It has been eleven years, almost to the day, since I've been in China. And wow, has it changed. I am in Shenzhen. This city of about 10 million people was just a village of 1000 or so about 30 years ago, so imagine how it has changed in 11 years. It is a strange combination of pre-capitalization and post, in it's construction and areas around the city. It is a huge sprawling city. One business man I met compared it to Houston...I've never been to Houston, so I have no idea. It takes about 30 minutes (by cab) to get from center city (where my hotel is) to the edge of the city, where the "painter's village" is. And the cabbies drive like the ones in NYC (the one from the opera - the one I liked) or kinda like me (if you've ever been so privileged)...dodging in and out of traffic and making the best time possible. So, if you drive like PJ (aka very patiently), you can expect that to take a bit longer.
Every thing has become more westernized here. The restaurants and malls near my hotel are similar to home...in style and price. Actually, the style here reminds me more of NYC... a bit ahead of Baltimore fashion wise. My co-workers who live here say when it comes to "world brands" (translated designer brands) it's cheaper to buy clothes in Hong Kong than in Shenzhen. That means the prices here are comparable to NYC. Of course, you have all the "copies" here (as in NYC) where you can get the fakes for a much better price. Yes, all this shopping talk probably has Rach and C2 scratching their heads. Other than checking out the shoes, there has been no shopping going on...well other than the painter's village where i picked up one painting for 40 RMB (about $6). It's a nice souvenir. Any way, the shopping is a definite indicator of the influence of the west. Last time I was here, all the clothes were priced much less expensive than home.
My friend Mel took me to the painter's village today. It's row after row of paintings. Some are traditional Chinese, some more western style. Mel is very knowledgeable about art, so he told me much about traditional Chinese art. Some of the traditional art is based on poems that talk about the feng shui of an area. It's best to have your house situated with it's back to the mountain and front facing water. I'm down with that! There are many traditional Chinese prints with this type of scenery. Also, mountains with clouds. The artists also try to create "space" in the pictures for the viewer. It creates a peaceful feeling. There are four traditional flowers - one for each season: the lotus (summer), chrysanthemum (fall), flowering plum (winter), and the peony (spring). Trees also play a significant part. The three friends of winter are the three trees of bamboo, pine and flowering plum. These images are often portrayed in Chinese art.
What hasn't changed about China is the gracious way in which it's people welcome vistors (namely me). While I didn't request anyone to accompany me during the weekend, none of my associates in the local office would hear of me being alone in the city. Anything I wanted to do, any place I wanted to go, they were more than willing to take time out of their personal schedule to show me. They also thought of things I might what to see and places I might want to go. I can't imagine anyone visiting this country and then saying the people were anything but extremely welcoming. The kids, like kids everywhere, have absolutely no inhibitions. In some of the areas where my hosts have taken me, I'm pretty sure they haven't seen too many western women. The kids make sure they get a very close look at me. It isn't quite as noticable as eleven years ago (the adults weren't as sly in their second glances back then), but it is still here.
Well, that's about it for now.
peace
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
I'm back...
Ni Hao! And it's taken me until mid-November to post! Whoopsie!!! It has really taken me about 2 weeks to get things back under control and in order though. But it finally feels like everything is. Yippeee!
The trip was most fabulous. Some crazy moments though. Like having a meeting while a rooster crowed repeatedly in the background. The factory of the supplier i was visiting in Taiwan was right next to a little farm. Or riding in the car with one of the younger sales people, with Green Day cranked watching the Taiwanese landscape fly by. Then there was the feeling of euphoria everytime I opened the rest room door and there was an actual toilet AND toilet paper. The only thing worse than having to drip dry, is have to squat to pee in a hole in the floor and then having to drip dry. Side note: this happened only once...I carried TP with me at all times after that!
Since I got back, ex-friend has pretty much shunned me. I tried to have lunch with him one day and he was busy. Didn't suggest we try another time. But two days later he emails less than an hour before lunch telling me where "the crew" was eating. I had thought maybe he had at least a little interest in the trip. But, not to be. I was home sick and told him so. He never replied and I haven't heard from him since. Men truly confound me!
Not much to say on PJ. It's frustrating not coming home to him and having to wait until Turkey day to see him. I feel like the long distance doesn't bother him as much as it bothers me. It is soooo annoying to think that I have finally found a man who stimulates my brain as well as my body but to not be able to be with him to be sure it is true. It just doesn't seem fair. I know, life just isn't. But why does mine always seem to be more unfair than all others??!
Work is okay...actually not really. My company being acquired and all. But, for the time being, it is business as usual. There is no point worrying about next year. I might be dead by then...haha. very morbid joke, but definitely a way to look at things. Any way, I'm knee deep in Kimshi any way. A huge project that some associates have messed up. I'm fire fighting the clean up with time about to run out. No time to worry or fuss about the acquisition.
With all that being said, I'm still happy. I'm not sure why. I guess I still feel blessed to have the best friends in the world. And, to be surrounded by so much love. It really does make the difficult times seem almost easy.
I'll try to write more. Maybe tell you about my interaction with the cowardly ex. Yep...that should keep you coming back until I write again.
Xie-Xie for listening.
The trip was most fabulous. Some crazy moments though. Like having a meeting while a rooster crowed repeatedly in the background. The factory of the supplier i was visiting in Taiwan was right next to a little farm. Or riding in the car with one of the younger sales people, with Green Day cranked watching the Taiwanese landscape fly by. Then there was the feeling of euphoria everytime I opened the rest room door and there was an actual toilet AND toilet paper. The only thing worse than having to drip dry, is have to squat to pee in a hole in the floor and then having to drip dry. Side note: this happened only once...I carried TP with me at all times after that!
Since I got back, ex-friend has pretty much shunned me. I tried to have lunch with him one day and he was busy. Didn't suggest we try another time. But two days later he emails less than an hour before lunch telling me where "the crew" was eating. I had thought maybe he had at least a little interest in the trip. But, not to be. I was home sick and told him so. He never replied and I haven't heard from him since. Men truly confound me!
Not much to say on PJ. It's frustrating not coming home to him and having to wait until Turkey day to see him. I feel like the long distance doesn't bother him as much as it bothers me. It is soooo annoying to think that I have finally found a man who stimulates my brain as well as my body but to not be able to be with him to be sure it is true. It just doesn't seem fair. I know, life just isn't. But why does mine always seem to be more unfair than all others??!
Work is okay...actually not really. My company being acquired and all. But, for the time being, it is business as usual. There is no point worrying about next year. I might be dead by then...haha. very morbid joke, but definitely a way to look at things. Any way, I'm knee deep in Kimshi any way. A huge project that some associates have messed up. I'm fire fighting the clean up with time about to run out. No time to worry or fuss about the acquisition.
With all that being said, I'm still happy. I'm not sure why. I guess I still feel blessed to have the best friends in the world. And, to be surrounded by so much love. It really does make the difficult times seem almost easy.
I'll try to write more. Maybe tell you about my interaction with the cowardly ex. Yep...that should keep you coming back until I write again.
Xie-Xie for listening.
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