Cosmetic Reward

The National College Entrance Exam is finished in China. It's a period of time that is full of stress for millions of Chinese students hoping to earn a place in a decent university. Unlike the SATs in the US, the Chinese students only get one shot at their test. They also have to cover more than just language and math--there's plenty of Communist philosophy and history that they need to write about. This exam causes so much stress that local governments have put together stress-relief programs for students to prevent suicides that have been fairly common in the past.

I may have not been under nearly as much stress as Chinese students preparing for the national exam, but my parents also didn't feel the need to reward me for doing well (they did, however, pay for my undergraduate degree--thanks, Mom and Dad). I had two classmates in high school who scored 1600 on the SATs, and their parents gave them nothing for their achievement. 

So, what do Chinese parents do for their children who score high marks on this exam? According to the Shenzhen Daily, they pay for cosmetic surgery. And it's not just the girls who want to look more attractive; plenty of boys are opting for liposuction (and yes, I do recall seeing many overweight students in Shenzhen).

Fortunately, there is some sense being spoken in China about teenagers seeking plastic surgery. There is a discussion in the article about psychological effects and consultations before committing to the procedures. My favorite quote from a doctor was this: "Blindly imitating a celebrity can only harm yourself." More people need to heed this advice, and not just in the case of cosmetic surgery.

Environmental Magic

Throughout China I came across amusing signs. Some of them were amusing for the misuse of English and others were just entirely confusing. There were even a few hilarious ones in Chinese (my favorite is still the "Stupid chicken, duck" sign).

At one park in Shenzhen (it's testing my memory to think of which park I visited about five years ago), I came across this sign. The English translations were fine and the map was easy to follow. However, they chose some odd pictures to use as the map key.

I wish I hadn't found this sign on the way out of the park as I would've liked to see what the mobile ecological toilet was like. Why would an ecological toilet evoke an image of a rabbit in a magician's hat? And if it were truly a mobile toilet, why would it stay in one place on the map? I also wonder why the amusement facilities are represented by a weight lifter--I don't recall seeing any exercise equipment.

Strange Crimes

The run up to Spring Festival is always filled with minor crimes. Every year the Chinese government warns people to be careful with their valuables when traveling. This year, there are some unusual crimes around Shenzhen.

Shenzhen Daily reports that two teenagers stole valuables from travelers' luggage on a Bao'an airport shuttle bus. One of the teenagers was small enough to fit into a suitcase that was stored in the luggage compartment of the bus. He then crawled out and rummaged through the other luggage on board.

In another case, customs officials seized 2300 kilograms of smuggled seafood. There were no details as to what type of seafood--it could have been endangered animals, but that would be more likely reported. Why would anyone smuggle seafood into a region known for its seafood?

Working the Beach

During my short stint at the training center in Bao'an district, I was treated to a day at Dameisha. We were promised fun on the beach and plenty of food. The weather was terrible during that May holiday--it rained, and, like all days in Shenzhen, it was horribly humid. But, it was my first trip to Dameisha, and I was excited (I definitely had my expectations set a little too high).

There wasn't much of interest by the beach--and there wasn't much more when I returned a year later. It reminded me of Seaside Heights without the boardwalk (another destination I don't plan on ever revisiting).

As it was the beginning of the national holiday, it was crowded. I expected plenty of tourists, but I wasn't prepared for all the local factory workers. When it came time to have our beach barbecue in the designated area next to what appeared to be a landfill, I realized we were surrounded by people who rarely get a day off work. I also realized I didn't want to eat anything that the training center had provided--the meat and vegetables were mixed together and had been sitting on the hot bus all day. I ate a few things that were purposely overcooked in an effort to avoid illness.

Unlike my other foreign co-workers, I decided to take the free bus back to Bao'an. In hindsight, I should've taken a public bus with the others. The company decided the bus would stop elsewhere in Bao'an to make it more difficult to get home. I split a cab with a Chinese co-worker, but found that she lived in an area I didn't recognize. Of course, I had no idea which way the taxi driver was going and ended up paying much more than I should have. It would've been easier to take a taxi back from Dameisha.

Twisted in Shenzhen

Yesterday I heard about tornadoes in Shenzhen. I never heard about tornadoes in Shenzhen while I lived there, and this was quite shocking as it was actually three simultaneous tornadoes. And this came shortly after we were scared by warnings in the New York City area (one touched down in the Bronx). It really has been some unexpected weather lately.

Fortunately, I haven't heard anything about injuries in Shenzhen. The tornadoes were in Shenzhen Bay near Shekou--only a few miles from my last apartment. I guess these would be better classified as waterspouts as they didn't make landfall. According to the Shenzhen Daily, it is the first recorded in Shenzhen (though no word on how far back those records go).

There are some amazing photos of the tornadoes in Shenzhen here (captions are in Chinese).

Things I Miss About Shenzhen (5)

Lychees!

I'm reminded of lychee season (though it usually starts in early June), and I really miss seeing them for sale on almost every corner of Shenzhen. Plus, there was the crowd around the lychees at Carrefour, which prompted me to avoid shopping at peak hours (which was almost anytime of day).

It's possible to get lychees, and other tropical Asian fruit, here in Jersey City, but it's prohibitively expensive. The cheapest I've seen is $5 for a pound. Fortunately, I took a trip to Chinatown and found lychees at a more reasonable price of $2 per pound. They're definitely not as good as they were in Shenzhen--the pits are larger in the varieties sold here and they're not as sweet.

I was tempted to make some lychee sangria like I did in Shenzhen, but that would require me to not eat all the lychees I bought. I also enjoyed making the sangria with dragon fruit, which is much more expensive in the US than in Asia (usually $5 for one).

On the bright side, I don't have to deal with the extreme heat and humidity of Shenzhen this time of year, which is worsened by the nonstop rain.

Farewell Food

I was informed of some sad news from Shenzhen. My wife is going to spend a few weeks there on business and is planning to meet a few of our friends who are still there. She was looking forward to eating at our favorite Xinjiang restaurant, which was across the street from our last apartment. However, J. informed us that they closed. We're guessing the closure was not due to a lack of customers--they were usually busy. J. says a lot of the restaurants on the street have closed (we didn't ask about the sex shop or prostitution shop that were neighbors of the Xinjiang restaurant).

It's not the first time a favorite restaurant has unexpectedly closed in Shenzhen. When we first moved to Nanshan district, there was a great Xi'an restaurant just outside our complex gates. It was also crowded for dinner, but shut after a holiday. It was a confusing closure. Usually, when a business closes, it is immediately gutted. This restaurant still had the tables set up--with decaying garlic still in bowls on each table. There was never a sign about the closure, and we never saw the owners or staff again. Almost a year later, nothing changed inside that storefront.

Strangers on a Bus

A post over at the Art of Backpacking got me thinking about encounters with strangers. Unfortunately, in a city like Shenzhen it was difficult to find kindness in strangers--it was usually overshadowed by the behavior of China's least friendly city. However, one encounter still stands out (there was also another encounter much earlier in my adventure in Shenzhen).

I was on my way home and had to switch buses. As I was used to having a metro card, I didn't check to ensure I had enough cash on me to take the 2 Yuan buses. Of course, I didn't have my metro card that day. As I got on the second bus I searched for my change and came up with only 1 Yuan. I was sure that I must have a coin stashed in a pocket of my backpack, but only came up with two quarters left over from my trip to the US. The only other money I could find was a 50 Yuan note, which was no good on an exact change bus. I also knew asking for change for a 50 from the passengers would be futile (a 5 or 10 would be easier). (On a slightly related note, I once had to pay a ticket girl with a 100 Yuan note for a 2 Yuan bus ticket and was amazed that she had enough change.)

One passenger saw my plight and offered me 1 Yuan. She was very kind and spoke decent English. She was also surprised when I thanked her in Chinese and began a small conversation for the twenty-minute ride home. I gave her the two quarters that were in my backpack. She told me I should get a metro card, and I explained that I have one but my wife had taken it that day.

I thanked her again as I stepped off the bus and felt better about Shenzhen for the rest of the day.

Dying for a Job

I've tried avoiding writing about this topic, but I can't ignore it any longer. What is wrong with Foxconn? It was reported that yet another employee committed suicide by jumping from the factory in Shenzhen. That's the 10th confirmed suicide attempt by jumping and eighth successful suicide since January. The seventh suicide at the factory was just over a week ago. Never mind that Foxconn had a history of such problems before this year.

Just this year Foxconn established a suicide hotline--a service that was long-overdue for a company that employs 420,000 people in Shenzhen. It also encourages employees to regularly work 12 hours a day to earn a decent wage in one of China's most expensive cities. Never mind that Shenzhen is a very difficult place to make real friends among the throngs of migrants all hoping to make quick money and return home.

When you combine long working hours with an isolated lifestyle (most employees live in dorms on the factory grounds) and employees under the age of 30 who are probably away from home for the first time, depression is likely.

It has gotten so bad at Foxconn that the state-run newspapers are writing editorials about how to fix the company. The government is investigating the company and attempting to prevent future suicides.

Unfortunately, suicide among the young population of Shenzhen is not uncommon.

Hike to the Temple

During my first two years in Shenzhen Jia took me to Phoenix Temple (Fenghuang 凤凰), which was the nearest Buddhist temple to our community in Bao'an. Shenzhen has very few temples compared to other cities in China, but that's mostly because it's a very young city. Phoenix Temple is a young temple--the buildings are only a few years old--but the location supposedly has a longer history for Buddhists.

Getting to the temple was not easy. We took one of the older bus routes through the more isolated sections of Bao'an district. There were still farms in this area--mostly lychees and bananas. There were even bee keepers along the road selling honey. The boxes the bees were kept in were propped up by beer bottles.

It was a long walk up the winding road--it felt much longer than it really was because we always went when the weather was hot and humid. We were one of the few groups that didn't drive up. Fortunately, this gave us a chance to see the sights along the way, like my favorite sign in all of China. I still don't know why they would sell stupid chickens and ducks or why anyone would want to buy them.

Phoenix Temple was one of the least interesting temples I visited. But, it did provide some great views of Shenzhen on a clear day (if you're lucky enough to find one of those rare days).

Unhappy Shenzheners

An opinion column in the Shenzhen Daily reminded me about the lifestyles of Shenzheners. The headline says it all: "An Unhealthy, unhappy lot of money worshippers?"

It's no secret that people in Shenzhen care more about money than anything else. They also love to show off how much money they have, hence the desire to own larger cars to haphazardly drive through the overcrowded roads and sidewalks. I once asked a class about the possibility of people in Shenzhen driving less as the bus system was extensive and the subway was set to expand. The response I received was that the people would never abandon their cars for public transportation because the car owners would lose face if they didn't drive. And they have to continue purchasing more expensive cars because they have to show that they're more successful than everyone around them.

Around the same time that I asked my class about the growing car culture, there was a survey claiming Shenzhen as the most unhappy city in China. Most of my students agreed--very few seemed to like living in such a large city. That was a change in perception from the beginning of the year as most students were new to Shenzhen and loved the idea of living in one of China's modern cities. It usually took a month or two for the honeymoon phase to wear off. Most students hoped to move back to their hometowns or cities nearby--very few wanted to stay in Shenzhen after graduation. Those who wanted to stay in Shenzhen said it was because they could earn more money.

One reason why most Shenzhen residents are unhappy is because it is a migrant city--a lot of the people are far from home for the first time. Combine that with the fact that many residents came from small towns and villages, only to be dropped in the middle of an enormous, busy city. Adapting to that change in stress can be difficult for anyone. And then there's the pressure to succeed in Shenzhen--there are constant reminders of how much money people should make in the city. Quite a few new malls opened while I lived there, and I couldn't afford to buy anything in most of the stores--it made me wonder who was keeping the stores in business.

The detail of the Shenzhen Daily article that caught my attention was that it called residents physically and mentally unhealthy. With the stress of work and long hours in the office, Shenzheners aren't getting enough exercise (not to mention the plague of pollution). And those constant reminders of how everyone makes more money is taking its toll on the sanity of the people.

It's not really Shenzhen's fault. The city is always an afterthought. It's stuck between Guangzhou and Hong Kong, with Macau nearby. With all the wealth and history that surrounds it, the city suffers an inferiority complex--it's the younger brother that can never be as great as its siblings.

Mobile Homeless

Shenzhen Daily is taking an interest in the plight of the migrants. It highlights the difficulty of finding affordable housing in the region, even though many new buildings have no residents. People who can afford housing tend to purchase multiple apartments and seem unconcerned when they can't find tenants--a lack of flexibility during rent negotiations leads to many empty apartments. This has led to workers, such as the ones in the article, to live on the streets.

It was not uncommon to see laborers all around my neighborhood in Nanshan district--they picked through trash for recyclables or potential building materials; they offered one-time services to residents and businesses. But many of these people seemed to disappear at night. Most of these people could be found by the reclaimed land of Shenzhen Bay--they slept next to piles of styrofoam and other reusable materials on a road that was inaccessible to traffic. Along side streets in the neighborhood, people slept on cots hidden by bushes and trees. Down the main road, next to the Guomei parking lot was a shack set up against a small power station--no one seemed to notice the family living inside, and they never bothered anyone on the street.

While there are still many opportunities in Shenzhen for the migrant population, it has become less popular. With more factories opening in the interior of China, migrants are choosing jobs closer to their hometowns, thus creating a job shortage in cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The minimum wage in Guangdong has risen over the past few years (in Shenzhen it was 800 RMB/month in 2005, it's now over 1000 RMB/month), but the cost of living has skyrocketed.

Places to See

The New York Times recently published its list of 31 places to go in 2010. Number 20 on that list was Shenzhen. I'm still trying to understand why anyone who doesn't work in Shenzhen would want to go there--there are a hundred other places in China I would recommend visiting before ever setting foot in Shenzhen. The article mentions the impressive rate of modern urbanization and witnessing the new China. But it sounds like the reporter only took the time to see the nicer areas of Luohu and Futian and neglected to visit the outskirts of the city that are outside the Special Economic Zone.

Sure, there are some great new luxury hotels and shopping malls, but there isn't much else. The art scene in Overseas Chinese Town isn't all that impressive and is nowhere near affordable. As for entertainment, visitors can always visit one of Shenzhen's many cheesy theme parks, like OCT East, Window of the World, and Splendid China. Even the Chinese call it a cultural desert. The most cultural destination in Shenzhen is the Hakka museum in Longgang district.

This seems to be the selling point of visiting Shenzhen in 2010:

Affordable luxuries extend to shopping and eating. The jumble of stalls at Dongmen are clogged with pirated DVDs and knock-off handbags, while there are new fashionable restaurants in Shekou, a leafy district with an expatriate flavor. Shenzhen is getting greener, too. The city recently welcomed the first LEED-certified building in southern China: the aptly named Horizontal Skyscraper, billed to be as long as the Empire State Building is tall.

Yes, you can buy a knock-off of anything in Shenzhen. In fact, it's more difficult to find the genuine article in the city. I bet the reporter didn't stop in the Starbucks or any bars when he visited Shekou, or he would've found enough expats who begin conversations with "You know what's wrong with China..." to want to get out of that neighborhood fast.

While unbreathable air days like the one above are less frequent than they used to be, the city still has a long way to go to become green.

My friend J., who still lives out in Nanshan district commented on this excerpt: " 'Dim sum joints and illicit massage parlors gave way to gleaming shopping malls and faceless skyscrapers.' Not in my neighborhood; illicit massage parlors stil outnumber gleaming shopping malls 20 to 1."

Dangers of Flaunting Wealth

Shenzhen is living up to its title as the most dangerous city in China. Recently, there have been reports of kidnappings around the city, some of which have ended with the victims murdered. The targets of the kidnappings are children of the wealthy.

In late October, a sixth grader was kidnapped and a ransom of half a million US dollars was paid. But the boy was killed and there's no word on if the kidnappers were arrested. There have been a few other kidnappings over the past few months, but the situation hasn't even come close to epidemic levels. However, the Public Security Bureau and parents are taking notice and trying to keep the children safe.

Unfortunately, the children of wealthy Shenzhen residents are easy targets. There are plenty of expensive private schools throughout the city and very little supervision between the school gates and home. It is generally the younger students whose parents or grandparents pick them up from school--this practice usually stops around fifth grade (the age of most of the kidnapping victims). These students are also at the age when they understand their parents' wealth and openly talk about it.

There's a great post over at China Hush with some translated reactions of the situation.

More Truth About Shenzhen

This article from China Daily really doesn't come as much of a surprise to me. I'm more surprised that they actually reported on it.

According to the article, the number one emotional/mental health issue in Shenzhen is extramarital affairs. It seems that when people become successful in the city they go out and find a lover on the side. This is nothing new to anyone who lives in a major city in China. I even mentioned something about this at the beginning of 2008.

One point in the article that I wasn't aware of is that Shenzhen does have private detectives, whose businesses are booming with the rise of affairs. However, Jia informs me that private investigators are not quite legal in China--all evidence collected by them is inadmissible in court.

Where Buildings Are Born

There's a great post over at EastSouthWestNorth about the bricks for constructing buildings in Shenzhen. The photos are amazing. On pier near the neighborhood in which I lived for the first two years in Shenzhen, people manually move bricks in the sweltering heat. The line about how much these laborers sweat should be more like, "they sweat more in a day than most people do in a month."

For those who are unfamiliar with Shenzhen, it is divided into two main parts: the Special Economic Zone and the rest. Bao'an is not part of the SEZ and it shows--it definitely doesn't look as affluent as any part of the SEZ. Bao'an is home to the ever-expanding airport and factories that stretch all the way up the highway to Dongguan. There is also an enormous e-dump (and other toxic dumps). This is where the iPod and iPhone are assembled.

Spontaneous Combustion

China Digital Times reports that a bus in Shenzhen spontaneously combusted. Fortunately, no one was injured, which is much better than what happened in Chengdu.

The bus that caught fire was number 320--a route that I don't recall ever taking. However, bus routes (that I am aware of) that are 3xx run from Bao'an district to other parts of the city that are in the Special Economic Zone. Such buses usually get beat up pretty quickly because of the long routes. One's I've been on are 331, 305, 355, 301, 311, 319, and 361.

From the photos of the charred remains of the bus, it appears that it is one of the more recent models (though not the newest buses).

While I was fortunate enough to have never encountered such disasters on a bus in Shenzhen, I did have some close calls. On more than one occasion passengers were worried about the amount of smoke coming from the bus, even though the driver assured everyone that it was OK. I've also been on a few that broke down, forcing everyone to cram on another bus.

Things I'll Miss About Shenzhen (4)

Public transportation in New Jersey is awful. Supposedly, it's not so bad in the more densely populated areas, but it's awful around my hometown.

There are no bus stops nearby to go anywhere--I would have to drive at least 10 minutes to find a bus stop (which is not well marked) and then figure out what buses stop there (there are no lists at the bus stop). And to top it off, the buses don't run frequently.

In Shenzhen, I had a major bus stop right outside my apartment (at all the apartments I stayed in over the years). I could take buses to go just about anywhere. It was great to be able to find the lines that were rarely crowded, which happened often because I avoided the rush hour at all costs. The subway was severely limited, but that'll change in a few years.

Two of my favorite bus lines in Shenzhen were 113 and 19. The 113 seemed to have the friendliest riders--I heard "excuse me" in Chinese and English often. I also once had to pay the 2 Yuan fare with a 100 Yuan bill...and the ticket girl actually had enough change. The 19 was the quickest and most comfortable bus I got to ride--mostly because it was near campus and stopped by my apartment. For the extra 5 jiao it was worth riding the nearly empty bus.

Now the only time I get to use public transportation is when I see my brother in Jersey City. I have to drive about 30 miles to his house, walk 15 minutes to the PATH station that goes into New York City, and then I can get on the subway. I wouldn't mind the walking and the PATH if it wasn't for the fact that I have to drive. I really hate driving. New Jersey needs more public transportation.

Chinese Passover

This is the first time in four years that I'll celebrate Passover in the states (and first time in six that I'll be at my parents' house).

During my first year in Shenzhen I wondered how I would manage the holiday. My father managed to find the contact information for Chabad in Hong Kong--I was willing to go into Hong Kong for the first time if I had to. It turned out that Chabad had just (I mean, within a few weeks prior to the holiday) assigned a rabbi to Shenzhen and there would be a seder in Shekou for the first night.

I took my friend, Winnipeg, to the seder at the Nanhai Hotel--he was interested in participating in his first Passover. I wasn't sure what to expect--I hadn't met any other Jews since arriving in China, and wasn't sure how a Chabad seder would go. I was still used to the family seders with my grandfather, who would read the Haggadah in less than ten minutes. I also wasn't sure if I'd get along with the people from Chabad as I was raised with a conservative synagogue and saw myself as more of cultural Jew.

To my surprise, there were close to forty people in attendence for the first seder in Shenzhen. That night I met other Jews from all over the world--most of whom spoke English.

Though the night wasn't well planned, and the seder didn't go as smoothly as I'm sure the rabbi would have liked, it was good to connect with other people in Shenzhen--especially those who lived outside of Bao'an district. Winnipeg and I took a taxi back to the school sometime around 11. He joined in the seder the following year as well.

The next night, I hosted a smaller seder in my little apartment. I invited Jia, V. (my course coordinator), and her boyfriend J. None of them had any idea what was involved in a seder and I had to explain quite a bit of it--fortunately J. spoke Chinese quite well to help with translations and understanding.

Landlords

While we were busy moving out of our apartment in Shenzhen, it became apparent that our landlord was an idiot.

Months back Jia got the idea that we should pay the landlord rent from our deposit. We managed to convince him to use half the deposit, so we got out of one-month's rent. He seemed to also agree that he'd give back some of the other half after inspecting the apartment.

In the days running up to our departure the landlord decided he wouldn't give us anything back. Not only that, but he was demanding the keys to the apartment before we left. He went so far as to visit my mother-in-law and wife at 10pm the night before we were leaving to demand the keys. He was screaming up a storm as I entered with my friends who were going to take some of our stuff. Just to shut him up, we gave him one key and told him to get the rest after we left.

He left unhappy. He even tried to threaten my mother-in-law and wife by claiming that he's part of some dangerous gang in Shenzhen (takes a big man to intimidate two women). My comment was that I'm from New Jersey and I could probably get him fitted with some cement shoes. I also figured he was just being a blowhard since no one in an illegal gang would actually claim to be in one. I was tempted to call the cops on him--I'm sure they'd love to get a criminal off the streets.

Fortunately, we all departed from the apartment well before the idiot returned. My mother-in-law didn't even bother to stick around to see if he'd change his mind and return part of the deposit. I don't blame her for not wanting to deal with that scum.