.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you been to the Great Wall? Which part? What is your favourite part of Beijing? </span></i></div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-68015318549989944612013-11-01T23:44:00.002+00:002014-04-01T13:00:26.420+01:00Shanghai (Yu Gardens, The Bund) & the Bullet Train (Sam's visit to China - Part I) <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After some
initial trepidation (“do I have to?”) and cajoling by showing him several
pictures of how cool Shanghai is, my husband Sam agreed to come visit me for fun and
adventures, involving bullet trains, the Great Wall and eating actual weird
things!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite a few
hiccups at the airport late at night when he landed, we were finally reunited
after a month apart. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first day was
spent mainly recovering from the long trip and jet lag, and then we just about
managed to find the hotel in Xujiahui (as we decided not to risk sneaking Sam
into my dorms on the first night) and then met up with Lu to pick up our bullet
train tickets for Beijing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a thank you
for assisting us with picking up our tickets, we wanted to take Lu out for
dinner (not to mention that she could help us negotiate the perilous world of
Chinese restaurants in a busy city like Shanghai with its dubious levels of
English translation!). And boy, did we need her help. After much deliberation,
we ended up at a place called “Grandma’s Home” (<span lang="ZH-CN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;">外婆家</span>) that makes a fantastic tasting chicken cooked in tea
(or so we were told). After waiting for what seemed an age for a table via a
ticketing system (apparently this is perfectly normal for Shanghai restaurants and
it was very busy on a Saturday night), we finally got to a table and ordered the
said chicken. Ten minutes later, it turned out we were too late, and that this
chicken had already sold out for the night! So instead, we ordered another
chicken dish, which sounded reasonable enough on the translation in the menu as
“chicken belly with bamboo shoots”. Since pork belly is very delicious, we
figured chicken belly would also be the same. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But what I didn’t
bank on was that something had been lost in translation – namely that “belly”
meant “organs from the belly”! So basically we had unwittingly ordered something
truly weird but genuinely Chinese. Of course by the time we realized this, we
had already taken several mouthfuls (Sam included). Despite the squeamish
factor, it actually tasted okay! In particular, the chicken hearts were quite
nice, as they were lean, with no sinewy bits and had a great, subtle, gamey
flavour. Much better than liver with it’s really, really weird texture and overpowering
strong flavour. I was starting to see what my dad likes about these things……<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, since it
was a proper Chinese restaurant, of course there were only chopsticks – and
this was Sam’s first time properly eating with them!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnv0aR8oYxbrLoBAZa0DbRPweYdpB9yxxtweKpufRKFoxO74SvHEb7zp0heYm4dN9vg9JyTVc2Pw_wYG2fT6iHWTzlEYFK0zU-usjmewxMhTRHhkKk3RuKE7DG6FL-n2YrQrOk2LjsSCKf/s1600/12a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnv0aR8oYxbrLoBAZa0DbRPweYdpB9yxxtweKpufRKFoxO74SvHEb7zp0heYm4dN9vg9JyTVc2Pw_wYG2fT6iHWTzlEYFK0zU-usjmewxMhTRHhkKk3RuKE7DG6FL-n2YrQrOk2LjsSCKf/s400/12a.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Regardless, he
was determined not to be defeated by a couple of sticks and ate his first meal
with aplomb (although a lot of the rice ended up outside the bowl). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This place was
actually really great value for money, with a 500 ml tankard of Tsing Tao beer
only costing £1.50 and the whole meal for the three of us was about £12. Would
go back again, but maybe not at such a busy time! Now I’m starting to
understand why the lab people always eat at 5 pm! The place was so busy, I’m
not sure if we’d have actually received half our food if it wasn’t for Lu, who
dutifully went up to the waiters what seemed like every five minutes at the
beginning to get them to bring all the things that we ordered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcZgA7oFgmZ5yreKUHz7d1i7uAnXxZ3fkJZihPcYshfrwgJxomFRZD7yoc0CMVelsoijMKD4jZk8AF0J2CiMmR1ea_r694QLu5obI65JAfCoDbtRL9whjMEy9vSp0mo18_nCh6zL6QxDu/s1600/12b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcZgA7oFgmZ5yreKUHz7d1i7uAnXxZ3fkJZihPcYshfrwgJxomFRZD7yoc0CMVelsoijMKD4jZk8AF0J2CiMmR1ea_r694QLu5obI65JAfCoDbtRL9whjMEy9vSp0mo18_nCh6zL6QxDu/s400/12b.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: medium; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We robably couldn’t have eaten anything at this restaurant if it wasn’t for Lu's assistance!</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Randomly, they
also served potato smiles under the English translation of “potato cupid”!</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1pkMvTogDYzjCv1VtZdqYvV6s1pzwGLELy4sMT2xxSlpnDz-0yxT-VQaZ-oco_UiseLZ4PMtGPjrl4GpgN3sREUjZihKckg6deHFi0p9sSp_xJAp5gqc8pxK_OOtXAp2rea4aJ2Wu9qtw/s400/12c.jpg" height="300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>"Potato cupid"</i></span><br />
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<em></em> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The following morning, we set off for a fun-filled day starting with taking Sam around Yu gardens and the surrounding market stalls, after he insisted that he wanted to see “something Chinese”. I think the crowds pushed Sam to his limits, but he liked the cute nick nacks you could buy around the stalls, and commissioned this special piece of art work for us for only 120 RMB (this is probably really expensive, since all prices around Yu Gardens are inflated, but hey). We posed dutifully while the paper artist studied us and attempted to recreate us in red paper (although Sam insists his staring at us was just for show, since we don’t look hardly anything like our red silhouettes!).</span></div>
</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyInehR2KsB2XMEcr3IMadCFzP7Piy1YjNoP9lX93cpkqlWd8WYYAutT8ZkB9n9-q6tMD7q9xtrTaGyqAuFAOGbhbH1l-GrqsYy3cTVEzt15HfFeCFdPYFgbKQnkUmDmp3crmZ3bpxMzaR/s1600/12d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyInehR2KsB2XMEcr3IMadCFzP7Piy1YjNoP9lX93cpkqlWd8WYYAutT8ZkB9n9-q6tMD7q9xtrTaGyqAuFAOGbhbH1l-GrqsYy3cTVEzt15HfFeCFdPYFgbKQnkUmDmp3crmZ3bpxMzaR/s1600/12d.jpg" height="320" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><span style="font-size: small;">Trepidation over how good our paper cut silhouettes would look given that this guy was doing it all free hand</span></em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYk8vM8gtdEhp47hpG9vLubhqZIJmgzvI9DgUKfmilOrQMTSsugldjvy5I_0w1CRg8JwSMToUTuzuOjHwd3U75LjVFedcaAIT1wm6OmRSnCzTD4-Ke3T1jivBgdpvwWNU0R59P7YvkPhs/s1600/12e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYk8vM8gtdEhp47hpG9vLubhqZIJmgzvI9DgUKfmilOrQMTSsugldjvy5I_0w1CRg8JwSMToUTuzuOjHwd3U75LjVFedcaAIT1wm6OmRSnCzTD4-Ke3T1jivBgdpvwWNU0R59P7YvkPhs/s640/12e.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">End result of our papercutting silhouette</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not entirely sure from what angle Sam’s
hair looks like this, but a cute image nonetheless, and we had the Chinese text
reliably confirmed by a friendly security guard later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We then went into
Yu Gardens which Sam seemed to enjoy very much, taking lots of photos:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBgULmMD3G70wHxpGGcYoTAO9etDRww6jJpjCASM0Fzy8_o03Or_CIz9ukEMRCVtdmgV723SkWjIogsuLRTWaotbugqggoMgVrPSwt6jWfPkMAi37KWCYdGuUfGca_w04nyuelHEpL3YE5/s1600/12f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBgULmMD3G70wHxpGGcYoTAO9etDRww6jJpjCASM0Fzy8_o03Or_CIz9ukEMRCVtdmgV723SkWjIogsuLRTWaotbugqggoMgVrPSwt6jWfPkMAi37KWCYdGuUfGca_w04nyuelHEpL3YE5/s400/12f.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmjiiHEfcqqGMUOGubT03GwWGg_mL6nq-75C15-kxWu5va8hnphpNIrB7i8sqY328WXDGrUBv2_ZiAjJBIiFFCGYbQpFew81F70LUL8k8cGsYbspsDdU3ilC-0dZiUN_pzpcb2SD0CWTHG/s1600/12g.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmjiiHEfcqqGMUOGubT03GwWGg_mL6nq-75C15-kxWu5va8hnphpNIrB7i8sqY328WXDGrUBv2_ZiAjJBIiFFCGYbQpFew81F70LUL8k8cGsYbspsDdU3ilC-0dZiUN_pzpcb2SD0CWTHG/s400/12g.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also headed to
Century Park later and rented a bike buggy, which was quite cheap, only 100 RMB
deposit and 50 RMB per hour.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSsI4u62PQPRxe5X4XCa1Zyap2Mp4StKLy9AhV6rcWFQq4IFWSEYxWUM_cS8V7baYY8N49d6lbGvXkto7kwA-oR4hq_iHXhvmpb2sunNU-6XG4fTv57chhWnygX33Kkp4aV-KY2jKOZ_oU/s1600/12h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSsI4u62PQPRxe5X4XCa1Zyap2Mp4StKLy9AhV6rcWFQq4IFWSEYxWUM_cS8V7baYY8N49d6lbGvXkto7kwA-oR4hq_iHXhvmpb2sunNU-6XG4fTv57chhWnygX33Kkp4aV-KY2jKOZ_oU/s400/12h.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And a little bit
of kite flying:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMSiDeidQQRmwKBMEqpmqrzgtZFJEBY96JrNxBhbRAKm6QCah-5yZx9tPL36hyphenhyphenkgmbSKSabZn-ztJPaGtzRZqnc5q0pwgYyeNVv6yxNEY3lEI3iMIAHF-3FNREenk35othyphenhyphenUE4xpzCKTli/s1600/12i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMSiDeidQQRmwKBMEqpmqrzgtZFJEBY96JrNxBhbRAKm6QCah-5yZx9tPL36hyphenhyphenkgmbSKSabZn-ztJPaGtzRZqnc5q0pwgYyeNVv6yxNEY3lEI3iMIAHF-3FNREenk35othyphenhyphenUE4xpzCKTli/s400/12i.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But as the
evening was drawing to a close, we headed to the Bund, and had dinner at the
Subways there. Yes, this was a bit of a cop out, and we joked that Sam’s diet
would be barely different to what it normally was at home, but I think after
yesterday’s excitement (and wait), we needed some easy convenience food. And
frankly, Sam’s visit gave me the first opportunity to eat some Western food
since I’ve arrived here. I’d not yet dared to venture into Western fast food
places up until now, partly a combination of a fear of what I could be served
in case nobody spoke English, but also because I felt it would be a travesty to
do so in a country with such a varied and interesting cuisine. (McDonald’s
chips have never tasted so good!). Having said that, a lot of the other western
guys in my dorm unashamedly head to places that they know serves good western
food, and I rarely see them in the canteen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH1ue1lEQLnnIUmwZTPo4cTrww_TRHXkfNrdRzEQL8lKi3wB-_VVko25Sq9nJGNXDsEOyG5KuGRvqU6bhn2Hie6rIheV1Dz1JD39nEcuSEa9I4daM6q6_dnipln-k4P4IBr3Fcu78dXhNx/s1600/12j.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH1ue1lEQLnnIUmwZTPo4cTrww_TRHXkfNrdRzEQL8lKi3wB-_VVko25Sq9nJGNXDsEOyG5KuGRvqU6bhn2Hie6rIheV1Dz1JD39nEcuSEa9I4daM6q6_dnipln-k4P4IBr3Fcu78dXhNx/s400/12j.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After our tasty
meal, we headed up to the Bund to introduce Sam to the pretty city lights.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuReP6ln1Amk8-MQeohLNrmBgfoINPVzPM1MGalG_AZsofsZzEu_2PrmXYsJ61Cnyz4BZwKu4s4ssveVHwraO2_3Oi-0gL0vVfNCd2W6TasaSPUc5aVLaYEborrdSj77L4FcHj6NYJkzo/s1600/12k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuReP6ln1Amk8-MQeohLNrmBgfoINPVzPM1MGalG_AZsofsZzEu_2PrmXYsJ61Cnyz4BZwKu4s4ssveVHwraO2_3Oi-0gL0vVfNCd2W6TasaSPUc5aVLaYEborrdSj77L4FcHj6NYJkzo/s640/12k.jpg" height="215" width="400" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next day was
our scheduled train to Beijing, which, on the recommendations from the lab
people, I finally decided to settle on the bullet train. I spent many days
umming and aahing about whether or not to fly, or to take the night train, but
I was advised that even though the plane is about $10 cheaper, actually even
though the plane is about $10 cheaper, actually it doesn’t work out better
either financially or time wise, because the airport is so far out of the city
it costs more to get into the centre, whereas the train stops at Beijing South
Railway station, which is on the metro line and pretty near the centre already.
Also whilst the flight only takes 2 hours compared to the 4 h 30 min to 5 h of
the bullet train, factoring in the 2 hour early arrival time for check in and
security, coupled with the said trip into the city afterwards, there isn’t much
time saved, if any. I was recommended against getting a night train, on account
that a fairly tall Chinese guy found the beds too short to sleep in, then Sam
and I would certainly be having our feet hanging off the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Arriving 30
minutes early, as recommended, we were ushered through security style gates,
and made it onto the futuristic looking platform where the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8600775/Beijing-to-Shanghai-Railway-diary-of-a-4h-48m-journey.html" target="_blank">Telegraph</a><span lang="EN-US">,
who were invited to review it along with other journalists from all over the
world when it was first completed in 2011, </span>accurately
described how the “platform is so clean I can see the guard’s reflection in the
polished granite” as we depart. It’s still the same polished system running two
years later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The overall
experience was very comfortable, and felt a little bit like a plane, complete
with flight, sorry, ride attendants. Although the train was obviously
travelling very fast, the journey was very smooth, and similar to when a plane
starts to speed up along the runway just before take-off. But since it never
takes off, there was no turbulence (yet another pro over taking a flight)! I
certainly didn’t feel as though any safety was being compromised, despite the
fact that the rail line was built very quickly and was actually finished ahead
of schedule. There’s something very satisfying about spotting that the train
speed is reading 303 km/h despite being very comfy in your seat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZNelO2uRKLMdiOYTKPnnm5_H5YYrOTbfn7Yi2Ic6_NnM7HTUE83cCvBdvLzv9dCUMr9vvhHeBxeOlExs7bUFMUOEPkWQyu9mQg5y0yeR98F7HjCj_-iady7pGBGn1TS3xte_24CG8Ckwn/s1600/12l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZNelO2uRKLMdiOYTKPnnm5_H5YYrOTbfn7Yi2Ic6_NnM7HTUE83cCvBdvLzv9dCUMr9vvhHeBxeOlExs7bUFMUOEPkWQyu9mQg5y0yeR98F7HjCj_-iady7pGBGn1TS3xte_24CG8Ckwn/s400/12l.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Current speed on display while train attendant checks tickets</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since there were
no size restrictions of the train carriage as there would have been for planes,
there was plenty of space for everyone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8KSg1uyUk5U3YQbDsV1i4WobAoLwuhPIl4h4aKwbwa4ewhJjvC4EGC_5hrzMYq8ht4Jf6gKXeUMl845rUivL6NcJjKZCC7YW7jipO0W249ybMdb8NJKvRKC5kEnGD7TKa4fjS1vkPODjf/s400/12m.jpg" height="297" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left; text-indent: 47.26px;">In the comfy bullet train from Shanghai to Beijing</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite the many
seats you can see, even for people the size of me and Sam, we had really great
leg room, so that even if the person in front of you reclined their seat, it
didn’t really impact on your manoeuvrability at all. There was much more room
than in any flight I’ve ever taken. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Furthermore, at
each set of seats there was at least one plug socket, so that you could charge
your phone/tablet/laptop/camera or anything else you wanted during the long
journey. We chose to use this time to catch up on the Great British Bake Off
and Neighbours, which Sam had kindly brought along for me J. OMG Frances – style and substance!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even the “facilities”
were okay, not the best in the world, but surprisingly clean compared to some
we’ve seen in the UK, and infinitely better than some shocking ones we’d seen
in other parts of China. The worst that it seemed to get was just that some people
appeared to be using them to have a secret smoke, and they didn’t even bother
to flush the ashes down the sink. But this was funny rather than anything else.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The views from
the train afforded some glimpse into the “real China” which we otherwise wouldn’t
get to see, going from one metropolis, to another. After the tower blocks of
cramped flats which we saw skirting the city where presumably the working
classes lived and commuted from, we were left with wide expanses of farm land,
initially rice fields, but later mainly corn. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgzB8DdXDEpnlV67asEM97SXc_NV1GmWX9N_nk08slvQWIL84fouUr3y8wFy5Gwp4pBzb0FCTcGDt3303gGfPSOGZ8hfYFktZYiNWeCJ8nsu8RjQr5EzdsT4MM1hFf3HyKNCPWaKgIAvFR/s400/12n.jpg" height="300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: medium; text-indent: 47.26px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Towering mega blocks on the outskirts of Shanghai</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We pulled into
Beijing South smoothly and on time, feeling like we’d had a very comfortable
and relaxing journey. As the journey was pretty convenient and impressive, it
makes me think of the contentious plans for Britain’s own high speed railway.
Whilst in theory and practice, having such a train journey is convenient and probably
superior to flying, you can see why this was needed in China – for the two
metropolises are about 800 miles apart, and both are important cities, housing
the lifeline of China’s major new businesses which continue to grow. Yet the
need in the UK is somewhat less obvious, with the physical distance between
even Edinburgh and London being half of that, and the political distance ever
widening, as Scotland is on the verge of independence, it is unclear whether Britain
would stand to benefit as much from a similar enterprise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But with regards
to China’s achievements, I have to agree with Peter Foster’s closing statements
for the Telegraph – “Sometimes it’s impossible not to be swept up in admiration
of China as it revels in its newfound capabilities”.</span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-44258772062062172602013-10-16T09:04:00.002+01:002014-04-01T17:26:14.832+01:00"What do you eat?" - Part III - Restaurants in Shanghai City <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="text-indent: 42.5pt;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I
haven’t written much more about food since I’ve been told off for talking too
much about food – but what else can you expect from someone that’s normally a
food blogger with an interest in foreign cuisines, in a land of such diverse
dishes? I’ve also had a few people asking me recently – “Have you eaten any
weird things yet?”</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
have to say, the honest answer to this is no. Whilst lab people have done their
best to give me a whirlwind tour of Asian cuisine, to show off their varied and
interesting diet, they are not pushy in making me try anything I’m not
comfortable with, and understand that the western diet is very different to
theirs. The most I have had to do is eat some prawns, scallops and some other
seafood (everyone that knows me knows I can’t stand it) out of politeness,
because they had already been ordered. This is because the traditional method
of dining in China is that the host orders a range of dishes which all the
guests share (this is good for me anyway, because I can’t tell what half these
dishes are, and the sharing of many dishes means that even if I don’t like one
dish, there are still others to choose from, so I don’t have to go hungry!).
You should at least try each dish, otherwise I think it’s considered quite
rude. But my guidebook also says don’t finish all the food, because then it
looks like the host is too poor to lay on enough of a spread! I have definitely
found that a lot of food is left in restaurants, and this twinges on my hatred
of waste of food, but hey, when in Rome….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
normal theme from the lab group about choosing a restaurant seems to be “Let’s
go have Hong Kong/Taiwanese/Japanese/Thai/Korean food” - I can’t much discern anything
between the meals as at the moment they are all variations of meat, weird veg,
rice or noodles with or without soup to me. But I imagine it must be like when
we’re in the UK saying “Let’s go to that French/Italian/Spanish restaurant”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
suggestion is closely followed by ones for restaurants focusing on a specific
ingredient. Usually these ingredients are not really my cup of tea! One of the
funniest suggestions came when they beckoned me over to a computer screen to
ask what something was called in English, as they were debating how to
pronounce it. I duly came over and saw a picture of a snail, and after telling
them how to say it, I naively asked why they were interested to know about
snails, and burst out with laughter as the obvious dawned on me that they
wanted to go eat it. I thought it was hilarious that they were pushing my
boundaries without realising it, but after memories of Sardinia where even my
mum couldn’t eat more than one snail from a large bowl she’d ordered, I just
knew I couldn’t force myself, so I politely declined. You should have seen how
their faces fell when I broke the bad news. They seemed so disappointed and
some tried to convince me saying that the way it is prepared is actually
surprisingly tasty. I replied saying that I know some people even in Europe
really relish snails (I know from Rick Stein that parts of Spain have
snail-eating festivals, where thousands gather to feast on them), and that it
was just a personal taste issue for me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
second instance was just this week when Lu meekly came to my desk with a smile
on her face saying “do you like to eat intestines and blood?” She’s so cute,
it’s hard to say no, but I couldn’t help but laugh and go “what?!” and then she
went away saying “Maybe I don’t translate very well” before coming back with
“Food like duck intestines and duck gizzard”. I managed to stretch to “I’ll eat
blood if it’s cooked” – since I quite like black pudding – “but it’s okay, you
guys go get gizzard and I’ll just go to the canteen”. It turned out they were
just suggesting it for my benefit so that I can try more types of Chinese food!
I managed to politely wriggle out of it after some attempts by others in the
lab to convince me, saying that the way the gizzard is prepared you can’t
actually tell what kind of meat it is. How reassuring, I thought. Maybe in that
case, I’ve already had some without realising it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part
of me felt a little guilty, because I was partly here to try different foods
and push my boundaries a little, and I felt a bit like a chicken (pardon the
poultry pun) for not wanting to go. Especially so when duck gizzard is fairly
bog-standard food in the country where I’m from. My dad regularly likes to buy
packets of chicken hearts from Hungary, and it is also available in Austria,
and he puts it in his soup. Like a good Hungarian man, one of his favourite
foods is also tripe. So duck gizzard soup wouldn’t really be much different to
things found in the traditional Hungarian kitchen. I think soups made from
internal organs hark back to nomadic times in both the Hungarian and Chinese
history, where people couldn’t really afford to let any part of the animals go
to waste. But I think my theories on the links between Chinese and Hungarian origins
are a topic for a separate post.....<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back
to the food. So the previous two are examples of what I haven’t eaten, what
follows is a summary of what I have successfully eaten outside of the campus,
with varying degrees of stomach upsets after (!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
meals that arrive for me when I’m out with the lab are pretty much hit and
miss. Most restaurants don’t have English versions of menus, or if they do, the
Chinglish is pretty bad. My lab mates try their best to translate the foods I
ask about, even if it’s via the translating app, and they also warn me if
something I like the look of is hot, since they know that I don’t like too
spicy food. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So
most time I explain to them roughly what I fancy based on the pictures showing
what is offered, and they do the ordering. The two don’t always match though,
like one time when I said I fancied noodles as a break from all the rice at the
canteen, and they asked “with or without soup?” and I said “without” but something
must have gotten lost in translation, because I got this really vile soup that
was basically just noodles, hot water and bits of beef. Vile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It
seems to be really difficult to get noodles without at least some kind of
liquid being in it, and the other British girl I’ve met in the dorms, Miranda,
thinks that it’s probably something to do with adding some of the cooking water
of the noodles. There was even liquid at the bottom of this tasty Taiwanese
take-away we got:</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUOVUCKYcyLLg4LXKd4h3Z4Y6EfXfRUZFOf-3lGU7irhRrTmNMvgZumXpKwTkJzCSGfWZhPRS_nNTJBuYv9qfv5w-g3btzN53Haoyjh8GnvWG7OPPYEygZaGOibEQUwTglMgWEs4Vu0el/s1600/11a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUOVUCKYcyLLg4LXKd4h3Z4Y6EfXfRUZFOf-3lGU7irhRrTmNMvgZumXpKwTkJzCSGfWZhPRS_nNTJBuYv9qfv5w-g3btzN53Haoyjh8GnvWG7OPPYEygZaGOibEQUwTglMgWEs4Vu0el/s400/11a.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><em>Taiwanese take-away</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was so tasty though, so I’ve decided
I now really like Taiwanese food.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The liquid seems very counter-productive to me though
because this just makes the noodles much more slippery and harder to pick up!
We went for some noodles made out of potatoes, and even the lab guys struggled
to pick up the slippery strips with chopsticks:</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7mRIJ5C7KmoYx54Zlg7jIvCsErim-bpxc2yqLUTH4XQfiJfyFDE0GONPj7MAusiloxOtOJm5fe3LxYxTEFHgAHb3QREOEaspoLRg9BlCYTMWBKI1LndS5pi9qVn3T4u5s75jSL1I0Edd/s1600/11b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7mRIJ5C7KmoYx54Zlg7jIvCsErim-bpxc2yqLUTH4XQfiJfyFDE0GONPj7MAusiloxOtOJm5fe3LxYxTEFHgAHb3QREOEaspoLRg9BlCYTMWBKI1LndS5pi9qVn3T4u5s75jSL1I0Edd/s400/11b.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Slippery potato-flour noodle soup with pork dumplings and two quail’s eggs</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At least this one was a very tastier
experience. The dumplings were very nice (despite the need for liquid in them
too) and the soup was very hearty, full of different vegetables and even the
mushrooms were tasty. Although there was a special mushroom in it which is
apparently hard to digest, and for this reason, it is sometimes called “see you
tomorrow”. Lol, I don’t think I need to say any more! But this seems to be
quite a common ingredient, and I think why is it included if it’s so hard to
digest? But hey, extra fibre is always good, I figured.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not sure what the
two quails eggs added to this meal, but I figured since they are a delicacy in
some places, I may as well try them. They were a bit of an anticlimax, because
they tasted pretty much the same as a boiled chicken’s egg. Boiled eggs seem to
be quite a common garnish on dishes, and there is even a version of boiled chicken’s
eggs that they like, boiled in tea which comes out brown (why????).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Another
great experience was also when we went to this Japanese restaurant:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYAo93yl24bI_8PpwypkZI7bRlIBQ9RZQWyDU1FjFFlKUVa4-k9UH2Myu2y0Uy33rI4O0vUftzbs3-6wmX2K4ov34QcACq-CSWcNgpm-vFZMdPlfbkmYPWi3eTari3Og7tOKy3HaWQoids/s1600/11c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYAo93yl24bI_8PpwypkZI7bRlIBQ9RZQWyDU1FjFFlKUVa4-k9UH2Myu2y0Uy33rI4O0vUftzbs3-6wmX2K4ov34QcACq-CSWcNgpm-vFZMdPlfbkmYPWi3eTari3Og7tOKy3HaWQoids/s400/11c.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 12pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I had some rice, beef and sweet corn come on a hot plate with a knob of
butter and you had to mix it up yourself to spread the freshly melted butter
round. It also came with a small bowl of miso soup and is probably one of the
best meals out I’ve had!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 12pt; text-indent: 24pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Another time we went to a Japanese fast-food
diner place, and I was recommended to have this other beef and rice dish which
came with cheese on top and which also had to be mixed up with the hot rice to
melt the cheese:</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ONfgE33NjzeZ4wQIhUXCNS1diANifySGtlB-U-q5A05uiZxmcipOib8BCSGkyAtSP3PT6xKQQ1cAy8FnuvftpQMIbaPBnhufj_vqUCs3fAd_hWi3Iz-ICzfJO2JlX12yNzZpXjPIsR5K/s1600/11d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ONfgE33NjzeZ4wQIhUXCNS1diANifySGtlB-U-q5A05uiZxmcipOib8BCSGkyAtSP3PT6xKQQ1cAy8FnuvftpQMIbaPBnhufj_vqUCs3fAd_hWi3Iz-ICzfJO2JlX12yNzZpXjPIsR5K/s400/11d.jpg" height="317" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><em>First bit of cheese I've had since I arrived, on a Japanese beef rice dish</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It tasted pretty much like the
plastic-y, waxy, pre-grated cheese you can get in packs at supermarkets back
home, but hey, this was my first cheese for three weeks, so I couldn’t
complain!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> My incessant photo-taking of all
my meals was always found to be hilarious by the guys in the lab, and they now
remind me to get my camera out every time we eat a meal out:</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5uBo67VYG3dktr6p22HCX5XDa8_W3QKesXJiZanTqPpIyvq5bjLQpBAcdSMWuEJ7GoFCbikgMSOEIZ0lSDdhkYq9xQzH7ky39cICK9TyJ-Q1axUHNhHI-49gqhdskt_bEoRR9ND_c5ImY/s400/11e.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Western people taking photos of our food are so funny!”</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I also went to a slightly more
up market place to meet up with Phoebe again (the lady who saved my phone from
sinking into the oblivion of taxi land a few weeks ago), a place called
Cotton’s that she recommended, which seemed quite western, and even had a Hungarian
style beef stew on the menu! I didn’t try it because I didn’t come to China to
eat Hungarian food, but it’s good to know it’s there if I ever get cravings for
a taste of home!</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEittbN-MRESgNcJ4m_QVWD6HioaauamInP5UQUZ-F6K7BXWeOUDhVirJdhnjPbSCICuwSiAHKWhehCHtZncS9SuCnMMpfvZfn6q4ehJZIzoZDZ0XGtgAyfegNVOks7h7XsLjK-ZUqMTZFdS/s400/11f.jpg" height="266" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><em>With Phoebe, the kind lady who helped me track down my phone!</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> This place also have buy one get
one free happy hour on cocktails while we were there, so I got a little bit
merry on some melon and vodka mixes!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> One
of the cooler restaurants we’ve been to with the lab is a Korean restaurant
where each table is equipped with what is basically like a sunken hob, where a
hot plate can be put on top of it for people to fry their own food exactly the
way they like it and have it fresh off the plate, or in our case, a large hot
pot can be placed on top and your food bubbles away in front of you:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW0dOFO0YYLd-IQGweNfAYmipFliUaaV59JshEX52ewvcPRZFfaUcncKoF1utDT3Rw1PXj6wgJebiVC9_5lU0kXD6JUZgRBpBiidAYhCn3ClZ7F2GfQ6D4lbsyFVhkENU6fMUBg9CTsmlc/s400/11g.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Amazing tasting Korean dish!</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here you can see a big pile of
those long, thin, white “see you tomorrow” mushroom just above the green stuff
here. The basic premise of the hot-pot is that you eat whatever you can fish
out. Chinese eating occasions are very social, and whilst sharing food for
Western people seems a little unhygienic, it is a sign of trust and
friendliness here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> They
also had an unlimited free supply of pumpkin goo as a starter:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSZw2Ue-5pFYyWWseQYrh09vPlGT6BDJrYJKGEC-4D6w2NYa9fkkRUZGGqRagKuA37etJboUxktBd-Ah_0gBd1QzMYJ4_dHFTUQJUmtC8NoJhCtPX5LzfFQsslSsikhqu6XJ3wNBDwVNmX/s1600/11h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSZw2Ue-5pFYyWWseQYrh09vPlGT6BDJrYJKGEC-4D6w2NYa9fkkRUZGGqRagKuA37etJboUxktBd-Ah_0gBd1QzMYJ4_dHFTUQJUmtC8NoJhCtPX5LzfFQsslSsikhqu6XJ3wNBDwVNmX/s400/11h.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It tasted pretty much like
pureed baby food to me, but the boys, loving food and anything that’s free
ordered plates and plates of this stuff and guzzled it away like there was no
tomorrow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I’ve
also been out with the people from the dorms, like this time for Miranda’s
birthday:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_b2mQHTZrsf9_GwbMTjUgYmDWBBZxRhxd3Stt7iUv0YRwGQKXz1jeNQmifwjhjyMkbuXQUhtHnB-FlP31bQCQ-x_ctZR_g8lyrzoM0rF6Z7QAInNuFj7iWMC4MMhADVeOtc-7PWWCb4uC/s1600/11i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_b2mQHTZrsf9_GwbMTjUgYmDWBBZxRhxd3Stt7iUv0YRwGQKXz1jeNQmifwjhjyMkbuXQUhtHnB-FlP31bQCQ-x_ctZR_g8lyrzoM0rF6Z7QAInNuFj7iWMC4MMhADVeOtc-7PWWCb4uC/s400/11i.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Dorm dinner out for a birthday</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Her roommate had organized a
trip to a nearby Thai restaurant, and we walked through the heavy rain during
when the typhoon was passing Shanghai in order to get to this place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It was one of
the weirdest food experiences I've ever had! You can see from the photo that at
this point only I and two other people actually had any food. (people were
bored waiting for the food, so they started taking photos). I somehow got lucky
and got served almost first, while others had to wait two hours to get their
food! And the joke of it was that the restaurant was almost completely empty
apart from us, on account of the rain, so it’s not like they were run off their
feet. The guy on the extreme right was particularly pissed off, because he’d
already got his dish, but had to send it back because the staff didn't
understand the meaning of vegetarian and had served it with two prawns on top.
In the end, he had to send his food back no less than three times, as each time
there were bits of meat in it despite very clear requests to the contrary. One
of the girls had to literally spell it out to them in Chinese “chicken is
meat!”. I think they didn't cook his food from scratch, just picked out the
chicken more successfully each time. Even on the menu, an appetiser labelled as
“vegetarian spring rolls” after further probing had turned out to have “a
little meat” in it. This just made me think of Hungary even more, where most
people are perplexed by the notion of not eating meat, and it’s only recently
that vegetarian options are expanding beyond fried cheese in restaurants. (again,
this harks back to the traditional nomadic diet, where you simply would not
survive as a vegetarian).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Ironically, I
got a perfectly acceptable vegetarian dish, as I just ordered fried rice with
vegetables (I decided to play it safe, as I know Thai food isn't really to my
taste and can be quite spicy). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> With
regards to the waiting, the others also told me that they had similar
experiences about waiting times for the food, and said that there had been
occasions when some people were just getting their food as others were
finishing theirs. This happened here also. The people that ordered various
forms of Thai curry also got their rice about two hours after the curry! It
made me think of this photo which went viral a few months back:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzbvZgJiAfGw49XEnkcPrXX4J0MHadJNyV0ChEHlhBtPn3tMdjm_YIxKzq_wtzOf3bVJZLR-9FrLGlZbVpwVwBuoZeoKfmfSHJZbd9iHWGtJ59Gu-1LbMEIK10XDUO561X4ZAO913H088r/s1600/11j.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzbvZgJiAfGw49XEnkcPrXX4J0MHadJNyV0ChEHlhBtPn3tMdjm_YIxKzq_wtzOf3bVJZLR-9FrLGlZbVpwVwBuoZeoKfmfSHJZbd9iHWGtJ59Gu-1LbMEIK10XDUO561X4ZAO913H088r/s400/11j.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m sure if there had been
condiments at this Thai restaurant some people would have been driven to do
this!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The
food I got was quite good, and this guy Matthias had even managed to get a cake
for Miranda:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfN0JAsd-s0Vy_O9TG6NudKMgtCM9Nfh9lTCv7oFHLJPwzSeN4FNU4uP96Jb2cryI5GGhoLpVOfVhzEv7TNhVGxmB7pMvgbXh4ffsYgw9UwPD1bg4oH_qPHG_nHt20s_FMXzfK1nXaT1Q6/s1600/11k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfN0JAsd-s0Vy_O9TG6NudKMgtCM9Nfh9lTCv7oFHLJPwzSeN4FNU4uP96Jb2cryI5GGhoLpVOfVhzEv7TNhVGxmB7pMvgbXh4ffsYgw9UwPD1bg4oH_qPHG_nHt20s_FMXzfK1nXaT1Q6/s400/11k.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a really nice cake, quite
similar to the Hungarian style cakes, with layers of very light sponge and whipped
cream. Lovely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> So
generally, eating out is fine, and although I’ve not tried anything really
crazy yet, there are plenty of choices for people playing things safe, and I’m
getting a bit braver, so hopefully in future posts there will be some actual crazy
stuff.</span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-47630946287952453232013-10-15T23:35:00.001+01:002014-09-15T17:54:01.019+01:00Skyscraper City!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 42.55pt;">It’s
no secret that Shanghai is a very modern city where skyscrapers have sprung
up in rapid succession, each one taller than the previous, as if they were
flower shoots vying ardently with each other to reach higher for the attention
and the light. It’s even commemorated in this charming fan sold at tourist
shops:</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpA3dCs38TXC9T6-zg8cKACrXiu8Xk7fDysQtrmE5eemIqtrDyc1KKAL-48fr_pR45jlPmKKQijGUN9XWJofCx1EPWUFqyuargn7kxlKjX1hRoH1ZxDrJP15L1fJD6cjta_cumHwhn5gd/s400/10a.jpg" height="252" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><em>Shanghai Bund skyline fan</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The
newly-built and constantly expanding metro so modern it puts London’s
aged, lumbering 150 year-old system to shame, with every station having
specific passenger doors that the train is programmed to stop at, and each
carriage on every line boasting several TV screens showing their very own Metro
channel with news, information and even cartoons. The metro is also very fast,
taking only about 2 minutes between most stops. As mentioned in a previous
post, work is now under way for a line 12, which is due to be finished at the
end of this year, and no doubt there will be more to come. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For in
Shanghai, there is constant building works, and they work long hours to get
these flashy new buildings and metro lines popping up in a short time. Even in
my campus, I can hear the hammering and electric sawing from 7 am, and my time
in the lab is peppered with the rhythmic tones of pneumatic drills gutting and
rebuilding a structure just next to us. Pretty much everywhere you go there is
a building site round the corner (another brilliant way to keep the masses
employed. There must be tens of thousands of builders working every day to keep
up with the never ending developments in Shanghai).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I tried
to take a photo to try to illustrate this, but it was awkward as many sites are
covered up and I feel as much of an ogler as those people that try to take
photos of me when they think I’m not looking. Anyway, this is the best I could
do:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1KXq6J-N3rq5faZtXWVtGAD99Bwx4wNhqPkZGdiXJkb8rVOcds2KmCmzMbNbjlmRhkGmYmEEUiRpAzYdZb6GGt7D3R1t0cOpR9qUvqGly9OWRb5CXEQEgUS9fuySpBvPlmkwP6ZgwZnJD/s1600/10b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1KXq6J-N3rq5faZtXWVtGAD99Bwx4wNhqPkZGdiXJkb8rVOcds2KmCmzMbNbjlmRhkGmYmEEUiRpAzYdZb6GGt7D3R1t0cOpR9qUvqGly9OWRb5CXEQEgUS9fuySpBvPlmkwP6ZgwZnJD/s400/10b.jpg" height="380" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I took this photo, several passing Chinese
people burst into laughter, as they were probably thinking “Look at this stupid
western tourist! Taking pictures of builders! Maybe they don’t have building
sites in the west?” I guess stupid annoying tourists work both ways?!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I actually got this great view
from some outdoor steps at an overpass across one of their many quadruple lane
dual carriageways (that makes eight lanes in total!). Needless to say, some of
these roads are difficult to cross even at the best of times, so the particularly
busy ones have had overpasses built, complete with outdoor escalators!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best one is just behind the
Oriental Pearl:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6NZjd0dOR1D-I_09BDIKDTLwf4tYaliK8r9JH9w_N5iBee7srVVy753hTVWdRGKR3IUSgp5LJbqWwkeRpfphT0k1dB3vsczYemZ0kqtydoDkAbX8RZtofJV64zXgFGziS35lz39cFPF78/s1600/10c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6NZjd0dOR1D-I_09BDIKDTLwf4tYaliK8r9JH9w_N5iBee7srVVy753hTVWdRGKR3IUSgp5LJbqWwkeRpfphT0k1dB3vsczYemZ0kqtydoDkAbX8RZtofJV64zXgFGziS35lz39cFPF78/s400/10c.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It leads up to a spectacular, circular overpass to
help negotiate a very complicated intersection, and presumably also to help
relieve the traffic from the interruption of a sea of tourists going to the
Pearl. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7s_rYv_2IFwaqy201dU87bvIFx4yjl0y1gs7vXysU9bavufRuYQVTHreV6sENBuupMBaojFiSkafEQWUqkDb8cCtsTDvyDXi-LrUZ071E_rkeSpI3Z8bhxdvhyphenhyphennoD6bM_9ztFtT4VJQh/s1600/10d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7s_rYv_2IFwaqy201dU87bvIFx4yjl0y1gs7vXysU9bavufRuYQVTHreV6sENBuupMBaojFiSkafEQWUqkDb8cCtsTDvyDXi-LrUZ071E_rkeSpI3Z8bhxdvhyphenhyphennoD6bM_9ztFtT4VJQh/s400/10d.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjef8wqkrUdn8Q4RxH38MK-UwJwEK5sK14uw9od5oBWnHoFSdleWrrGbVMJgINWD16_luUIY-a8gdpg75qgjO2fVhB9kdpn-Qhczu8g2PGpDQvQ55YCNBfbIEXEU1lpJue5bKerYRSntkfv/s400/10e.jpg" height="300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><em>Circular roundabout overpass to help pedestrians negotiate Lujiazui</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These pictures don’t really give it justice though – it’s so huge,
it really needs a panoramic shot!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It’s also the only instance of a real-life, genuine
roundabout that I’ve seen in China, which goes some way of explaining the
complete chaos seen in all the roads, as people try to change lanes at the last
minute.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The nearest overpass to the uni is
just a short walk away. This particular one is just next to a mall and a metro
entrance:</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDLJ7lUyHLCuWIRjs-GMBFvl065o1wAHhw-tDs6ACpfHgD5k7Rj3JithiRbxgDD_6mlXOf47J7KB20bOthqRCcDWDvC99Ak4wXce4DaVGh0wuvMeuz4ksOtOoRLgBoixB-RjZojvjSlzuu/s400/10f.jpg" height="300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Popular spot for photography is the overpass above a quadruple lane road in Xujiahui</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But it is also very popular as a photographic hot
spot, where you get great shots of the bustling city. I took this photo from
there:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhXpJNsg0ESMJO7nMnPV3O1x3m_WvvYqTyIzQ9vp7u3qEoymQaxDJVe-NhCkVDV8tO6t1DoqUTvfb0Js0hIs4ClOlS6xBy-J_SeRyyE5sLNzNoVHMVJJBuZ4keof3ue-k36zscJVKZ00m8/s1600/10g.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhXpJNsg0ESMJO7nMnPV3O1x3m_WvvYqTyIzQ9vp7u3qEoymQaxDJVe-NhCkVDV8tO6t1DoqUTvfb0Js0hIs4ClOlS6xBy-J_SeRyyE5sLNzNoVHMVJJBuZ4keof3ue-k36zscJVKZ00m8/s400/10g.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It’s
hard to believe that this is only a five minute walk from campus. When you’re
on the university grounds, the quiet and the old buildings laced with broken,
pot-holed roads lulls you into a false sense of calmness and almost banality.
But a quick step into almost any direction and you’re reminded that the campus
is actually an oasis of quiet and peace!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Although
on this occasion, the pink and blue glow was from the fortuitously catching of some
dusk light, I think it’s fair to say that the sky actually never really gets
properly dark at night. There’s always an ominous pinky-orange glow, coming
from the enormous light pollution fuelled by the Chinese love of bright lights,
especially the ones showing off their skyscrapers. Yingzhou laments his
inability to take any photos of stars, and I have to say, it’s pretty hard to
spot even Orion’s belt sometimes, on nights when the sky isn’t blocked by a
thick blanket of smog, that is. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> This
overpass is also a great spot for long-exposure shots:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg38eSQbO9DSINdLho9Jyp5j0yWQL6njy6-l525ufANt0Cmg5F0qLhOXYVGlc1qmDUNj3iEYz4YujXQHBgNV4GZHPqnHJXfySMp6DRTJ37eWt2G-mgsCc_v30JhXETmr7FSrnG3XA4u1pV2/s1600/10h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg38eSQbO9DSINdLho9Jyp5j0yWQL6njy6-l525ufANt0Cmg5F0qLhOXYVGlc1qmDUNj3iEYz4YujXQHBgNV4GZHPqnHJXfySMp6DRTJ37eWt2G-mgsCc_v30JhXETmr7FSrnG3XA4u1pV2/s400/10h.jpg" height="316" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfK8JY6fbwU8z2uG4Zt0fvFlSAkI8SzUIzfbpFeMTB79v8r6LlTXewK1NqSMbH12B9ae_LN5AUgbyLs9tKmxnPxsfwhLX3VexIvo_XS7mEvNAkhTxFVYpuOwj7sZo27pnluHcK3LNDsNcn/s400/10i.jpg" height="400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="266" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><em>Long-exposure shot at Xujiahui</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfK8JY6fbwU8z2uG4Zt0fvFlSAkI8SzUIzfbpFeMTB79v8r6LlTXewK1NqSMbH12B9ae_LN5AUgbyLs9tKmxnPxsfwhLX3VexIvo_XS7mEvNAkhTxFVYpuOwj7sZo27pnluHcK3LNDsNcn/s1600/10i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But everywhere you go, the ever present “gleaming
glass and steel” as described in the eyewitness DK guide to Shanghai, is over
bearing, and nowhere more so than on the Pudong side near the Bund, where
buildings come in all shapes and sizes, trying to outdo each other, in a way
that makes the Gherkin, Walkie Talkie and the Shard look tame.</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvDjo3LsDDLSIDtl9J4DUt5zME6VzeBgSaedZ4L-6ZkOGNJkt-8MRajZykJHzfTEbKGYEBR9HSX0tW-IhfcvlK_xNC4E8U3-XaH5pFb9Lk-GN6sLPn40eCxQQK__ifMWd2FUNY3xChqd3/s1600/10j.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvDjo3LsDDLSIDtl9J4DUt5zME6VzeBgSaedZ4L-6ZkOGNJkt-8MRajZykJHzfTEbKGYEBR9HSX0tW-IhfcvlK_xNC4E8U3-XaH5pFb9Lk-GN6sLPn40eCxQQK__ifMWd2FUNY3xChqd3/s400/10j.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This one looks like it could be a
dormant transformer, like the building toy from “Big” the movie:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgYBunWcU7dnQcdejXg6vDT5PyRVIttlqMehr-TUt7630CsSYjHGc3TDqNJ40-d9X8ePxg6oPRXTiUSUcVWUm6OIvp5DyevuWZk3JZL7SgCOuuBJCFrhlz58qyippFpfQRxE8-mIykggY2/s1600/10k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgYBunWcU7dnQcdejXg6vDT5PyRVIttlqMehr-TUt7630CsSYjHGc3TDqNJ40-d9X8ePxg6oPRXTiUSUcVWUm6OIvp5DyevuWZk3JZL7SgCOuuBJCFrhlz58qyippFpfQRxE8-mIykggY2/s400/10k.jpg" height="400" width="297" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78sjQz7KDieKnSaio4taHZ6TGKK7WGAozUQjYuxXUxKFMN51z_90KGGI4DNyHryp9VHm9zXx0KNkzXibCej_jtjoYM3wHBxlr1q1N_IUXAvNijzWzQDTDMe3nAbOHgOR7FlFm3qOw_Mr1/s1600/10l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78sjQz7KDieKnSaio4taHZ6TGKK7WGAozUQjYuxXUxKFMN51z_90KGGI4DNyHryp9VHm9zXx0KNkzXibCej_jtjoYM3wHBxlr1q1N_IUXAvNijzWzQDTDMe3nAbOHgOR7FlFm3qOw_Mr1/s320/10l.jpg" height="274" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But some of them do look quite elegant, and I
particularly like this 20s-inspired building on the Puxi side:</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6Z0pi1c9CQLvIJ32QkHZkH0DXfW_T3uB5x49Q-QFtmrrx6IxFzJVXU4KtoyeaX5I4DVb2CO548iDqaNv5XVRmqjgnJSY3NLI0L0u3ALUl2ZaqpbVJgDzScU4W3xuMOTYjuVTikag_AFv/s1600/10m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6Z0pi1c9CQLvIJ32QkHZkH0DXfW_T3uB5x49Q-QFtmrrx6IxFzJVXU4KtoyeaX5I4DVb2CO548iDqaNv5XVRmqjgnJSY3NLI0L0u3ALUl2ZaqpbVJgDzScU4W3xuMOTYjuVTikag_AFv/s400/10m.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, the communist monument on the left can also be
seen in the above photo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdsK-L5fZE6CDgnBgOFdWEImvsuH2PFxRNyrjnC21gJ6AF7hAsTUqfTLhkiazh899ZXYde2JnCAUQOjZor7nCi7a5ci7xS5wN8qb5wfPGaNGmRNbuGmPpNdRNXUcUNZ-CeQXoN75PZ_omH/s1600/10n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdsK-L5fZE6CDgnBgOFdWEImvsuH2PFxRNyrjnC21gJ6AF7hAsTUqfTLhkiazh899ZXYde2JnCAUQOjZor7nCi7a5ci7xS5wN8qb5wfPGaNGmRNbuGmPpNdRNXUcUNZ-CeQXoN75PZ_omH/s400/10n.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Pudong side boasts what was the second tallest
building in the world, which can be seen peeking behind the others with its trapezoid
hole through the top, which has earned it the affectionate nickname of “The
Bottle Opener”. It was originally designed to have a circular hole at the top
(a hole of some kind was required to to help such a tall building cope with the
wind stresses experienced at that height), but apparently people thought a
circle would remind them too much of the Japanese flag. Then they realized that
a trapeze shape would be much easier and cheaper to make, so viola! The bottle
opener was born, and actual bottle openers in that shape are now being sold
there. It was originally designed to be the second highest building in the
world, but as you can see a taller one next to it – the Shanghai Tower – is in
progress, hoping to get a new record. They are both beaten by a skyscraper in
Dubai.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Buildings in Shanghai come in all shapes and sizes,
like this upside down cone:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdT5QjxXdm5yfyERXT19zlqlTMMwPv9ovAPofe3jBgzRcv01aobk2nLgWQFO5TJxx-AU3jfHLE1riK-2zbUr47RqRPFzjIXnJ5_Dt2tNunSVic0J_KcAlfvr6vsfE4k-LzVyLZey2RIxI/s640/10o.jpg" height="175" width="400" /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> This
one below I think is supposed to be two cups:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZH7mlGA8s4K4lv1PVKa9p_ieiJYJ7a9x4HUghCQj0iNfyDA1eU7lpwajEphLu3DFOQFF-rVYEm5-XqrK2jd5IEHUYFi92cpPVXysT7tEvB0Jmp0sM8c-jiGI6lh1kz7VnyDckEc4uSvd2/s1600/10p.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZH7mlGA8s4K4lv1PVKa9p_ieiJYJ7a9x4HUghCQj0iNfyDA1eU7lpwajEphLu3DFOQFF-rVYEm5-XqrK2jd5IEHUYFi92cpPVXysT7tEvB0Jmp0sM8c-jiGI6lh1kz7VnyDckEc4uSvd2/s400/10p.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but it just reminds me of one of Lady Gaga’s bras:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSGHlgC0mjqFskCX1_GUpfnDtYhhtnrgqYrhz3tzjOAfX96O2dLBmsWF5EGguVK-nwjZodfwgb4mzB-MSa2uUsWIbrY5PEDiGmPW6HpDbF2rS9U3PnecCqNuCL0Cx3DUKS22Xi8jk6FGRI/s1600/10q.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSGHlgC0mjqFskCX1_GUpfnDtYhhtnrgqYrhz3tzjOAfX96O2dLBmsWF5EGguVK-nwjZodfwgb4mzB-MSa2uUsWIbrY5PEDiGmPW6HpDbF2rS9U3PnecCqNuCL0Cx3DUKS22Xi8jk6FGRI/s400/10q.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Occasionally, they try to balance this out by
installing a little bit of greenery ion the pavement for pedestrians.</span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipBGp49n9XGFehALB_AqEt1Vy6DjtZ9iza0SEAwZSnorfYxST5wWT_gjZmvHmbEXCc40NG9eIa88n3sFH53ip1mIsl3CxkDm39klD1Qcqu_NjIg__-TsgIZkX_clMxYBSPenFJnGQjkknX/s400/10r.jpg" height="300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Rare bit of greenery in the city</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But this only happens if there is a big event about
to be put on which would attract a lot of foreigners (like the World Expo in
2010), so they have to suddenly plant some greenery to make it look good. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> You can also escape to Century Park, a large park
with lakes and entertainment (and a 10 RMB entry fee!), for a spot of kite
flying:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-GvGS5-M4YFcf20SapOMQDMkY5w8qKGeAfuzo5ytFzw_yW1EIIsrcwtgyAznOC-hbAI01-XdGsy8x5EgljBcMQUpEKRWLPRKBMfRsr9lm5jPG9NKGmubYdeIyTviDQY4r_c4DDPGTDdoC/s400/10s.jpg" height="300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><em>Kite flying at Century Avenue, Shanghai</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> At the end of the day, these structures are so huge
and imposing and will be around for years to come no doubt. I sometimes wonder
what will happen if or when the US defaults, either in this recession or the
next, and when the whole world implodes, what future cultures would make of all
these structures? It makes such a contrast to the traditional architecture of
the Yu gardens, which are so admired and revered now. Will they still be
standing in their full glory for future generations to marvel at them, wondering
what drove these people to build into a seemingly never-ending competition for
height? And what will replace them? Or will China just step into the spotlight
left empty by the USA and keep on developing?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"> I’ve been wanting to add an
addendum to this post for a few weeks, ever since I discovered how these skyscrapers
are built so quickly! In actual fact, its that the builders live on the
building site! They sleep in little carboard-box-type mobile homes, probably
with many bunk beds in like the university dorms. I should not have been
surprised that the economic boom was literally built on the toil and sweat of
the poor, but the initial shock on finding this out astounded me so much I
could only respond with “but what about their wives, children and families?!”. Living
away from home is very common in China, where it’s difficult to make ends meet
and find a job with so many people in the market. Many people have to move for
jobs and the primary carer of many children are grandparents, while the parents
strive to earn money for the family. I was told that these builders were
probably people from the countryside, who come to the city for work, and send
the money back to their families who are often people running farms or other
agriculture. They even have a special phrase to describe these kind of “migrant
workers” as Nóngmín gōng (</span><span lang="ZH-CN">农民工</span><span lang="EN-US">).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9t_Pvi4s_nuqFADNMihiTwH1s8O1qD0XhWx7-YE4hlKC89wfvLxtj1Sh1TimSrKIc5jeV9QkN4MP0lQ0RBG6TMytrTNQVtZFY2tv7IpkjsOHqnUNrwTVvg3qjzZv4HeUSOgx59dU13Go/s400/SAM_4950.JPG" height="300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">The Builders accommodation just behind the building site</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> At first I thought it is very sad,
but in some cases people have to move to a whole new country to earn enough to
send back to their families. And since they live on site, no time is wasted on
a daily commute, and it also explains why I can hear hammering from 7 am every
day, so the system must be very efficient. And the workers seem to have a good camaraderie,
and in the evenings we can hear them playing music or shouting excitedly about
a card game or some such activity. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It does seem unfair that the
government is benefitting from people’s poverty which pushes them to work like
this, but with the huge numbers of people, it can be difficult to compete for
jobs, so there is no shortage of people willing to volunteer for early, late or
holiday shifts, even for what seems like very little pay for us. So in a way,
yes, some money is going back to the poorer people out in the countryside, but
I doubt many of these workers would ever go into one of these skyscrapers when
they’re finished. Many of the skyscrapers charge a fair amount for the entry to
the viewing levels, I doubt many of the poorer people could afford such a
luxury. The lower levels of skyscrapers are usually devoted to office spaces
and hotels, so again, out of reach for poorer people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The conflicting
socialism/capitalism is an odd issue here, as due to the huge competition,
sometimes the only way to get ahead is to be friendly with the right people.
There is no way a government could truly provide equally for 1 billion people.
There are many features of Chinese culture that don’t seem very socialist – for
example all healthcare is private as in America, and can be very expensive – so
it seems funny to call “Obamacare” socialist! Things could not be further from
the truth here, as everybody is striving and competing, and there is no welfare
state to provide for those in need. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> China today is very in awe of the Western
world and curious to learn and replicate the successes there. I can’t help but
feel that their recent strides in development could only have happened by
taking on capitalist attitudes, and business and trade pretty much run in the
country the same as in capitalist places. The Chinese people are very
practical, so they are willing to do whatever it takes to get things done. The
end result is the most important for them. So overall, I would say that since
the backlash against the Cultural Revolution in the 80s (people often talk here
of the “post-80s generation”), China’s socialist reins have loosened, and
increasingly the communist rule is in name only.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-50835237747430622672013-10-15T23:12:00.007+01:002014-06-13T13:04:22.288+01:00Shanghai Exit-Entry Bureau <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 12pt 0cm 0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 0gd; mso-para-margin-right: 12.0pt; mso-para-margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 42.55pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
week I had another fun trip out to the Shanghai Exit-Entry bureau! My wallet is
now 457 RMB lighter, but I’ve got my passport back with a brand new visa in
that now means that I can leave the country! South Korea, here I
come!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 12pt 0cm 0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 0gd; mso-para-margin-right: 12.0pt; mso-para-margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 42.55pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The bureau is a bit tricky to find and navigate, and most
foreigners in the South East of China will inevitably end up having to go to this office at one point
or another, I thought I’d write a post about this weird and crazy place at the
end of subway line 9, to help people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 12pt 0cm 0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 0gd; mso-para-margin-right: 12.0pt; mso-para-margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 42.55pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taking
the subway was the easy part, since there is a stop on the relevant line near
SJTU, and all I had to do was sit until the end station, Middle Yanggao Road.
Then, there are two main exits, but I got off at exit 3 and then crossed the
huge road towards the corner with a building site, and then set off down
Minsheng Road. Or at least, it was a building site the first few times when I
arrived there. If you’re reading this blog from maybe a few months or more in
the future, you might find that there is now a big skyscraper there! I had been in the bureau only one hour to pick up my passport, and during that time they had already erected some metal barriers
equipped with lights to cover up the building site</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf7_SUcdX6EKlWq4A0J5CeMxA-bAB3R3wYfagZ5wNup01kwyizh13wI14DOtlVumJfURViUv03sFKuwl7qOjuaaY0ngGiJ03_EL8l3F4TvYgyEc3OG57LkxJ41Qj1RzmW_p1AQjWC-qK_x/s400/9a.jpg" height="300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Large metal sheets installed during the hour it took me to get my passport back, in order to cover up the ugliness of the building site!<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It must look very pretty at night with all the lights on, but what I think
this most illustrates is how much Chinese culture places such importance on
keeping up nice appearances and covering up negatives. But I digress…..<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 12pt 0cm 0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 0gd; mso-para-margin-right: 12.0pt; mso-para-margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 42.55pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is
the view of exit 3 from the opposite corner showing the intersection that you
need to cross, regardless of which exit you take.</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz2Lq15zCi1IBacsFd1-SuMtYj3j0usqTDFR3Q6XbC2AShHBvn-cfImN1rqLUgjkZye674AB9WxyEBS0ai9TeU2eONqHgm3r4QRv3BTQgntISQFXqz5t-xmH9w4QBZgADA2Le9QhQRJ-nm/s1600/9b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz2Lq15zCi1IBacsFd1-SuMtYj3j0usqTDFR3Q6XbC2AShHBvn-cfImN1rqLUgjkZye674AB9WxyEBS0ai9TeU2eONqHgm3r4QRv3BTQgntISQFXqz5t-xmH9w4QBZgADA2Le9QhQRJ-nm/s400/9b.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 12pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 0gd; mso-para-margin-right: 12.0pt; mso-para-margin-top: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">You need to cross to the corner where the people on the right are going, and then just go straight ahead for two blocks</span></span></i></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> From
this point on though, I was equipped only with an address and Google maps on my
phone. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 12pt 0cm 0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 0gd; mso-para-margin-right: 12.0pt; mso-para-margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 42.55pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Weirdly,
there are two buildings on Minsheng Road very close to each other that come up
as a result for a search of “Shanghai Exit-Entry Bureau”. The first one on your
right “Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau” was the one my
phone initially pointed me to, and it was a very large and imposing building,
guarded by two guards at the entrance near the base of the stairs
and a further three or four, up at the front door of this official looking
building. Since I had no clue where I was going, and thought that this place
looked way too over the top for just visas, I asked
one of the guards, hopefully they’d be just like policemen in the UK – ie.
great to ask for directions. Luckily, they were very nice, and armed with the
address written in both English and Chinese, they knew where I needed to get to
and gestured that I needed to go a bit further.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So the
place I think most people need to actually get to is a good two blocks away
from the metro station, where Minsheng road meets Yingchun Road. This is called
Bureau of Exit-Entry Administration Shanghai Municipal Public Security on
Google maps. You can’t miss it because there is a massive big sign
on the front in both English and Chinese:</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWuHylEmrxPCVz-aGyEjJHn4xO44E-3j0EuLqn95bZLmH35qF98fkvadLYkz496mlUajh6YLYWbG5CITZPqE1AoEki4Fb2Ce4pAaFMRRplT8cRWQDGLEBHhx1z83mdww8XzNG4CK2Irbk/s400/9c.jpg" height="300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Front entrance of the Exit-Entry Bureau</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWuHylEmrxPCVz-aGyEjJHn4xO44E-3j0EuLqn95bZLmH35qF98fkvadLYkz496mlUajh6YLYWbG5CITZPqE1AoEki4Fb2Ce4pAaFMRRplT8cRWQDGLEBHhx1z83mdww8XzNG4CK2Irbk/s1600/9c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When
you go in, there are lots of signs, and not many of them are very helpful! I
stopped at an information kiosk on the ground floor (1<sup>st</sup> floor in
China) and asked a young lady where I should go and she directed me to the
third floor (2<sup>nd</sup> in English), which was a floor of one of the most
mental administrative systems I’ve seen. When you arrive, you’re supposed to
pick up a ticket from a machine, which shows your position in the queue. A
display board shows when you’re next and which desk to go to. So I waited. But
occasionally, one of the ticket attendants would shout something in Chinese
down a megaphone and hold up a piece of paper with a group of about 20 numbers,
when there would be a massive rush of those people going to a desk, any desk. There
were maybe 12 desks on this floor, and two extra attendants with the megaphone
guy, and they all had police uniforms on. The total number of staff in this
building alone must be about 100, and I was thinking what a cushy job this must
be if you’re in the police force – it’s a well, respected, easy job, all you
have to do is sit behind a desk all day and push papers around! Don’t have to
do any of the crime solving or fighting! Like I said before, I think this is
the key to the success of the Chinese government - creating all these
unnecessary jobs to keep everybody employed!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When my
number was among those called out, I duly went in the scrum to get to a desk.
When I got one I was asked if I had had my picture taken yet. I said no, but I
had a passport photo with me. This was not good enough, so I was sent away
again. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 12pt 0cm 0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 0gd; mso-para-margin-right: 12.0pt; mso-para-margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 42.55pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, I
was already lucky to be slightly more prepared than the average person that
comes to this crazy office, because this very helpful lady at the international
students office at the university had already advised me about what to do and take,
and she had even prepared the correct form that I needed to fill in and printed
it off and stuck my passport photo to it, and gave me instructions on where to
go an even how much it would cost by different methods. I know most people
arrive not knowing which of the plethora of forms they need to fill in and have
several unsuccessful attempts before they finally get the right one, or they
have to leave again to get some passport photos done or get another document. So
I felt like I was quite prepared. However, having the correctly filled in form,
passport photo, letter of admission and proof address was still not enough, so
then I went downstairs and spoke to the same lady who I asked in the first
place, and then she directed me to the digital photo booth, which puts a photo they
take of you on to their electronic database. A part of me was screaming inside “WHY
COULDN’T YOU HAVE JUST TOLD ME THAT I NEEDED TO DO THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE”,
which would have saved me at least 45 minutes of waiting upstairs. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of
course, at the photo booth, nobody spoke English, so I was gestured into a seat
and then had a photo taken, not knowing whether I needed to pay, but since
nobody asked me for any money, I then went back upstairs to get another ticket
and wait.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 12pt 0cm 0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 0gd; mso-para-margin-right: 12.0pt; mso-para-margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 42.55pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But by
this time, of course, it was coming up to Chinese lunch time (11:30 to you and
me). So the number of manned desks was reduced to one, with still roughly the
same amount of people waiting (but thankfully the guy with the megaphone was
now gone too). So I had to wait another 45 minutes before finally a couple more
ladies returned from their lunch break, and at last the queue was starting to
move at a reasonable pace. I spoke with one of the ladies for maybe 5 minutes
and then was told to come back two weeks later (on account of the upcoming
Golden week).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 12pt 0cm 0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 0gd; mso-para-margin-right: 12.0pt; mso-para-margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 42.55pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So this
week I made my return, and it was slightly more straightforward. Collection of
your passport is at a section on the right of the front entrance on the ground
floor. There was a huge queue of people for two kiosks where you could pay the
fee for your new visa, so much so, that a little snack shop had set up just
next to the queue, selling drinks and biscuits, etc. When I saw this I began to
imagine that I’d be stood in the queue for an age, but actually it moved along
at an acceptable pace. I then went to pick up my passport with my receipt, and
they gave me back exactly that – and nothing else! So no more is my acceptance
letter from SJTU – be warned, only submit copies of documents unless you don’t
want to see them again! But perhaps, they just took the letter to stop me
getting another visa, since I’m only allowed to change it once with an F-type. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the
bottom line is, I can now make two extra trips out of China and they will let
me back in! So, next stop, Seoul…..</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-85818733731975087102013-10-05T12:57:00.004+01:002014-04-01T17:16:08.947+01:00Chinese National “Golden Week” Holiday - a great time to stay at home!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> “Why so
many blog posts?” I hear you ask. “Aren’t you supposed to be doing some
research there?”. Lol, I wish I was, and I’m bugging the other students as much
as I can for them to show me where everything is and how to use their machines,
etc. So far, all I’ve managed to do is order some primers, and I’m waiting for
some antibiotics and SYBR green to arrive which won’t come until next week.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> That’s
because the first week of October is a national holiday for the Chinese, goes
under the guise of celebrating the founding of the People’s Republic of China
in 1949, but in reality, the week’s paid holiday was introduced in 1999 to help
boost domestic tourism and the economy. There has been some calls for the holiday
to be cut back because of too much disruption to the regular services, but it
can’t be said that it’s not working to boost tourism. If anyone is doubting
whether this week long holiday has boosted tourism, they need to see my
pictures.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" dir="ltr" style="clear: both; text-align: center;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" dir="ltr" style="clear: both; text-align: center;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguF7UthI-QgYL-k5Xdaok2jnzsjBlPrEtcH3eANZG4Zbu3AP98FWwnNfrQBHA4r8bxt1EUuqymbbN-5Uu8rFLzoKGRr6LMZPYOddQz_a9dAo4s937iOql3iOK8MHAweuY-PKJWOMvU0PLf/s1600/8a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguF7UthI-QgYL-k5Xdaok2jnzsjBlPrEtcH3eANZG4Zbu3AP98FWwnNfrQBHA4r8bxt1EUuqymbbN-5Uu8rFLzoKGRr6LMZPYOddQz_a9dAo4s937iOql3iOK8MHAweuY-PKJWOMvU0PLf/s400/8a.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are lots of decorations up, mainly of the Chinese
flag, and also pop up face-in-hole boards in the street.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdM4qdVuVqOs-gecJqGOdOZBw1K8Ini139BZTiJ9ToIHKDHHqRd1d6BXLqUBsD-2StKwuBCliU4i-iT6GRUhGwUIyh88b30fXm-qsI11Nqgg3AbwHezfpjkFzXsguVjLvGC0syByi4C6JY/s400/8b.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Me and Lu, posing as Maoist "comrades"</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="separator" dir="ltr" style="clear: both; text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> People are turning out in their droves, which means that
although Shanghai is a pretty busy and crowded city already, the main tourist
spots are now at bursting point. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before I came, when I heard that
this would be a week of holiday, I thought that this would be a great time for
Sam to come and visit. But now, I'm so glad I heeded the advice of Dexi, the
first exchange guy who is on his year-long stay in Leicester at the moment, who
told me that under no circumstances should I go and visit any tourist sites
then, and that it would be better for Sam to come later. He also told me that
sometimes during that week, he just stays in his dorm, relaxing. I couldn't
understand how this could possibly be, in a city that seems so exciting and
with so much to offer. I told myself that I wouldn't be doing this under any
circumstances. But having been on the Bund at dusk yesterday, I am now inclined
to agree!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg59eliXXWfMNO4r8whFHvopSnSVfHS-mJ5ZIUmRcCtfrLnoHODXME-d6_TTGHuug2LM_vOqedxuK4E3yfnodQ3FQZu3iXn0IEXj4Te6WGHtgLFR2ujJa2nRHJCHJ7SfAAbosS0u-Iu5ief/s1600/8c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg59eliXXWfMNO4r8whFHvopSnSVfHS-mJ5ZIUmRcCtfrLnoHODXME-d6_TTGHuug2LM_vOqedxuK4E3yfnodQ3FQZu3iXn0IEXj4Te6WGHtgLFR2ujJa2nRHJCHJ7SfAAbosS0u-Iu5ief/s400/8c.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Lady at the bottom right hand corner of this shot trying to get a sneak picture of me</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" dir="ltr" style="clear: both; text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The sheer number of people clamouring over each other to get
a shot of the Bund was stifling, and this was also the moment a charming middle
aged lady who can be seen in the bottom right corner of the picture decided to shove a
camera in my face to take a photo as if I wouldn't notice, despite being squashed right up against her, and everyone else there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because, yes, the holiday has
brought all the country people from the areas outside of Shanghai into the
city, with their fascination for western people. The past few trips into the
city this week is when the infamous “locals ask to have photos taken with
westerners” had started. On campus, nobody really bats an eyelid at the
presence of a westerner in their midst. Sure, we are quite rare in the canteen,
and maybe the odd person stares a little bit longer than usual, but it’s not
obtrusive or irritating. I think that most Shanghai people are pretty much used
to Westerners, especially at the university, where I’d say 50 % of the students
at the international dorms are of Caucasian descent, and the rest are Korean. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, when we get to major
tourist spots, there must be country people who haven’t ever seen a westerner
in their life, because that is where I start getting requests to pose for
photos with people. The first one happened in the Yu gardens while we were
waiting for the boys to get the tasty Bell cakes, and I must admit, I thought
it was hysterically funny that some stranger would want a photo with me, and
the girls from my lab were also in fits of giggles. It wasn’t hard to smile
those first few times, since I was laughing already. I thought I was getting a
taste for what it feels like to be a celebrity! Another expat blogger in China, <a href="http://sarajaaksola.com/" target="_blank">Sara</a>, writes a very funny blog post about this called <a href="http://sarajaaksola.com/move-to-china-and-become-a-celebrity/" target="_blank">"Move to China and Become a Celebrity"</a>. This is pretty much how I'd describe it! Although I don't hear the words <o:p></o:p><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px; text-indent: 0px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px; text-indent: 0px;">外国人 wàiguórén and 老外 lǎowài so often. Or maybe I just don't hear it when people speak so quickly.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I find it really cute when
little kids are curious about me, and some of them try to practice what few
English phrases they may know. I found these two little cuties (or maybe they
found me?) in the Yu gardens, as they were singing “Hello, hello, hello” behind
me, and then I realised they were talking to me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIEWOcCseQ1dhPX4DgTtmkFIBXkd2epfsFVHPvCUTwjrVfdEtPWY53d0nuRb0D4ytU9FOyNzfJ8HZPQNQX0dCbCGwfmsNPSd5AQQ8NQJdvWJLcB29jY0VVDxLwaV3OjphLY_tCXqRoDXp6/s1600/8d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIEWOcCseQ1dhPX4DgTtmkFIBXkd2epfsFVHPvCUTwjrVfdEtPWY53d0nuRb0D4ytU9FOyNzfJ8HZPQNQX0dCbCGwfmsNPSd5AQQ8NQJdvWJLcB29jY0VVDxLwaV3OjphLY_tCXqRoDXp6/s400/8d.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Cute Chinese kids wanted to pose with me :)</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="separator" dir="ltr" style="clear: both; text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Their
parents told them to say “Nice to meet you” and when I said “Nice to meet you
too!” back, everyone fell into fits of giggles. So when their parents suggested
a photo, of course I obliged and got one for myself too. Who could refuse such
little sweeties, with their inquisitive faces so full of anticipation and
curiosity! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the things I’m really glad
about is that in Chinese culture, there isn’t a cold fear of others that
pervades so much in British culture that means you can’t so much as look at
another person’s child without some frosty stares that
suggest they’re suspecting you of being the next Mark Bridger. Whilst those
cases are tragic and horrifying, I’m sure that they are isolated incidences;
whereas it sometimes feels like that the British culture acts as though they
are commonplace, and that people need to be on their guard. It might just be
that the British like to have their personal space and keep the distance more. There is much less of a big deal on personal space in China, and if that is precious to you, then China won't be for you. People in China people seem very at ease with their children, and allow them to
explore, and they seem happy for them to interact with me and others. In fact, Chinese
people seem to be quite touchy-feely, since some people who posed with me
grabbed my arm as they stood next to me, or put their arm round me, like the
girls in this photo. It’s nice to see that people are really friendly and open.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> There
was also a funny couple at the ferry from the Pudong side that made me laugh,
as it was clear that the girl wanted a photo, but she was too shy to ask, so
her boyfriend went ahead and asked me while she slapped him, embarrassed. I
thought this was hilarious, so of course, I had to pose with them. I don’t mind
if people ask politely, but unfortunately it sometimes happen that if people
see me posing with others, they want to do it too, and they begin to get into a
queue, as if I was a tourist attraction myself, along with the Oriental Pearl
and the Bund. This kind of lessens the magic a little, and I start to feel a
bit like a commodity rather than a person. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It was
especially bad when I had a nap on a grassy verge in the park and barely had I
raised my head to wake up, when some guy was already asking me for a photo,
shortly followed by more people queuing. I think some people must have started
to sense that it was getting annoying, so they satisfied themselves with taking
photos of me by myself from afar, which I found equally, if not more creepy. I
was starting to understand how celebrities can get annoyed with the paparazzi.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But
this lady on the Bund was really taking the biscuit as we were all squashed up
against each other in a crowd, and without saying a word, not even in Chinese,
she tried to surreptitiously take a photo of me when she saw me behind her. When
she wasn’t satisfied with the photo, she tried again, not so surreptitiously. I
was like “hello lady, I’m right here” (there must have been less than 10 cm between
us, so thick was the crowd) and felt like flipping the bird into her photo. However,
my politeness prevailed, and I just about managed a sarcastic smile and wave
for her photo. I also started to think about the reverse, and the kind of reaction
Asian people would have if they received the equivalent treatment in Europe. It
would be considered unthinkably racist for British people to stop a Chinese
person on the street to pose with them, yet here it seems perfectly normal!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear Chinese people, it’s okay to have a photo with me, but
please have the courtesy to ask me politely first!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> However,
by this time I’d had enough of the crowd and had got my obligatory photo of the
Bund, and just decided to head home. It took about 10 – 15 minutes to make the
500 m journey back to Nanjing Road East metro station through the crowd.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3-HYIMdRGD0ux5wWRGPn2rdwqqjkX0TNzE-PxRajr5ve0-5CV-P27vb3b5eS5b1XPai5JWtnR0l8kLPL3WqHnaRJUwhE2LRBx4lg2dTLEN2AeaAboKSLWDNJYZpUH-zOI9fZ1x49RcMXx/s400/8e.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">The Bund at dusk</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="separator" dir="ltr" style="clear: both; text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Coming back to the spacious, quiet campus was a welcome
relief, and I went to my dorm room and had a well-earned rest, without anybody
bothering me, blending into the background again. It was much more comfortable
to be at home. Maybe Dexi was right after all.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-41782313554065193352013-10-05T12:49:00.001+01:002014-04-06T01:36:15.198+01:00Chinese Hospitality<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Since I arrived, I’ve been out on to several trips into the
city to see the main sights of Shanghai courtesy of the people in the lab who
have been very friendly and welcoming. Thanks to them, I am also now up and
running on Weibo, so if you’re a member, please come and follow me there! My
profile is on <a href="http://weibo.com/3819513646/profile" target="_blank">Weibo</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Generally, one of the things people complain about when they arrive to China is that people are rude. Whilst yes, in public, strangers will often push past you, not bother asking if you're in the queue and generally just go about their business as it suits them regardless of how it affects you, in a country that's so full of people, it can be hard to care about everybody. Conversely, if you are someone's friend or guest, then they will go to the ends of the earth for you, making sure that you are comfortable, have enough to eat and drink, pay for things, give you gifts and carry your bags. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In my experience, my lab hosts were of course very friendly from the word go. On the first Friday evening, they took me out into the city
centre for a meal (more on that in a later post) and also to see the famous
Bund, which is best seen when it is lit up at night. This was especially great
for me, as I love making night photos and was looking forward to seeing the
real thing in the flesh. The Pudong side of the river was every bit as
breathtaking as people describe, and I got some great shots of it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The guys in the lab were also
very interested to see my photos, so they cajoled me into signing up for Weibo
– China’s answer to Twitter/Facebook. There is supposed to be an English
version of this, but only about half of the features are translated and of
course, none of the text that people post, so I have to make do with guessing
and Google translate to get by. Nevertheless, so many of the features are very
similar to Facebook that it is not that hard to use. However, the main
difference seems to be that it is very heavily monitored. Just these week it
was mentioned in the news, as information became available that the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-24396957" target="_blank">Chinese government hires some 2 million people to monitor and vet users on the website</a>.
Anything that is deemed politically sensitive is deleted. This crazily large
number seems rather senseless, even with having to check on 100 million
registered users, but I believe this is symptomatic of a new theory I'm developing
about the Chinese political system : the reason why the communist government
has been so successful for so long, is that by requiring such an enormous
amount of regulation, red tape and paperwork, they are keeping a huge number of
people employed and thus managing to support their vast population. This was
first apparent to me when I had the pleasure of visiting the Shanghai
Exit-Entry Inspection Bureau. And the
amount of porters, guards and even military people around to guard everything
is astounding already. It just takes such a huge work force to keep this many
people in check. It’s a crazy system, but somehow, it works for them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But
getting back to the topic of Chinese hospitality. If you haven’t seen the
photos, here are some highlights from my first evening out in the city:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAvq8Meob2kOGkMaNsrZXuo01Dlxa5RKni_MswrDHRR1N9732u0KOuL6Mn0RBZGlrgv-xTi6p5Z8ljz23nLh5S3XOO9q1mVngm2kjy7QjrnkB4ZrkJJJ4wrUVqti7woq70Pb5OT7fay1Yr/s1600/7a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAvq8Meob2kOGkMaNsrZXuo01Dlxa5RKni_MswrDHRR1N9732u0KOuL6Mn0RBZGlrgv-xTi6p5Z8ljz23nLh5S3XOO9q1mVngm2kjy7QjrnkB4ZrkJJJ4wrUVqti7woq70Pb5OT7fay1Yr/s400/7a.jpg" height="293" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZ_D7NRJ8zwxWTbAg3MvQ5QFVJgp8mVeYWEAKYEdbvGNxEuNPPc5XoE9Z-lFFXwFW4eivPHVp0e-Y4X1vDYLZiQE2OVve_z3t7g3hbEzF2RPW6a50Kt5BoYG5cgz-2cH0tydWQ0MhkoUf/s400/7b.jpg" height="300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><em>Ships passing on the Bund in the evening</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> These are the lab people who kindly took me out on my first
Friday night and showed me all the lights of the city at night. The guy on the
right Yingzhou is the one that is coming to the UK in January, and I keep thinking
“What on earth am I going to show him that’s just as good as this?!” There is
nothing remotely as spectacular anywhere near Leicester, and I’ll probably just
end up showing him round London if I want to be an equally good host. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPCp96ERq0YkqnzMSkFDyRsP0pMr8SqvxQpaiBW2eYIYmNaoj7wa4sQ0nlrCrNLqCDzmSvejwA7nMc81fj2ItdCLrrNw9OY-JO69NTBV1Gq43-kCwNiqu1-54TeBuIDzYMbVws3y7L-ecW/s400/7c.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><em>My new labmates</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The
next trip out that we went on was to the Yu Gardens (<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">豫园</span><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">) </span>a special green garden with
rockeries and lakes built in the Ming dynasty. I bet in its hey day, it made a
great retreat for the Chinese nobility. Unfortunately it can’t be described as
a retreat today, because it is so very, very busy with tourists. This doesn’t
detract from the experience though, and I loved the bazaars around it, which
had an air of Camden town on a bustling Saturday morning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It is made up of winding paths through lakes to temples and
houses built on top of the water, teeming with large fish (and some tortoises!)
vying for a piece of bread fed to them by the tourists:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFp6jiObg0NZxd7KR6ymYCVCsJliP5Nu6cnXQFjIeE-4i7E__1NDtnCeSEbZLFv03IZ-aYHEB0Cm8foxQ7YFT1ndLoCr4IoEgge1cpq6Xysmi_ofHgcWKXb-cTmfFCLOpEI_pJm0HvULRJ/s1600/7d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFp6jiObg0NZxd7KR6ymYCVCsJliP5Nu6cnXQFjIeE-4i7E__1NDtnCeSEbZLFv03IZ-aYHEB0Cm8foxQ7YFT1ndLoCr4IoEgge1cpq6Xysmi_ofHgcWKXb-cTmfFCLOpEI_pJm0HvULRJ/s320/7d.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSZ2HR1m6gl0lL5amYgXdOVH3fQI5LQGDA4N447DrrGqf33n6XXeM42-WycPv_YsSGCDFEIsPRpdz4FTAcPTXFC5iMVamG_doR3EhXuz32DifzkpCfPQgb_9OnvDuOZ2c9RTqXOLzXDt_x/s1600/7e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSZ2HR1m6gl0lL5amYgXdOVH3fQI5LQGDA4N447DrrGqf33n6XXeM42-WycPv_YsSGCDFEIsPRpdz4FTAcPTXFC5iMVamG_doR3EhXuz32DifzkpCfPQgb_9OnvDuOZ2c9RTqXOLzXDt_x/s400/7e.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p>It has some very beautiful parts:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJCV4TgrJ1rMSlkorklLv8UxTMzQl2QwEY3NHTIm_MmnZ2ADWmKS1ShbV6f2eHfbgP6LuB_xKssXjDdOexFzVpWg3-GQTXK1rHFUmI3TfekmCfawuDDnPuSRZgqhlQQKwvUvk3wWDOT3S3/s1600/7f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJCV4TgrJ1rMSlkorklLv8UxTMzQl2QwEY3NHTIm_MmnZ2ADWmKS1ShbV6f2eHfbgP6LuB_xKssXjDdOexFzVpWg3-GQTXK1rHFUmI3TfekmCfawuDDnPuSRZgqhlQQKwvUvk3wWDOT3S3/s400/7f.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1iUiUhyqqcgLHXesjcpl6mBwwfSJ6S5EmEnZNiBZnQemg6vMan_QpCEoURmRoGTckESMx6y53bqCPc4U_4Ms4DseIMQtJCRm-k640Dh4fbaiQlGkLHj9f1to4RGUKBtusa1rWnSdv6zAN/s1600/SAM_4238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1iUiUhyqqcgLHXesjcpl6mBwwfSJ6S5EmEnZNiBZnQemg6vMan_QpCEoURmRoGTckESMx6y53bqCPc4U_4Ms4DseIMQtJCRm-k640Dh4fbaiQlGkLHj9f1to4RGUKBtusa1rWnSdv6zAN/s1600/SAM_4238.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9vjygknRShjzbXfFw7QyKQl6uuLyySPdaRXIc6HmMQWF052w-xuyEvI6pkufN5doT8AmIta-x2uVuh3EMpxtsSqR2Nw4GgleN_G8zyutuoYcCGYhj-Muz1ZYXEm7-v7kWkZP6pwdYGag2/s1600/7g.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1-Wbglgu4H2iLPxcKDbaAxtyPqOakqHi0theyAmHObCAHZNtZPNiKsuLaFDzRYH5nVHvnggnDxXST0vASfGSUSIFsM1kj7GoD1hacrxUtGDTNw951kAMk7kVTuQ87-HVTV3ZGO6rrOvL1/s1600/7h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1-Wbglgu4H2iLPxcKDbaAxtyPqOakqHi0theyAmHObCAHZNtZPNiKsuLaFDzRYH5nVHvnggnDxXST0vASfGSUSIFsM1kj7GoD1hacrxUtGDTNw951kAMk7kVTuQ87-HVTV3ZGO6rrOvL1/s400/7h.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgheKgZvQk_RiZI6v7wTnn3AZElIPbkXu3eOnnmu5Bgu6_zBObYwzSr1OEyK1Mp210SxsLAro6u4_20TtNIbFRfnHAypd1sB9eRCtbIC3eUar1-BFbvL_4SBvmXpy52vRUDQ-tl1g3uChRu/s1600/7i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgheKgZvQk_RiZI6v7wTnn3AZElIPbkXu3eOnnmu5Bgu6_zBObYwzSr1OEyK1Mp210SxsLAro6u4_20TtNIbFRfnHAypd1sB9eRCtbIC3eUar1-BFbvL_4SBvmXpy52vRUDQ-tl1g3uChRu/s400/7i.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As well as some funny Chinglish signs:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNj0JpGnbzEKo7KdwEr3wfkeHK6tHHoBV67MUidymu1-_hyRx4Kp5AEPc3wbFD-YleaiNm5QIL2OqvacGzI2XM_Mb28CqxlRn1tK3W0-sjm0t_0CmNUy45CNU8T1w8bKVITsjHWLozHAK/s1600/7j.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNj0JpGnbzEKo7KdwEr3wfkeHK6tHHoBV67MUidymu1-_hyRx4Kp5AEPc3wbFD-YleaiNm5QIL2OqvacGzI2XM_Mb28CqxlRn1tK3W0-sjm0t_0CmNUy45CNU8T1w8bKVITsjHWLozHAK/s400/7j.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also some beautiful sculptures:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54hk50l0PhYcUHoC8DqJQtq6Nx9t4DyNHuYH4vznzTxrMCXm-CQBCwEBaU2qQ2Kw__zmZlF61fuClAf13UMbkPnAJqEKFm5Y_w4U_EBUxwaGt2XHwwdsm-MhB2_Mhx8UcHPbnxjsiRks9/s1600/7k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54hk50l0PhYcUHoC8DqJQtq6Nx9t4DyNHuYH4vznzTxrMCXm-CQBCwEBaU2qQ2Kw__zmZlF61fuClAf13UMbkPnAJqEKFm5Y_w4U_EBUxwaGt2XHwwdsm-MhB2_Mhx8UcHPbnxjsiRks9/s400/7k.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although sometimes the harsh modern buildings show through
the smog and are a stark reminder of how much China has changed through its
rich history:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJr2PnIC9enlOduHPmfpEgduz-7yjOwfRItddsoc3cj9JjUo7M9_10asYtOuug2fmAjIFXvb6p7Ypng1sOR7mKc8A5PIGf_eZ4jiHAABYe0f5ePeYh7V-PhTVCbGiStuqlS6eqLLz49KL/s1600/7l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJr2PnIC9enlOduHPmfpEgduz-7yjOwfRItddsoc3cj9JjUo7M9_10asYtOuug2fmAjIFXvb6p7Ypng1sOR7mKc8A5PIGf_eZ4jiHAABYe0f5ePeYh7V-PhTVCbGiStuqlS6eqLLz49KL/s400/7l.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I sometimes wonder how much more it will change and whether
the skyscrapers of today will turn into the relics of tomorrow, and with what
they might be replaced.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From the sublime to the ridiculous, afterwards, we went
round the bazaars and saw this weird café that has toilet as its theme! It is
complete with urinals as wall decorations! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirtkDzdNOjkAOQibFiAAqTzgGEDoKQq3ZsejRcAvz41FZGOBzVRLwGXNO3xA9xqe1G-CVSI-ZmsVjuGDVcYTOeV2sIh9RdCOJWTe8e8fo2DWN3Rx4xIzlJCYt9OoMmeE-lNvBuoOc6hb3P/s1600/7m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirtkDzdNOjkAOQibFiAAqTzgGEDoKQq3ZsejRcAvz41FZGOBzVRLwGXNO3xA9xqe1G-CVSI-ZmsVjuGDVcYTOeV2sIh9RdCOJWTe8e8fo2DWN3Rx4xIzlJCYt9OoMmeE-lNvBuoOc6hb3P/s400/7m.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsQPoA09ky58Pz83lqS_03fcrq1d7Zx_EbExPwNcXajUZnfMAfxaTJJHrVsuvu1cYGHcnkKzKONN-XdFVKj8_fqgAT58_IoLD0RO2qwRlzW4Tkygg6PwzUZorKLHSN3__aBUHW1-R-mlRf/s1600/7n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsQPoA09ky58Pz83lqS_03fcrq1d7Zx_EbExPwNcXajUZnfMAfxaTJJHrVsuvu1cYGHcnkKzKONN-XdFVKj8_fqgAT58_IoLD0RO2qwRlzW4Tkygg6PwzUZorKLHSN3__aBUHW1-R-mlRf/s400/7n.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check out my later visit to this place <a href="http://shanghaiereducation.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/more-than-toilet-delicious-and-happy.html">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Overall, with regards to friendliness and hospitality, again, China is full of contradictions as usual. It simultaneously manages to have reputations for rudeness but boundless politeness. And certainly, what I've found is that many people in the street seem quite happy to push in front of you and pushy in the street or in the underground, and many staff don't always seem that bothered to help you. However, if somebody is your friend, or host, then they would go to lengths that we would find ridiculous in the UK. For example, even Lu felt compelled to pay for some macaroons which I spotted in a shopping mall, which I'd intended to buy for her to say "thanks for showing me Chinese things, please try some tasty western things", but she insisted on paying and would not take my money. Later, her and her husband paid for a hotel for me, after I declined their offer to sleep in their bedroom, because they deemed the concept of me sleeping on their sofa too insulting to offer to a guest! Also, she would not let me carry my own bags, despite the fact that she's literally half my size (literally, in weight!) Each time, I explained that in my country, this was weird, and she says that in her country, this is expected of a host, and that it's impolite to refuse, so I had to agree..</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Either way though, I've seen so many things and having genuine
Shanghai residents as my guides, I feel like I'm getting a really authentic
Chinese experience and I'm really grateful to the guys in the lab for being
such great hosts. Even if this means that we are sometimes communicating via the medium of the Google Translate app!</span></div>
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</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164678543275022345noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443679579671870229.post-54618195534740269292013-10-05T12:25:00.004+01:002014-04-01T17:07:16.453+01:00“What do you eat?” – Part II – Food in the outside world<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> So what do I eat when leaving the
safety of the campus? Well one answer is dessert! Since the campus canteen
never serves any desserts (my first thought of “Oh my god! How will I live?”
was quickly replaced by “Oh my god! I’m going to lose so much weight!”), I have
to look elsewhere for my sugar fixes. There is a small store near the canteen
selling ice creams and sweets, but nobody really seems to go there except for
drinks. And whenever we go out for meals, there is never a question of “shall
we have dessert or no?”, so I thought for a while that maybe Chinese culture
just isn’t that into desserts (especially when you compare British culture,
where many women admit to not being able to go one day without some chocolate
passing their lips). However, a quick venture into any food area of a shopping
mall quickly dispelled this theory. There are in fact plenty of sweets, and the
Chinese are very good at making them. They even have their own version of
custard tarts that are available here, and can be bought for the great price of
35 p. There are also many French dessert counters serving traditional
patisserie type cakes, and I’ve even seen two stores selling macarrons in all
the traditional flavours! However, it is not French cuisine that I’ve come here
for, so I’ve made it my mission to get through as many Chinese cakes and bakes
as I can while I’m here. There are so many things coming in a multitude of
colours and shapes that I don’t have a clue where to start.</span></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNiSXWNxkbCRXfF6E09izDk7ZL2asYco0HlYghrJ-4MLBPnYpq_l1hbcjerVBM6pMAyiIQZF_q8u3yGMILT9y3Kafmd0SbKLXykszXDm_mn8gXMOhaQXsDfiutByj35XwKFQ23Ff5YQiFl/s400/6a.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Array of multi-coloured sweet balls</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So after the custard tart, I tried
one of these purple balls above (I think it was made with tapioca flour). It
was great. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also had this delicious “bell
cake” which was kind of like a bell-shaped waffle but with a hot custard
filling inside – so delicious! Definitely going to have this again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWf5JOT9LiUMNLTbASH4rkycMYr7ctIvQjK5u4_gg_g8Pc7MKWrg0Un0T-IHAwJfSzbLojZrzh7K5DepAOcu1nPS6cqV2ZA0ISmPXa52CYEHTwPu2JO-eUBC69NoTXC-eA2Z9q6aVdYGd1/s400/6b.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The range of sweets varies from
ones where the flavours I can recognise and describe at a fairly accurate
level, to the downright alien, but nevertheless tasty:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-KL7eesodhdBqEyxXtvWn9CDWMKOCJgeayE0Sa3OT55stNpCXXphmBxQ2rlVswLEocTtIlhEL_-ohG0ZRwBwuHxGTg6nOKlwO-CgNond94fs0mIcQQg6FMfLPQsLTXhDRAFdDgbYF02_r/s400/6c.jpg" height="300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Ground black sesame and some other nut with some kind of sugar pastry strands?</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the other end of the spectrum,
there are the familiar brands, but with a slightly different twist:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfMbruDmtmCd27CkGMYiyYhziwkY1qxUvqXJ1UPNLzkjyo2BvfN_jY1Qa1M5tmT1r-00ScnLNTrIJpJ13HL7W0juSf6c5j3bUHatekrl60focJpHeQ5D2KLV2OImxYnZEq5E4D7BxcTKHr/s1600/6d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfMbruDmtmCd27CkGMYiyYhziwkY1qxUvqXJ1UPNLzkjyo2BvfN_jY1Qa1M5tmT1r-00ScnLNTrIJpJ13HL7W0juSf6c5j3bUHatekrl60focJpHeQ5D2KLV2OImxYnZEq5E4D7BxcTKHr/s400/6d.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></span></a><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_3"
o:spid="_x0000_i1029" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="IMG_3349.JPG" style='width:450.75pt;
height:267.75pt;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square'>
<v:imagedata src="file:///C:\Users\SAMUEL~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image007.jpg"
o:title="IMG_3349" croptop="23832f" cropbottom="12576f"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be honest, I’m surprised they
didn’t print “Oreo” on the cookie in Chinese characters as well! But hey, if
they can come up with great flavours like strawberry and peach cream for the
Asian market, I’m all for it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is also another version and
I think this is mint ice cream flavoured:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlrIMtyFCYKrhH89Ol0DmHUYF0U6vXf6fdn_JAg9bNZtgSA7-iaFsjQzD9Rej0rpShJvTjl_imitEyhCMWjkYpFjQqPjjpdtR8mkGTYAk__DD8fO-7SMFrZyaQPtqHfrjqKX8AdzjnCEUj/s1600/6e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlrIMtyFCYKrhH89Ol0DmHUYF0U6vXf6fdn_JAg9bNZtgSA7-iaFsjQzD9Rej0rpShJvTjl_imitEyhCMWjkYpFjQqPjjpdtR8mkGTYAk__DD8fO-7SMFrZyaQPtqHfrjqKX8AdzjnCEUj/s400/6e.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or is it green tea? I’m not sure,
but it has a bit of a funny aftertaste, think I’ll be steering clear of this
one afterwards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have also now tried the milk! I
decided to give it a go because there were some pretty reliable looking fresh
milk cartons, and there were loads of adverts around so I thought it was worth
a try. Also I just missed it too much!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSb_F_BHb4DAfq9HSZJnJm1YYCiVgHluIAq4w00gYN9wEDrcDZ-VduBcKg76juDPtUSs9N0ur4QAJPyaCulh2wf2Ah-8MBPfzMOkV8FpGsvzj3fKq93dg0RreLiAcm5YGlkkjT8Oh0bB2A/s1600/6f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSb_F_BHb4DAfq9HSZJnJm1YYCiVgHluIAq4w00gYN9wEDrcDZ-VduBcKg76juDPtUSs9N0ur4QAJPyaCulh2wf2Ah-8MBPfzMOkV8FpGsvzj3fKq93dg0RreLiAcm5YGlkkjT8Oh0bB2A/s400/6f.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Really
I’d heard a lot of bad things about the dairy industry in China, and I wanted
to see for myself how bad it really was. Overall this milk wasn’t actually so
bad. It only tasted slightly watered down (at least, I hope it was water they
diluted it with!) and had more or less the flavour of UHT milk, which is
tolerable. Obviously it wasn’t going to taste exactly the same as back home
(heck, there is even a difference between Hungarian and British milk), but it
was milky and refreshing, and tasted infinitely better than that vile excuse
for soy milk they serve at the canteen, so I think I’ll be getting this more
regularly in future for my calcium hit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I
also had a moment of madness and decided to try this:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj23zNpQe9W78vxsu2wQvhnjjsbTbFNNmnJCIRzwoVKzdl2E3Iz8kGT7yrpZx4clXerAXTWr1IMZaRgd73yc1uny8BOqLzEfrtOZsEFPWVE_OIR60Y866Kr0NnqVfIU1GhJhfb7S_SWbl9C/s1600/6g.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj23zNpQe9W78vxsu2wQvhnjjsbTbFNNmnJCIRzwoVKzdl2E3Iz8kGT7yrpZx4clXerAXTWr1IMZaRgd73yc1uny8BOqLzEfrtOZsEFPWVE_OIR60Y866Kr0NnqVfIU1GhJhfb7S_SWbl9C/s400/6g.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> "What’s chicken doing in a blog
about desserts?” I hear you say (or quite possibly also, “how much longer is
this blog post going to go on for?”). Actually, this isn’t chicken breast, but
the flesh of the infamous durian! Ever since I heard about durians I thought
they sounded so funny, I just had to try some. Typical foreigner noob, I didn’t
really know what I was letting myself in for. Affectionately known in Asian
countries as a fruit which smells a bit funny but tastes delicious, I wanted to
see for myself what all the fuss was about. Wrapped up in a neat little
package, it seemed fine on the way home, but when I opened it, boy did it
smell! Not only did it smell very strongly, but it tasted very weird, so I only
had a tiny bit and left the rest in my fridge to tackle later. My Chinese
friend said that many people don’t like their first taste, but grow to love it,
and it was said to be especially good for women, and helps with our complexion.
However, my second taste the next day wasn’t getting much better, although it
was becoming more tolerable. The smell in my room was definitely breaching
unignorable levels though. For such was the strength of this fruit, that
despite being kept in the fridge, it filled the room with an air of slightly
rotting bananas/sour milk/sweaty gym clothes. I just couldn’t get rid of it for
days, even after trying to finish most of it off, and parting with the packet
in the bins outside. Worse still, the fridge still smells of it, and I don’t
know how long it will be til that dies down, if ever. Perhaps I’ll try again in
a few weeks, and maybe like Lu says, I’ll have grown to like it.....<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Despite
these weird experiences, I have to share with you guys an excellent trip to a
proper ice-cream parlour style dessert shop called Honeymoon Dessert. These
stores are dotted all around Shanghai, and specialise in Hong Kong style
desserts, and they’re quite famous throughout Shanghai, and I’m sure in other
parts of China too. There’s everything from Durian to mango with sago or jelly,
or other classic Asian flavours, with or without ice cream, custard and a whole
range of other tasty things. I opted for this blueberry dish:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilyR6Cm_KGxgHoU6FK9gHV4LljhsEs7Yp78A2fCKxihTmP4N4MZz-PLFqLICq8C7DmYgWMJaKxPtCMXXVMruGp0Qq-GAnq_C-OuaHwnVoH4d8EBlyeLAKNagQW9R7AkPJQvWoFgUMgQcGl/s1600/6h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilyR6Cm_KGxgHoU6FK9gHV4LljhsEs7Yp78A2fCKxihTmP4N4MZz-PLFqLICq8C7DmYgWMJaKxPtCMXXVMruGp0Qq-GAnq_C-OuaHwnVoH4d8EBlyeLAKNagQW9R7AkPJQvWoFgUMgQcGl/s400/6h.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At 30 RMB, it wasn’t cheap, and
cost more than some mains in some restaurants! But it was a special one-off
treat, and it was so delicious! In the bowl were some blueberries, a scoop of
blueberry ice cream, a sweet Thai rice ball all swimming in a vanilla-flavoured
iced milk liquid. It was one of the best desserts I’d had, and I’d definitely
go back for more! Next time I definitely want to try the green tea flavoured
ice cream too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> So, it seems like there is plenty of choice for desserts in China, and I probably
won’t lose so much weight after all!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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