Nick Vails Spring 2007 Semester at Sea: CHINA!!!

TUESDAY APRIL 24, 2007
I am now on my way to Kobe Japan after an amazing six days in China. What a strange mix between communist politics and capitalist economics. From the wealthy glass skyscrapers and malls of Hong Kong to the industrial and polluted Qingdao, I realized just how diverse China is. Today China is the largest consumer of steel, concrete, and soon oil. An article just came out predicting GDP growth of 11% this year which is up from before. That growth rate is phenomenal and was evident by the huge numbers of cranes and construction sites around the cities. There is also terrible environmental degradation that was obvious by looking at the haze that blanketed every landscape. For example, the sky was only blue one of the three days I was in Beijing and otherwise it was yellow.

One conclusion I would make about China from my short visit here is that this country is still imitating and not yet innovating. I did not feel a great sense of creativity among the people and perhaps this stems from the regimental and controlling communist regime. What I saw were people curious and perhaps somewhat envious of the west. The fact that Chinese persons were requesting pictures with me because I am white, or taking pictures in front of the ship, or taking pictures during group photos revealed to me the curiosity many Chinese had about the west.

In summary, China was great but the people did not seem as friendly or happy as those in other nations I have visited. Despite this some people I did meet were very nice, especially the students. I made great new friends at the university who taught me a lot about the culture and society of China today. And what were the means we chose to stay in touch? Facebook!!! If this does not reveal something about Globalization and interdependence I do not know what does. Now for a description of my experiences.

TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2007
We arrived in Hong Kong around 8:00am but instead of waking up to the standard announcements concerning passports and immigration we awoke to the news that a gunman had killed 33 Virginia Tech students the day before. Needless to say I and everyone else on board was shocked and the entire ship was asked to meet in the Union for a briefing. The room was tense as our dean described the incident that occurred a few hours prior. Desmond Tutu proceeded to give a short memorial service for the victims and lead a prayer before we all observed a moment of silence for the deceased students. It was a sad way to begin what should have otherwise been a great day but I was determined to make the best of it. I believe it is only when we allow our lives to be restrained by the atrocious acts of others that we are truly defeated.

I disembarked the ship around 10am to visit the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) in Hong Kong. We met with its president Jack ??? in the Bank of America tower for a one hour roundtable discussion on business in Hong Kong and China. He began by describing AMCHAM’s mission to foster commerce between the US, Hong Kong, and China to enhance that region as an international business center. I learned that Hong Kong is the world’s second largest shipping port and has the world’s second busiest Air Freight operations. I also learned that he was especially upset with the lack of intellectual property rights in China as he ripped into the group and I for buying burned DVD’s. He explained how over $1 trillion dollars in illegal goods is produced every year that could easily account for the entire trade imbalance between the US and China. He felt that China was very skilled at saying all the right things but has a poor record of enforcement. I will not go into the details but we discussed land values, political concerns, environmental degradation, taxes, corruption, business etiquette, and many other enlightening topics. While I do not remember all the individual points he made I did come to a general conclusion. Doing business in China is complicated and you better do your homework to be successful here.

After leaving the chamber I wandered around and arrived at a massive mall. Like the mall in Malaysia this one was huge except much nicer. I came to the conclusion that Asia has big malls and little people. Unfortunately I gave into a craving for familiar food and picked up a meal at McDonalds. One interesting thing I noticed about this McDonalds was how busy it was. While no bigger than a typical McDonalds back home there were about 75 people sitting down eating, another 30 or so in line, and approximately 35 people working. They even had a guy whose job it was to find empty tables but I found a nice bench outside instead. Another difference was the style of dress in Hong Kong. About 75% of the people in Hong Kong were dressed in business suits. This was not only during the day but also in the bars and nightclubs in the evening. There were also some strange outfits worn by “fashion conscious” teens trying to express their individuality. I was just thankful that the gothic look had not yet caught on.

After the mall I caught the Star Ferry back to Kowloon and found an internet café near the ship. I spent some time updating the blog, sending e-mails, and reading up on the Virginia Tech tragedy then headed to a HSBC bank for some money and then a JAL office to purchase a Japanese rail pass. I met friends on the ship then headed out at 8pm to watch the Hong Kong light show. The city synchronized to music about 15 of its buildings covered in neon lights. It was the most excited I have ever been looking at buildings. Our group headed to the Hard Rock Café down the street for more familiar food and music. The band played Mustang Sally and some Bad Company before we left to find the nightlife. We took the subway to central station in Hong Kong explored the many bars for about two hours. Bars were similar to those back home except slightly larger. One could also drink on the street in Hong Kong. We headed back to the ship around 1:30am for some much needed sleep.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 18, 2007
I met my group around 9:00am for our drive to Hong Kong airport. During the drive I realized how busy this city really was driving through the port area and passing dozens of residential skyscrapers housing thousands of people each. Hong Kong airport was absolutely gorgeous and I spent some time exploring before boarding our Air China flight to Beijing. Driving from the airport to our hotel the first thing I noticed in Beijing was the pollution. The sky was a hazy yellowish color driving through the city and it was obvious the government was planting tons of trees along the highways in an attempt to make the city greener prior to the Olympics. We passed the Olympic stadium still under construction for the 2008 games and it is absolutely awesome. Something that surprised and worried me was the large quantity of vehicle traffic on the highways. The roads were packed with cars, buses, and trucks and we came to many dead stops while sitting in traffic jams. With oil resources dwindling and pollution increasing, the current transportation model used by the world is unsustainable. The earth can not support 1.3 billion Chinese consuming like Americans do. Both the Chinese and Americans in my opinion must develop a new transportation model if we wish to avoid future conflicts over the scarce resources needed to support the current system.

We stopped at a Chinese restaurant for dinner and were served a huge amount of food on a large revolving tray. The food was delicious but sometimes difficult to identify. After dinner the group traveled to Peking University to meet with a group of Chinese students. There were about 30 Chinese students for the 75 of us and they proceeded to give us a tour of the campus in small groups. I was with two other SAS students and a girl named Fan Xia who went by Catherine for our convenience. In fact all the Chinese students had English names and all of them spoke very coherent English. I was not surprised by this because of the schools great reputation. Peking University is considered one of if not the best university in China. It is comparable to Harvard or Yale in the United States and has been visited by over 30 heads of state in the past 10 years. It is also where the student leader of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 attended school. Incidentally I would discover that the students at the university and the Chinese people in general knew very little about the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre of 1989. Catherine showed us the campus pond and store before returning us to our meeting point around 9:30pm.

We boarded the buses for the 10 minute drive to the Beijing Post & Telegraph Conference Center Hotel. After checking into our rooms I found out the hard way, literally, that Chinese beds were not as soft as those in other countries. I discovered that jumping into bed was a bad idea that should not be repeated. I turned on the TV and after flipping through the channels ended up watching CCTV9 because it was the only English language station available. The program was an interview with Robert Schummer by a very hostile host. The most interesting thing about this interview was not what Mr. Schummer said but what he didn’t say. At one point when Mr. Schummer mentioned “freedom” the station immediately went to a commercial break and came back on the next question. This happened later in the broadcast as well when Robert prepared himself to share a quote. After saying that he had one quote he would like to share, the broadcast skipped to the next question. The obviously censored station was quite an amusing way to end the day.

THURSDAY APRIL 19, 2007
Breakfast at the hotel was slightly different from that in the US. There was rice, noodles, soup, bread, eggs, and juice. I sufficed with some eggs, pineapple juice, and bread before boarding the bus. Our first stop for the day was a Cloisonné factory. Cloisonné is an ancient Chinese art whereby copper items are decorated with small pieces of wire, filled in with colors, and baked to form beautiful plates, vases, bowls, and a variety of other items. I am not certain on this but I believe Cloisonné work is what was traditionally referenced during meals when one says “Bring out the fine China.” After the factory visit we visited the site containing the Ming Tombs. This is where many emperors and their wives were buried during this dynasty. The tombs are about 50ft underground and are a network of approximately six large chambers. While most original artifacts had been stolen, the Emperors stone throne was still present and many people had thrown small offerings of money on top to request the emperors help in their eventual journey to the afterlife.

Following another large meal we headed for the Great Wall of China. About an hours drive out of the city our bus stopped at a rather touristy section of the wall for us to explore. The Great Wall was well, great! During our 2.5 hours there I hiked up to the peak of a section which was nearly a 1000ft vertical. My legs were burning and body sweating by the top but the cool weather and views made for an absolutely breathtaking experience. Upon reaching the top I took a large breath and let out a yell one could probably hear from the bottom. I am not quite sure why I yelled but at that moment it felt appropriate. While resting at the top and enjoying the views I could not help but think how much it must have sucked for the people who built this great wall thousands of years ago. Closing my eyes I traveled back in time and struggled to imagine the misery and suffering of the laborers who created this wonder by hand. To me the Great Wall is not only an incredible feat of human engineering but also one of human oppression. The hike down was much easier and I purchased some souvenirs along the way before boarding the bus back to Beijing.

After a short stop at our hotel we headed back to Peking University for dinner at a campus restaurant. We met with the Chinese students for the meal and talked about music, movies, our studies, and the strangeness of the food. One thing I learned is that Chinese food in America is not the same as Chinese food in China. Unfortunately my preference lies with American Chinese food. After dinner Catherine and I played host to about two hours of games meant to foster interaction and fun between the two groups. We set up events such as an eating competition, limbo, Simon says, and mission impossible. Fortunately the activities went over very well and most people said their goodbyes and traveled back to the hotel around 10:00pm.

I decided to stay at the university with my new friends and later that evening Catherine, her friend Tina and I took a taxi to a local bar for some drinks and conversation. The girls ordered margaritas and I had a beer as we talked about school, relationships, some politics, and music. I learned that Catherine was applying to go to Oxford because she was rejected by NYU. Both of them had traveled, spending the past semester in Denmark and 40 days in the US in the New York City area. I learned that both girls were only children as a result of the one child policy and had different views concerning that law. Catherine felt it was necessary but Tina wished that she had a sibling growing up to “fight with.” After some talk about politics we decided it was a poor topic for bar conversation so we changed to entertainment. One observation I made was that all the music in the bars and clubs was from abroad including Bob Marley, Dr. Dre, Nelly, and other typical music one might hear at a bar in the US. The funny aspect of this was that neither of the girls knew the artists or lyrics but they liked the music anyways. I wrote down a few suggestions for popular western music including Bob Marley, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jimi Hendrix, Alicia Keys, and Mariah Carey. While I don’t really listen much to Alicia or Mariah I thought they might like the music. They both thoroughly enjoy the show Friends and said Prison Break was popular among students as well. For some reason they kept saying that I reminded them of Joey on Friends. I was not sure how to take that comment because he was the dumb one but I just went along with it. Eventually we came to the topic of relationships. They were both single and had boyfriends in the past but broke up. One interesting comment was that they felt dating in high school was difficult because there is too much homework and pressure to learn. Later in the conversation we played the game Never Have I Ever which was very revealing but inappropriate to share. Our conversation was then interrupted by the bartender show. The bartenders there were very good and comparable in my opinion to tricks I have seen in Las Vegas. After the show I purchased their first round of Pina Coladas which were not very good. Around 1am I decided to head back to my hotel and caught a taxi with the Chinese directions they wrote for me. I fell asleep about 1:30am.

FRIDAY APRIL 20, 2007
Today was extremely busy. Following breakfast we traveled to the Temple of Heaven. This is where emperors would pray for a good Harvest and make sacrifices for the gods. Supposedly the wall surrounding the temple is supposed to be a perfect circle and if you yell at one point on the wall a person directly across from you can hear your yell despite the 100 ft or so circumference. After yelling at the wall with no response I realized that this is perhaps the only place in the world I can yell at a wall without people thinking I am crazy. My favorite experience at the palace was talking to the groups of little Chinese kids on field trips. Whenever I walked by they would wave their hands and say hello. Also when I said “How are you” they would almost in perfect unison say “Fine Thanks and You.” Needless to say I asked “How are you” about 10 times to humor myself. On a serious note, I found it surprising that it was mandatory for these elementary school kids to begin learning English so young. It made me think that perhaps the US needs to adjust the way it teaches foreign languages. Also considering the growth of China it might be wise to begin offering more Chinese language lessons in US schools.

We had our standard lunch Daijiacun Restaurant except for a short performance. Five beautiful Chinese ladies did a few different dances on stage while we ate our standard servings of rice, chicken, soup, pork, peppers, pop, and a number of other items. After lunch we traveled to the infamous Tiananmen Square to explore for about two hours. I walked around the entire perimeter of the massive square which is surrounded by the Chinese museum, Mao’s Mausoleum, and the Great Hall of the People. Unfortunately Mao’s Mausoleum was closed for construction but I did get a picture in front of the large Beijing 2008 Olympic countdown clock. Something I did not expect was that I would become a tourist attraction myself. Multiple times I was asked in the square and at other sights to take a picture with various people. I learned that many of these people are tourists from other provinces and had perhaps never seen a white person before. I believe it is just a natural human reaction to be interested in anything that is different from the norm so I was happy to pose for their pictures. One very noticeable sight around the square was the high security. It is ironic that the large numbers of video cameras and soldiers within the square should make me feel less rather than more secure. I felt like I was in the middle of George Orwell’s book 1984. It was obvious that the Chinese government was not going to let another protest similar to those of 1989 occur again. It was sad for me thinking about how close those individuals were to gaining their freedom that year and how little the Chinese people and students know about those events today.

After exploring the square and taking many pictures we ventured into the Forbidden City. The history behind this massive area is fascinating. While entering the city one could only imagine the decadent lifestyle of the 21 emperors who lived within its walls. They each had hundreds of concubines and were waited on constantly by many more servants. Unfortunately many of the cultural relics that existed within the city walls have been stolen but slowly some were being returned. One fairly new addition to the Forbidden City I discovered was a Starbucks coffee shop. This was not outside the walls of the city but in one of the buildings in the middle of the compound. The shop was cleverly hidden with no Starbucks signs inside or out except for the label on the cups and the ropes for the payment line. Starbucks + Forbidden City = Sad.

After the Forbidden City our group traveled to another restaurant to eat the famous Peking duck. The duck was quite delicious but slightly less appetizing when served with the ducks head on the plate. Following dinner I walked down the street and discovered a large department store. What surprised me about this store was the huge variety of each product and the absolutely ridiculous number of employees working there. There must have been 200 different cell phones, 40 different fans, 20 different water jug dispensers, and the list goes on. It is well known that consumers are happier with their purchase when there is a smaller selection of items to choose from but this store did not realize that. Also there were nearly 70 employees working on the sales floor which was no larger than a Barnes and Noble. The only explanation I could come up with was that they must have worked on commission.

After dinner we walked to Chaoyang Theater to watch a Chinese acrobatic show. It was perhaps the most amazing show I had ever seen and the only thing I can think to compare it to is Cirque de Solei. They used costumes, music, lights, and flexibility to perform the most surreal human feats I had ever seen. There was a girl who did a toe stand on another girls head while spinning ten plates on sticks. There was a man who jumped up a series of posts using only one arm. And there were women who stacked themselves four high on a post holding themselves up by their mouths. While the feats were all amazing I felt sorry for some of the young kids in the performance only because I realized they had been forced into this profession at birth. I knew that many of these kid’s bodies were actually disfigured from such strenuous training at such a young age. They were given no choice in life but to be acrobats. I have a DVD of the show to share with anyone interested when I return home.

Following the show we traveled back to our hotel for the evening. Two friends and I did not want to waste our last night in Beijing so I called our friend Catherine from the night before and took a taxi to meet up with her and Tina at Peking University. They took us to a popular dance bar about 10 minutes away where we spent the evening. The bar was again very similar to those back home with English music, a Yankees game on TV, and cigarette smoke everywhere. We went down to the basement where the main dance floor was located and after a drink joined in the fun. It was at first strange as I and the two SAS girls with me were dancing together as the only white people in the place. I looked up and realized that all eyes were on us as we continued in our terrible American dance/grinding style. Eventually more people joined in and more Caucasians arrived who were either exchange students or enrolled in Chinese language schools nearby. I had to convince Catherine and Tina to join in dancing because they told me this was their first time at a dance club. Surprisingly they danced very well for their first times. We left the bar around midnight and while leaving I realized just how much of a fire hazard that place was. There was only one small wooden staircase down to the basement that held about 150 people and no sprinkler system. Fortunately we were safe and made it back to our rooms around 1:00am for some sleep.

SATURDAY APRIL 21, 2007
W left the hotel around 9:00am after a frustrating debacle with girls being indecisive on going to a Pearl Market. The only stop for us that morning was the beautiful Summer Palace where many emperors and empresses spent much time. The palace actually consisted of many buildings and gardens surrounding a decent sized lake. We explored the palace grounds for 1.5 hours then met our guides at the infamous Marble Boat. This was a boat built to signify the strength of the Chinese government and is never supposed to sink. I found out later that the marble boat did not actually float but was built up from the lakebed and only looked like a boat. The story goes that some empress built this boat and rebuilt the palace with funds that were supposed to be used for the Chinese Navy. This decision left China vulnerable to foreign invaders and eventually allowed the many European powers to establish strongholds along the Chinese coast and eventually invade into the heart of the nation. Oops! We took a ferry boat across the lake from the marble boat back to the entrance and then headed for the airport.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful and we caught our flight to arrive in Qingdao around 3:00pm. We traveled by bus back to the ship and I observed many industrial plants as well as rampant pollution. After a long wait in line to board the ship and another long shower I laid down and fell asleep. Until next time China.