Fish Tanks

After a 3 hour flight from Beijing to Shenzhen, we had a 2 hour drive to reach the city of Zhongsan. Along the ride, we saw nothing else but factories and apartments housing the workers: a concrete jungle of manufacturing. One industrial zone after another, it reminded me of the military cemeteries we have in Flanders, where one will see row after row of crosses. Here the picture becomes rows after rows of factories. The whole area is just buzzing of activity and you realize where all the jobs went that were lost in the manufacturing industry in both the US and the Europe.
The first thing I noticed when arriving in Zhongsan was the clear blue sky, something I had not seen in the last 4 weeks, since my arrival in Beijing. Zhongsan is just a few kilometers from the sea and a clear breeze keeps the city air clean on most days. With the ocean so nearby, no wonder we had a great choice of fish and seafood for lunch the first day. As is the habit in China you walk to a fish tank in the restaurant (see picture) and show them which fish you want to have for dinner. They’ll catch the fish right in front of your eyes and slice it up right away. This time I stayed away from jelly fish and sea cucumbers, which acquire a special taste to appreciate and something I prefer to just try once in my life.
I’ve been now in China for one month and it feels like I’m still in my honeymoon phase: everyday I experience something new or at least I look at things from a new perspective. I’m currently in Shanghai for the next two days and can hardly wait to get to know the city a little better. More to come later.

Lama Temple

When I woke up this morning, there was a drizzle outside and grey skies were hanging over the city. I figured this might be a good day to do some sight-seeing as most tourists and locals probably would prefer the indoor convenience of shopping malls. So I decided to head out and take a cab to the most famous Buddhist temple outside of Tibet. The Lama temple makes the list of the top 10 places to see in Beijing, so it was time to get it off my to-do-list. I had an English map with me that showed the location of the Lama temple but still the first two cab drivers I walked up to had no clue what I wanted to do. I started to feel a little desperate, even frustrated with my incapability to communicate, but decided to try one more time. The third one seemed to repeat Yonghe Gong every time I mentioned Lama Temple and I almost decided to walk inside the lobby of the apartment to ask the reception to translate for me, when it suddenly hit me; Yonghe Gong was the metro station next to the temple. So from now on, I’ll mention the name of the metro station to the cab driver to get me somewhere and walk the remaining blocks if needed.
When I arrived at the temple, I realized that lot's of people had a similar idea and the placed was quite busy with tourists and worshippers. The temple was build circa 1723 and consists of 5 main halls, each taller than the last one. Worshippers are praying with incense sticks in the hand in front of each hall, which gives the whole place its unique smell. There was a dad who seemed to be teaching his 3 year old son how to pray, it was really cute and I kept bumping into these two during the next hour or so. Needless to say they appear in many of my pictures. The highlight of the temple is a 25 meter (80 ft) high statue of a Buddha like figure. It was a present given by then Daila Lama to the emperor in 1750. It appears in the Guinness Book of Records as it is carved from a single piece of sandalwood. While the Dalai Lama lives in exile, the second head, the Panchen Lama resides in Beijing. Although the place currently hosts around a 100 monks, I didn’t see any of them. The Panchen Lama is a matter of controversy because China supports one while Tibet recognizes another.

Bird's Nest

Every day on my way to the office, I drive past the National Olympic Stadium (still under construction). The stadium will host the athletics (track and field), soccer games, opening and closing ceremonies and can seat 91000 spectators. It is a jewel of architecture, really amazing and resembles a bird nest (see picture taken from my taxi). Here is a description taken from the internet: “The main body of the stadium is composed of 24 columns of trusses, which surround the bowl-shaped stands in the stadium. The structural elements support each other and converge into a grid formation, just like a bird's nest with interlocking branches and twigs.” As an ex-birdwatcher, I have a soft spot for the stadium although birds are few and rare in Beijing. The best places to see birds would be in cages in the pet markets. From my 18th floor window, I sometimes see a lost pigeon or a sparrow. Even in the parks, despite the available habitat, there is little wildlife to observe. This brings me to Beijing’s famous dish: Peking duck. During my first week in Beijing, we had a company dinner where Peking duck was. Tradition demands that the whole duck must be sliced into 120 pieces and the best part is the thin, crispy skin. There is actually very little meat and mostly skin, not my favorite dish but still a great experience. The Quanjude restaurant also keeps count of the numbers of ducks served since the restaurant opened in 1864. So at the end of the dinner I got a commemoration card for my roasted duck with the number 36665. It seems that they almost served a roasted duck each day since the opening of the restaurant some 140 plus years ago.

Chinese Torture

Last evening I took two spinning classes and both made me realize how much I’m going to miss the classes at Queen City. When I walked in the 6 pm class, the first thing I noticed was the teacher: a Rambo-looking guy who is build more like a body-builder than a cyclist. He gave me that alpha-male, testosterone-loaded look and had a haircut that would make any US marine proud. I tried to shrug it off but he kept eyeing me during the warm-up and started to freak me out. The class started soon and from the first song he tried to challenge me to stay with him. We started in the second position out of the saddle and stayed there for the rest of the 45 min class (yes, the whole time). People were dropping back in the saddle left and right of me, some were staying with us for the first 20 min, some for the first 30 min but after the first half hour, there was only Rambo and me. By now I started calling myself mentally Eddy (yes, the Eddy like in Eddy Merckx) and there was no way I would surrender to Rambo. Message to all the spinning teachers reading this blog: please, please don’t teach a class for 45 min in second position and out of the saddle. I call that now Chinese torture. Still fired up from the first class, I decided to hang around and take the 7 pm class as well. A different experience all together. The teacher dimmed all the ceiling lights and turned on those disco-type of lights (flashing balls and so) and blasted beat music through the speakers. On top of that he screamed his lungs out. My ears are still hurting from the deafening noise. Before I realized what happened he had turned the place in an instant rave. Maybe very hip and underground but for me it turned into another very long 45 min and another form of Chinese torture. Anyhow, I'm going back tonight for some more. Real cyclists love some pain, don’t they?
Maybe I need to seriously consider teaching some classes myself (in English of course).

Soccer Rules!

I’m becoming an expert on the English Premier League. For my American friends this is the ultimate soccer league. At least, so it seems. It never stops to amaze me how popular the Premier League is all over Asia. You turn on the TV in any Asian country and there is always a game on. You open the sports pages of any Asian (English written) newspaper and there are at least two pages on the Premier League and sometimes that is 75% or more of the sports news. I have only two sports channels on my TV: one is ESPN (Asian version I assume) that seems to always show soccer and sometimes baseball, the other one is Star Sports and shows local favorites such as ruby, ping pong, badminton and the eXtreme sports (skateboarding, MBX, motocross,..). As I write this review, I keep one eye on the tube where they are now showing a ruby game between South Africa and New Zealand. It makes me realize that I’m really at the other side of the world. I have not seen any American football game yet although the pre-season is in full swing (?). I’m planning at going to the Hardrock Café this weekend (just 10 min form my apartment) to get a healthy dose of “Americana”, including burgers and fries with a cold Budweiser. I need to stay connected with the motherland, don’t I? Oh, yes, for the Belgian contingency reading this blog, I got some Belgian chocolates while in Hong Kong. Just to make sure we keep the patriotic emotions in balance.

Be on Your Guard

Guards are plentiful in Beijing. Not only every government building, but it seems that every store, restaurant, hotel, apartment complex, office, etc.. have one or a few guards at the entrance. It took me awhile to get used to seeing them everywhere but I still haven’t figured out why they are there? There is very little crime or public disorder. Everybody feels safe and the punishments are so severe you would think once, twice and thrice before doing something stupid. Some of the guards carry an armband (colored red of course) that says in Chinese and sometimes in English: “public order control volunteer “. The funny thing is that they are paid, there is no volunteering. Even my Chinese friends (read comrades) don’t know the answer on why they are there? Actually they have never asked themselves the question in the first place. Probably part of a Big Brother program. The only problem I have had is when I wanted to ride my bike through a gate to take a picture of a nice apartment building and the guard came rushing towards me, waving me to turn around and leave. I was probably the only excitement he had in the whole day, especially when I tried to convince him to allow me to take a picture of him. Needless to say, I failed. However, I took a picture of the guys across the street (really, you find them everywhere) when they looked the other way. You should have seen the face of my not so-friendly guard. I jumped back on my bike and gave him a big friendly (somewhat smug) smile. I know these guys are just doing their job but in my eyes this was a small (and yes meaningless) victory against mindless uniforms, one of those small pleasures in life.
By the way, I was reading in the newspaper today that there will be 100,000 security guards from across the country on duty during the Olympic games and about 30,000 police will keep a tight watch over the city. There are also currently an estimated 263,000 surveillance cameras covering the city. For those thinking about coming to the games, you and 2.3 million of other expected visitors will be well-guarded. Oh, and please don’t spit, there is a 50 RMB ($7) fine for those caught spitting.

Hong Kong: Asia's Manhattan

I’m currently in Hong Kong for a visit to the consulate to pick up my Z visa. I’m not sure if I understand the whole process that will ultimately lead to receiving a Chinese work permit and Beijing residence license but heck if they tell me to meet Bobo (yes, that is the name) at 8.30 am on Monday in Hong Kong, I go along. As I said before, it is sometimes easier to just go with the flow and explore every day as another opportunity to gain a new experience.
On top of that, Hong Kong is one of my favorite places, sometimes referred to as the Manhattan of Asia. When in the city, I’m always staying at the Renaissance Harbor View hotel which , as the name alludes, gives you at great view of the bay area and the Kowloon skyline. Especially at night the view from my room (this time on the 21st floor) is spectacular. It also gives me the chance to catch up on the news with some uncensored English newspapers and relax a little at the outdoor pool. Hong Kong for me will always be connected with relaxation because in the past I would come here in the weekends after a hard weeks’ work across the border in Shenzhen or Guangzhou. The place helped me re-charge my batteries, take in some fresh air and enjoy some great food.
A sense of home, far away from home.

Spinning Class

Yesterday I took my first spinning class at a fitness center just 5 minutes walking from the office. The class was taught in Chinese but that was no problem as I just could copy what others were doing. Of course I had no clue what was coming or how long we were supposed to climb or sprint but those are minor details. I’m getting pretty good in body language anyhow. The music was a mixture of Chinese pop/techno with popular English rock songs. I did recognize some of the songs so that helped figuring out the duration of the climb or so. The bikes are great (Lemond Revmasters , see pic) and we have the instructor on a podium with a microphone, so I could eye him form the back of the room. The guy talked constantly and had us do a lot of jumps but overall I had a great 45 min work-out and for sure will become a regular. Classes are only taught in the evenings from 7-8 pm but that fits perfectly my schedule. There are 31 bikes and only three were left over, those were the ones around me. I guess being the only foreigner in the room scared some people but I got quite a few compliments from the other students at the end of the class because several came to me and said something (don’t know what) and showed me their thumbs up and big smiles. I guess I made some new friends (?). I was also the only one with proper cycling shoes and cycling short so I made quite an entrance. Even the teacher has regular running shoes that he had to strap in but he had at least a fancy spinning jersey. And in case you wonder, nobody had a heart rate monitor. At the end of the class a cleaning crew came in right away and cleaned every bike with disinfectant and dried them with towels. The room is hot without fans and that gives the work-out a nice extra dimension. I’m sure you get the picture. Unfortunately they close the room after the class so you cannot stay longer. They also open the room only 15 min before the class starts. The fitness center is pretty big and they seem to have more than 20 fitness instructors and personal trainers at the place ( pictures are hanging in the entrance hall) but only William could speak some English. Yes, all personnel have an English name. I asked William if he would be interested in me teaching a spinning class in English, especially in the morning. He looked at me with a puzzled face so I’m not sure if he understood what I was saying. I’ll have to bring one of my local colleagues from the office with me one evening and ask them to translate for me. I could probably fill half the spinning room with people from the office but again I need first to get the message through to William. As you can imagine, the lack of communication can lead to hilarious moments. William tried to say something about Lance (Armstrong?) but again I was lost, so I blurted out “Eddy Merckx ?” and he gave me a big smile and a high five. I was left wondering if he actually knew Eddy ? He also said that I need to ask for him every time I visit the fitness center and he will help me out. I told him that he was my man and I would certainly do that, which led to another high five and big smile. Not sure if we understood each other but does it really matter? I'm having tonnes of fun here :)

Fu Bao Lu: what's in a name?

Today I got new business cards with on one side all my coordinates in English and on the other side all in Chinese. Even my name had to be translated in Chinese characters (see pic) and so the folks here decided to call me Fu Bao Lu.

Here is the explanation given to me : "Your surname in Chinese is FU, the basic meaning of the character is rich and wealthy;the given name has been translated to Bao Lu, we used the characters to reflect the prounuciation of your English name, meanwhile they also meant wealthy plus happiness. So we gave you this name to wish you to be a happy person and with a wealthy life."

I ain't complaining

Fu Bao Lu

hutongs

The last couple days I had the opportunity to be involved in some in-home consumer research, giving me the opportunity to see how the average Chinese consumer lives. The most interesting moments happened when we visited people living in the hutongs and observed them doing some chores in their homes. Hutongs can best be described as a maze of very tiny alleys, with common courtyards and sometimes also common bathrooms. These neighborhoods are taking you back in time but despite the blatant poverty there is a real sense of community. Without wanting to overly romanticize the hutong life, it is a great place to stroll around and see nothing and everything. Unfortunately a lot of these neighborhoods are smack in the middle of Beijing (high value real estate) and therefore are being demolished by the government and replaced with apartments. With the hutongs being destroyed, Beijing is losing some of its soul; hopefully the government will keep some this authentic architecture alive.

798 Art District

Today I submersed myself in one of Beijing’s hippest district: 798 Art District located in the Dashanzi area, northeast of central Beijing. The number 798 refers to a defunct military factory aka factory 798. This kilometer-square block is actually an old factory district where a few years ago contemporary artists moved in. The 798 area has these stunning Bauhaus factory spaces (developed in the 1950’s by East Germans) that are being turned into art galleries, design studios and cafes. It has an urban lifestyle character similar to Soho in New York or Centre Pompidou in Paris. Several factories are still in operation, so the galleries have surreal surroundings. There are plenty of empty warehouses that are being opened as galleries and graffiti artists have plenty of walls to play with. In one of the small cafes I got to talk to the owner, a Canadian living in Taiwan for the last 15 years, and got my first introduction into the “art bubble” as the prices for the “Chinese” contemporary art are soaring. Investing in art is not really my calling but had fun talking to the guy, who calls himself an art nerd. At the end the paintings, photos and statues were ok (contemporary but not too shocking) but it was the architecture of the place and the way they remodeled the industrial complexes to house the galleries that was breath-taking.

being pragmatic the Chinese way

I've found this interview with professor Marshall Meyer (Wharton, management) on the internet and thought it to be a good stroy to illustrate how things work here in Beijing.

Meyer: I'll tell you a little story. In November of last year they had the China-Africa summit. I happened to be there at the time because it was the time of the Wharton 125th Anniversary tour in Beijing. And the air was remarkably clear. At the end of January, the last minute, my phone rings and a senior official in the central government said, "Come over and see me."
I did, and we talked about this and that for half an hour. But I did ask him -- I said, "The air was terrific during the China-Africa summit. What did you do"? And he said, "Oh it was simple -- we seized the car keys." And I said, "What car keys"? And he said, "The keys to all government cars." And I said, "There can't be that many cars." He laughed and he said, "That was a half million cars that we took off the road."
As I said, they are good at execution. They will shut down the worst polluters and they will take many, many cars off the road. And I would bet... if I could make this bet in Las Vegas, I would. I would bet that there will be blue skies for the Olympics in Beijing.

Have no fear

I’ve put my bike to the test today and rode from my apartment to the Forbidden City and the famous Tian’an Men Square (see picture). On the map it looked like a short ride but still it took me over one hour one way. With the temperatures in the low 90’s F (= 32 C) it was quite a work-out. There are bike lanes everywhere and the widest I have ever seen in a city.

Along the way I also learned a thing or two about cycling in Beijing:

1) keep your hands always on the breaks, you will need them at every corner or turn, they are there for a reason
2) cars are bigger than you, so let them take the road: especially taxis have totally no respect for cyclists, they treat you like a mosquito as they always seem to be trying to squash you
3) there is strength in numbers: stay with a pack
4) whatever the locals do, do the same, even as the traffic light turns red
5) have no fear, whatever happens, keep pushing the pedals, it is normal to hear honks all the time
6) old ladies on the bike will pass you, just get over it, you bought the bike because it was cheap, not for speed

got my bike

cost $30, lock included, biggest size I could find (still on the small size)

I was the first one to ever bring a bike on the 8th office floor - which created quite a stir with the security guard - but got a lot of compliments of my Chinese colleague about the quality (meaning brakes work) and look of the bike (only a few scratches). I paid 215 RMB (= $ 28) for a brand new bike with a decent lock. I only hope it will last 6 months.

I'm a happy biker and I'm planning already a trip through the city this weekend :)

Paul

don't hold your breath

With more and more cars hitting the road, car exhaust is a major contributor to the poor air quality. I can hardly imagine what will happen if we approach winter and the cold air mass hugs the ground and the air becomes very dry. No wonder that respiratory illnesses are very common in Beijing. Yesterday we had rain in the morning and the rain droplets filtered out the air. Suddenly the city changes: I can see a few more blocks further from my window and the air smells fresher. The fact that we had a small breeze blowing through the city helped as well. Unfortunately the next day, we were back to normal and the smog was omnipresent. Last night on CNN, there was news reporting on the Olympic Games and when the broadcaster mentioned the issue of air quality on the athletes, the screen blackened for the next 10 seconds. The same happened when CNN was reporting on the issues with food quality in China; another 10 seconds of black screen. It will be interesting to see if major changes (environmental, political, social,…) will happen once we are getting closer to the opening day of the games. More about the Games and its influence on the city in upcoming blogs.

Spinning the wheels

In a city of million bicycles, in the Middle Kingdom, the biker is King.

One of the first things I observed on the street is that only a few (1 out of 1000) have a proper bike fit. Most Chinese have their saddle way too low. None of them are nice bikes either as they are prime candidates for theft. Actually people who buy brand new bikes make them dirty, bang them up, replace them with old wheels, brush paint, etc,.. they will do everything to make them look old straight away. There are even articles in magazines suggesting how to “dirty” them properly. Go figure! As a Western biker it just hurt to see a total disrespect for shiny bikes or oiled chains. I had a few leads on getting a bike (buying, borrow) but they all felt through. So I’m gonna try another supermarket this weekend: the Makro. For my European friends and family members, yes we do have a Makro here in Beijing as well as the Carrefour and Walmart. Tomorrow at 4 pm I will pay my first visit to a gym that offers spinning classes (in Chinese only). I might not be spinning any wheels soon but will spin my legs this week.

grey skies

The weather in Beijing reminds me of Belgium: grey skies (see pics). On top of that there is the always present air pollution. The city is very dusty and walking outdoors results quickly in some coughing. No wonder there is a lot of spitting in the city. For the moment, I prefer to do my work-outs in the gym instead of running on the streets. I took a stroll in Chaoyang park today and attached some pics. The park was amazingly quiet with a small crowd for Beijing standards.

In the Time Out Beijing magazine they mentioned that this month a million cars are being taken off the streets in a bid to test the effectiveness of reducing pollution for the Olympics. Officials also say that around 1,600 coal-burning energy plants will be shut and 50,000 taxis and 10,000 old buses will be replaced by the end of the year. Every day 1,200 new cars are added to the roads of Beijing. The city is expected to have 3.5 million cars by this time next year. More about the upcoming Olympics in future blogs as it is a very hot topic in Beijing.

Stay tuned,

Paul

Chaoyang District

The apartment is located in Eastern Beijing, in the Chaoyang District/Precinct, which is home to a good part of Beijing's diplomatic quarters, with many embassies located in the area. A sizable international community (I was unable to find an estimate) exists in Beijing and many live in the northern, northeastern and eastern sections. These districts are then also catering to the many expats living or working here. In walking distance form my apartment I have every international restaurant you can imagine: Indian, Korean, Turkish, French, Italian, American, German, Thai, etc… and even a few Belgian restaurants a short taxi ride away. There are also quite a few European bakeries in the neighborhood so I can have daily fresh bread. There are a few English-language newspapers or magazines being freely distributed in the apartment lobby such as the “Beijing Today” and the government controlled “China Daily”. Other publications primarily aimed at international visitors and the expatriate community include the English-language periodicals “City Weekend”, “Beijing Tattler”, “Beijing Talk”, “that's Beijing”, etc,.. All are full of information about upcoming cultural and sport events, places to dine and to be seen, travel tips, fashion and design, shopping, etc,…
The population of Beijing is over 16 million people (excluding illegals) and the city is booming of construction work. Looking out my window (see picture) I can see at least a dozen construction cranes. However, Chaoyang park, the largest park in the city, is only a 30 min walk from the apartment and is becoming my “green” refuge.

In China there are 55 different ethnic minorities but the official language is Mandarin and I’ve mastered already 5 words: Nihao (hello), Xiexie (thanks). Shi (yes), Bushi (no) and Ganbei (cheers). It is a start at least.

Paul

the color red

As I was walking out of the Punjabi restaurant last evening, I saw a construction worker casually smoke a cigarette on the curb. The man was covered in dust, no T-shirt, worn out sandals on his feet and obviously very tired after what must have been a long day of hard work. He also had a red construction hat sitting next to him. The hat had seen its fair share of abuse but still was probably his most priced possession. As I was observing the man and his hat, out of another restaurant walks this young, noisy Chinese man. He was well dressed, even fancy and talking loudly in his cell phone. A few yards from the worker, he takes out his car keys and then I saw it: a blood-red Ferrari. The wealthy man casually opened his shinny red car and drove off still talking to his phone. One man has the red construction hat, the other the red Ferrari. Then I realized that China and the US might have more in common than we think.

sleepless in Beijing

After a 14 hour flight from Chicago, I arrived without any issues in Beijing around 4 pm on Thursday Aug 2. After dropping off my luggage in my apartment - which by the way pleasantly surprised me in terms of space, comfort, technology,... - I hit the streets to explore the neighborhood. There seems to be plenty of ethnic restaurants around the corner but also within 10 min walk from my place I saw two Starbucks, an Irish pub and Hard Rock cafe. I'll have plenty of choices to dine and wine. I also have a fully equipment kitchen so I jumped into a small supermarket down the street and had a blast trying to figure out what I was buying. Everything was written in Chinese but by looking at pics I could figure out some of the stuff. I assume that a picture of a cow on a carton box means milk? On my way back to the apartment and loaded with bags, I started looking for a bike store as that would come in handy to explore the city. I didn't find one yet but I saw several shacks along the way where people fix flat tires. I tried to ask one of them where I could buy a bike in town but they clearly didn't understand me, still had a blast watching them fix a tire. The doorbel man suggested I go to Carrefour (10 min by taxis) and try my luck their. Hopefully they have a bike frame in my size. Back in the apartment I successfully video-conferenced home (skype is awesome) and unpacked my luggage. I tried to catch a few hours of sleep but kept waking up during the night. Good thing, I carried all those books with me. Time for my morning coffee.
Stay tuned,
Paul