East Eats West

Take a guess!

What is that, any ideas (seen in Hong Kong)?

Writing Chinese on a western keyboard

Ever wondered how to write Chinese using an English keyboard (there are no Chinese key boards)? With about 3’000 letters, 5’000 tones and many more meanings, the keyboard offers just 26 Roman letters to start with. Well, Windows has built in three translating programs that function either on the pronunciation or the combination of symbols. While you are typing it suggest you Chinese letters. However, it is a tedious task and something Chinese have to learn by themselves.

Hong Kong or the more efficient Chinese

Hong Kong after an economic dip is recovering due to Mainland Chinese travelling and shopping in the city. Compared to their mainland compadres Hong Kong Chinese do not spit, deliberately queue in line for the bus, are told to wash their hands and use soap on the public toilets and most of them more or less understand English. Even more, the ferries run amazingly fast and cost a mere dime and construction sites use heavy machinery instead of manual labour. But the really surprising thing about Hong Kong is its plentiful nature. Yes, Lantau island, the biggest, for example is mostly uninhabited and has camping sites and trails for trekking (and Disney Land and the new airport). The people, especially the girls, dress fashionably and like in many Asian cities, shopping is a national past-time. My travel companions Goga and Alex think this is the much more authentic and attractive city than Singapore.

So far the “one land two systems” concept for Hong Kong seems to hold more or less. Protests are still common and press freedom does exist. China promised at the handover in 1997 to uphold this system for 50 years but many fear the Chinese implemented governor will slowly change the course. At least the first governor was sacked after widespread unrest.

If you feel treating yourself to a treat in Hong Kong, visit the I-Spa in the Intercontinental Hotel on Kowloon. After a relaxing Swedish massage in your own Spa suite with Jacuzzi have a glass of Champagne in the lobby bar and realize that the Hong Kong skyline beats New York by lengths.

Train spotting in China

From 30 minutes on the Malev high-speed train to the 19 hours trip in the sleeper train, we have seen it all in China. But contrary to our fears, it was a pleasant experience for the most part: The trains run on time and ride fairly smoothly. The beds are almost big enough for foreigners and the linen seemed to be clean. For example on our last train ride we even got little LCD displays for watching an old Audrey Hepburn movie. You also get served tea, coffee, snacks and food and the canteens have a full fledge kitchen and serve decent food (no English menu though). The coaches vary from spotless and sparkling from Shanghai to Beijing (all trains from and to Beijing are modern) to a bit scruffy in the west. A very attractive thing of Chinese trains is the ever changing uniforms of the white-gloved attendants who greet you smiling at the train entrance. On our last trip for example the uniforms were a cute golden-purple with little black round hats on nice-looking women’s heads. One of them sold later merchandise in a golden blouse that more looked like a night gown. Just sweet and way to go for Swiss train staff uniforms!

Guilin, the Monument Valley of China

Guilin is famous for its mountains skirting the Lijang river. Pictures say more than words, check them out!

From Kunming to Guilin

Another long train ride from Kunming to Guilin: 1200km and 19hrs in the soft sleeper coach. At least food is good and beer cheap which helps to shorten the journey. Guilin is a major tourist city with many caves and its famous Lijang River Cruise. The Lijang River meanders for kilometres through sandstone sceneries not unlike the Monument Valley in the USA. Except that the scenery is green and you see fishermen with cormorants and farmers with water buffalos. The 4.5 hours on the boat were worth it, the scenery is breath-taking and the slightly hazy weather supports its appeal.

Our young tour guide, fresh from university, pleasantly surprised us in sparing us from the local pearl museum; we already were made to visit the day before. She dropped us at the train station and gave us money for the cab ride. Honestly, such behaviour is new to us in China and made for a very pleasant surprise. Thanks Janet! See here the pics.

Jump-starting China

On the boat ride on Lijang river I met Alvin, a Malaysian journalist who was attending the ASEAN conference in Guilin. We talked about the economical impact of China on the region and he made a good example with Malaysia. Malaysia is trying to establish 3G mobile phone networks. After 1G, 2G and 2.5G Malaysia is still experiencing troubles with 3G while China already has it, right from the 1st generation. The same with cars: China is far advanced compared to Malaysia when it comes to producing its own car. Despite both countries see investment by international car companies. Alvin described the Chinese progress as jump-start. Instead of a gradual evolution China starts with the help of multinational companies right with the most modern technology, so to speak jumping the line. And Chinese society seems to adapt to this change breakneck speed without any bigger hiccups.

From Terracotta Warriors to Ancient Chinese Towns and the Shaoling Monastery

Pingyao - 5th October, 56.day

Pingyao is a Ming-dynasty city and looks like foreigners would imagine a Chinese city to look like: It is encircled by a massive wall with moat and holds a confusing array of typical Chinese houses with high walls and courtyards. It has a very scenic main road with traditional tea shops, antique sellers and museums. The first Chinese cheque bank was established in Pingyao and is a museum nowadays. This private bank had back in the 19th century branches across the whole of China and got even one branch in Japan and one in Korea, quite amazing. The traditional Chinese courtyard house has a more or less humble front with wooden gate and is then separated in different sized courtyards. These houses were the home for whole clans with different generations living together. They were all walled off to the outside world, lacking windows or porches. The life happened just inside, in the Daiwei. Some of the houses are two-storeys high, but people would just live on the ground floor, using the second floor as storage. We thoroughly enjoyed this picturesque but still lively ancient city.

Maybe a few words about the blood-drained Chinese education system: Our guide, Mrs. Li, told us that her daughter goes to school five days a week from 7.30am until 6.30pm. The class consists of 72 pupils and they mainly learn by memorizing and listening to the teacher who reads from a book. Critical thinking or debating is unheard of. Then the daughter comes home and does her homework for a few hours under the supervision of the parents, before going to bed. On the weekend she takes traditional Chinese art classes like Calligraphy or playing musical instruments. China actually spends under average in education and health care. No wonder people save on average 25 percent of their disposable income. They have to provide for education, retirement and health care.

Shaolin Monastery - 6th October, 57.day

After another night train ride we arrived in Zhenzhou. After a brief bus ride we exited near Luo Yang and walked to the world-famous and partly rebuilt Shaolin monastery, birthplace of Kung Fu martial arts. This monastery was founded in 525 AC by the Indian Buddhist monk Boddidharma. He established Zen-Buddhism in China which later spread to Japan. He meditated in a cave in the mountains nearby and started practising physical exercises, copied from the animals, in order to keep his body nimble. This was the start of Kung Fu martial arts. Shaolin Kung Fu became the grandmother of all martial arts around the world and got to fame through Bruce Lee. During the Communist Cultural Revolution most of the ancient Shaolin temples were destroyed by the Red Guards and the Shaolin masters fled the country to Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States. In the 80ies the Communist government started to rebuild the temples and put very few monks back in them (remember, Communism is per definition atheistic). Nowadays the temple is a major tourist site with many private and secular Kung Fu schools surrounding it. There is no more Zen-Buddhism practised and the famous Shaolin “monks”, who tour the world with their show, are more acrobats than monks. The “monks” present in the temple ground are just disguised workers, as even our guide admitted. By the way, the Shaolin temple is not the first temple built by the Communist government for tourist reasons. As long as there are no real monks living in them, they seem not to mind (in the past there were many Buddhist monk inspired upraisings).

Today the birthplace of Shaolin Kung Fu, martial arts and Zen Buddhism is nothing more than a Communist government operated tourist attraction. The traditions were broken, the masters left, the soul is gone and what is left, is just a commercial tourist trap. It seems the same fate awaits Tibet. Free Tibet!

Longmen Cave - 7th October, 58.day

Outside Luo Yang one can find the most spectacular relicts from the Wei and Tang dynasty: the Longmen (Dragon Door) Buddhist caves. Built almost 2’000 years ago by the Wei and later the Tang emperors (including the famous and only female empress Wu), the stone caves are a absolutely splendid and a stunning display of Buddhist craftsmanship: Some of the caves took over 25 years to build. The massive and incredible beautiful Buddhas carved out of solid stone are up to 17m high and some caves have up to 15’000 thousand very small Buddhas in them.

A few words about the Tang Dynasty: The Tang dynasty was artistically and culturally the most advanced in Chinese history. The dynasty lasted from the 6th until the 10th century and the Chinese empire was at its grandest, expanding from Thailand to Korea as far as Russia. One of its capitals, Luo Yang, was situated on the Silk Road with many foreign settlers giving the place an international feeling.

After the visit of the cave we took a six hours train ride south to Xi’an. The train ride through the Chinese heartland gave us a glimpse on the many faceless and gray industrial towns with their huge manufacturing and coal power plants. The ride was only interrupted by extensive mountain ranges and some bare grassland.

Terracotta Army and Emperor Qin Mausoleum - 8th October, 59.day

About 35 kilometres outside of Xi’an in Shaanxi province lies the mausoleum of legendary Emperor Qin who got famous in the West through his massive terracotta army. Qin was the first emperor to unify China through years of warring and from him China got its name from: Qina or China. The emperor ascended the throne in 246 BC and immediately started to build his mausoleum. It took him 38 years to build and 720’000 workers were involved, including forced labour. Emperor Qin after unifying China became consequently more and more obsessed with the idea of immortality. He replicated his whole kingdom in the mausoleum including palaces, armies, concubines, animals, rivers made out of mercury and the ceiling of the chambers apparently is painted with golden stars. How many workers died, no one knows. What is known is that many animals, administrators, concubines, attendants and soldiers where buried with him, some of them alive, others dead. The mausoleum is protected by traps and defence mechanism and it was so well hidden, that it was not found for 2’000 years, despite all the treasures buried.

The Terracotta army, which guarded the mausoleum and is 2km east of the tomb, was discovered in 1974 by a farmer digging a well. So far three pig pits with soldiers, horses and chariots where discovered and many relicts found. Each terracotta soldier has its own face and clothing, not two being the same; there are ten-thousands of them!

So you are wondering what this splendid mausoleum, the biggest in the world, looks from the inside? You wonder how the Chinese, who obviously love to build, dig, destroy and renovate display this grandiose testimonial of their high culture? Well, here is the truth: The mausoleum has not been opened so far and the Chinese have no intention doing so! Surprised that such a tremendous treasure has been left untouched for over thirty years by the Chinese government? Why? If one asks for the reason, the standard reply is that the mausoleum causes many technical problems to the excavation and that modern methods do cannot solve them. For example dangerous fungus might kill people. This is the official story, the unofficial goes like this: Emperor Qin was notorious for his cruelty and insanity. He was obsessed with immortality and supernatural power, burned books, purged his state, killed thousand of enemies and was paranoid of being assassinated. The Chinese believe that he was cursed and if someone tries to open the mausoleum, Emperor Qin will come back and haunt them. So even the Chinese government, never shy of risking a few human lives and pretending being so secular, backs away from his grave. What do you think?

By the way, the mausoleum ground is poisonous because of the mercury in the tomb. This does not inhibit local farmers to grow fruit on and around the mausoleum and sell it to the tourist. Bon appetite!

Kumning, 9th October, 60.day

We flew from Xi’an to Kumning, partner city of Zurich, also called city of eternal spring. Kumning in the province Yunnan, about 1’800 metres above sea level, is a pleasant smaller Chinese city in the very south, close to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. The flight was, to our slight disappointment, absolutely ordinary and eventless. The only thing that caught my eyes are the few beggars in town. Otherwise the city looks from the buildings, shops and people like the other Chinese cities we saw. People are mildly interested in foreigner and hardly smile. Chinese in general make a less upbeat and open impression as Southeast Asian cities, for example.

Shilin, 10th October, 61.day

One hour from Kumning away we visited the Shilin Stone Forest in the minority village of the Bai people (White people). To our very disappointment it was one big colourful touristy circus with a nice rock formations enshrined in souvenir stands, paved walk-ways and tourist restaurants. Minority people (if they really are Bai) dress up in colourful costumes and sell you postcards, hats and carpets: We left quickly. On the way back we came across dusty and poor roads, massive power plants and ramshackle houses: quite different than the booming regions of the East. One peculiar historical fact is that Mao was very afraid of a Soviet invasion. So he built many factories across the whole country; up in the mountains and back in the remotest valleys. 

China to Doctor Atkins!

China is not only growing economically, but also around the waistline. At least the kids do with 10 percent already being obese according to TV CCTV9. Ten year Chinese weighing 120kg and eating 110 kebabs are not rare. One reason might be the “little emperor” syndrome: Many children being the only-child, they get spoiled by the “six-pockets”: the two grandparents and the parents. Another reason is the availability of American fast-food: KFC, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut everywhere. So bigger they get and TV advertisements for weight loss are popular. But not only kids want to loose weight, also women. For example Marie-France Bodyline, a weight-loss centre, is widely popular and offering programmes for women. Also plastic surgery is on the rise. The astonishing thing is not, that Chinese get fatter, but how quickly, like everything else in China, it is happening. Me by the way, have lost already three kilos in China while eating Chinese food. So it cannot be too hard!

Other People's Children never die out!

Anyone going to China should read the wonderful book by Hanne Chen called “Kulturschock” (or culture shock in English). She gives a hand-on approach to the Chinese psyche and culture. Let me summarize some of the most striking features of Chinese culture: Chinese are proud of their family. They respect their parents and grandparents and show an amazing politeness with family members. All belonging to the family and other people belonging to the inner circle, are treated with politeness and respect, anyone else not. Close relationships built on mutual obligations are called Quanxi and are the corner stone of Chinese society: For the ones without relationship, the weakest ones, there is only the law left. If Chinese do not know anyone or do not have any meaningful relationship with this person, they just do not care at all. They show the rudest behaviour, push and shove, shout, spit and ignore. This goes as far as if an ambulance with the horns on wants to pass, no one let it through: why should they care, it is not their problem. The same applies to traffic in general: every one pushes, honks, cuts corners and tries to squeeze in: who cares, they do not know each other. Someone gets pushed on the tracks in the station: no one even stops. You want to eat or get a table in a restaurant and the person responsible is not present: the other staff will not even blink. Queuing, absolutely unheard of. The concept that sums up this behaviour is simple: other people’s children never die out, so why should you care! Caring for others and social responsibility is not practised outside the inner circle or family. So it all ends up in social Darwinism on the streets of China. But there is hope among the younger generation educated abroad and well-travelled: they have a higher respect for foreigners and are often curious. But compared with the uneducated masses, they are just a drop off a duck’s back.