Things are seriously heating up in China. The Heat Index in Suzhou was 47 degrees today! I ventured out only because I wanted to experience the hottest day of my life on planet earth. It was not nice...
In Urumqi things are also hot and it's not just the weather. Large scale clashes between Han Chinese and ethnic Muslim Uyghurs led to Facebook being shut down. With this blog down for a long time and facebook also down, I found a way around the one problem. I can write on this blog again but Facebook is still a problem. You can't have everything...
To add a little spice to the heat, I am reading Fuchsia Dunlop's memoir on her cooking experiences in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Sichuan food is very popular in China and has a long and interesting history. Sichuan's famous spice is Sichuan Pepper. It is a peppercorn that 'explodes' in your mouth and make your mouth numb and hot at the same time. Funny sensation but great with food.
Her book made me look for the nearest Sichuan restaurant in Suzhou. With the heat searing outside, I had a wonderful lunch of "Deliciously spiced cold chicken", "Snakehead fish with chillies in oil soup" and 'Bullfrog with chillies and garlic". To cool things down a bit I washed it down with ice cold plum juice...Delicious!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
How green is my valley
When the Chinese do things, they do things on a grand scale. In Suzhou city there are the most beautiful "old gardens" and the Suzhou-ren (Suzhou people) have extended their love for gardens in the modern areas of the city. We have marvelled at how open pieces of land is transformed within days in a lush new "instant park".
All over town you see many old blue trucks driving around with huge trees on the back. These trees are destined to be planted somewhere in a public park or next to a highway. Camphor trees are the most common and you also see a lot of beautiful Chinese maples with their beautiful burgundy leaves. It is amazing to see how they transplant these huge trees. Normally the trees are planted and then supported with a bamboo structure around it. Every morning big trucks filled with water (think fire engine) come around and hose the new trees down in order to settle them and get them growing. This also creates many jobs. All throughout the day hundreds of people can be seen tending trees, pruning shrubs, cutting grass and busying themselves with gardening on a big scale.
In global news, reporting in general, is not about China and its great environmental record. I was pleasantly surprised to see just how much China is involved in the fight against climate change and alternative sources of energy. China itself is feeling the effect of climate change. Beijing in the north sits with a big problem on its doorstep - the Gobi desert. Due to global climate change, the Gobi is encroaching on Beijing at an alarming pace, something like 2 miles per year in all directions. This spring Beijing has been hit by severe sand storms. There are even sand storm forecasts on television.
On the topic of deforestation I read this article in the China Daily about China's reforestation efforts:
China will spend 60 billion yuan (8.77 billion US dollars) annually on its greening, or tree-planting, campaigns in an effort to have 20 percent of the country's land covered by forests by 2010, an official said on Wednesday.
Jia Zhibang, head of the State Forestry Administration, said 16.66 million hectares of trees must be planted in the next two years in order to increase the forest coverage rate to 20 percent, from 18.21 percent at present.
That means in two years they want to plant enough trees to cover a size more than the Western Cape (or for a different perspective - almost as large as the UK)! If you plant a thousand trees on a hectare (that's covering 10% per hectare) that means it's 16.6 billion trees! That's surely a huge amount of carbon credits! It also means it equals twelve trees for each person in China or almost three trees for every human being on the planet! Thanks China!
Over a 20-year lifecycle, the right species in the right conditions can absorb over 40,000 tonnes of CO2 per square kilometer. So a plantation of 100 square kilometers can absorb 4 million tonnes of CO2 over 20 years. That’s equivalent to taking 50,000 cars or more off the road during that time (based on annual emissions of 3 to 4 tonnes for the average car and its usage). China's tree planting efforts therefore relate to 166,000 square kilometres of forest to be planted, thus the total amount of CO2 that will be removed over twenty years equals 664,000,000,000 (664 billion) tonnes of CO2. In car terms that is "removing" 8300,000,000 (8.3 billion) cars from the roads, equal to 1.5 cars per person on planet earth over the next 20 years!
The article went on by saying that in 2008:
A total of 540 million people joined forestation efforts in the past year, planting 2.31 billion trees in mountains, city parks, on campuses and along highways and railways.
China is the third largest country in the world in terms of area, with 9.6 million square kilometers of land territory behind Russia and Canada.
The country's top legislative body, the National People's Congress (NPC), passed a resolution in 1981 to make it the duty of all citizens above the age of 11 to plant trees annually. Tree-planting activities are usually carried out in March and April, the spring time for most part of the country.
This was described by former U.S. Vice President and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore as "the largest tree-planting program the world has ever seen," during international climate talks in Poland in December.
Happy tree planting, your biggest ally is China!
All over town you see many old blue trucks driving around with huge trees on the back. These trees are destined to be planted somewhere in a public park or next to a highway. Camphor trees are the most common and you also see a lot of beautiful Chinese maples with their beautiful burgundy leaves. It is amazing to see how they transplant these huge trees. Normally the trees are planted and then supported with a bamboo structure around it. Every morning big trucks filled with water (think fire engine) come around and hose the new trees down in order to settle them and get them growing. This also creates many jobs. All throughout the day hundreds of people can be seen tending trees, pruning shrubs, cutting grass and busying themselves with gardening on a big scale.
In global news, reporting in general, is not about China and its great environmental record. I was pleasantly surprised to see just how much China is involved in the fight against climate change and alternative sources of energy. China itself is feeling the effect of climate change. Beijing in the north sits with a big problem on its doorstep - the Gobi desert. Due to global climate change, the Gobi is encroaching on Beijing at an alarming pace, something like 2 miles per year in all directions. This spring Beijing has been hit by severe sand storms. There are even sand storm forecasts on television.
On the topic of deforestation I read this article in the China Daily about China's reforestation efforts:
China will spend 60 billion yuan (8.77 billion US dollars) annually on its greening, or tree-planting, campaigns in an effort to have 20 percent of the country's land covered by forests by 2010, an official said on Wednesday.
Jia Zhibang, head of the State Forestry Administration, said 16.66 million hectares of trees must be planted in the next two years in order to increase the forest coverage rate to 20 percent, from 18.21 percent at present.
That means in two years they want to plant enough trees to cover a size more than the Western Cape (or for a different perspective - almost as large as the UK)! If you plant a thousand trees on a hectare (that's covering 10% per hectare) that means it's 16.6 billion trees! That's surely a huge amount of carbon credits! It also means it equals twelve trees for each person in China or almost three trees for every human being on the planet! Thanks China!
Over a 20-year lifecycle, the right species in the right conditions can absorb over 40,000 tonnes of CO2 per square kilometer. So a plantation of 100 square kilometers can absorb 4 million tonnes of CO2 over 20 years. That’s equivalent to taking 50,000 cars or more off the road during that time (based on annual emissions of 3 to 4 tonnes for the average car and its usage). China's tree planting efforts therefore relate to 166,000 square kilometres of forest to be planted, thus the total amount of CO2 that will be removed over twenty years equals 664,000,000,000 (664 billion) tonnes of CO2. In car terms that is "removing" 8300,000,000 (8.3 billion) cars from the roads, equal to 1.5 cars per person on planet earth over the next 20 years!
The article went on by saying that in 2008:
A total of 540 million people joined forestation efforts in the past year, planting 2.31 billion trees in mountains, city parks, on campuses and along highways and railways.
China is the third largest country in the world in terms of area, with 9.6 million square kilometers of land territory behind Russia and Canada.
The country's top legislative body, the National People's Congress (NPC), passed a resolution in 1981 to make it the duty of all citizens above the age of 11 to plant trees annually. Tree-planting activities are usually carried out in March and April, the spring time for most part of the country.
This was described by former U.S. Vice President and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore as "the largest tree-planting program the world has ever seen," during international climate talks in Poland in December.
Happy tree planting, your biggest ally is China!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Don't play us a song Mr Piano Man
"For anyone who has ever wondered who in the world buys Richard Clayderman records, it's the Chinese, and there are a billion of them." Douglas Adams - "Last chance to see"
Errata - Douglas Adams wrote 'Last chance to see" in 1988, since then the Chinese population has grown to 1,338 billion according to the CIA World Fact Book.
In most public places we entered thus far in China, your ears are the first of your senses to suffer information overload. Whether it is from the shear noise of a crowd of people shouting at the top of their voices to be heard above all the others shouting at the top their voices or whether it be the Chinese pop music blaring out through the speakers, your ears suffer an enormous b(l)eating. I have learned to treasure silence...
In some of the more suave Chinese establishments there always seem to be piano music playing in the background, giving your ears a brief respite from the noise. At first I did not consciously recognise the music playing in the background but after a while I recognised the unmistakable sound of the one and only master pianist for the masses... Richard Clayderman. There is something about Richard and I am not sure what exactly it is...Sure, his tunes are popular...Three chord simplicity worked for the Beatles so Richard figured it'll work for him too. Richard has been around since the late 70's and he entered my childhood somewhere around primary school and judging on the zing in my ears when hearing his music, I realise that I might have OD'd on his music together with "Hooked on Classics" back in the eighties.
I stumbled on this description of the Clayderman brand of music when I tried to make sense of what I am hearing in China:
"Some see him as a symbol of Kitch. Clayderman has a curious market niche on third world countries, a fact mainly attributed by critics to his commercially oriented performance of local and very popular music (especially love songs), and cheap well distributed records. Some Chinese music teachers attribute the popularity of his music in mainland China to the increase in the number of piano students in the 1980's. Some people believe that the inverse is true, that there was an increase in piano students due to Clayderman".
Irene's theory is that when Richard became big in China (in the eighties), it marked a very significant period in China's history - the incident on that square in Beijing, and Deng Xiaoping's reforms that shaped modern China. Clayderman's music is maybe a sort of commemoration of a very significant period in Chinese history.
The Chinese are clearly besotted with the man and if you hear piano music it is almost guaranteed to be Richard Clayderman. Sorry, Lang Lang you'll have to practise harder!
May day, May day!
This is an extract from the government sponsored website Chinese way.org on "Tips for living in China":
3. Cars
Never, ever assume pedestrians have the right of way. Cars will not necessarily stop for you. Cross with a group if possible at a designated crosswalk. A car won't stop for a single person necessarily but will stop for a group because the driver doesn't want the car to be dented. Chinese really love their cars. (emphasis added)
Never, ever assume pedestrians have the right of way. Cars will not necessarily stop for you. Cross with a group if possible at a designated crosswalk. A car won't stop for a single person necessarily but will stop for a group because the driver doesn't want the car to be dented. Chinese really love their cars. (emphasis added)
On Friday China with the rest of the world, celebrated Worker's day. Naively I thought that it would be a good idea to head out of the city to a scenic spot with clean air and big skies close to Suzhou, to see what our neighbouring towns have to offer in the line of scenery and recreation. Did I really think I was the only guy in Jiangsu province who would come up with that idea??! Well about 40million other people also thought it would be a good idea to head off to the "country" and enjoy scenery and the "slower pace" of the countryside...
Slower pace took on an entirely new meaning. Our fifty kilometre journey to Lake Taihu took us close to three and a half hours! It was like the worst rush hour you can imagine with each and every car trying to push to the front. I had about seven hundred near death experiences and my only consolation was to say to myself, "well no one is going at more than 2km/s per hour so we'll probably survive a car crash today!" We passed about twenty bumper bashings. I had high hopes of obtaining a Chinese driving license but realised that I would be limited to drive around the block at 2am in the morning.
On the positive side of things I can say that the Chinese are extremely tolerant drivers and they really love their cars, even though it feels like there is no obeying the rules, they have "the love of their cars" in common. Forget the Germans' superior technology. The Chinese have perfected the car hooter. I cannot imagine anyone venturing on the roads with a broken hooter. Driving on Chinese roads without a proper working hooter is like venturing out in your car with a flat tyre. They don't use their hooter in the normal aggressive manner that Westerners normally use it. It's not a tool to invite or inflict road rage. It's a communication tool used on every other car that comes into the driver's personal space to say: "Hey buddy, how are you this morning? Isn't it a great morning in the fastest growing car market in the world? Love your new Chery by the way...I'm pushing in front of you, have a great day! Oh and please don't bump my car because we don't want to stand in the sun now for four hours, do we?" (Each letter represents a hoot).
If the constant pushing in front of other cars, the constant hooting, the constant braking hard in front of other cars would happen in let's say Jozi, there would be such carnage with people flying out of cars and wielding the variety of traditional weapons they normally carry with them. Not one rude sign, not even a mumble under the breath of our friend and driver for the day to his fellow Chinese drivers. Just absolute patience.
Lake Taihu is really beautiful but beautiful scenery is best enjoyed in peace and quiet. I was quite surprised to see that a good old "braai" or BBQ is also big in China. Thousands of tents lined Lake Taihu while people BBQ'ed and enjoyed a really beautiful day.
We had lunch at a very traditional "inn" on Taihu's third island. I am quite an adventurous eater and like new tastes but I get really "queasy" and lose my appetite along with my sense of humour if I get a whiff that hygiene levels are not up to standard...The two funny looking dogs walking around the kitchen and washing up area, where they also kept the "catch of the day" in something that resembled an old bath tub, were difficult for me to deal with. Also, I realised that I have a problem with anything having a grey colour on my plate. Good food cannot be grey! Maybe because "grey" rhymes with "decay". The lunch was not bad, but I experienced a bit of serious mind over (grey) matter.
Our traditional country lunch
After our very traditional lunch we headed off to a place that was described as a Wild West resort with horses, fly fishing, go-carts and rock climbing. It proved to be quite a fun afternoon and the kids enjoyed the outing very much. I did not see anything in the line of fly fishing and the horse riding is not all that much to write home about, but it was fun. Thankfully on our journey back the traffic dissipated and we made the journey back in no time. We ended the day with a light dinner and a family massage.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
A man called horse
This week we hopefully made our last pilgrimage to Shanghai to get our alien papers in order. Part of the process is to put down all our names in Chinese as well. It was a fun experience to pick names for our family and our assistant Daisy giggled non stop when we explained our "real" names to her and the meanings in French, German and so on.
In China people are referred to by their surname and their first name. Last name first, first name last. In other words, "Bruce Lee" is actually "Lee Bruce". Daisy's "real" name is Xiang (surname) Bin (first name). The other day I wrote an email to someone saying that if my mail is not clear, they can contact my assistant "Bin Xiang". She then got a call from the person I sent the email to and enquired amusedly to speak to the "refrigerator" and whether the "refrigerator" can supply him with more info...Daisy was not impressed.
Our Chinese surname is "Ma". Trying to translate "Koekemoer" proved to be impossible, so we did not even tried to complicate a very complicated matter further...The complicated part is to try to marry the phonetic sound of our Western names with some kind of a traditional Chinese name that also depicts something of the appearance/character of the person. Easier said than done!
"Ma" (alongside Lee and Chen) is quite a common surname in China and literally means "horse". So our first names were settled as follows:
Rihann - "Liang" (meaning "bright"). So I am now a "bright horse" or it may apparently also refer to a famous Chinese painter.
Irene - "Rui jie". Meaning "auspicious fast". Irene is a "fast/victorious, auspicious horse". Clearly Daisy likes her new boss...
Fleur - "Xin yi" is a "happy, happy horse". The Chinese name for a flower is "hua" and Daisy almost fell off her chair when we suggested Ma Hua for Fleur. She refused to put Fleur's name down as 'Horse flower".
Renee - "Yan ya" is quite aptly an "Elegant and beautiful horse".
The flip side of the coin is that it is also common for Chinese people to give themselves a Western name. It appears that the better the understanding of the English language the more plausible the name. Our assistant Daisy said she dabbled with names such as "Fairy, Kiddie or Angel" for herself, before settling on "Daisy".
The best Chinese/Western name we encountered thus far is a girl who took us on a guided tour of the Humble administrator's garden. The name that appeared on her business card was "Swallow Senator". I am not sure what on earth she was thinking! Maybe some American statesman had something to do with it...
In China people are referred to by their surname and their first name. Last name first, first name last. In other words, "Bruce Lee" is actually "Lee Bruce". Daisy's "real" name is Xiang (surname) Bin (first name). The other day I wrote an email to someone saying that if my mail is not clear, they can contact my assistant "Bin Xiang". She then got a call from the person I sent the email to and enquired amusedly to speak to the "refrigerator" and whether the "refrigerator" can supply him with more info...Daisy was not impressed.
Our Chinese surname is "Ma". Trying to translate "Koekemoer" proved to be impossible, so we did not even tried to complicate a very complicated matter further...The complicated part is to try to marry the phonetic sound of our Western names with some kind of a traditional Chinese name that also depicts something of the appearance/character of the person. Easier said than done!
"Ma" (alongside Lee and Chen) is quite a common surname in China and literally means "horse". So our first names were settled as follows:
Rihann - "Liang" (meaning "bright"). So I am now a "bright horse" or it may apparently also refer to a famous Chinese painter.
Irene - "Rui jie". Meaning "auspicious fast". Irene is a "fast/victorious, auspicious horse". Clearly Daisy likes her new boss...
Fleur - "Xin yi" is a "happy, happy horse". The Chinese name for a flower is "hua" and Daisy almost fell off her chair when we suggested Ma Hua for Fleur. She refused to put Fleur's name down as 'Horse flower".
Renee - "Yan ya" is quite aptly an "Elegant and beautiful horse".
The flip side of the coin is that it is also common for Chinese people to give themselves a Western name. It appears that the better the understanding of the English language the more plausible the name. Our assistant Daisy said she dabbled with names such as "Fairy, Kiddie or Angel" for herself, before settling on "Daisy".
The best Chinese/Western name we encountered thus far is a girl who took us on a guided tour of the Humble administrator's garden. The name that appeared on her business card was "Swallow Senator". I am not sure what on earth she was thinking! Maybe some American statesman had something to do with it...
Friday, April 24, 2009
Painting the dragon's eye
This week we attended a factory opening in Suzhou. What a grand affair! We arrived on a red carpet and were escorted by pretty Chinese girls to a table where we had to sign our names and receive a welcome gift.
A band of drummers were playing very loudly in the background, while a red and green dragon were dancing. After we were shown around the factory, several speeches were made and a giant ribbon was cut. While the ribbon was being cut and all the dignitories stood on the podium we were treated to a spectacular daylight firework show on the theme music of the Cowboy series "The High Chaparal". VERY loud fire crackers went off and in stead of the normal little explosions of light against a black sky, the tiny "sparks" were done with confetti.
Irene helping to cut the ribbon
After all of this, the partners of the new factory were given a paint brush and the red and green dragons kneeled in front of them to have their eye balls painted. The symbolism behind it is very interesting. The ceremony is called "hua long dian jing". The story goes that there was a brilliant painter who painted two dragons. After he finished his work of art people noticed that he left out the eyes of the dragons. Asking him why he did not paint the eyes, the reply came that the dragons would then be perfect and that they would fly off the picture and into the sky.
With openings of factories or with graduation ceremonies it is custom to "paint the dragon's eye balls". The "artist" paints the last detail that will make his/her venture perfect and the venture will form thereon go from strength to strengh.
Here is a little video insert of the painting of the dragon's eyeballs:
Hijacking Chinese style
Given the fact that I come from the hijacking capital of the world, I was quite unnerved to see the word "hijacking" in a Chinese newspaper.
On closer inspection it was quite an interesting article, given my own experience of "hijacking". It appeared that it was rather more of a hostage situation and not a "hijacking" as we know it in SA. Another interesting thing was the positioning of the negotiator on the left (in black gloves), clearly relaxed and pointing out the errors of the young man's ways and with a mere finger pointed at him and not a gun! In another picture the victim was even showed making phone calls with the knife against her throat.
On closer inspection it was quite an interesting article, given my own experience of "hijacking". It appeared that it was rather more of a hostage situation and not a "hijacking" as we know it in SA. Another interesting thing was the positioning of the negotiator on the left (in black gloves), clearly relaxed and pointing out the errors of the young man's ways and with a mere finger pointed at him and not a gun! In another picture the victim was even showed making phone calls with the knife against her throat.
A police negotiator (L) talks with a hijacker, surnamed Zhang, as he holds a woman hostage in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong province, Tuesday April 21, 2009. Zhang demanded 20,000 yuan ($2,940) in ransom to allegedly pay for his mother's surgery bill. After a 90-minute roadside standoff, police overwhelmed Zhang. The hostage, surnamed Kuang, was unharmed. Further investigation is underway.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
China ER
The past week saw a couple of brushes with the Chinese health system. Firstly, Irene's lower back pulled in a very painful spasm, that rendered her frozen on the spot, when pulling her jeans on…yes, I was surprised too...The incident occurred at a critical moment – in between me serving porridge and getting Fleur ready for her first school day! Irene could not be moved so while she lay on the floor, I had to serve breakfast and drop Fleur off at school...A couple of days prior to the incident, we met a friendly Dutch girl who happened to be a nurse and studied Chinese medicine in Suzhou. It also so happened that we exchanged phone numbers with her. Serenda was extremely helpful and guided us through the whole process of navigating through the Chinese health system to a point where we could obtain some help for Irene. She accompanied us to the Cowloon (pronounced Chow-long) hospital, where we paid about R12 to be registered on the hospital's system and to see an emergency doctor. The emergency doctor advised to come back the following day to the acupuncture ward. Apparently he had seen worse cases and did not look too worried about Irene. After a painful night and the smell of Tiger Balm in our noses we were shown the following day to the VIP ward, where most Westerners (referred to as laowai) go for treatment. As you probably guessed this is also more expensive. They are however very efficient and professional and in no time Irene had someone applying acupuncture needles to her back and she started her treatment. After three acupuncture sessions she is definitely better and taking it easier.
Two days after the "ugly incident with the jeans" with Irene's back still quite sore, we went to Shanghai for our Chinese medical tests. Apparently you cannot convert or submit your home country's tests for accreditation. It is not accepted in China. You're not allowed to eat for twelve hours before tests but on your arrival you are given a number and then you have to wait with other aliens with very low blood sugar levels to go through the battery of tests. The room is cramped with a huge fish tank in the middle of the waiting room. Probably to calm the highly strung, irritated and nervous bunch of aliens. Here you have to fill out more forms and wait. When they call your number you receive a gown and are then shunted from one doctor to the next. I will not go into all the details of the range of probes we were subjected to, but suffice it to say that it was thoroughly done and with amazing speed. Each test is conducted by a different doctor and I could not help to laugh when one doctor started pressing my nose from side to side. "Why are you doing this?" I asked. "To see if it was broken". I did not try to press the matter at this stage but it appears that guys with broken noses will probably be marked as potential "threats to the public order". When they submitted me to a ultrasound, I could not even get a smile from the doctor examining me when I said that I was not aware of the fact that I was pregnant. Well so be it, they have to one hundred percent sure that they do not let foreigners into the country that may disrupt the good order!
The results of the probes will be sent to us/made public on Tuesday next week…Thereafter we need to submit the test together with more documents to the authorities in Shanghai to confirm our work permits. This has to be done within a month so we're felling a slight bit of pressure in that regard. Our D-day is the 2nd of May.
All the best for the next week!
Two days after the "ugly incident with the jeans" with Irene's back still quite sore, we went to Shanghai for our Chinese medical tests. Apparently you cannot convert or submit your home country's tests for accreditation. It is not accepted in China. You're not allowed to eat for twelve hours before tests but on your arrival you are given a number and then you have to wait with other aliens with very low blood sugar levels to go through the battery of tests. The room is cramped with a huge fish tank in the middle of the waiting room. Probably to calm the highly strung, irritated and nervous bunch of aliens. Here you have to fill out more forms and wait. When they call your number you receive a gown and are then shunted from one doctor to the next. I will not go into all the details of the range of probes we were subjected to, but suffice it to say that it was thoroughly done and with amazing speed. Each test is conducted by a different doctor and I could not help to laugh when one doctor started pressing my nose from side to side. "Why are you doing this?" I asked. "To see if it was broken". I did not try to press the matter at this stage but it appears that guys with broken noses will probably be marked as potential "threats to the public order". When they submitted me to a ultrasound, I could not even get a smile from the doctor examining me when I said that I was not aware of the fact that I was pregnant. Well so be it, they have to one hundred percent sure that they do not let foreigners into the country that may disrupt the good order!
The results of the probes will be sent to us/made public on Tuesday next week…Thereafter we need to submit the test together with more documents to the authorities in Shanghai to confirm our work permits. This has to be done within a month so we're felling a slight bit of pressure in that regard. Our D-day is the 2nd of May.
All the best for the next week!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
"It's life Jim but not as we know it"
I'm finding that I have a light bout of "writer's blight"...it's like "writer's block" but the effects can range from "light" to "shrivel up and die" proportions...(for a moment I thought I was Woody Allen)
Anyway, before the writer's blight take a turn for the worse here goes...The car finding expedition has finally took a turn for calmer waters! We decided to rent a car for a month and try out a driver before we commit to a long term lease or buy a car. In China it is common to enter into a two year lease agreement on a car together with a driver. They assign three drivers to each car so you get these guys on a rotation basis. The rental companies have obviously done their math and the cost of renting a car for two years will work out approximately the same as buying the car and paying it off (for them...) over two years. The appealing thing however, is that you do not have the added responsibilities of insurance, services (they don't have maintenance plans in China) and licensing fees. As for the driver you pay his salary directly to him. He works from 8 to 5 and does a lot of "waiting'. We enquired how to deal with this problem, because if he is not driving (which will not be all that much, especially in the beginning) he will be "waiting" quite a lot of the time. The answer is pretty much that " he is a driver it is his duty, he must wait until you tell him to take you anywhere". You also pay him an allowance for meals, a small cell phone allowance and if you want him to work on weekends and over time you pay extra for that too. Oh and if the guy knows two words of English you pay extra for that too! You probably wondered about the largesse of employing a driver when he'll be sitting around a lot, waiting). Let's just say it has to do with a South African GPS that doesn't work, a driver's test and written and practical exam before one has a converted Chinese license, weird unwritten traffic rules, millions of drivers and cyclists and billions of Chinese characters...
We have also appointed an assistant who starts working for us in a week's time. This was quite an interesting experience...You literally have "labour markets" here. It's such a novelty! When you decide to recruit, you send your requirements to the management of the labour market. They post it on a website where job seekers can look at what employers have available. On "market day" all the employers and job seekers convene in a huge four storey building. There is a giant scroll at the entrance that lists all the jobs and at which booths the employers are seated. There are literally thousands of people. The employers get issued with a box that has instant coffee in and tea. You are assigned to a booth and then the interviews begin. People line up and you literally see a person per minute! There are thousands of job seekers that are very willing, very keen and very able to work. For our position of personal assistant, all the applicants had university degrees. It is really quite emotional to see how willing these people are to work and the sacrifices they are willing to make to be able to be employed.
Anyway, before the writer's blight take a turn for the worse here goes...The car finding expedition has finally took a turn for calmer waters! We decided to rent a car for a month and try out a driver before we commit to a long term lease or buy a car. In China it is common to enter into a two year lease agreement on a car together with a driver. They assign three drivers to each car so you get these guys on a rotation basis. The rental companies have obviously done their math and the cost of renting a car for two years will work out approximately the same as buying the car and paying it off (for them...) over two years. The appealing thing however, is that you do not have the added responsibilities of insurance, services (they don't have maintenance plans in China) and licensing fees. As for the driver you pay his salary directly to him. He works from 8 to 5 and does a lot of "waiting'. We enquired how to deal with this problem, because if he is not driving (which will not be all that much, especially in the beginning) he will be "waiting" quite a lot of the time. The answer is pretty much that " he is a driver it is his duty, he must wait until you tell him to take you anywhere". You also pay him an allowance for meals, a small cell phone allowance and if you want him to work on weekends and over time you pay extra for that too. Oh and if the guy knows two words of English you pay extra for that too! You probably wondered about the largesse of employing a driver when he'll be sitting around a lot, waiting). Let's just say it has to do with a South African GPS that doesn't work, a driver's test and written and practical exam before one has a converted Chinese license, weird unwritten traffic rules, millions of drivers and cyclists and billions of Chinese characters...
We have also appointed an assistant who starts working for us in a week's time. This was quite an interesting experience...You literally have "labour markets" here. It's such a novelty! When you decide to recruit, you send your requirements to the management of the labour market. They post it on a website where job seekers can look at what employers have available. On "market day" all the employers and job seekers convene in a huge four storey building. There is a giant scroll at the entrance that lists all the jobs and at which booths the employers are seated. There are literally thousands of people. The employers get issued with a box that has instant coffee in and tea. You are assigned to a booth and then the interviews begin. People line up and you literally see a person per minute! There are thousands of job seekers that are very willing, very keen and very able to work. For our position of personal assistant, all the applicants had university degrees. It is really quite emotional to see how willing these people are to work and the sacrifices they are willing to make to be able to be employed.
Job seekers at the job market
Interview with a future employer
The last member of our "early infrastructural staff" is the ayi (domestic). We have an interview with an ayi today so will give an update on this matter soon!
The weather has been very nice the past Easter weekend with nice sunshine for three consecutive days! Yesterday was misty and raining. When the mists descend on Suzhou it is quite heavy and enveloping...not something that we are used to. On the topic of "weather"...I briefly touched on a kite flying expedition some time ago...Kite flying is a BIG past time in Suzhou and whenever the weather permits and there's wind, people head outdoors to fly their kites. There is a really beautiful walk outside our apartment through a park with many camphor trees that opens in a huge open square next to lake Jinji where people fly their kites. Not sure who's having the most fun...kids or adults!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
A grand day out
On Sunday the mists lifted, the sun came out and we headed outdoors.
We ended up in a beautiful park where hundreds of people were flying kites. What novelty! We bought each of the kids a kite (ZAR50) and soon we were all maneuvering our kites in a bright(ish) sky.
After our kite running expedition we headed to a new shopping centre and ate pizza of all things at a Pizza Hut! Times square is brand new and modern with a good range of shops with all the well known brands and a very nice amusement park for the kids with a dinosaur theme. Several lifelike dino's stand around for the kids' entertainment.
The girls are getting quite adept at using the chopsticks and they are both very interested in the variety of foods and are becoming quite adventurous little eaters. Eating in China is a fun and social event. It is even better if you have your own private dining room and hostess. The host or most important person at the table get the best seat, directly opposite the door. He then summon the "fu-yen" and orders from the menu. The idea is to order several dishes that the host believes his party will like. A good host will order the dishes in several tiers. The first volley of dishes normally consists of light and cold dishes. Typical appetizers. These dishes can sometimes be slightly sweet. A recent discovery for me is a plate with steamed chestnuts and jojoba berries...very good. My Western palate finds it hard to order wine with the food. The tastes differ very much from one another so it is difficult to select the traditional white and red to accompany the food. So far I find a light beer is the best companion to a Chinese meal.
The second couple of dishes are more substantial and typically includes a whole fresh steamed fish, duck and pork or beef or other seafood (crabs, snails, shrimps, prawns). With these dishes you can expect a good variety of leafy vegetables and also maybe a mushroom dish. The variety and the tastes of mushrooms are fantastic! The host may at this point order some more "second tier" dishes. Dessert is not as we know it...a plate of fresh fruit is dessert but it is a refreshing end to a meal.
The highlight of the evening was when our hosts took us for an after dinner massage...kids and all!
The massage is a fun affair and literally the whole family can join. Depending on the size of the party you are ushered into a room with enough beds for everyone. You are served green tea in a glass with an orange. When everyone is comfortable, the masseuses enter and start massaging everyone in unison starting with the feet. It is a very fun and social experience. The kids enjoyed it hugely and they were spellbound for the whole two hours. If you want your kids to relax take them to a massage!
We ended up in a beautiful park where hundreds of people were flying kites. What novelty! We bought each of the kids a kite (ZAR50) and soon we were all maneuvering our kites in a bright(ish) sky.
After our kite running expedition we headed to a new shopping centre and ate pizza of all things at a Pizza Hut! Times square is brand new and modern with a good range of shops with all the well known brands and a very nice amusement park for the kids with a dinosaur theme. Several lifelike dino's stand around for the kids' entertainment.
The girls are getting quite adept at using the chopsticks and they are both very interested in the variety of foods and are becoming quite adventurous little eaters. Eating in China is a fun and social event. It is even better if you have your own private dining room and hostess. The host or most important person at the table get the best seat, directly opposite the door. He then summon the "fu-yen" and orders from the menu. The idea is to order several dishes that the host believes his party will like. A good host will order the dishes in several tiers. The first volley of dishes normally consists of light and cold dishes. Typical appetizers. These dishes can sometimes be slightly sweet. A recent discovery for me is a plate with steamed chestnuts and jojoba berries...very good. My Western palate finds it hard to order wine with the food. The tastes differ very much from one another so it is difficult to select the traditional white and red to accompany the food. So far I find a light beer is the best companion to a Chinese meal.
The second couple of dishes are more substantial and typically includes a whole fresh steamed fish, duck and pork or beef or other seafood (crabs, snails, shrimps, prawns). With these dishes you can expect a good variety of leafy vegetables and also maybe a mushroom dish. The variety and the tastes of mushrooms are fantastic! The host may at this point order some more "second tier" dishes. Dessert is not as we know it...a plate of fresh fruit is dessert but it is a refreshing end to a meal.
The highlight of the evening was when our hosts took us for an after dinner massage...kids and all!
The massage is a fun affair and literally the whole family can join. Depending on the size of the party you are ushered into a room with enough beds for everyone. You are served green tea in a glass with an orange. When everyone is comfortable, the masseuses enter and start massaging everyone in unison starting with the feet. It is a very fun and social experience. The kids enjoyed it hugely and they were spellbound for the whole two hours. If you want your kids to relax take them to a massage!
Friday, April 3, 2009
Almost a legal alien
After a rather soft landing in Hong Kong we arrived in Suzhou.
We really feel like space travellers because of the absolute assault on one's senses...Almost everything is different - sounds, smells, trees, cars, people, buildings. We also realize what it must feel like to be illiterate...
As many space travellers before us, the first major mission was to get ourselves "connected" and to establish contact with our mother ship. This was not done without a few technical "glitches". We marched to an outlet of "China mobile" as we were told that it is the most reliable network, wide coverage etc. Irene took the first step but her phone was incompatible with the card so I landed up with the sim and lo and behold my Blackberry"s approval ratings hit an all time high! A cool thing is that in China you can choose your own number. It is important to choose a "good" or "lucky" number preferable not containing the letter"4". Four is considered unlucky and you will also find no hotel or apartment with a 4th floor or a room with a four in it. 3G (they will go straight to 5G) is not very well developed in China and apparently we have to wait another month before we can obtain 3G compatibility with our phones.
Something that also posed quite a challenge in the first couple of days was to get a cable with which to connect the computer to the power supply...A search for "adapter plug" aroused some surprised looks and gestures...Lastly we took the cable to a computer store"downtown" with the help of our housing agent. In the same store we could source a cable for RMB480 (ZAR600) and at a different counter in the same store one for RMB20...There's some free market enterprise for you!
Yesterday we found an apartment and will be moving there in about three weeks...
Wherever we go people literally stop and and stare at our kids (both girls with blonde hair) and will comment and say "piao liang" which means 'beautiful"All the stares are a bit unnerving at first but you get used to it after about a day and just smile back. I know how Paris Hilton or Britney Spears' father must feel like! I heard before that Chinese people are very concerned about children and their welfare...Murphy would have it that in Suzhou's relatively cold weather (ranges between 6 and 12 degrees), Renee refuses to wear a jersey and constantly says "ek kry warm"...The whole range of threats, promises, alternatives and asking nicely cannot get her to wear a jersey (oh and no socks)...So it happened that especially when she is with me, a fairly large group of normally elderly ladies would gather and scold me (in Chinese of course) for apparently being such a useless excuse for a father to let his beautiful blond daughter walk around without a jacket...Hey and we are trying to attract as little attention as possible!
The reason why I called this blog "Almost a legal alien" is that the red tape is still not done...On Tuesday we are travelling to Shanghai to complete the last leg in the process of being formally called "alien" by presenting ourselves at the relevant government office and having some kind of an interview and a medical test. We also found out seventy two hours after our arrival that we had to report to the local police within twenty four hours...Luckily because we live in a hotel, this was taken care of on our behalf (and without our knowledge).
This whole weekend and Monday the Chinese have a public holiday what they call "tomb sweeping". It is quite a novel way of families getting together and visiting relatives graves and commemorating their dead ones.
Next mission to find a car and a driver...watch this space...
We really feel like space travellers because of the absolute assault on one's senses...Almost everything is different - sounds, smells, trees, cars, people, buildings. We also realize what it must feel like to be illiterate...
As many space travellers before us, the first major mission was to get ourselves "connected" and to establish contact with our mother ship. This was not done without a few technical "glitches". We marched to an outlet of "China mobile" as we were told that it is the most reliable network, wide coverage etc. Irene took the first step but her phone was incompatible with the card so I landed up with the sim and lo and behold my Blackberry"s approval ratings hit an all time high! A cool thing is that in China you can choose your own number. It is important to choose a "good" or "lucky" number preferable not containing the letter"4". Four is considered unlucky and you will also find no hotel or apartment with a 4th floor or a room with a four in it. 3G (they will go straight to 5G) is not very well developed in China and apparently we have to wait another month before we can obtain 3G compatibility with our phones.
Something that also posed quite a challenge in the first couple of days was to get a cable with which to connect the computer to the power supply...A search for "adapter plug" aroused some surprised looks and gestures...Lastly we took the cable to a computer store"downtown" with the help of our housing agent. In the same store we could source a cable for RMB480 (ZAR600) and at a different counter in the same store one for RMB20...There's some free market enterprise for you!
Yesterday we found an apartment and will be moving there in about three weeks...
Wherever we go people literally stop and and stare at our kids (both girls with blonde hair) and will comment and say "piao liang" which means 'beautiful"All the stares are a bit unnerving at first but you get used to it after about a day and just smile back. I know how Paris Hilton or Britney Spears' father must feel like! I heard before that Chinese people are very concerned about children and their welfare...Murphy would have it that in Suzhou's relatively cold weather (ranges between 6 and 12 degrees), Renee refuses to wear a jersey and constantly says "ek kry warm"...The whole range of threats, promises, alternatives and asking nicely cannot get her to wear a jersey (oh and no socks)...So it happened that especially when she is with me, a fairly large group of normally elderly ladies would gather and scold me (in Chinese of course) for apparently being such a useless excuse for a father to let his beautiful blond daughter walk around without a jacket...Hey and we are trying to attract as little attention as possible!
The reason why I called this blog "Almost a legal alien" is that the red tape is still not done...On Tuesday we are travelling to Shanghai to complete the last leg in the process of being formally called "alien" by presenting ourselves at the relevant government office and having some kind of an interview and a medical test. We also found out seventy two hours after our arrival that we had to report to the local police within twenty four hours...Luckily because we live in a hotel, this was taken care of on our behalf (and without our knowledge).
This whole weekend and Monday the Chinese have a public holiday what they call "tomb sweeping". It is quite a novel way of families getting together and visiting relatives graves and commemorating their dead ones.
Next mission to find a car and a driver...watch this space...
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
There's a reason why it's called "Red Tape"
The past week has been dominated by sorting, packing, moving stuff, talking about packing, strategizing about our move to Suzhou and talking to others about the aforesaid...
We received our license to work in China and although we cannot even begin to read the fine print, we are very happy that we have negotiated the system this far. "Red tape" are two words I've been thinking about quite a lot these days. It's interesting that the colour "red" is chosen, possibly to describe the anger, rage or steam-coming-out-of-your-head-stuff when having to deal with the bureaucrats of society. The fact that "tape" is used, possibly refers to the fact that when one has gone red and lost your temper, the feeling of desperation is further accentuated by a feeling similar to being wrapped up in tape so tightly that you cannot move your arms or legs! Dante's Inferno is suspiciously silent on the subject of where exactly bureuacrats fit in. I mean, look at the word "bureaucrat". Why is the spelling so difficult? You have to leave your computer every time to look up the word!
After being given 3 sets of differing advice about completing the local visa application process, I took a trip to the Chinese Consultate in Sandhurst yesterday. There was quite a lot of anger being exchanged between members of the public and the members of the People's Republic behind extremely thick bullet proof glass booths (I wonder why). However when I got to the front of the line and proudly displayed my "Alien's Employment License of the PRC", I could see a change in attitude from behind the counter and even got a smile! One surprise is that we all need to do quite a substantial medical check up. One of the categories on the medical information form requires from the medical practitioner that he has to certify that we do not suffer from anything that may disturb the "public order and security". Hold thumbs all go well...
Another little bit of drama is that we lost our apartment that we "reserved" (or thought we did) last week. Apparently the landlord (who was willing to wait for us) was not prepared to wait any longer and gave us an ultimatum out of the blue to sign the lease immediately. Despite mild protestations from our side he/she decided not to accept our final offer. Anyway, Maggie our competent house hunter in Suzhou has assured us there's no need to worry, she has plenty nice apartments lined up. One possibility is in the same block of apartments but higher up in the building. We would like to see the place first before committing, so the plan is to move into a serviced apartment for the first week or so until we sort out the housing problem...
The last weekend we spent saying "early byes" to friends and family and did not worry too much about the move and all the red tape. A very pleasant weekend, with Irene and I even managing to celebrate our wedding anniversary by having a quiet breakfast at Roots.
We have booked our tickets for the 30th of March so we are down to 12 days and counting!! Hold thumbs for our last preparations!
Talk soon!
We received our license to work in China and although we cannot even begin to read the fine print, we are very happy that we have negotiated the system this far. "Red tape" are two words I've been thinking about quite a lot these days. It's interesting that the colour "red" is chosen, possibly to describe the anger, rage or steam-coming-out-of-your-head-stuff when having to deal with the bureaucrats of society. The fact that "tape" is used, possibly refers to the fact that when one has gone red and lost your temper, the feeling of desperation is further accentuated by a feeling similar to being wrapped up in tape so tightly that you cannot move your arms or legs! Dante's Inferno is suspiciously silent on the subject of where exactly bureuacrats fit in. I mean, look at the word "bureaucrat". Why is the spelling so difficult? You have to leave your computer every time to look up the word!
After being given 3 sets of differing advice about completing the local visa application process, I took a trip to the Chinese Consultate in Sandhurst yesterday. There was quite a lot of anger being exchanged between members of the public and the members of the People's Republic behind extremely thick bullet proof glass booths (I wonder why). However when I got to the front of the line and proudly displayed my "Alien's Employment License of the PRC", I could see a change in attitude from behind the counter and even got a smile! One surprise is that we all need to do quite a substantial medical check up. One of the categories on the medical information form requires from the medical practitioner that he has to certify that we do not suffer from anything that may disturb the "public order and security". Hold thumbs all go well...
Another little bit of drama is that we lost our apartment that we "reserved" (or thought we did) last week. Apparently the landlord (who was willing to wait for us) was not prepared to wait any longer and gave us an ultimatum out of the blue to sign the lease immediately. Despite mild protestations from our side he/she decided not to accept our final offer. Anyway, Maggie our competent house hunter in Suzhou has assured us there's no need to worry, she has plenty nice apartments lined up. One possibility is in the same block of apartments but higher up in the building. We would like to see the place first before committing, so the plan is to move into a serviced apartment for the first week or so until we sort out the housing problem...
The last weekend we spent saying "early byes" to friends and family and did not worry too much about the move and all the red tape. A very pleasant weekend, with Irene and I even managing to celebrate our wedding anniversary by having a quiet breakfast at Roots.
We have booked our tickets for the 30th of March so we are down to 12 days and counting!! Hold thumbs for our last preparations!
Talk soon!
Friday, March 6, 2009
On Suzhou
Double click and look for the tiny yellow spot...
The easy answer is to direct people to our new home is that it's 80kms west of Shanghai. A couple of times I saw looks on people's faces ranging from "oh, so it's in the Styx" or "oh, it's in the country side"...
A little bit of background. Suzhou is a fairly large Chinese city with around 10million people (roughly the amount of people in Gauteng). It is economically vibrant and has been identified as one of the twelve economic zones in China. It is known as the "Venice of the east" due to the fact that the old city is built around waterways and canals.
What is appealing about Suzhou is that it has a rich history dating back as much as 2500 years. It is world renowned for its gardens and it is one of the "1000 places to see before you die" according to Patricia Schultz. The beautiful gardens in Suzhou have colourful and descriptive names such as "The Humble Administrator's Garden" or "The Master of the Nets Garden".
We will be living in an apartment close lake Jinji, one of the smaller lakes in Suzhou. The apartment complexes in Suzhou have names that make you giggle such as "Golden Love" and "Join in the Grand". We will be living in in a compound called "Horizon Resort". The area where we will be living is known as the Singapore Industrial Park (SIP). It is a massive 200 square kilometre development of businesses, apartments and light industries, mainly aimed at attracting foreign investment. There are roughly 20,000 expats in Suzhou. The SIP is vibrant with modern wide lane roads, bicycle paths and a "nice big city feel" to it. When we were there in October we noticed at least two Starbucks in the area (or "Starbucker" as it is known in China).
The children will go to a British International school called Dulwich College. It is a satellite campus of Dulwich College London. It is a relatively young school with about 500 kids. We like the vibe and the teachers and we're sure they'll fit in nicely. They also place a"cap" of 30% of a nation per grade. In so doing you do get a true international school in stead of a situation where one nation "dominates" the school culture. Children don't go to school during July and August, mainly because of the hot summer. Tannie Bettie (the children's au pair) volunteered (and we accepted), to spend the holidays with us in Suzhou!
Suzhou has steaming hot summers (38 degrees with 100% humidity), we are a bit worried about that! Winters are freezing and snow is not uncommon...
The idea is that Irene and I will take turns to return to SA every three months to keep in touch with the business and obviously to align our work in China with the SA operation. We are still in two minds over whether we want to take the kids with us on these trips.
I can report that since my last post, our Chinese "invitation" has been approved and we should have our visas in our passports, this time next week!. Also we have booked our tickets and our departure date is the 30th of March (a blue Monday!). Our friends have done well to relieve us of our "load of stuff" and our first couple of steps on the journey of a thousand miles have gone without a major hick-up.
Chat soon!
Rihann
Sunday, March 1, 2009
On a journey of a thousand miles
The Chinese philosopher Loa Tse famously remarked that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. He did not however offer any practical advice such as what to pack for this journey, as we discovered the past few months.
Some of our friends took to the philosophical idea by suggesting that we should take as little as possible. Between Irene and I we have decided to follow the good advice and are now doing what Lao Tse probably also would have advised: "Get rid of your stuff and travel light". It also reminds me of that other famous treatise on travelling: "The Hitch hiker's guide to the gallaxy" where it is famously remarked that one only needs a towel for inter gallactic travel:
A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta…wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat…wrap it around your head to ward off noxious fumes…any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it … win through, and still know where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with."
—Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Some of our friends took to the philosophical idea by suggesting that we should take as little as possible. Between Irene and I we have decided to follow the good advice and are now doing what Lao Tse probably also would have advised: "Get rid of your stuff and travel light". It also reminds me of that other famous treatise on travelling: "The Hitch hiker's guide to the gallaxy" where it is famously remarked that one only needs a towel for inter gallactic travel:
A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta…wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat…wrap it around your head to ward off noxious fumes…any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it … win through, and still know where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with."
—Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
I once famously remarked that the only things I would want to pack are my hi-fi and coffee machine. After much deliberation it would seem that this is not practical...Being the world's factory China expects one to pay heavy duties on all things brought into the country. So! At present we are getting rid of our stuff and is aiming to travel as light as possible and hope that we can prove Douglas Adams wrong by travelling without towels (because we're moving into a furnished apartment...). The big packing operation starts today. We sold our house and have to be out by the 1st of April (no joke) so evacuation has to start regardless.
Our agents in China advised that we should soon receive our formal invitation from the Chinese government. Therafter we need to locally apply for our visas. This should happen round the middle of March. Our estimated departure date should be the end of March. We have not bought our tickets. This seems to be a very hard to thing to do. It is sort of the proverbial last straw.
Things are starting to gather momentum and we are looking forward to getting there and settling in.
Will talk soon!
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