An incredible thunderstorm moves through Shanghai and we are awoken by cracking thunder and pouring rain. We meet our new city guide, Sean, after breakfast and he gives us some city culture on the bus. I zone out for some of it, as we have been soooo overloaded and rushed from place to place for so long. I've realized at this point that guided tours are not the way I like to travel.
Sean tells us that more than 30% of the Shanghai roads are under construction in preparation for the 2010 World's Expo, and that major initiatives are underway to improve air quality and green initiatives for the city. He likens 1920's Shanghai to the Paris of the east, with the city divided into sections like Chinatown, Little England, Jewish Ghetto etc. The current population is between 21-23 million and the city is divided by the Yangtzee River.
The day is a very long, busy day. First we go to the Jade Buddha temple, which was very festive and decorated with lanterns, lions and red ribbons. The Buddha is the largest Jade carving and is quite stunning, but no photos are allowed and our trip to the temple is short. Next we head outside the city to one of the universities. We are greeted by a group of students who teach us to make dumplings and we spend a little bit of time socializing and touring the grounds. All the universities are being co-located and this particular campus houses several schools with over 70,000 students!
For lunch we have “minority” food, but I am unsure of the actual term. I believe it is a southern China cuisine, and we have dancers perform for us. The food is the most flavorful we've had yet and everyone at our table seems pleased. At the bar they have more of the snake liquor, as well as a liquor with ox penis and one made of ants. All are said to be beneficial to virility.
We head to the silk factory and are given an overview of how the silk is removed from the pods, and get to meet the worms. Our guide, Tracey, is very funny and I enjoy the history. But, again, we are shuffled into a gift shop where we spend at least an hour. At this point, I am fed up with the constant sales pitches and the fact that we seem to spend more time in gift shops than we do at major cultural sites like the Jade Buddha temple.
Our fifth stop of the day is the Imperial Garden, which is lovely but we are all a little cranky after such a long day and a long time at the gift shop so do not take as much time as we shoud to enjoy the splendor. Instead we rush through and head into the small surrounding shopping area moving from vendor to vendor and seeing their secret back rooms full of purses and watches.
We met with Reggie, the trade representative from Oregon for a Shanghai company. This was the first thing I found beneficial from a business perspective. We do not have a group dinner, but go together to the acrobatics show, which was stunning. The performers do things with their bodies that I didn't know was possible and there is great music and beautiful costumes. I particularly enjoyed the couple swinging from silk banners in a 1920's style musical number, very fun.
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Day Four Xi'an
We take a short bumpy flight to Xi'an (pronounced like She On)I and meet our city guide, Bryan. He gives us some history about the city and the region. We are all a little confused and frustrated as to why we have a second tour guide, for which we must tip in addition to Simon. I think by this point in the trip most of the graduate students had figured out that EF is not a great way to travel for adults – it is probably great when you are 18 but at 30 I like to have time to explore and choose my own adventures. The constant sales pitches and additional charges also begin to irritate me.
Bryan tells us that Xi'an is a melting pot city of Chinese, Buddhist and Muslims with rich, fertile soil for farming and the yellow river running through. The city is laid out in feng shui and is considered a middle size city at 8.3 million, which is pretty telling of the dense population. At this point, I have actually been surprised that China is not more crowded – it's certainly more densely populated than Portland but it doesn't feel that bad. After time in Seoul, it seemed downright roomy. I am reminded of what my Korean boss once said – he told me to not be offended by the lack of a personal bubble. He said that we do not mean to be rude, we have just always lived in such tight quarters that we don't have any sense of space!
We go to the National Museum, which house 18 of the major national treasures from the 13 dynasties that reigned in Xi'an. I had a hard time distinguishing or relating to many of the pieces. It seemed that the iron pots all looked the same and I knew they were ancient and important but really didn't get enough time to discover why they were considered national treasures. We also visit a Painting Museum and get the chance to practice some Chinese calligraphy, which is nice. Then we are given the sales pitch again and we spend over an hour waiting for people to make purchases, and further decreasing our free time. After a simple dinner I go strait to bed.
Bryan tells us that Xi'an is a melting pot city of Chinese, Buddhist and Muslims with rich, fertile soil for farming and the yellow river running through. The city is laid out in feng shui and is considered a middle size city at 8.3 million, which is pretty telling of the dense population. At this point, I have actually been surprised that China is not more crowded – it's certainly more densely populated than Portland but it doesn't feel that bad. After time in Seoul, it seemed downright roomy. I am reminded of what my Korean boss once said – he told me to not be offended by the lack of a personal bubble. He said that we do not mean to be rude, we have just always lived in such tight quarters that we don't have any sense of space!
We go to the National Museum, which house 18 of the major national treasures from the 13 dynasties that reigned in Xi'an. I had a hard time distinguishing or relating to many of the pieces. It seemed that the iron pots all looked the same and I knew they were ancient and important but really didn't get enough time to discover why they were considered national treasures. We also visit a Painting Museum and get the chance to practice some Chinese calligraphy, which is nice. Then we are given the sales pitch again and we spend over an hour waiting for people to make purchases, and further decreasing our free time. After a simple dinner I go strait to bed.
Day Three - Beijing Steele
We visit the Beijing Steel Company and take a tour of the facilities. As this was our first business visit on the trip we didn't know what to expect. I was a little disappointed that we didn't really learn anything about the operations or get to meet with any of the business leaders. We simply watched a movie, were led through a museum and took a tour of the facilities. I didn't really feel this was beneficial to me as an MBA in any way, but it was neat to see. The steel mill was so hot and dusty – I am amazed that people work in this environment all day long and can still breathe! After just 30 minutes in the mill my clothes were covered in a fine layer of soot and the dust was in my nose, ears and mouth. I also found the scenery interesting – it was a juxtaposition of serene pagodas with steam towers and steel refining machinery.
In the afternoon we are granted a few hours of free time. We left the hotel in a group of about 10 with the intention of going together for lunch. We walked through a street market and I literally gagged from the smell of rotting food. There were buckets of seafood sitting in the sun with no ice and rotting vegetables, as well as some very pungent cooked food, one of which I learned was fermented tofu – ick! Several of the tour mates were making snide comments about China, the food and the people and my hackles went up. I was so sad and frustrated that they would be dismissing the culture after a mere three days and would be taking about how KFC was the only decent place to eat in the city. Rather than saying anything Meredith and I simply took a cab to the Silk Road Market. Once there we ran into Alain and Steve and had a lovely meal – probably my favorite of the whole trip as there were fresh vegetables and the ability to choose our own dishes. The snow peas with cashews were divine!
After, we spent about 2 hours shopping and haggling with the merchants. I am usually not one to do a lot of bargaining but after a little bit I found it to be fun and made a bit of a game out of getting the best deal. I was also surprised by the boldness of the merchants – they would corner us in a shop or grab your arm trying to persuade you to look at their items or scream at you as you walked away. I managed to get some really odd art pieces, a messenger bag and a tee shirt. Wish I had more time.
For dinner we tried Peking Duck, which was delicious but very fatty and rich – I could only handle a few small pieces of the meat. We celebrated Zach's 19th birthday with a toast and some very light delicious cake. He was presented the duck heads as a special treat. Alain ate the cheeks and said they were divine. After the group dinner a few of us headed out for a night of drinking back in Hu Yung. We ended up in a basement club where a girl was dancing on a pole and we paid about $80 US for a bottle of Smirnoff vodka – yikes! We had fun but there were definitely some hurting people the next day on the bus!
At dinner David encouraged us to make some cultural observations – Which culture do you like better – US or China? Should we adapt, should they? Should we meet in the middle? I believe that America could learn much from an ancient culture like China – we are such a young country and are isolated in many ways. I think there are certainly things we have advantages over, but I enjoy both cultures. Overall, I would change little about the Chinese culture – I found the people to be incredibly warm and welcoming, and I appreciate the rich history and willingness/ability to continue to learn from it. I think that China is in a bit of a weird spot politically and we will probably see some major changes as the younger generation grows up and takes control. I hope that they do not lose touch with the culture and become completely Americanized – fast food, materialistic, arrogant, etc. Although, I really do think our toilets are better. ;) I also like to refer to the traffic in China as controlled chaos – there is little regard to the rules, with people driving against traffic signals, weaving around cars and taking turns whenever, but it somehow seems to flow and there are relatively few accidents.
In the afternoon we are granted a few hours of free time. We left the hotel in a group of about 10 with the intention of going together for lunch. We walked through a street market and I literally gagged from the smell of rotting food. There were buckets of seafood sitting in the sun with no ice and rotting vegetables, as well as some very pungent cooked food, one of which I learned was fermented tofu – ick! Several of the tour mates were making snide comments about China, the food and the people and my hackles went up. I was so sad and frustrated that they would be dismissing the culture after a mere three days and would be taking about how KFC was the only decent place to eat in the city. Rather than saying anything Meredith and I simply took a cab to the Silk Road Market. Once there we ran into Alain and Steve and had a lovely meal – probably my favorite of the whole trip as there were fresh vegetables and the ability to choose our own dishes. The snow peas with cashews were divine!
After, we spent about 2 hours shopping and haggling with the merchants. I am usually not one to do a lot of bargaining but after a little bit I found it to be fun and made a bit of a game out of getting the best deal. I was also surprised by the boldness of the merchants – they would corner us in a shop or grab your arm trying to persuade you to look at their items or scream at you as you walked away. I managed to get some really odd art pieces, a messenger bag and a tee shirt. Wish I had more time.
For dinner we tried Peking Duck, which was delicious but very fatty and rich – I could only handle a few small pieces of the meat. We celebrated Zach's 19th birthday with a toast and some very light delicious cake. He was presented the duck heads as a special treat. Alain ate the cheeks and said they were divine. After the group dinner a few of us headed out for a night of drinking back in Hu Yung. We ended up in a basement club where a girl was dancing on a pole and we paid about $80 US for a bottle of Smirnoff vodka – yikes! We had fun but there were definitely some hurting people the next day on the bus!
At dinner David encouraged us to make some cultural observations – Which culture do you like better – US or China? Should we adapt, should they? Should we meet in the middle? I believe that America could learn much from an ancient culture like China – we are such a young country and are isolated in many ways. I think there are certainly things we have advantages over, but I enjoy both cultures. Overall, I would change little about the Chinese culture – I found the people to be incredibly warm and welcoming, and I appreciate the rich history and willingness/ability to continue to learn from it. I think that China is in a bit of a weird spot politically and we will probably see some major changes as the younger generation grows up and takes control. I hope that they do not lose touch with the culture and become completely Americanized – fast food, materialistic, arrogant, etc. Although, I really do think our toilets are better. ;) I also like to refer to the traffic in China as controlled chaos – there is little regard to the rules, with people driving against traffic signals, weaving around cars and taking turns whenever, but it somehow seems to flow and there are relatively few accidents.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
More of the same
Time keeps going by so quickly -I can't believe 2008 is nearly over! A quick run-down of what I've been up to over the last few weeks:
• I've settled into my job and started making friends at work. It's not the ideal personality fit for me and sometime I want to shake my boss like an infant, but it doesn't make my cry. Usually.
• I had a wonderful trip home to Tucson and reconnected with some great friends. It's incredible when you get together with someone after 8 years and it's as if you were never apart. Tucson is also an incredibly small town disguised by a decent sized population. Everyone is connected somehow and I had a lot of small world moments... some of them more surreal than others.
• I made it through the first term of school. I still have a few non-grey hairs and I've lucked into a few great friends. In fact, I actually enjoyed it so much that I've toyed with the possibility of taking three classes next term. But that's really just insane.
• I had a little health scare - found a lump in my breast which resulted in my first mammogram and an ultrasound. I'm fine, nothing to worry about, but having your boob squished between two sheets of plexiglass certainly isn't what I'd call fun. Ladies ( and lady's men!) - be sure to Feel Your Boobies. It's important.
• I seem to have moved from casual dating to having a boyfriend, which is new for me and totally cool. Sadly, my past relationships have left me with a constant self-doubt that I'll do something to mess it up or that he'll turn out to be a louse. But I'm working on that and learning that nice guys really do exist.
• I went to Best Buy with the intention of picking up some gifts and instead bought a flat panel TV. Yeah, good use of money for a grad student with a crappy paying job, huh? But it really does make the living room seem about 45 times bigger, and I got a good deal. Really, I did! (P.S. Please don't stop sending money Daddy, I promise it's not all going to electronics - that's what credit is for!)
• I got nearly all my Christmas shopping done with nearly 2 weeks to spare - some sort of record for me. Thank you Amazon.com! Now, if only I could get around to sending last years cards. Also, for some reason I've actually started to think good thoughts about Christmas and have even considered buying a tree. WTF? It's as if I've entered some sort of domestication phase. Pretty soon I'll be working on a collection of Nutcrackers or snowmen. Creeeepy.
• I'm making plans to learn how to snowboard this winter (or at least learn to fail miserably at snowboarding) and am starting to think about plans for NYE.
And that's about all that's fit to print. I want to spend some of the Christmas "break" working on the kitchen or on eCards but mostly I plan to relax, which means I will probably be a lump for the next few weeks. But, I've got X's sweet, blind, deaf and incontinent dog for the next few weeks so that'll keep me on my toes. Did I mention that the poor beast has only three teeth left? Poor thing can't even keep his tongue in his mouth... You should see the aftermath of dinner time. Good times.
• I've settled into my job and started making friends at work. It's not the ideal personality fit for me and sometime I want to shake my boss like an infant, but it doesn't make my cry. Usually.
• I had a wonderful trip home to Tucson and reconnected with some great friends. It's incredible when you get together with someone after 8 years and it's as if you were never apart. Tucson is also an incredibly small town disguised by a decent sized population. Everyone is connected somehow and I had a lot of small world moments... some of them more surreal than others.
• I made it through the first term of school. I still have a few non-grey hairs and I've lucked into a few great friends. In fact, I actually enjoyed it so much that I've toyed with the possibility of taking three classes next term. But that's really just insane.
• I had a little health scare - found a lump in my breast which resulted in my first mammogram and an ultrasound. I'm fine, nothing to worry about, but having your boob squished between two sheets of plexiglass certainly isn't what I'd call fun. Ladies ( and lady's men!) - be sure to Feel Your Boobies. It's important.
• I seem to have moved from casual dating to having a boyfriend, which is new for me and totally cool. Sadly, my past relationships have left me with a constant self-doubt that I'll do something to mess it up or that he'll turn out to be a louse. But I'm working on that and learning that nice guys really do exist.
• I went to Best Buy with the intention of picking up some gifts and instead bought a flat panel TV. Yeah, good use of money for a grad student with a crappy paying job, huh? But it really does make the living room seem about 45 times bigger, and I got a good deal. Really, I did! (P.S. Please don't stop sending money Daddy, I promise it's not all going to electronics - that's what credit is for!)
• I got nearly all my Christmas shopping done with nearly 2 weeks to spare - some sort of record for me. Thank you Amazon.com! Now, if only I could get around to sending last years cards. Also, for some reason I've actually started to think good thoughts about Christmas and have even considered buying a tree. WTF? It's as if I've entered some sort of domestication phase. Pretty soon I'll be working on a collection of Nutcrackers or snowmen. Creeeepy.
• I'm making plans to learn how to snowboard this winter (or at least learn to fail miserably at snowboarding) and am starting to think about plans for NYE.
And that's about all that's fit to print. I want to spend some of the Christmas "break" working on the kitchen or on eCards but mostly I plan to relax, which means I will probably be a lump for the next few weeks. But, I've got X's sweet, blind, deaf and incontinent dog for the next few weeks so that'll keep me on my toes. Did I mention that the poor beast has only three teeth left? Poor thing can't even keep his tongue in his mouth... You should see the aftermath of dinner time. Good times.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Jeans
I went to the mall today with the intention of having a bra fitting and find a good pair of jeans. I managed to actually purchase a bra, which is a bit of a miracle since I usually have to order on-line. On a side note, Figleaves.com is a lifesaver for those of yo with a hard to find size. Check it out.
Anyway, I found the jeans to be elusive but on my way out of Nordstroms I passed this rack of "tummy tuck jeans" by Not Your Daughters Jeans and for a limited time they are donating $1 for every woman that tries them on. How cool is that? So, ladies, go do your part and try on a pair of jeans. They will make you feel better about your ass AND you're doing it for charity. Even if they are ridiculously overpriced and so high-waisted that they come up to your boobs.
Anyway, I found the jeans to be elusive but on my way out of Nordstroms I passed this rack of "tummy tuck jeans" by Not Your Daughters Jeans and for a limited time they are donating $1 for every woman that tries them on. How cool is that? So, ladies, go do your part and try on a pair of jeans. They will make you feel better about your ass AND you're doing it for charity. Even if they are ridiculously overpriced and so high-waisted that they come up to your boobs.
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