Uluwatu Sunset

One of the top destinations for tourists in Bali is Uluwatu--a Hindu temple on a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean--otherwise known as Pura Luhur Uluwatu. It is the southernmost point in Bali and the views from the walk through here are beautiful.

Most visitors go to Uluwatu to watch the sunset and enjoy a Hindu performance known as Kecak. While we were there, the sunset was extremely painful--no shade and clear skies. We also didn't sit high enough in the theater to get the best view (though the front row was good for the performance--there was the chance for interaction with the performers).

On the way to Uluwatu, we were warned that the monkeys are thieves. Our guide told me to leave my sunglasses in the car, so I was left with only my regular glasses without which I am nearly blind.
After more than three years in what many consider the crime capital of China without any incident, I figured I was prepared for the monkeys. Well, it seems these monkeys are better thieves than anyone in Shenzhen. The fat one on the wall by the cliff snatched the glasses right off my face. It cost about $2 to get them back with the help of a guy trading fruit for the inedible glasses.

I'm fairly certain this was the thief.

Celebration Continues

The fireworks industry in China doesn't appear to show any signs of economic trouble--plenty of people around Shenzhen have been shooting off fireworks in every corner of the neighborhood the last three nights. Last night was rather quiet after about 1 am, with loud bursts every now and then to wake us from slumber.

Here's a video from our 16th floor window. Can you tell that the fireworks are going off about 20 feet from us? Jia is playing the guzheng (Chinese zither) in the background. Sorry for the quality, it's an older digital camera.

Another Niu Year

How many times a year can I celebrate the new year? Apparently three. Tonight is the beginning of Spring Festival and the year of the cow. 春节快乐 to all.

There are some amusing aspects of seeing this year. The first being the joke that keeps getting less amusing every time you hear it. The Chinese word for cow is 牛 niu (sounds similar to "new"), so happy 牛 year! The other one is the presence of the golden cow everywhere. There are a lot that resemble the Wall Street bull. There are also many more that are cute and cartoonish. Many foreigners are a little disturbed by the sight of a golden calf being sold at every store.

Anyway, break out the baijiu and dumplings, put on your lucky red undies, and gather 'round the TV to watch CCTV's Spring Festival festivities.

About a Tour

There's only one reason why Jia and I joined a tour to Bali: price. The tour package was only slightly more expensive than the flight from Hong Kong, which meant we would save money on hotels and such. I was prepared for the worst after hearing horror stories from expats on Chinese tours. 

The biggest challenge I saw going in was that there were 26 of us. That's a rather large group to organize. I know how difficult it can be to get people to arrive anywhere on time--it's even worse with tour groups. Our group was rarely on time, but not overly late, so it wasn't too bad. Another problem with a large group is having a large bus--complicated by the narrow, winding roads of Bali (I blame the British for building roads like this).

I quickly discovered why our tour was so cheap--shopping trips. They had some pretty bad stops for us. The only one I sort of enjoyed was to the coffee factory (which wasn't really much of a factory, more like a warehouse). Unfortunately, there wasn't a deal for the coffee--not much cheaper than buying it in China or at the airport. One surprising shop was the traditional Chinese medicine shop--where some of the group paid a few hundred Yuan on things they could buy in any city in China.

We also had to change hotels during the short trip. The first one, The Grand Mirage in Nusa Dua, was wonderful and convenient. The second was far from anything (almost a mile to the nearest store), which provided the tour guide a way to convince the group to sign up for an overpriced spa and dinner day on our "free day." Jia and I skipped that and saw the real parts of Bali.

Despite the problems of the tour, it was still worth it. We did see more on our free day with a rented car than we did on the actual tour. Now, we just have to find a way of getting back.

Next time, more details stories of the sights.

Paradise Lost

I have returned from Bali (and a couple days in Hong Kong on the way back). It was an amazing trip and much too short. The only downside was the food and the tour--it was a cheap tour for Chinese, so I shouldn't have expected too much. Three of our meals were really bad Cantonese restaurants and we spent too much time in worthless shops rather than sightseeing. But again, the whole trip was only about $500 (including flights, hotels, and food), so it was still worth it.

I'll be busy editing photos for a while (I didn't take as many as I did in Malaysia, but there are still plenty). Tomorrow I'll get into details of the journey through the island paradise of Bali.

Another Holiday

Jia and I are leaving in a few hours for Bali. I'm looking forward to eating my way around the island. We'll be there for four days and then head to Hong Kong for a couple more before returning to Shenzhen to celebrate Spring Festival with friends. This is our last big holiday for a while--we need to save some money to go to the US and search for jobs (those plane tickets ain't cheap).

Helping J. yesterday plan his trip to Fujian got me reminiscing about our last holiday back in October. Here's a photo from one of the Hakka villages with a tulou in the background. I don't know what the flowers are, but they are supposedly used in tea and are very fragrant--the fields emit a wonderful aroma.

Sniffin' It Up

It seems China is getting serious about preventing drug use. The PRC has introduced Labradors at airports to sniff out drug smugglers. They've even given the pups cute uniforms. No word on how many people have been caught.

According to J., the drug sniffers have been used for at least two weeks at the Shekou ferry port. He said he was stopped at the border because a dog mistook a Zip-lock bag containing coffee as drugs. I'm wondering what drug in the world could possibly resemble the scent of Hanukkah Blend coffee.

Perhaps the smugglers are using stinky tofu to mask the odor. I know I wouldn't want to get within a hundred yards of that sewage stench.

Omens

It can be difficult to gauge just how bad the US economy is from reading the doom and gloom articles online. It helps to actively seek employment in the US to get an idea of how hard the publishing industry has been hit.

Last night, I got the best reading of how the economy really is. I was talking with my parents about moving back in March and how difficult it is searching for jobs. I mentioned that if a job comes along in China that offers me at least $30,000 a year, I'd be willing to stay here. My mother agreed. This is shocking because my mother has been begging me to move home since I got here. If this is her response, I know things must be really bad back in the states.

Russian in Shenzhen

The other night I decided to try a new beer because it was on sale at Jusco for 6.8 RMB ($1). They had four kinds of the same brand, Baltika, from Russia. I couldn't tell what kind of beer I was buying because the labels were in Russian and Chinese (I have to admit I don't know the Chinese for porter, lager, pilsner, etc.).

On the night our friends left Shenzhen, we had a selection of Baltika beers--we sampled Numbers 3, 4, 6, and 7. Number 3 was a tasty light beer that resembled an ale, but it was not as bitter as an IPA. Number 4 was a darker smooth beer. From the companies description, it's made with pale carmel, which is probably the flavor I was trying to identify while drinking it. Number 6 was a strong porter that reminded me of Victory Storm King from Pennsylvania (though Victory's beer is stronger than Number 6's 7% alcohol content). Number 7 was the only one that I didn't particularly enjoy--it tasted too close to Tsingtao for my liking.

As long as Jusco continues to run the sale on these beers, I'll go back and buy some. It's certainly better than paying 8 RMB for a bottle of Asahi Black Beer, and it tastes a bit better. I'll probably stock up on Numbers 4 and 6 before Spring Festival.

Again?

You'd think people would learn from others and stop being so stupid...but, then another jackass gets bitten by a panda.

This is the third idiot that Gu Gu the panda has mauled at the Beijing Zoo. The first being a drunk, the second being a teenage migrant worker, and now a father who chased after his kid's toy. And it was merely two months ago that a university student decided to hug the panda at another zoo in southern China.

With bamboo forests vanishing from the Chinese landscapes, the pandas are being forced to alter their diets and human flesh is plentiful in these parts. In a new taste test, 9 out of 10 pandas chose Soylent Green over traditional bamboo.

English Education

I was helping Jia translate a picture dictionary for a friend and had to tell her what some of the objects were in English so she could look them up in Chinese. We were using a common translation program online--something I've seen co-workers use before. It usually has some good translations.

We had to look up "blowtorch." After finding the translation, I noticed that the site provided a sample sentence. "He have all the apparatus, including a blowtorch, for freebasing cocaine."

Not only is this sentence grammatically incorrect, but it is definitely not promoting the harmonious society that Hu Jintao has been promoting since I arrived in China.

IP Show

The Intellectual Property Police (not the Thought Police from 1984) in Shenzhen have taken down a Microsoft piracy scheme in a show of force that China Daily claims, "showed China's resolve in global intellectual property rights (IPR) protection."

Eleven people were convicted of "sophisticated" piracy of Microsoft products that were sold around the mainland and Hong Kong. The key word is sophisticated. This operation printed up fake certificates of authenticity to be sold with the software. No word on if the authentication codes that were sold worked.

The difference between this operation and the millions of others around China is that this one tried to pass off the product as genuine. Apparently, it's still OK to sell pirated software as long as it's poor quality and obviously fake.

This dog and pony show was for Microsoft's benefit before the PRC gouges the company for millions of Yuan for its previous effort of fighting piracy on its own.

Shenzhen Drivers

Plenty of people have commented on the driving habits in China. Almost every day I witness a new driving maneuver that would make my head explode if I thought about it long enough.

I had a short conversation about this with my boss on the way to our department's end-of-term lunch--and saw a car making a turn on the wrong side of the street through traffic (sure proved our point). She agreed with my analogy that driving in China (particularly Shenzhen) is organized chaos.

On the news tonight, we saw our neighborhood--over by the Poly Theater. Caught on a security camera was a security guard standing behind a car and being yelled at by a woman. Apparently, she and her husband weren't allowed to park in the space they wanted, and the guard was telling them to leave. Then the woman shouted to her husband to just park. This meant that the car had to back over the security guard.

No word on where the couple was taken after the incident (I bet it wasn't pleasant though).

New Year Celebration

It's New Year's Eve and my last day of teaching in China. I had my final class of the term, which is also the last of my career in China (for the foreseeable future at any rate).

It certainly has been quite an experience to teach the graduate students for the past year and a half. I've come across some wonderful students, as well as some I'd rather forget. There were some days that I truly enjoyed teaching and others that were downright miserable, but the good outweighed the bad on those days.

Now I'll wait for the exam on January 4, so I can begin grading for the term. Fortunately, I only have to finish the PhD candidates' grades by January 16 while the rest can wait until the end of February (it takes a long time to grade 300 essays).

As for Jia and me, we're heading off to Bali for a week after the term ends. It'll be our last holiday before we move to the US.

This is Monday

This Monday morning came with a few surprises--some welcome, some not.

I began with the regular Monday meeting at the university. We discussed some ideas I had for changing the PhD course slightly. My colleague also had a few suggestions to add. Unlike other schools in China, our recommendations were met with enthusiasm. My boss is looking to make these changes for the spring term, which I won't be around for. Still, it's nice to have my input considered and accepted.

My boss also asked if I was still having second thoughts about returning to the states in March. I admitted that I was as there aren't many publishing jobs out there and I may have to try teaching at a private school to support my family. I also mentioned that if things don't work out, Jia and I may return to China next fall. My boss' reply was that she'd find a job for me with the university if I came back to Shenzhen. Again, it's always great to feel welcome at work.

Finally, Jia called me about the package we tried shipping yesterday. Turns out, there were some items that can't be shipped from Shenzhen to Hong Kong and on to the US. We got a refund, but we have to repack and rethink.

The items that could not be shipped and reasons given:

1. Chinese version of Monopoly purchased in Hong Kong because the dice and Monopoly money could be used for gambling in Hong Kong.
2. A Buddhist cloth and texts because religion can't be exported.
3. Some miniature replica terracotta warriors because they might be valuable antiques and thus the property of the People's Republic of China.
4. A Chinese name stamp (no reason given for why that can't be shipped).
5. A miniature Statue of Liberty purchased at Chen's College Folk Art Museum in Guangzhou (again, no reason given).
   

A Little Snow (Not in Shenzhen)

I know I shouldn't mention this because many of my friends and family will hate me for it, but this is the closest I've come to seeing snow in China in the last three years (and it wasn't even winter).
These were the mountains on our second day in Jiuzhaigou--new snow on top when we awoke in the Tibetan village. The first day we couldn't even see the mountains behind all the clouds.

Today in Shenzhen it was mid-20s (that's Celsius to you Americans--it's fairly temperate). However, the gray skies didn't make it feel too warm.

Holidays Upon Us

I remember being shocked by the Christmas commerialism my first year in Shenzhen--I really didn't expect such an embrace of a Western religious holiday (granted, most of it was centered around the Bao'an district Wal-mart). I didn't realize then that China just enjoyed Christmas sans Christ.

This year looks like more people in my area have taken to celebrating Christmas. My current apartment building has decorations and a tree up, as does my old complex (I don't remember that last year). All of the small shops along my street are filled with cheap Christmas decorations that the children are grabbing up.

Considering orders from factories are well below levels of previous years, I have to wonder if instead of exporting the decorations and such that the factories are just selling the products to local vendors. I don't know this for sure, but it does seem like a logical possibility.

Some things about Christmas in China:

Last time I went to Carrefour, they were playing a dance remix of "Jingle Bells" with Chinese lyrics. I may not like it, but I'd rather listen to the original version as it does sound less annoying.

My co-worker said that Chinese enjoy celebrating all Western holidays. I pointed out that they didn't celebrate Hanukkah. I'm going to try to educate them on Festivus (I have a Seinfeld DVD).

Tomorrow (Christmas Day), I'm going out to dinner with a friend and his visiting parents. We're going to have a Jewish Christmas dinner at a Muslim-Chinese restaurant. Jia and I will probably then watch another classic James Bond movie.

Was That Really Bond?

James Bond is back in the new film Quantum of Solace. Unfortunately, they forgot to tell the writers and director about this.

I love the 007 series--they're fun, exciting, and usually a little humorous. Quantum of Solace was none of those. I like Daniel Craig as James Bond--he fits into the part quite nicely and provides a bit of change from the usual actors who fill the roll. Unfortunately, there were major problems with this film.

The central story of the film--a nefarious group of elite citizens manipulating global politics and business--was intriguing and could have provided an interesting movie. Somehow the writers and director neglected to develop any of that. The villain (I can't remember his name and don't care at this point) was poorly developed, as were all of the supporting villains.

The artistry of the camera work looked like a 10-year-old with a serious attention span problem was calling the shots. Marc Forster should be ashamed of himself, and I honestly hope he never directs another movie as long as I live. The obligatory opening action sequence was dreadful--I had no idea what was going on because of the camera angle cuts every second. It was the same with every other action scene throughout the film. It was enough to put someone into an epileptic shock. Note to Marc Forster: There are some people in this world with attention spans longer than that of a gnat.

I understand that the producers wanted a different Bond movie that didn't conform to everyone's expectations, but this just didn't work. It could have worked with a better script and director who actually understood the art of film, but they didn't go with that. This wasn't just a bad James Bond movie, it was a terrible movie all around.

Marc Forster is now added to the list of people who owe me two hours of my life. He joins quite a list with Joe Eszterhas for Jade and John Travolta for Battlefield Earth. Now, excuse me while I go out to find copies of Goldfinger and Octopussy.

For the Children

Last night Jia and I stopped in one the stationary/toy shops to see if we could find anything amusing that would make nice gifts for friends back home. I didn't find gifts, but I found something amusing for the kids.
This pack of candy cigarettes with its copyright infringement sells for 5 jiao (a few cents to you Americans). The photo isn't clear enough to see the bottom, but it says, "Good flavor every day." That's such a great message to give the kids when more than 300 million people in China smoke. Also, on the side of the pack is a government quality product seal (fake, of course). They also had some packs that were knock-offs of Chinese brands, like 888 cigarettes.

And no, I don't plan to try the sugar sticks that look like rancid cigarettes. I'm sure there's plenty of Melamine or other chemicals in these things.

This Old House

No, I'm not using this photo as a metaphor for the world's economic problems. I just thought this old, dilapidated house in the Fujian countryside was interesting enough for a photo. This was definitely not in the touristy area, although there were a couple of the wonderful Hakka tulou nearby. In the opposite direction there was also a beautiful view of the rice fields and mountains.