Taipei: Day One

We spent the first day in Taipei visiting obvious attractions. Our first stop was the Guandu Temple, which was on the outskirts of the city. We took the MRT train to the Guandu stop. Once we got there we really had no idea which way to go since the signs were not very good, so we just started following the mass of locals that were heading in one direction. We went through some windy narrow roads with run down buildings. There were festive decorations all around for Chinese New Year and some little street vendors trying to sell stuff to the people walking by. One lady sold some ice tea to Chase. She spoke almost perfect English which seemed out of place. We eventually made it to the temple which was tucked away among all of the other buildings. The Guandu Temple was quite large. It wasn't scaled up, it just sprawled. There were all kinds of little buildings, shines, and hallways that seemed thrown together. It was very ornately decorated and was very complex. There was a path through the temple that you are suppose to take but we kept getting lost so we gave up doing it the proper way. There were also too many people there for us to really see where we were suppose to go. It was still the Chinese New Year so there were a lot of praying and offerings. The temple itself was actually on the side of a mountain. On top was a garden area and underneath were caves that lead to more shrines. After a while it got overwhelming and we decided to go some where else. We wondered to the nearby market but didn't see anything of interested so we walked along a river which we thought would led us back to the MRT station. It took us a while but with the help of a couple of police officers directing traffic we got back to where we wanted to be. The next stop was the Taipei Confucius Temple, which is modeled after the temple in Confucius' home town. There was significantly less activity at this temple. It was more spread out with lots of little gardens segregated by walls and gateways. It was very peaceful and enjoyable. We went across the street to get lunch at a bakery. The food was very good. I had a large round piece of bread with slices of meat on it and glazed. It was sort of like a cold glazed pizza. I also had a piece of what could best be described as chocolate cake, which was also very good. We looked at another temple next door but it was not that unique and very busy with Chinese New Year activities. We then headed back to the MRT to go visit Taipei 101. Taipei 101 is the tallest building in the world (the Burj Dubai will beat it soon). It is suppose to represent a giant bamboo sticking out of the city. The eight section are for good luck (8 is a lucky number). There was nothing of real significances near Taipei 101. Like the rest of the city, everything is spread out and there is no center of anything. Just outside the door was a market, but I am assuming it was just for New Years. Inside was a huge upscale mall. It took us a while going up and down many escalators to find where you buy a ticket to go to the observation deck. We had to wait in line and go through light security to get into the elevator. This elevator is the fastest in the world. We went up 84 stories in 32 seconds. Unfortunately it was a cloudy day so we couldn't see much, but you could definitely tell you were very high up. With no other skyscrapers near by, it was hard to imagine you were still in a building. The observation level was two floors. The outside walls were all windows but everything else was jewelry for sale. After a while it got dark so we decided to go back down. We went to go have dinner at a restaurant known for its soup dumplings (it is dumplings with soup in them), but it was closed so we wondered around for a small local place. We found one where the workers didn't know any English, but the menu had pictures and enough English words to understand what animal the meat was coming from. It was very good. We then started heading back to our hostel. On the way we pasted the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial. It was really awesome at night. The grounds were spread out and surrounded by a wall. The monument in the center was a giant white building that was light up. Visually it was very beautiful.
Relevant albums:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2277388&l=bafe1&id=7725102
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2277389&l=526ab&id=7725102

Made it to Taipei

I have found a computer with internet connection in my hostel. I doubt I will have another post while in Taipei but at least I can get some stuff down before I forget. Pictures will come when I return in Hong Kong. I will also spell check when I get back.

So my flight out of Hong Kong was in the early evening at 6:15 on Dragon Air. I am traveling with Chase and Pierre. The flight was only an hour and 15 minutes but they made it very nice. It was a large Airbus 330 and they served dinner (chicken and rice, it was very good). We arrived in Taipei and got through customs and immigration with no problem. Taipei International Airport is not very big and seems a little behind the times. We managed to find the bus service that would take us into the city near where our hostel was. The bus ride was about 45 minutes long. During the ride we realized that the city is very spread out. There is no cluster of major buildings like most other major cities I have visited. There were decently high buildings everywhere with an occasionally tall building sticking out in seemingly random places. Once we got to the bus stop it was not that difficult to find our hostel, The Holo Family Taipei Traveler's Hostel. To check in we had to go to the 22nd floor of the building. The building it is in is perhaps 25-30 floors with all kinds of other businesses and apartments. The hostel itself is scattered throughout 10 floors. Due to room constrictions we managed to get a really good deal. Our room is a lot like a lower end hotel. We have it to ourselves with two beds and a private bath. The owner of the hostel (I'm guessing Mr. Holo?) is quite an interesting character. He is so calm and relaxed. He calmly clapped when we first arrived and then did it again the next day when we booked the room again. He had forgot who we were and thought we had just arrived. We had to show him the receipt from the night before to show we were here and he was shocked when he found his signature. He often tells us strange things too. He told Chase today while rebooking that he need to put his luggage aside to get the room again. The request didn't make any sense and a woman (his wife?) told us just to ignore him.

Since we arrived somewhat late, we just walked around a couple of blocks. Taipei seems a lot different then Hong Kong. There are some main streets, but most are smaller and pedestrians wonder around in them a lot. Traffic laws are interpreted creatively. On the first night we watched a van run a red light by honking and waving his hand at opposing traffic. In Hong Kong there is very little if any honking. Here is really common. Some road seem like alleys but will have a random 7-11 store in the middle that is open late at night. We then went back to the room to figure out what we wanted to do for the next day

Off to Taipei

I will be leaving for Taipei in a few hours. I will not be back until Saturday. Look for new posts then.

Shenzhen: Where the Real is Surreal

Yesterday, Chase and I decided to go to Shenzhen which is the city just on the other side of the boarder in mainland China. It was the first of China's special economic zones (SEZ).

Once we got through immigration and customs we were immediately underwhelmed. Shenzhen was rather bland. It was flat, very static and uninteresting buildings, and very few people. To be fair to the later, it is the start of Chinese New Year so a lot of people had left already. There were a few shops just across from the station that we decided to check out. In one of the convenient stores Chase and I got dumplings and meat on a stick. Not exactly sure what it was but it was good. We also walked into a KFC to see what it was like. It was at that moment that I realized there was not a single thing in English, anywhere. This continued throughout the day. Almost no one we can across spoke even a little English. We decided to try to figure out if there was somewhere more interesting to go to in the city and to find a market. Back in the station we found a couple of pamphlets for visitors but they were very poorly done. We managed to get two maps (both with completely different information on them) that were not helpful at all. One had too big of a scale, the other was too small. The larger one had a map key, but only sort of matched some of the symbols and colors on the map. The other had no key at all. So we decided the best thing to do is go somewhere else in the city and wonder a round for a bit. The Shenzhen subway had two lines and we felt that where they intersect might be a good place to start. On the subway I began to realize just how much of a police state China is. On each train there were multiple police officers going up and down the train constantly. Each station had more. On the surface and on the streets they were everywhere. We saw all kinds of combination of security guards, police, and military personnel constantly. There was one police officer whose beat was apparently just the seating area of a McDonalds. It was almost humorous when they took notice of us. I remember passing by a group of military officers and one of them saw me. His posture immediately changed. He had somewhat of a stern look but it seemed like he was thinking "A Westerner! Finally some excitement!...wait, what am I suppose to do? I'll just stand over here and watch." Once we got to the stop we went up to the surface.

The exit we got out on was in a Sheraton Hotel which seemed very out of place. It was a sleek solid black building with fountains out front. Surrounding it was bland, run down towers. However, in the streets there was a New Years market which was something Chase and I were looking for. While walking the street all the booths reminded me of the vendors at the Wayne County Fair (although a lot less formal and significantly more crowded).

Many of the shops were selling New Years decorations which were just as cheap and commercialized as many of our holiday's decorations have become in the States. One of the vendors was selling fried baby birds. Chase bought a dozen for 10RMB (about US$1.50). I tried one, the seasoning was really amazing but the chick itself was not. At one point a girl probably about our age came up to us and said in decent English "Excuse me, you are the first foreigner my mother has ever seen. Can she take a picture we you?" At first I thought that would has to be impossible in such a large city. But then I glanced around and realized that so far Chase has been the only other Westerner I had seen. We agreed and made the mother was very excited. Once we made it down one street of vendors we wondered into an adjacent mall. Again, it seemed out of place. It was really fancy. At one part there was even a live band with a rather large audience. Chase and I grabbed a quick lunch at a Pizza Hut. The menu had some English but the important thing was we knew what we were ordering. The waiter greeted us in English which surprised me and I started giving him my order in English. However, greetings were apparently as far as his English went so we ended up ordering by pointing at pictures. The prices were comparable to back home but this Pizza Hut was super fancy and played classical music. After we finished eating I was determined to buy something from the market. There were all kinds of interesting and unique trinkets. There were also the obviously mass produced items but I wasn't very interested in those. As I started looking at the items I was surprised none of the shopkeepers were paying attention to me. They just ignored me while I looked through their wears. One man did show me a kaleidoscope but didn't pressure me beyond that. After looking a few booths I created a list in my mind of the things I would try to buy and whatever I could get at a decent price I would go for. So I ask one of them how much an item was. The item was a box that contained a set of colorful blocks with pictures and Chinese written on them. The box was worn and the blocks were dirty, but it looked pretty neat. When he gave me the price I didn't understand a word he said, but he held up two fingers. Chase and I debated a little bit on what he meant. We guessed it was either 200RMB for the set or 2RMB for each. I then tried to ask him what they were. He made a gesture that suggested writing or rubbing. I'm not convinced he understood my question since I had trouble thinking how that applied to the blocks in question, but I decided to go ahead with the bargaining. The first step was to establish what two meant. I didn't get very far until Chase came up with the idea of using his phone to type numbers. He typed 200 (so it was for the set) and I then type in 50. He shook his head and turned away. So I moved on and went to his neighbor and asked about an old booklet that had Chinese and drawn pictures in it. After a couple of numbers went back and forth we quickly settled on 65RMB. The man was so excited (I know I paid too much for it, but they know I have more money then their average customer) but it was my first choice item to begin with. With that transaction, the whole side of the market immediately went hyperactive. A white man was buying things! It was less then a second that the first man with the blocks was poking me waving a cell phone with a number on it. It was still too high so I offered lower and he shook his head again and walked away. In the mean time, the man I bought the booklet from gave me change. By that time I had a second offer. My guess is that he wanted to negotiate tough by walking away but was worried he would lose the Westerners business. I continued to negotiate on the blocks but for the rest of the time his partner (perhaps son?) participated too. I found the whole thing humorous. The older man acted tough and would walk away from my offer, but the younger guys would immediately show me his cell phone with a lower number. This went on for a while with every one communicating only with numbers on a phone. When we finally agreed on a price they were ecstatic and I decided I had spent enough money for one day. All the other shop keepers were showing me all kinds of stuff, but the prices were rapidly skyrocketing. I just walked away. The problem was that even though the vendor on the other street did not see me buy anything, they saw I was carrying things that were obviously purchased at the market. The very last vendor did manage to nab me, but I only showed a little interest because he did have some pretty neat things and I didn't want to buy anything more. As I walked away the man came back to me and wanted to see the things I purchased. I let him see, as at the time Chase was distracted by a child playing some sort of instrument and I wasn't going anywhere soon. The man then showed me some posters I had not seen before, mostly propaganda posters of Mao. I decided since I was in China I should get one. His offer was so cheap I felt like I shouldn't even bargain lower and took it. At that moment I decided to stop buying things again. We decided to go back to the subway and try another station. The one we came out at had a mall attached to it underground. This mall was very tight and compact. Each store was probably about the size of half a small dorm room. The stores seemed to go on for ever in a rather labyrinth like manner. It took us a while to figure out how to get out. Once outside, we found it drab like before and didn't spend much time there. I did however, buy a piece of amazing chocolate cake for only 4RMB (.60 cents). We then headed back to the station to get back into Hong Kong. When we got there we decided to eat at a local restaurant before leaving. The food was very good, but we got poor service. I don't think the poor service was because they were poorly trained or that they didn't like us. It was more of they didn't know what to do with us. This was a theme that seemed to have been carried on through out the day. When ever I tried to wave down the waitress she seemed to have a panic attack, run to talk to her manager and then the manager would just look very confused while they both walked away together. After we paid we walked across the street into the station to go though immigration and customs. I wasn't sure if I should declare the items I bought so I asked the guy at the declaration desk about the rules. This led to another bizarre encounter. The guy asked to see my items. I showed him them and asked me to open the box. He picked up one of the blocks and looked at them. He put it down and immediately asked for my passport. I gave it to him and we quickly ran off and talked to another customs agent. At that moment I realized that the box probably looked like something drugs would be smuggled in, so I had a feeling that it was going to be a while before I was going anywhere. The guy came back with two additional agents, a girl and an older woman (I'm guessing she was both of their superior officer). The guy didn't stay much longer but the other two women looked through my three items very extensively. I have a feeling the guy didn't know much English, the girl did, and the woman was the one who made decisions. I was asked all kinds of questions about the items. They wanted to see receipts and I explained that I bought them in the market so I didn't have any. Thankfully they never asked what the items where because to be honest I had no idea. For a while they seemed really serious. The older woman went through every detail of the items, pointing out imperfections, nicks, and read every bit of Chinese on the blocks, poster, and the entire booklet. Then the mood started to change. The older woman just seemed confused the girl laugh several times. I think she found it humorous I bought a Mao poster, asking at one point "Do you like Mao?" I responded with the safest thing I could think of at the time "I find him...interesting" which resulted in her laughing again. The woman took charge and the girl started making small talk with us asking about why we were in Hong Kong. At that point I knew eventually I would be able to leave. The girl explained to us that what they were concerned about was the value. While I was entangled with customs, Chase picked up a pamphlet that explained the rules. If I would have done that first I would have known this was a waste of time but one of the rules was that customs could confiscate anything that is deemed a national relic. Despite not knowing exactly what I bought, it did make me feel a little better that customs took that much time and personnel to decided if it was that special or not. Eventually I was let go and didn't have to fill out any paper work. The whole day seemed so surreal. I doubt that I am even coming close to conveying the bizarre world that is Shenzhen.

Album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2275760&l=16fb7&id=7725102

ifc

Earlier this night I explored the area around the International Finance Center (ifc). Most people know 2 ifc as the building Batman was at in Hong Kong. 1 and 2 ifc were connected by a giant mall in the shape of a square. At opposite corners were the two buildings. A third tower stood at one of the other corners which contained a Four Seasons hotel. This whole complex took up about 4 blocks right up against the water. On the roof of the mall there were bars and lots of public space. As everywhere else in Hong Kong, this area was very green with grass and trees all over the place. It also contained plenty of the other common theme in Hong Kong, colored lights. The ifc buildings were not open to the general public with security guards at the doors to the building from the mall area. One could probably spend a whole day at the ifc.

Album containing mostly artistic shots:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2275447&l=b092c&id=7725102

Demand to Serve

Today I went to Sha Tin to the New Town Plaza mall with Chase to buy a few supplies for our trip to Taipei next week. All I needed was a bag and he was looking for a camera. This was the first time I actually spent any time shopping in New Town Plaza. Most of the sales representatives spoke broken English and at times passed us on to someone with better English. However, the thing that stood out most was the fact they demanded to serve you. Back home most sale representatives will be nice and some will be helpful. In Hong Kong they are rather forceful. Not forceful in the way street vendors are in demanding to sell something, but just forceful in being helpful. For example, at one store Chase was looking through a rack of various items and when he was done he began to put them back. One of the employees quickly rushed over and said that she would put them back. When I was looking at some bags at the Columbia store, one of the zippers got stuck while one of the sales clerks was walking by. He quickly told me he would do it and opened it for me before I could respond. Another odd service was at McDonalds. You go and order your food, wait for it, and then go sit down. However, there are no trash cans or places to put your trays. Why? Well there are men and women dressed in suits to take those away and clean up your table for you. Yes that is right. McDonalds in Hong Kong hires people to dress business professional to clean up after guest who eat in their fast food restaurant. The same thing happens in the canteens (only they are not dressed as nice). I have gotten in the habit of just abandoning things like that because by the time I push back my chair they have the table cleaned (they really pay attention and are really fast at serving customers they think are in need). They never ask if you need help, they just do it. To most back home this probably sounds like pushy or impatient employees, but a lot of these instances came off as having good intentions. It is interesting to note that most people would at first find it a little insulting to have someone do everything for you. However, it is insulting to them if they cannot serve you. They rush to go out of their way to serve the customer without asking (I assume asking for help is a sign they are not doing their job and thus somewhat insulting) and they wont accept tips.

Albums

I managed to get a public link to my Facebook albums. Here are the links...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2274024&l=45703&id=7725102
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2272635&l=28b68&id=7725102
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2270972&l=7440c&id=7725102
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2270077&l=01b3c&id=7725102

10,000 Buddhas and a McDonalds

Sunday Chris, Jacque, Jesse, and I decided to do something touristy. We wanted to visit the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas. Chris had a guide book to Hong Kong that said we needed to get off of the train at the Tai Wai stop. It then said that we just have to follow the signs to get to the temple. This was perfect since Tai Wai was only 3 stops down from University (the stop on campus). When we got off at Tai Wai we started looking for signs to the temple. We found a map of the local area around the station, but Temple of 10,000 Buddhas was not on it. Not too far away there was a temple called Che Kung Temple. We wondered if that might be another name for the 10,000 Buddhas, so we wandered over that direction.

Che Kung Temple had a walled court yard with gates to the outside. On one side of the courtyard was a building that contained a shrine. We noticed a lot of commotion inside the court yard as people were praying. We were not sure if we should go in (or were allowed) but the man at the door encouraged us to go in. He didn't speak English but was very excited and waved us in. Once inside, we noticed almost everyone burning incense and praying. Although there were variations on how it was done, it seemed common to take the incense stick between your hands, which were clasped similar to how Christians pray, hold your hands up to your forehead and then bow multiple time in succession. There was no leader, and it seemed each individual prayed separately in their own way at their own time. It didn't seem like a family event, there were no children but we did see what looked like couples having their fortunes told. There were chimes hit a certain number of times followed by a big drum being hit a certain number of times. We walked cautiously in the building with the shrine. Inside was a giant statue in armor which was too tall for me to see his face. This is what people were praying to and leaving offerings. At this point we decided that this was not the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas and decided to wander down the path. There was a map we found that had a suggested walking trail (mostly for tourist) that we determined had to eventually lead to the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas. It didn't take us long to come to another shrine.

I am not sure what it is called but it was all outdoors and a lot smaller. It also was not on the map. There were fewer people inside but we did see a shrine to what I later determined to be Avalokiteśvara which is a figure in Buddhism. Again there was incenses everywhere. There were pots all over the place that had many sticks of it burning. We decided to continue on to the next place the map suggested called Tsang Tai Uk. We didn't know what it was, but we knew we just wanted to see it. When we turned the corner that was suppose to have Tsang Tai Uk we didn't see anything but tennis courts. They were called "Tsang Tai Uk Temporary Recreational Park." Everyone felt that the tennis courts was it and just sat down for a break. However, I decided to go a little further down the road to see if I could find anything else.

After turning the corner I found the Tsang Tai Uk, which is a mid 19th century stone village. It is still being used as residence and was not that exciting. We then continued on and crossed a canal. On the other side was the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. We decided to look around in side since it was air conditioned and only HK$5. Inside we saw all kinds of art and displays from various cultures within China. There were also historical displays on the development of Hong Kong. After spending some time inside we left and crossed the street to get our bearings. We then realized that we were next to New Town Plaza which is the ridiculously large mall that contained the Sha Tin station. We had walked from one train station to the next and still hadn't found the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas. Chris's book mislead us. In any case by this time we were very hungry and just wanted food. So we went to a McDonalds inside the mall. This McDonalds was packed. We got a quick bit to eat which was nice since it was the first time I had ice cream and a hamburger since getting into Hong Kong. Afterwards we debated about whither or not we should continue looking for the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas. We found a map of the Sha Tin station area and discovered that the Temple was on the other side of the station. In fact we could see on the mountain side from the train station. So we walked that direction.

This is what we thought was the entrance to the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas. It looked very nice and religious. A short walk up the hill we found shrines to Avalokiteśvara and Buddha. We continued almost all the way up until we got to some buildings. Inside one there were monks gathered around a couple of tables chanting. In most of the buildings it seemed to have pictures of people (I assumed deceased) much like a mausoleum. There were lots of Chinese around us praying and leaving offerings. Nothing was in English. When we got to one side of the top we looked at the compound right next to us and could see statues of golden monks. It was at that point we decided (yet again) that we were not in the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas, but this time we knew where we had to go and were very confident about it. The only problem was that we had to go back down the mountain in order to get on the right path to climb back up the mountain.

The path up the mountain was long and very steep. Statues of monks covered the entire path. The top was rather awesome. There was the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas, more statue monks, giant statues of other Buddhist figures, a tower, and other structures.

Inside the temple, there were Buddhas covering the wall. Each little statue was unique. We climbed the tower that was nearby for an amazing view of the temple and the city of Sha Tin. The path we took didn't end at the temple, so we continued on up the mountain. There were still statues but they became more diverse. Some were of female figures while others seemed more warrior like. There was another small shrine to Buddha and another mausoleum. After that we were so exhausted we all just wanted to go back to CUHK.

Pictures

Some people (who do not have Facebook) have ask to see some pictures, so in no particular order here are some of my favorites so far...

Common scene in Central...lots of people, lots of signs, and very tall buildings

This is the skyline of Hong Kong at night.

The view from on of the academic buildings
Back side of Hong Kong Island near the Stanley Market
Some of the friends I have made on Victoria's Peak. To put names to faces starting in the back row: Me, Jacque (American University), Chase (University of Alberta), Chris (Penn State), Jesse (American University). Front (all from University of Miami): Jennifer, Charlie, Francesca, Natalie.

Sanitation

There is a stereotype out there that assumes developing countries, like China, are very dirty and unsanitary. Hong Kong has shown no sign of that yet. It is probably the cleanest city I have ever been too. They have strict littler (and spitting) laws which makes the streets clean to begin with. Apparently spitting is a common Cantonese habit (I hear my local flat mates clearing their throats ever evening) so the government had to crack down to keep the street walkable. There are armies of people that go around a clean everything and anything. Yesterday, while in Central, I watched a group of about five go down the street to clean things. They washed the street signs and even the metal guard rail that was between the sidewalk and road from the base up. On campus there are always people washing windows and sweeping. There is a lady that mops my flat and cleans the bathrooms several times a week. It is also not uncommon to see public hand sanitizers or plastic covering the buttons on the elevator (they change those out). Everyone keeps their cars super clean as well. I haven't seen a really dirty car yet (trucks excluded). I even saw someone get a bucket of water to wash their car while parked on campus. One positive side affect of eating pigeons is that there are few in the city. I have really only noticed one flock and by flock I mean less then five. There is not bird poop on anything. It is common to see posters about sanitation (wash your hands frequently and wear a mask if you are sick). A lot of that is left over from SARS and avian flu. They even have an avian flu alert levels similar to our terror alert levels.

Weather

Since everyone back home is talking about how cold it is and how much snow there is on the ground, I think I should also talk about the weather. Just like everywhere else, Hong Kong is having a cold spell. One night they even warned us to dress warmly because it was going to be "freezing." So what is freezing weather in Hong Kong? It needs just about a light jacket. This morning I wore a jacket to go run an errand, but regretted it because I started to sweat. During the day it is pretty warm here. The first couple of days people wore shorts, but then it got a little cooler. At nights the temperature shifts quite a bit into that "freezing" zone, which most jackets can handle. In fact, there is no heating on campus, my flat, like most other buildings, has only air conditioning. Furthermore, it has been sunny almost every day since I have arrived. A couple of days there were a few clouds, but not enough to make any sort of difference. There has been no rain, but some mornings it gets really hazy in the valley areas. I have been told spring starts in late February, but seeing flowers blooming is not uncommon.

Blinkin Park and Other Apparent Contradictions

The first round of Blinkin Park was the past couple of nights. Blinkin Park is a singing contest analogous to American Idol. Charlie and Jacque entered as a duet and sang "My Love" by Justin Timberlake. Needless to say, it was the only English song of the night. As I sat there watching the performances, I could help to notice some ironies that seem like contradictions to how many of the other Chinese have been acting. For the most part the locals are not out going at all. My roommate, Martin, and I are the only Westerners in out flat and there 5 rooms. The locals that live in my flat hid from us and spend as little time as possible in the common areas. Once my door was open and one of our neighbors came out and as soon as he noticed my door open he raced back to his room and slammed his door. I have only talked to one of the flat mates briefly. It is so bad neither Martin or I could tell you with confidence how many people we live with. Everyone else is having similar experiences. Westerners might be somewhat intimidating to the locals, but the thing is they don't even socialize often with each other. Sure you see some groups of Chinese friends around campus, but never outside of school. No one goes "out" and no one stays up late with friends. The campus bus system stops running a little past 11pm and Hong Kong's train/subway system stops running at 1am. Aside from not socializing, similar patterns emerge in class. The locals are terrified of speaking. In a Western classroom students are highly engaged by asking questions and giving their opinions. But here that is never done. In one of Jacque's classes taught by a Western professor, the professor asked the class to introduce themselves. All the locals promptly got up and left the classroom.

There is also an issue with conformity. You read about how China is a "collectivist" society (versus an "individualistic" society like America) but you never really understand it until you spend some time in the society. Every day, at lunch time in the canteens, groups of students will come in and perform. It is sort of like a dance (there is stomping and clapping for example) but not really singing (more of a chant). The thing is though, every single person is doing the same thing. Some times the girls and guys will do different things (the groups are mixed) but otherwise it is very uniform. They always where the same thing but its different each day. It reminds me something the military would do (they make no eye contact and are very serious the whole time). I never understand what they say since most of the chant is in Cantonese, but the name of the group frequently comes up. They yell it over and over upon marching into the canteen, marching out, and often during. I have even seen them around campus practicing walking in unison. For the most part, the Chinese place very little value in "standing out."

So why would they make such a big deal out of a signing contest which emphasizes outgoing individuals? They had giant posters and banners made to advertise the contest, built a stage, and the first round was over several nights. The short answer is I'm not quite sure. The locals who sang certainly had less flare then Charlie and Jacque. Their performance was about what you expect in the states. They dressed up and had a dance planned out. The locals didn't move much and sang much slower songs. One guy even had his hands in his pocket. Granted, back home there are lots of people who would feel too nervous to go on stage and try to sing, but none of the locals went all out and tried to just have fun with it…or at least that is how it looked to me. Charlie and Jacque most definitely stood out.

Language Barrier

Although Hong Kong is officially a bilingual city (English and Cantonese), English is still a challenge to some locals. To a visitor the language barrier would not be much of a hindrance. Bargaining doesn't really require complex phrases and ordering food can be done with pointing. However, for more complicated issues that are involved with living here, language becomes an issue. The other day the shower head broke in my flats bathroom and so I went down to the building manager's office to report it. The problem was the manager didn't know what I was talking about. At first she thought I had locked myself out of my room. It took a little effort to convince her I didn't need keys. Then she said something I didn't understand and kept pointing at the computer (Perhaps she thought I couldn't connect to the internet). Finally she got on the phone and called a resident tutor (our version of RA) and I talked to her. The RT's English was much better and then she conveyed the problem to the manager. When I returned to my flat later that day there was a new shower head installed.

The problem is everywhere has processes. It is not just China, it is back home too. I am frequently reminded of freshman year trying to learn how all the dinning halls work. Miami makes it convenient by making every dinning hall different. The difference is back home if you are confused about a process you can ask and if you do something wrong you are corrected in English. At the dinning halls here you tend to guess what you are suppose to do and then get yelled at in Cantonese. So far I got down that you order and pay for your food at the first counter. But then you are given a receipt. Everything on the receipt is written in Chinese except for a number. I understand that the number corresponds to an order. The tricky part is redeeming your food. Sometimes you get multiple receipts, that’s for a drink order or other side order. There are also different counters to get your food depending on the canteen and what they serve. Some times you turn in your receipt and then they give you your order and sometimes you have to wait until the food is ready and then you trade in your receipt for your food. The servers are very busy and I can understand how they might get frustrated with a foreigner trying to do the wrong thing, especially since they correct you in Cantonese or very bad English. There have been several times when I was at the wrong place to get my food and I don't think the server understood that I had no idea what was going on. I am eventually learning but it’s a very odd way to learn.

Food

I doubt this will be the last entry on food but it is one of the big obstacles to living in Hong Kong. It is not that most food is strange (a lot of chicken and pork with rice), its that eating it frequently make the diet unusual. American stomachs are not really made for Chinese food three times a day. It took a little over a week to get my stomach to settle. Chinese food back home in the States is not really Chinese food. Some of it is close, like sweet and sour chicken (only its better here). However, there are no egg rolls (spring rolls are rare) and no fried rice. There may be a regional difference that I have not discovered yet but there are also few noodles. The food on campus is very cheap (about US$1-3 for a meal) but like any where else, is no where as good as off campus. Most food on campus is bland. The drinks are something that one would not expect to be different. There is pop, both Pepsi and Coke, but is not as common and there are not many choices. In Hong Kong cold drinks cost a lot more then hot drinks (often double) and I am not sure why yet. Tea is very common and milk is no where to be found. In general though, meals do not require a drink. At restaurants and at the dinning halls (called canteens) maybe one in five people actually order something to drink. Another very uncommon sight is napkins. Very few restaurants provide them and they cannot be found in the canteens.

There are some places that have attempted western food, and their success is comparable to Americans' attempt at Chinese. One of the canteens advertised a special on French food. The "sandwich" was a hot dog. On the tour the other day they feed us spaghetti. The noodles were right but the sauce was more of a strange paste. One night we did try Mexican (the only Mexican place I have seen so far). It was very much a juxtaposition of culture. Americans ordering Mexican from a Chinese. It was sort of Mexican, the chips were greasy and I am not sure how that happened.

Some might be wondering why I have tried to revert back to western food so quickly. The answer is when your stomach feels like it is going to kill you for eating such foreign things so frequently, you need something every now and then to ease yourself into the cultural. It is probably cheating but I think I understand what "American" food is much better now.

Everything is a Mall

On Saturday the university hosted a tour of Hong Kong for all the exchange students. It was by bus and left in the afternoon. The first destination was Victoria's Peak which is the mountain top that over looks the city of Hong Kong. On the way there we drove by Jackie Chan's house. The drive up the mountain was long and twisting but it was really cool to see all the vegetation and the city. Once we got to the top we were all surprised to realize that the look out point was on top of a mall called the Galleria. This mall was really upscale. Everything was polished stone and very sharp looking. The stores were not unlike shops you would find in the US: shoe and clothing stores, McDonalds, Starbucks, electronics, etc. However, the view from the top of the mall was pretty amazing. You could see most of the harbor and the sky scrapers seemed to be spread out everywhere. It was strange looking down on some of the worlds tallest buildings. Next we drove about 30 minutes to a place called Stanly on the back side of the island. It was a water front area that had a port for some fishermen and market. It was rather touristy but a really cool area nevertheless. The parking spot was high up on a hill and there was a steep descent to get the water front. To go down the hill you must first go through a mall. Not as upscale as the Galleria but still very nice. After leaving we got dinner at the University of Hong Kong (I don’t know why) at which they attempted spaghetti. Finally the tour ended at the Avenue of Stars and we watched the Symphony of Lights again.

At first glance it would seem that the tour just took us to shopping centers in hopes of us spending money. However, almost everything feels like a mall. There are few train stops that you can't do most of your shopping (groceries, clothes, etc). Even a lot of places down town have that same feeling. There are elevated covered walkways all across the city creating two levels for window front stores. With so little space the people of Hong Kong seem to have just merged everything together.

Lan Kwai Fong

Considering it was a Friday night, Jesse, Jacque, Chris, Charlie and I decided to go to a district in Hong Kong called Lan Kwai Fong. Lan Kwai Fong is a bar district that westerners go to. The streets were pretty much shut down with people walking everywhere. All the bars were very small and very upscale. The vast majority of the people there were Americans and Europeans with the average age probably somewhere near 30. My guess is that most of the people them are young business professions working on an international career. Hong Kong has no open container laws so a lot of the bars were essentially a window to the sidewalk and every one walked around on the streets with a drink in their hand. Unlike certain places back in Miami, no one was binge drinking. It was a party atmosphere but no one was crazy. Later we headed to a night club called Cliq, where a party for university students was being held. The building that it was in had five different clubs that you had to line up for and had dress codes. Once we got in (free cover for students) we walked through a fancy lobby to the elevator that would take us to the club (each had its own elevator with an attendant). I had never been inside a legitimate upscale night club before but the inside was what I somewhat expect. It was mostly black with all kinds of lights that spun around and did various other things. There were also a lot of TV screens that played trippy video on a long loop. The drinks were expensive but I had one just for the experience. It was really interesting watching how differently the locals acted to the westerners. The best way to describe how the locals were behaving would be a middle school dance, where all the guys are on one side and all the girls on another with no one knowing what to do. The westerners were a lot more relaxed and could mingle with anyone. The cultural clash was quite amusing as some locals would run (literally) away when a westerner got near while others would get all excited. Chinese society is definitely not one based on social mixers.

Classes

My first class was on Tuesday…or I think its my class. The registration here is very different from at Miami. There is limited online registration, but for the most part you just show up to the classes you want to take and later in the week submit and Add/Drop form. CUHK has three Add/Drop periods to get registered for class, each about a week long. There is also a different system for business classes as there are for regular classes so its one big guessing game. The class times are also different. It is all at once, so this class (Global Enterprise Management) was a little over 2 and half hours long. As the week went on I realized that class in CUHK are very different from home. There is little interaction with students during lectures and attendance is not all that important. There are text books but they are not used like they are back in the states. So far none of my classes really have a formal text book and most readings are bits and pieces that can be found in the library. The assumption is that you go to the library to find your readings and make photo copies if you want.

First Weekend

Saturday was the first full day that we spent in Hong Kong. Starting at 11 we had orientation and other meetings that we attended. Throughout the day I started meeting more people. Later in the afternoon we were all anxious to get phones so we could communicate with each other so we decided to go to the Sha Tin Mall. It was Francesca, Natalie, Charlie, Jennifer, and Chris. Carlos came too even though he already had a phone. This mall was ridiculous. It had 10 floors with three "phases" (I think they were phases of development?). It was packed with people and sprawled for ever. I had never felt claustrophobic before but the ceiling height in most places was probably close to 7 feet. Everywhere there were TV screens and projectors. Other then the mentioned above, it looked like a mall would back home. It had a modern sleek style and was very clean. In one of the many junctions there were even still Christmas activities. Due to the size, it took us a while to figure where a cell phone store was. At one point we went down escalators thinking we were going from the third floor to the second, when in fact it took us straight outside to the first. We eventually found the place we were looking for. The phones there were incredibly cheap. First we had to purchase a SIM card which was HK$100 and came with a ridiculous amount of minutes. Then we purchased a phone which was HK$390. That was it! No need for a plan or all the other crazy stuff that comes with purchasing a cell phone in the States. Texting was free to phones in the network (Vodafone) and HK$.7 outside. The phone just has an account balance that you can add to when ever you want. After everyone got a phone we decided to find food. The first few places we went to had very long waits. We decided to look at a restaurant that was very fancy and thus had no wait time. Once we looked at the prices we realized that even though it was rather upscale for the area, it was relatively cheap for us. We ended up getting a ton of food and a round of Chinese beer for HK$110 (less than US$15) each. The best way to describe how it worked was family style. We ordered several dishes and then took portions to our own plates. One of the appetizers we ordered was jelly fish. It had a light sesame seed sauce on it and that is all I tasted. I do not recommend it. Very chewy and very bland. After that we headed back to our rooms for the night.

Sunday was our first day of really exploring. I went to Hong Kong Island with the same people as I did to Sha Tin plus Jesse, Jacque, and Matt. We were going to meet Carlos in Hong Kong since he has an apartment in down town. Since CUHK is just outside of Sha Tin which is about an hour train ride from the island. We all wanted to take the Star Ferry across the bay so we got off of the train at Kowloon which is the peninsula side. Hong Kong itself is huge. There are a significant number of relatively new super high rises. There is also a significant number of Starbucks. On our way to the Star Ferry we walked on the Avenue of Stars and found Jackie Chan's hand prints. The ferry was cheap (maybe US$.25) and was really rocky. The turn around time on both sides was very fast but the ride was interesting. Once in Hong Kong we started to wonder around to find food. One of the first things we came across was a demonstration for lesbian rights. Several blocks where closed to traffic as people just sat around in the street and activities accrued on a stage (mostly singing and dancing). Unlike the shopping centers, everyone was spread out and the number of people was probably not that great (1000?). Jesse had a guide book that recommended a restaurant which we found. It was very good and again very cheap. I got lamb, rice, soup, and a coke for about HK$50. Once we found out that Carlos could not meet up with us that day we just started wondering around. We found an out door escalator that looked pretty long so we got on it. Once we started riding it we looked it up in Jesse's book and found out it was the world longest escalator. It went for ever through the city and had its own exits. The main part of Hong Kong is on the side of a mountain with Victoria's Peak being the top (not many buildings that far up). Part of the trip went through a district that was called Soho and seemed very western (pubs and burgers). At the top of the escalator we were in a very jungle like area. In fact it was right next to the botanical gardens. We walked through some of the gardens which were very well kept. In one portion it was like a zoo and had monkeys, lemurs, turtles, and other animals you might find around the area. On the walk back down to down town the side walk was more of a platform at some points being maybe five stories off the ground and twisted and turned in and over itself. On the way down we stopped at a bar in Soho to rest which was priced about the same as back home. Once we got back to the bottom it was starting to get dark so we decided to go back across to the Kowloon side so we could watch the Symphony of Lights. The Symphony of Lights is a light show with many of the buildings in Hong Kong. The skyscrapers had multicolored lights running up and down the sides and many had lasers and spot lights on the roofs. Once the show started all the lights were synchronized to music. On some days they even have fireworks. After the show was over we head back for the night.

Delayed Introduction

So, this is the sixth day of my trip and I finally have time to write something down.

I suppose I should start with my flight over to Hong Kong. I was pretty happy to leave Cleveland as there was snow on the ground and it was very cold. The flight to Newark was nice because it was very short. I found my flight to Hong Kong after misreading several signs but had plenty of time. While waiting for boarding I over heard two students talking about CUHK and I joined in. It was ironic because the girl's, Francesca, home school was the University of Miami and the guy, Danny, was from Miami, Florida. Later I met another girl, Jennifer, who was also from the University of Miami who is their chapter of AKPsi (not the last person I met in AKPsi from a different school). All of us were seated scattered throughout the plane so there was not much discussion on the flight. The flight itself was just shy of 16 hours long. It went over the North Pole which at this time of year is dark 24/7 so there was nothing to see outside. The movies in the seats kept me entertained for most of the flight (and a prescription of Ambien). One thing to note: while flying over China there was very little lights unlike in the States. We flew over the coastal region and there were as many lights in the water as there were on the shore. Those in the water were cargo ships waiting to dock. Big difference from New York were the dock by Newark was empty.

Upon arriving in Hong Kong we all met up and guess what we had to do through immigration. No real problems, just bored Chinese bureaucrats. We managed to find the CUHK student who was to pick us up from the airport. There we met many more exchange students. The email call what was to pick us up a "limousine" which we found out meant a very small bus. The driver stacked all of our luggage in a big pile by the door so we couldn't see the door or the driver. The drive from the airport to the university was short but the lights from all the buildings were impressive. The first thing we all noticed when we arrived at CUHK was the fact that the campus is literally on a mountain. All the roads were windy and very steep. Their equivalent of an RD met us at the hostel (what they call a dorm), had us fill out paper work and gave us our key. I went up to my room on the 5th floor (of 10) and settled in. I briefly met my room mate, Martin, who is from Denmark and was on his way out. He had been here a couple of days and was a little more adjusted then I was. I unpacked and went to bed.