Sam I am

Fun sending letters

I sent my friends Sharon and Mark some letters of reference last week. It was interesting seeing the packages snake through the world to China. I sent two letters; one to Shanghai and one to Guangzhou. I'm a bit amazed that I can send a letter around the world in less than a week and trace its progress. (Even though I shouldn't be surprised at all.)

November 12, 2008	18:25	New York East, NY - USA	Shipment picked up
November 12, 2008	21:10	New York East, NY - USA	Departed from DHL facility in New York East - USA
November 12, 2008	22:23	New York, NY - USA	Arrived at DHL facility in New York - USA
November 12, 2008	23:02	New York, NY - USA	Departed from DHL facility in New York - USA
November 13, 2008	01:24	Elizabeth, NJ - USA	Arrived at DHL facility in Elizabeth - USA
November 13, 2008	01:42	Elizabeth, NJ - USA	Departed from DHL facility in Elizabeth - USA
November 13, 2008	01:44	DHL Wilmington Airpark, OH - USA	Transferred through DHL Wilmington Airpark - USA
November 13, 2008	02:35	DHL Wilmington Airpark, OH - USA	Arrived at DHL facility in DHL Wilmington Airpark - USA
November 13, 2008	06:41	DHL Wilmington Airpark, OH - USA	Departed from DHL facility in DHL Wilmington Airpark - USA
November 13, 2008	11:59	Anchorage, AK - USA	Transferred through Anchorage - USA
November 14, 2008	21:10	East China Area - China, People's Republic	Arrived at DHL facility in East China Area - China, People's Republic
November 15, 2008	00:05	East China Area - China, People's Republic	Departed from DHL facility in East China Area - China, People's Republic
November 15, 2008	09:26	Shanghai - China, People's Republic	Consignee premises closed
November 15, 2008	09:36	Shanghai - China, People's Republic	Arrived at DHL Facility
November 17, 2008	08:14	Shanghai - China, People's Republic	With delivery courier
November 17, 2008	13:04	Shanghai - China, People's Republic	Shipment delivered

November 12, 2008	18:25	New York East, NY - USA	Shipment picked up
November 12, 2008	21:10	New York East, NY - USA	Departed from DHL facility in New York East - USA
November 12, 2008	22:23	New York, NY - USA	Arrived at DHL facility in New York - USA
November 12, 2008	23:02	New York, NY - USA	Departed from DHL facility in New York - USA
November 13, 2008	01:24	Elizabeth, NJ - USA	Arrived at DHL facility in Elizabeth - USA
November 13, 2008	01:42	Elizabeth, NJ - USA	Departed from DHL facility in Elizabeth - USA
November 13, 2008	01:47	DHL Wilmington Airpark, OH - USA	Transferred through DHL Wilmington Airpark - USA
November 13, 2008	02:35	DHL Wilmington Airpark, OH - USA	Arrived at DHL facility in DHL Wilmington Airpark - USA
November 13, 2008	06:42	DHL Wilmington Airpark, OH - USA	Departed from DHL facility in DHL Wilmington Airpark - USA
November 13, 2008	11:44	Anchorage, AK - USA	Transferred through Anchorage - USA
November 14, 2008	13:02	Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong	Arrived at DHL facility in Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong
November 14, 2008	16:51	Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong	Departed from DHL facility in Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong
November 14, 2008	23:26	Guangzhou - China, People's Republic	Arrived at DHL facility in Guangzhou - China, People's Republic
November 15, 2008	02:54	Guangzhou - China, People's Republic	Departed from DHL facility in Guangzhou - China, People's Republic
November 15, 2008	03:44	Guangzhou - China, People's Republic	Arrived at DHL Facility
November 17, 2008	09:10	Guangzhou - China, People's Republic	With delivery courier
November 17, 2008	10:14	Guangzhou - China, People's Republic	Shipment delivered

Labels: China

Just to reiterate...

China's government is a fascist, authoritarian regime: Teacher sent to labor camp for China quake photos. Quick summary: detained for a month before notifying family members; no trial; sent to "Reeducation-Through-Labor."

More information is available at the Human Rights in China website.

Labels: China

Tips for travel in China

A few friends of mine are in China right now, so I thought I would write up a few suggestions for visiting. (This would have been better to send before they left, but I think it is still helpful advice.)

1. Don't drink the water. You hear this in a lot of countries, but it is important advice in China. Pollution in China is rampant, and the water is not safe to drink. To put it another way, the Chinese do not drink the water--ever. This also means generally avoiding ice. For what it's worth, I would recommend not brushing your teeth with the water either. Most hotels have bottled water, and if they don't it's worth purchasing.
2. Learn to love tea. Everyone in China drinks tea. It is a ubiquitous drink. Think of people in the United States with bottles of water and imagine them carrying bottles of tea instead and you will get a small idea of what China is like. The tea is safe to drink and delicious. While in the United States we are paranoid about people bringing very small bottles of water through an airline checkpoint, In China I saw people routinely bringing glass bottles of tea to their flights.
3. China is not a democracy. This may be hard to imagine for people from democracies. But it's important to remember. For folks from the United States, here a couple of side-effects:
   • You do not have freedom of movement. The police can ask you for your papers at any time. They can tell you where to go and when to go there, and at the time when they tell you there is no significant recourse. You must do what the police say, or you can be brought to jail.
   • If you are not in a hotel, you must tell the police where you are staying. This isn't just a loosely enforced set of rules, as it might be in Europe--in China, the police routinely check houses door-by-door to check the residence papers of each person living there. If you do not have the appropriate papers, expect to spend some time at the local police station.
   • China does not have habeous corpus. As a United States citizen, the consulate should be notified of an arrest, but you do not necessarily have the right to a review of your detainment by an independent judiciary, nor do you necessarily have the right to consul from a local lawyer. In a way, you can be effectively "disappeared" if China deems it necessary.
   • You do not have a freedom of speech in China, nor do you have freedom of thought. The government of China has arrested dissidents for thought crimes. And direct criticism of the government is simply not allowed. Criticizing the Chinese government publicly is a surefire way to get sent to jail or ejected from the country.
   • There is no "freedom of the press" in China. Having press credentials is not a get-out-of-jail free card. If anything, being a member of the press subjects you to greater scrutiny from the Chinese government. Chinese police have been directed to confront photographers who photograph protests at the Olympics (ref. from the Harper's a couple of years ago).
   • China has no freedom of religion. There has been a lot of coverage of Tibet in the west, but without minimizing the treatment of religion in Tibet, it pales in comparison to China's treatment of religion in general. The Catholic Church is subject to the Chinese government, and some religions, like Falun Gong, are openly persecuted.
   We sometimes take the freedoms of the United States for granted. China makes you remember these freedoms.
4. Watch out for counterfeit currency. The 20 and 100 Yuan notes (~$3.50 and $17) are frequently counterfeited. Examine 20 Yuan notes as you receive them as change. Chinese currency has similar security features to U.S. currency--get to know them. A couple of friends of mine ran into a sneaky trick: they gave a driver a 100 Yuan note, and the driver rejected it as counterfeit. Later, they realized that the note they had given the driver was not the same note they had received back. The driver palmed the real 100 Yuan note and slipped them back a forgery.
5. China only has one timezone. China is a huge country, and easily spans five or six geographic time zones. However, the entire country is GMT+8 for the entire year--there is no daylight savings time.
6. The Great Wall is amazing. Don't be an ass: if you are in China, allocate a day to see a portion of the Great Wall. You will regret it if you don't go.
7. Most younger people in China do not have brothers or sisters. With the notable exception of ethnic Tibetans, most Chinese are only permitted to have one child. This means no brothers or sisters. In the United States, when people talk about their families, it is common to ask if you have brothers or sisters. In China, that question could be seen as slightly offensive. Cousins have much closer relationships in China than in the United States.
8. China is a large, ethnically diverse country. While China has, as a policy of the government, attempt to blend the cultural differences of the different countries, the fact is that China is a huge country with many different peoples. From a tourist perspective, this means that if you leave Beijing, you will find that other parts of the country have different traditions, languages and foods. (For example, while it is quashed, Shanghai has it's own version of Chinese distinct from Mandarin and Cantonese called Shanghainese.)
9. China has censorship. On the public internet, many websites are inaccessible. For example, I would be surprised if the previous Wikipedia link is available in China. Results from google.com may not be available, while Google's deal with China is that results from google.cn will be pre-edited to remove censored sites. (This is just my understanding--it may be incorrect.) While some sites will not be available at all, other sites may redirect to Chinese competitors. While both Yahoo's and Google's policies are arguably participation in Chinese censorship, there is no question that companies like Cisco have directly enabled Chinese censorship. It's stunning to me that our country allows Cisco to do business with China in this manner. On another note, in addition to online censorship China will routinely black out news broadcasts of channels like CNN when they disapprove of the coverage.
10. Pornography is illegal in China. This shouldn't be surprising based on what else I have written, but be judicious in the web sites you visit.
11. Enjoy the food in China. Some of the best food I had in China was food from street vendors in Shanghai. From a western perspective, the food is very affordable, and there are items that are difficult, if not impossible, to find in most of the United States.

I hope these tips about China are handy. It's a fun country to visit, and my trip was uniformly positive. I hope to be able to visit again someday.

Labels: China

Montreal Chinatown

Montreal has a good-sized Chinatown between Old Montreal and the Latin Quarter. The smells wafting from restaurants reminded me of China.

This sign made me smile: it captures the blend of cultures that gives Montreal its falvor.

Labels: China, Montreal

Sharon and Mark

I owe a big thanks to Sharon and Mark for joining me in Beijing and putting me up in Shanghai. They are experienced world travelers, gracious hosts, and most importantly, good friends. I can travel around the world or stay at home, but as long as I have friends like Sharon and Mark I know I will never be alone

Labels: China, friends

Hairy Crab

Hairy crab is a specialty of Shanghai. You can buy the crabs around the city, including in the airport. In fact, the Shanghai airports recently had to enact a ban against carrying around unsecured crabs--apparently there were too many incidents of escaped crabs skittering around the airport.

Folks in Shanghai are very proud of their hairy crab, as you can see in the photos from Yuyuan Garden. I took this photo of a hairy crab on Wulumuqi Road, just around the corner from Sharon and Mark's apartment. Note what looks like arm warmers near the claw--this is where Hairy Crab gets it name.


Mark and I went hunting for Shanghai Hairy Crab on Saturday morning. The first place we tried to go (a hotel restaurant) was fully booked and a bit too expensive. We ended up across the street at Jade Garden on South Mao Ming Road. Jade Garden is a small chain of restaurants mainly located in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. As you can see from their website, they definitely cater mainly towards the Chinese. In fact, Mark and I were one of only three obvious non-Chinese people in the restaurant, and it was full of families and groups of people. It was very elegant, and the staff was polite and kind despite our inability to speak Chinese fluently.


We started out with some dumplings, both shrimp and pork.


The pork dumplings were nice and juicy and reminded me a bit of soup dumplings from Joe's Shanghai in the New York Chinatown. However, I don't believe there was any additional soup; I think the liquid in the pork dumplings in Shanghai was simply juicy goodness from the dumpling filling.


We wanted to get some vegetables, so on the recommendation of the waiter we ordered this dish. Neither of us were sure exactly what it was. We believe it was a pickled melon of some kind. It had a nice fresh and vinegar flavor with a nice snap. It was very nice dish--I wished that I understood more Chinese so that I could know the name of this dish.


Mark felt that we had not ordered enough vegetables, so he ordered this broccoli dish. The broccoli dish was at best interesting. I don't think that either of us would order it again. The white substance on top of the broccoli was a very strong fish sauce; it was almost like a fish puree. The broccoli was just barely cooked, so there was a sharp contrast between the crisp broccoli and the thick, creamy fish sauce. This was the most challenging dish I ate in China. The joke was on Mark, of course--neither of us thought of this dish as a "vegetable" dish.


Our final dish was the hairy crab. We ordered two crabs. They were served split in two in a thick soy sauce. The crab was delicious. It reminded me of the flavor of blue crab from Baltimore, but with a creamy, rich taste and a soft texture. Unfortunately, the crab were as difficult to eat as blue crab, and the sauce made the crab even more difficult to handle. The restaurant provide us with utensils to crack open and eat the crab, but it was messy business all around.


Mark and I had a fun time at Jade Garden. I recommend checking the place out.

Labels: China, food

Chinese street food in Shanghai

(Or as the Chinese say, street food in Shanghai)

Shanghai has a fantastic street food scene. A typical breakfast in Shanghai can consist of walking to your favorite street vendor and ordering up a small bit of food.

I got breakfast several days in a row on Wulumuqi Road next to Sharon and Mark's apartment. It's close to both the U.S. and Iran consulates. (Interestingly, these two friendly countries have consulates across the street from each other.)

Several of my meals were of a slightly sweet pork-filled dumpling. The dumplings are cooked in front of you and are sold in groups of four. However, no one orders just four--four is bad luck and not enough to eat. Eight is a more typical number--it's just enough and a lucky number. Eight dumplings cost around 25 cents (one Yuan, eight Mao).




Mark and I took a group of dumplings back to the apartment to enjoy.



Another typical dish is steamed buns. You can get them with pork or vegetable filling, or even just plain. The dough is sweet, spongy, and filling. The steamers for the buns are all stacked on top of each other. The steam comes from the bottom and cooks the food as it rises through the steamers. Each level has a different kind of bun; you can ask to see the different levels or just ask for a specific bun.



I bought other street food while in Shanghai, but I don't have pictures of all of them. Some other good street food I enjoyed included fried pancakes and roasted chestnuts. Here, people are lining up for either duck or chicken for lunch.


Like many other cities in the United States, Shanghai has any number of semi-outdoor groceries.



I also enjoyed sugar cane juice. For two Yuan (around 26 cents), you can get a glass of fresh squeeze sugar can juice. The sugar cane goes in one end and juice comes out the other end. The juice is both sweet and sour; it is very refreshing and a good afternoon snack. The plastic glass is very flimsy, and you need to be careful not to squeeze it too tightly or the juice will flip out all over the place.


I was very happy with the street food scene in Shanghai. The food was fresh, affordable, and tasty. For the record and those folks who are nervous about eating food from street vendors, I did not get ill from the street food.

Labels: China, food

Shanghai

Shanghai is a modern, cosmopolitan city with fantastic architecture that blends the old and the new. Like Paris and La Défense, Shanghai decided to build a major commercial area just outside of the old downtown across the Huangpu River in what used to be swampland. This area is call Pudong.




Along the west bank of the Hangpu River is The Bund, a large road and pedestrian plaza. There are great views of Pudong. It's particularly pretty at night.



Sharon and Mark's apartment has a great view of downtown Shanghai.


Tourist information center. I wonder who sponsors them?


In Shanghai, there are traffic signs that tell you exactly how many parking spaces are available in a given location. It's a neat idea.


Nanjing Road contains many shops and a large plaza. Seeing that I was not Chinese, people ran up to me every minute or so to try to sell me bags, watches, or watch bags. (I don't know what a watch bag is.)


The shops outside of Yuyuan Gardens were probably more geared towards the tourist crowds, but they were fun to shop in. I've never seen anyplace like it.


Sharon and Mark live in a neighborhood called the French Concession. This area was created as a neighborhood administered by the French government for the use of French citizens. Of course, this neighborhood is now part of China. However, there are still many French shops in this area, from wine bars to bakeries. This part of the city managed to blend both European and Chinese architecture.

Labels: China

Brands in China

Western brands are common in China. Just like in the United States, Starbucks has a significant presence. In Beijing, there was a Starbucks right near my hotel.

In Shanghai, there was a Starbucks in Yuyuan Gardens.


Trademark protection in China is not as strong as in the United States. Does the Wandanu logo remind you of a certain international athletic apparel maker?


The Nightmare Before Christmas store appears to be a shop that caters towards clothing for young women that is inspired by the movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas.


Many newspaper stands in Beijing had Sports Illustrated in China awnings. I was working at SI when they launched their China branch. Interestingly, while it was still for sale, I did not see any advertisements for SI in China while I was in Shanghai.


I walked by the Google offices in Shanghai one morning. As I walked by their offices, I realized that as Google is opening offices across the world, Time Inc. is closing foreign offices. I don't think this is an accident; in fact, I believe it is indicative of a shift in how we receive our news.

Labels: China, Sports Illustrated

Chinese beliefs

Sharon and Mark live in a large apartment building in Shanghai. 13 is not considered an unlucky number in China, but another number (四, sì) sounds very similar to death (死亡, xī) in Chinese. Care to take a guess which number it is?

Labels: China

Yuyuan Garden

On the edge of the old city neighborhood of Shanghai is Yuyuan Garden. Yuyuan Garden is a a set of buildings surrounding a garden with a large water feature in the middle. The water contains a striking collection of goldfish. I bought a bag of fish food. After using around half the bag, I gave the remainder to a little girl and her grandmother.


The giant sculptures are of Shanghai's hairy crabs. More on those in a later posting.


In the center of the pond is a tea house, where you can have a small tea ceremony for around 40 Yuan (approximately $6). It was very relaxing.

Labels: China

City under construction

Beijing is a city under construction. Every other block seemed to be a construction site, with up to four large cranes working on a single block. Unfortunately, I was not impressed by the contemporary architecture of Beijing. Aside from the Olympic area (which I did not visit), it appears that the majority of construction sites are simple, blocky buildings without the elegance of the modern movement. The contemporary architecture of Shanghai was much more impressive and reminded me of La Défence outside of Paris. I feel that Shanghai has done a much better job of creating new beautiful structures while respecting the past. In Beijing's rush to be a "modern" city, its architectural ideal seems to embrace demolishing the old in favor of the bland.

Construction in the distance beyond the Forbidden City in Beijing


The Shanghai World Financial Center from Yuyuan Gardens

Labels: China

Flying back today!

In 30 minutes or so, I will be flying back to the United States. I am now at Sharon and Mark's house in Shanghai; my flight to Beijing leaves around noon. From Beijing, I have a direct flight to Newark International. (It's a fast flight: it leaves at 5:00 pm and arrives at 5:40 pm!) At Newark, I hop on New Jersey Transit to Penn Station. Finally, a few quick stops on the A train and I'll be home.

I will continue to post more photos of my trip. I have enjoyed Shanghai. It's a cosmopolitan city with fantastic architecture and great food.

Unfortunately, my camera broke this morning. The good news is that it broke the day I was leaving. Even more importantly, it broke after I took some photos of hairy crab.

Labels: China

Black, white and sleeping all over

I visited the Beijing Zoo before flying to Shanghai. I support the Wildlife Conservation Society (née the New York Zoological Society) back home, and I'm always curious to see zoos in other locations.

The main attraction of the Beijing Zoo is the pandas. It costs an extra 5 yuan (approximately 80 cents) to see the pandas. They are beautiful animals, although they are very sleepy.




I was also able to see much of the bird exhibits before I had to leave for my flight. The centerpiece of the zoo was a lake with a variety of different water birds.

I did not eat this duck.

Spot-Billed Pelican!


There were also several indoor bird exhibits.
Calling Crokett and Tubbs!



A laughing thrush.

Labels: China, zoo

Once forbidden, but now open for tour groups!

On Monday, I visited the Forbidden City, home to China's emperors for thousands of years. The city is over 720 thousand square meters, and it is said to have 9,999 rooms. (Nine is considered a lucky number for Chinese emperors.) I spent most of my day exploring the city.

The Forbidden city is at ground level, yet when you are standing on the terraces and balconies you can see for miles into Beijing.

What was most striking was the sheer number of throne rooms. There were between 10 and 20 throne rooms open to the public; it appeared as if the emperors had a throne room for every occasion.

The details of the decorations were also very impressive. The two square images are details from a wall outside a set of throne rooms; the last image is the detail above a doorway into one of the larger plazas. As you can see from the square images, some of the paint is a bit faded. In fact, many parts of the City appeared to be a bit worn. However, given that the city is thousands of years old with millions of tourists visiting each year, it's in good shape.



A river twisted its way through the City. It was elegant and clearly meant for beauty rather than as a moat.

"Shop of the Forbidden City" is a good name for a store. I don't know about the babo gruel.

The City also had many displays of historic art. This is a Long Ware Red Vase from the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1662-1722). The photo is not perfect as the light in the gallery was dim. I'm only including it because the vase was so beautiful.

I left the Forbidden City through the Emperor's Gate. Goodbye City!

Labels: China

"It is indeed a Great Wall"

Here are some fun facts about the Great Wall:

• Peter Jackson totally ripped off the Great Wall for his tower signaling sequence in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
• The Great Wall is not inaccurate. I know when you hear, "Great Wall," you may think it is just a big wall. It isn't just a big wall. It's a really, really, big wall on the top of a mountain. And it runs for over 370 miles.
• You should be in decent shape before you climb the steps to the Great Wall. It's over half a kilometer of steps at a 45 degree incline. There are places to rest, but your calves will probably ache for a day or two.
• There are 50 or 60 shopkeepers at the bottom of the Great Wall. They all sell the exact same merchandise at the exact same prices. T-shirts were as low as two for $1. Sharon, who works in apparel manufacturing, is not sure how they make any money at this price.
• It's chilly at the Great Wall in November, but by the time you reach the top of the Great Wall you will be fairly warm

We left the hotel at seven in the morning. We decided to visit the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, around 90 minutes outside of Beijing by car. It was a nice day for a drive. The day I arrived was the worst day in terms of pollution; the days became colder, but clearer, as I stayed in Beijing.

We started our climb up the stairs immediately after we arrived. We were among the first tourists to arrive that day; at the top of the wall we were able to enjoy sections without seeing any other groups of people. The parts of the Wall we saw were in fantastic condition, and the sight was amazing. It's worth visiting, as photos and a written description do not do the Wall justice.


First view of the Great Wall as we climbed the steps.


Mark, Sharon, and I (R to L) at the Great Wall. There was a small gazebo just before you reached the wall.





The photos make the Wall appear as if it is drastically dipping, twisting, and turning. This is not a trick of the camera--the Great Wall dips, twists, and turns as it hugs the peak of the mountain. The steepest stairs required a bit of minor climbing; as you went down the slope of the Wall you had to make sure not to slip on any frost. The Wall was also slightly angled towards one side. The angle allowed rain water to gather into drains.






A Chinese and Australian crew was shooting a promotional video for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. I took a few photos and also posted a video to YouTube.

Labels: China

Duck, Duck, Roast Duck!

My first night in China, we decided to eat regional food. There is a unique Scottish restaurant on the Wangfujiang shopping promenade. The Chinese seem to love this restaurant's delectable items, which center around something they call a hambaobao. The United States would love this concoction, which is two all beef patties, topped with what is called "special" sauce, layered with crisp lettuce, luscious cheese, pickles, and onions. Finally, it is topped with a sesame seed bun. It is truly a combination of the best of Scottish and Chinese cuisines.

(Please feel free to throw in your own anti-globalization rant here. McDonalds and KFC outlets appear to be ubiquitous here. I have not visited either, although I have drunk both diet Coke and regular Coke!)

For folks who do not know me, the thought of eating McDonalds in a foreign country would be a bit odd. At the risk of sounding overly elitist, I am more likely to skip a meal than grab McDonalds, especially when I am visiting a new country. For my first meal in China, Mark, Sharon, and I decided to visit Quanjude, a restaurant that specializes in roast duck. We visited the newer branch of the restaurant; it is closer to my hotel. We got into the restaurant around 5:30 pm. While we were one of the first customers and were immediately seated, there was a large group of people waiting for seats when we left.

We ordered three dishes--a whole roast duck, a beef dish, and a dish of sauteed celery. The celery was tossed with oil, peeled walnuts, and red beans. The beef dish was rich and tender. However, the star of the meal was the duck. The skin was crisp, and yet it melted in your mouth. The meat was tender and lean. Unlike most duck meat in the United States, which is generally darker, this mean was pale but still flavorful.

The duck was sliced in front of our table. It was served with pancakes, sauce and chives. We also order some sesame rolls and formed small duck sandwiches with those as well. It was a treat, and the culinary highlight of my trip so far. The restaurant hands out a commemorative card for every duck sold. Our duck was the 1,150,292,355th duck sold since 1864.




After dinner, we walked around a small market by Wangfujiang. Small food stalls are scattered throughout the area. The food on the sticks are scorpions and seahorses.



Yesterday, I visited the Forbidden City, and this afternoon I fly to Shanghai.

Labels: China, food

In China

This past Friday, I left New York City for Beijing and Shanghai for a week long vacation. I flew to Beijing on Continental flight 89, a 14-hour direct flight from Newark. I used a combination of frequent flier miles, American Express points, and cash to upgrade my coach-class seat to a Business class seat. Because of the extra room, I was able to get some good sleep and arrive in Beijing refreshed and ready for the evening.


Getting a visa to go to China was not difficult. There is a Chinese consulate in New York City, and I was able to dash up there during lunch a couple of weeks ago. The consular officials were concerned about the name and purpose of my company, but I was approved for a visa and was able to pick it up the next week. (PhotoShelter works with professional photographers; they were concerned about what I did for PhotoShelter and the kinds of photographers we worked with.)


My friend Anne pointed me to this book called Lingolook. It's a card book secured on one corner that you can use to quickly find common phrases. The book also includes drawings and simplified Chinese in addition to Pinyin and English, so you can just point to a picture if you are without a clue. The book has been helpful, but I feel that I should have taken a Chinese language class. The language is not as difficult as it may first seem, but it is unlike any other languages I know. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to take a class before my trip.

As we were landing and getting off the plane, I was struck by the level of pollution. It's terrible that my first impressions of China and Beijing are of a dusty yellow fog and a rust-colored disk in the sky that we call "the sun," but Beijing is the most polluted city I have ever seen. I was unable to see more than two or three blocks, and it turns out that the smog was very bad the day I arrived. Since yesterday I have been able to see across the city from my hotel room window. Beijing has a problem that they must solve before the Olympics as athletes will not want to compete in the kind of conditions I saw on Saturday.

The night I arrived, Sharon, Mark, and I feasted on Peking Duck (now Beijing Duck?). Yesterday, we climbed the Great Wall. Sharon and Mark had to go back to Shanghai last night, and this morning I'm off to the Forbidden City. Most of my trip is documented with photos; I'll post more as I get a chance.

Labels: China

June Fourth Movement

Today is the anniversary of the June Fourth Movement aka Tiananmen Square Massacre.

Labels: China