A Trip to the West, Hong Kong

^Zhujiang Brewery factory floor, bottling room.

           "Relaxx, relaxxx, just have a beer.." This was the mantra that we heard at Zhujiang Brewery when we toured their factory, and it must be one of the defining words in their advising campaign.  Only at a beer factory can you be consoled about your pending alcohol problem (don't worry college friends it's not alcoholism until you graduate).  After the mildly brainwashing presentation of the brand, we actually got to tour the factory, and it was awesome to see such a large scale production, with huge vats of hops making there way through the mashing process, into the fermentation tubs, etc.

^This photo was taken at the Chen Family Compound in the late '60s.  The Chinese characters read, "听毛主席话，跟共产党走。” (English: Listen to Premier Mao's words, follow the Communist Party.")

          While in Guangzhou we also visited the Chen family compound, which had been beautifully preserved with most of the original figures and sculptures on the roofs of the buildings, and the Chen family art display, whose Ivory sculptures would make PETA cry.  But among all this, I was wondering to myself, what was going on here during the Cultural Revolution that all of this was so well preserved?  And then I saw a case with several photos from the ‘60s and ‘70s and I quickly knew that even all of this had been affected.  Mao’s regime didn’t destroy everything at the family compound, but I’m sure without his raid, the compound would be that much more beautiful, that much more preserved, and contain that much more of China’s authentic history.  I still don’t fully understand all of the detrimental effects that the Cultural Revolution had on China, but it is important to try to consider what effects it has had on China’s modern society today.  Nonetheless, it left a deep deep scar.

^City in the morning,  beautiful mountains and beaches in the afternoon, where else do you find this?

           If only everyone in Hong Kong spoke Mandarin, it would be my heaven!  My few days in Hong Kong left me clamoring to go back.  The first night we arrived, we went to the top of Victoria Hill, which overlooks the city and it is beautiful at night.  But one thing happened that quickly reminded me that we were no longer on the mainland.  When we were waiting for the Victoria Hill cable car, I yelled something to my friend Nikolaj who was about 100 feet away, and the Hong Kong person that was in front of me, turned around and said in perfect English, "Excuse me, sir.  You just yelled in my ear." My jaw dropped because obviously no one would ever say anything on the mainland, in fact they'd probably join in your shouting.  Hong Kong is just.. well more civilized.

^Pronounced Fu Min Lu in Mandarin.

         The free day was awesome, which included everything from Stanley's Market, to Kowloon, to "Times Square," to the beach and a short hike, back to the city to the night market, to the balcony of the IFC mall, and of course heading to Lan Kuai Fong to meet with a few new Hong Kong friends for the night.  For you hardworking Mandarin students out there just remember LKF because after you've learned PinYin none of Canto's romanization will make any sense.  Another thing that will blow you away in Hong Kong is their ability to speak English, perfectly. I met several groups of Hong Kong natives who were speaking English among themselves even though they all spoke Canto, and I thought to myself they must be putting on a show, but when you meet them and they're already in the middle of a conversation in English, there is no faking that!  Even the cab driver was like a professional tour guide, rattling off historic sites and facts like Newt Gingrich making a speech.

^Hong Kong nighttime light show, must see for anyone visiting.

       I can't forget about the Hot Springs in Zhongshan either.  My god, this place is gorgeous. For a little context, its an old hotel for government officials, so you can imagine how luxurious it is.  The hot springs are hot, the pool is refreshing, the buffet bangs, and you just wish you had more day there!

^Zhongshan hot springs, and you can probably see, it was steamy!

        I wish I could say more about the trip, but it is absolutely something you have to enjoy for yourself, Alliance did a great job in planning this trip and if you get a chance go abroad at SUFE you'll love this week!

^The good life in Macau.

America in a Suitcase

^America in a suitcase.

Have you ever considered what America in a suitcase would look like?  Well when my Uncle came to visit me in Shanghai this past week, he brought this suitcase and it really got me thinking about all the things that makes America great.  Just think, America has the most common internationally traded currency and acts as reserve for the majority of large economies in the world.  America is a healthy nation with the highest quality ingredients on earth, have you ever looked at the ingredients on a Lara Bar? Two to three ingredients in most cases, natural and delicious.  We're home to beautiful national parks, along with some of the world's most beloved cities from New York to San Francisco.   We're driven by coffee, and I promise that us Yankees will get any job done with a little ingenuity and a lot of coffee.  New York! Home to the winningest team in baseball, the Yankees, and the recent Superbowl champs, the Giants.  We take a daily vitamin and you can be assured that brands like Centrum will do everything they can to maintain their reputation and standard of quality.  America is home to friends, family, loved ones, and a strong network of fellow Americans helping one another carry out each others dream.  America embodies innovation and forward thinking, and exports Apple products, which are idolized by the entire world.  But don't forget how sweet Jelly Beans are around Easter time, or how delicious Ghirardelli chocolate is.  And what's more American than lighting your Marlboro Red with a Zippo lighter? It's not my habit, but it is my culture.  These are all of the things that make me so proud to be an American, and going abroad has certainly strengthened my appreciation for America’s values and democracy.  Sometimes when you're caught up in the day-to-day news in America, such as the never-ending discussion about political gridlock, you don't have the chance to take a step back and appreciate all the great things that make up America.  I was always aware of these subtle things but when you travel abroad and see for yourself that the world is a different place once you get outside of the United States, you can't help but feel a little nostalgia when thinking of home.  Whenever you go abroad, just take a moment to think about home and appreciate a few things about your way of life back in the States.

So my uncle that I just mentioned came to all the way to Shanghai to visit me and had a week from hell… I mean if it could go wrong it pretty much did.  He just left today.  Well scratch that, I had to come back and edit this post because I just got a text from him saying that he was still at Pudong International Airport.  The first text reads, "Passenger died on incoming flight, no one knows much more than that."  Then a few minutes later another text reads, "flight never touched down, flight tomorrow morning, stuck here.."  Ahh, the last memory of China is a delayed flight and night in crappy hotel.  So let me backtrack a few days to tell this awful and hilarious story.

^The beginning of the end at Morton's Steakhouse.

It almost seemed like it was doomed from the start.  We never discussed visas before he came over and he read online somewhere that he could get a visa in China.  Unfortunately I just assumed he had one, and when he was about the board the plane at the gate, the workers said, "woah, not so fast." Then he had to rush around New York City to get his visa application into the consulate before 2 PM that day, so that he could have it rush processed and turned around in two days.  Then when he made it here several days later than expected he had a tough time adjusting to the jet lag right off the bat, and didn’t sleep a wink the first night.  Also keep in mind that we had hot pot for dinner the first night, and he definitely ate some uncooked food.  So about 24 hours later the food poisoning sets in as my uncle, my Chinese roommate, and I are sitting at Morton's steakhouse at the IFC mall eating the most delicious and expensive meal I’ve had in Shanghai.  Just as he was finishing his filet, he yacked in the bathroom, and then when he got back to the table he was told that the bank had frozen his card because he was in Shanghai.  One more yack in the elevator of the hotel, one more sleepless night, and then a week of debilitating diarrhea followed.  Then one hour before he left for the airport we found a Pepto Bismol like medicine that cleared up all of his symptoms.  If only we could have found that 5 days prior.  But I guess when you really think about it even that didn't matter anymore because there was no fixing this trip.  I gotta run, I think I just got another text saying, “Plane not at gate yet, I can't do this again…”  Uncle mark, if you're reading this, I hope you'll consider coming back to china some day?