We Love Rachel!

During our time in Shanghai, we've met some amazing friends. One of our favorite people, Wu TingTing, or as we like to call her, Rachel, has recently embarked on her own overseas adventure. In February, Rachel decided to move to Poland to work for a firm in Poznan. Oddly enough, Poznan is my grandmother's home town, where she lived until she met my grandfather after the war and moved to the US. We were very sad to see Rachel leave Shanghai, but at the same time, it has been such an exciting opportunity for her. During the past few months, she's gotten to try skiing and ice fishing for the first time, and visit places like Krakow and Germany. We've also enjoyed her stories and observations about what it's like to be a foreigner in a new country.

We've noticed a lot of her reactions to a different culture and customs have been similar to our own during our time in China. Here are just a few observations she's shared with us:

What I feel is Poznan is a nice, small city with blue sky and a lots of mini forests like a village. The people here are polite and friendly. -Rachel

I hope I will survive eating bread three times a day :-) -Rachel
(I have to say, I felt the same way about rice!)

Do you know Easter holiday? I never have this holiday in China but Easter is such a biggest holiday in Poland, just like Christmas. As i know Jesus died at 14th of April, after three days he have a renascence and every body celebrate it. before this holiday i painted some eggs for the Easter.

Yesterday, It's my boss mom's name's day, a lot people celebrate for her, it was a big party until today keep have guests coming. In Poland people think Name's day (the feast day of the saint for whom you are named) is bigger then Birthday, on the calendar each day has a several names on it. This is very fresh for me, I don't know any other country in Europe like here. -Rachel

And one thing very interesting for me, here boys and girls going to beauty parlor, pay a lot money to get suntan and some people are crazy with this, they going to this kind of place several time per week. Can you image that! in China i guess only have people pay for get white. Actually i have hear about this before but i thought only in the movie. This just really funny for me, difficult place people have totally diffident opinion or maybe i am just confused :-) -Rachel
(I reassured Rachel that she was not confused, that Westerners do spend a lot of time and money to get tan. I also told her I was just as shocked to find the amount of money Chinese women spend on whitening creams, and how prized a 'Casper' like complexion is in China.)

While we miss Rachel terribly, we're so proud she's decided to take on the challenge of moving to a foreign country where she doesn't speak the language. It's nice to know Zach and I aren't the only ones crazy enough to do something like that!

Journey to Unself-consciousness

Is "unself-consciousness" a word? Oh well. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but the Chinese are incredible in their ability to not care at all about how they conduct themselves in public. It's like with children, who run and scream without any concept of censoring thought or action. Only it's not as cute when a 50 year old man picks his nose, hacks up what sounds like a furball and spits it at your feet without second thought. Regardless, the Chinese are seemingly impossible to embarrass. I think it's an admirable quality, and I'm trying to learn from them. You know, like trying not to care so much about what other people might think of me if I'm wearing knockoff Versace or Ferragamo. Hey, it's not easy!

So the other day one of our office "ayi's" (Chinese word for cleaning lady) was cleaning the men's bathroom when I walked in. I was trying to ask her how much longer she would be (she was laughing at the apparently unintelligible stream of Chinese coming from what looked to be a Chinese boy), and then another guy from my office just walked right by us and strolled into a stall, closing the door as he lit up his cigarette (the men's bathroom is like a smoke-filled bar sometimes). I stopped mid-noncomprehensible Chinese-sentence and thought to myself, "Now see! In China no one gets embarassed about going to the bathroom. Everyone does it of course, what's the big deal?" and further psyched myself up with, "If he can do it, I can do it! Learn from the Chinese..." and I, with false confidence, also strolled casually into the other stall and closed the door. I sort of assumed that the ayi would quickly get the drift (hah! sorry that's awful) and finish up and leave. But what I didn't anticipate was the fact that if we weren't bashful, then why should she be? She pulls out her mop and starts mopping the floor for the next two hours- which wasn't really two hours and probably only about two minutes but seemed like two hours since I was now trapped in a stall with my pants down feeling very vulnerable to the mop-wielding ayi close by and only Smoky Joe in the other stall to back me up. The mop swooped dangerously close to my feet a couple of times and I was terrified that she would yank open my door and finish mopping around my stall. But she didn't, and I waited until well after she'd left. Finally, with Smoky halfway into his second pack, I burst out of my stall, quickly washed my hands and ran out.

After that terrible experience, what did I learn? I am a looooooooong ways away from living like a native. And I'm perfectly happy about it. (p.s. there are no pictures to go along with this entry, and I'm sure you'll all agree that was for the best.)

One Piece of Watermelon

One of the most enjoyable aspects about my job in Shanghai is managing 3 local Shanghainese girls. They are all such good workers and act as wonderful translators and negotiators with our suppliers to guarantee we get the 'China price' on services, instead of the 'American price' which I assume would be 10X more expensive. Usually I provide them with daily entertainment with my strange behaviors. For example, when someone sneezes in our office, I of course always say 'God bless you', which is met by a round of giggles. They also get a kick out of my 'baby mandarin', as I like to call it, and love hearing me test out new vocabulary. The girls are pretty laid back, which is why today I was so surprised to be copied on an email sent from my assistant to our HR team regarding the daily 'free lunch' that our staff employees receives. Apparently, there was an incident at lunch that got her very worked up and I had to share the email because it just cracked me up. The email sent from my assistant to an HR manager has since triggered an investigation into our company's 'fruit policy' (no joke). It also provides a valuable lesson to all, if a Chinese woman asks you for a second piece of watermelon, you better give it to her!


Subject: One Piece of Watermelon

Dear Dick (HR manager),

I just would like to know if I can get one more piece of watermelon in the staff dining room. If we changed our policy, shanghai centre staff only can have one fruit in the dining room. That's ok. If we don't change it (the policy), why the guy called Calvin in the cafeteria refuse me to get one more piece of watermelon? At that time, I am just like a beggar only for one piece of watermelon. I do think his attitude has some problems.

Would you please give me some feedback about “one piece of watermelon”? Thank you.

Best Regards

Elian Zhang
Marketing Assistant

Freedom and Farming

So besides the usual day-to-day differences in what is considered edible and what passes for traffic law, Tiffany and I have an ongoing discussion regarding living in a communist versus capitalist society. It's a lot more interesting now seeing it, than when we studied it in high school and college. And I've probably learned more about the pros and cons of communism in six months of living here than I did in my entire academic career. (Which granted, isn't saying much, since my scholarly pursuits consisted mainly of mastering concepts like "getting by", "bare minimum", and "cram sessions", and watching "Doogie Howser" and "Magnum P.I." reruns.)

I tend to agree with the saying that the more I learn, the more I realize how little I know, so I won't presume to make any judgement on communism or capitalism. But every now and then we get little reminders that we ain't in Kansas anymore. (And that's just a saying, too. I've never really been to Kansas, but Tiffany did just finish reading the book "What's Wrong With Kansas", and I'm not sure Kansas is the appropriate barometer for capitalism.)

Anyway, let me cut myself off and get to the point. I read the article below and found it amusing and interesting and cut it out to share with Tiffany and the blog. (Ever supportive, Tiffany had the courtesy to painstakingly change every "e" in Chen to an "a" before returning the article to me.) My thoughts on the article were 1) this would/could never happen in the US, 2) I can think of many people/reasons why this should happen in the US (paging Terrell Owens!) and 3) table tennis is the most watched sport in China?! Enjoy!

Chen pays price for losing cool
Shanghai Daily 2006-05-18

CHINESE Olympic champion Chen Qi says he feels like a "new person" after serving his latest punishment for losing his temper in an international competition.

The 21-year-old had apologized, drilled in a military boot camp and handed out an undisclosed amount as fine for his televised tantrum two months ago. He said he repented almost immediately after he flung the ball to the ground and kicked a chair after losing the Asian Cup final to teammate Wang Hao in Japan on March 5. The chain of punishments was suspended as Chen Qi helped the Chinese team defend the world team championship in Bremen, Germany, earlier this month and but team discipline was resumed once he returned.

Chen, the 2004 Olympic doubles gold medalist, was sent to do farm work in Pantao village in the northern province of Hebei. After a week of hard labor, Chen says he is now a changed man. "I am truly sorry for my action," he said on Tuesday. "I should never disgrace the Chinese table tennis team. Working in the fields is a good re-education process for me." Yet Chen, a prospect groomed for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, is still smarting from his Asian Cup loss. "It was the second straight final I lost in a month. That was really frustrating. I was so angry and disappointed that I lost my cool."

On Monday, Chen was seen weeding in a wheat field. He was clumsy with the hoe and wiped forehead sweat with the sleeve of his national team jersey. A throng of curious local farmers and several reporters watched the paddler do the work he had never done before. "On the first day, Chen wasn't able to do anything," said Pantao village chief Wang Haijiang. "But he is clever and a quick learner. He plucked cucumbers, weeded and irrigated the fields, fed pigs and leveled the dirt." Chen declined autograph requests from locals, saying he was a farmer not a sports star.

Table tennis is the most watched sport in China and it has won far more Olympic and world titles than any other sport. Therefore, the Chinese national team is expected to meet the highest standards of personal behavior. Chen's teammate Qiu Yike was banned for a year from the national team for his late-night drinking binge in February. In 2004, four national team members were thrown out for dating teammates and were accused of impeding preparations for the Athens Olympic Games. "The Chinese team is the most disciplined team in the world, that's why it has become so strong," said Yang Ying, a former player now a TV commentator. Yang too had served punishment during his playing days for reporting two hours late.

Chen won't be the last player to be sent to the countryside. Other players may likely see similar days. Liu Guoliang, the Chinese men's team head coach, says he is considering sending the whole team for "education."

Gang of One

There's a famous photographer by the name of Wang Gangfeng who is known internationally for his ability to capture priceless shots of Chinese people through his photo studio, Gang of One. He grew up in the center of Shanghai, and conducts private tours through his old neighborhood, which is rapidly disappearing as Shanghai continues its race to modernize. Oh, and by the way, that's not him on the left. That's just one of his local 'models'.









Last month, I had the opportunity to go on one of these infamous tours with our visiting friends, Megan and Greg. The three hours were fascinating. While the tour lasted over three hours, Mr. Wang never strayed from the same block. The block just happens to be kitty-corner from our complex, and before the tour, we had no idea what old treasures of Shanghai were right across the street. I took a few pictures, nothing which compares to Mr. Wang's photography, but hopefully it will give you a taste of the quickly disappearing 'Old Shanghai'.









Our tour commenced at the base of a 'Shikumen' style house. Shikumen literally translates to 'stone gate', in reference to the stone gates that used to surround the houses. The style, a blend of East and West, was developed by the British and was extremely popular in Shanghai in the early 1900's. The land this particular house sits on is the site of a huge construction project.





The neighboring houses were previously occupied by renters, so the government relocated the tenants to housing of the same size further out of the city. This particular house was still standing during our tour because the family was one of the few that owned. They had been dubbed the 'nail' family, as they were as hard as a 'nail in the floor' to remove. The family was in heavy negotiations to make sure they were paid a fair price, and had been pushing back for months.









The houses were for the wealthy and in the early 1900's were often occupied by single western families and their household staff. During the communist era, the houses were taken over in some cases by up to 60 Chinese families. With the communist government giving way to capitalism, the families still share the space, but they've installed ways to make sure everyone is responsible for their own electricity and water bills.




There were too many electric meters to count to determine how many families were actually living in this particular house. These tracked individual lightbulbs, while in another area of the house, individual faucets are set up.




We marveled at how easy it would be to seek revenge on an annoying neighbor by leaving their faucet running or light bulb on.......








Other areas of the block remain intact for the moment. Mr. Wang grew up in these shikumens during the 50's and 60's and still knows most of the tenants. They welcomed him (and us because we were with him) into their homes, or more appropriately, rooms. I was surprised at how welcoming the people were. They insisted we sit down and showed us their artwork and asked to take pictures of us. The futures of these buildings are unknown, as the government has required that individual plumbing must be installed for each family (something the buildings are sorely lacking) in the next 2 years or they will be demolished and the families relocated to housing outside of the city.





























It's hard to see some of the beautiful architecture and intricate examples of Shanghai's past be demolished to make way for the modern, towering skyscrapers. But when talking to Shanghai youth or feeling the country's energetic push to develop and become a strong global econimic player, I realize it's not totally fair to expect the Chinese to forfeit their determination and desire to improve their standing and have things like modern plumbing, individual houses and cars, things we Americans have had for decades. If someone had decided that our houses were 'quaint' and 'historic' and should not be changed and modernized to make way for what seems like necessities now (hot water showers, central heating, etc.), I doubt we would have listened.




About a week after the tour, on my walk to work, I noticed the house that belonged to the 'nail family' had been torn down. It made me sad, like a piece of Shanghai history had been lost. At the same time, I hope the family made a fortune and is celebrating on a beach somewhere, or planning to invest their earnings in their children's education or something equally worthwhile. I guess to move into the future, sometimes we need to let go a little of the past.










To see more of Mr. Wang's photography or to learn more about his interesting life, visit www.gangofone.com.cn.

What The Government Doesn't Want Us to See.....

With all the protests and brouhaha regarding the release of 'The DaVinci Code' this past weekend in the States, the same film has been released in Shanghai with little protest from all parties. The movie causing the controversy on our side of the world is not the one headed by the 'life is like a box of chocolates' Tom, but by the 'couch jumping, anti-ritalin but probably should be on it' Tom, as highlighted in the attached article. Needless to say, it may be a while before we get to see big-screen images of Tom Cruise recreating our daily Shanghai routines (ex. running into low-hanging laundry, avoiding the expectorating locals, etc.) Fortunately, we live in a country with no scruples when it comes to intellectual property rights, so we pretty much have access to low-cost, high-quality DVD copies of both movies that we can watch in the comfort of our own home.

'Mission' Gets Extra Scrutiny Over Release
Shanghai Daily
Angela Xu

THE eagerly awaited film "Mission Impossible 3"- about a third of it shot in China - is being scrutinized for the third time by the State Film Bureau to decide whether and when to release it, Paramount Pictures' Shanghai Office said yesterday. One media report said it may not be shown because of a negative image of Shanghai. But the film office accused the local newspaper of fabricating a report that the film starring Tom Cruise may not be shown on the Chinese mainland because it shows an unflattering image of the city. The report said the movie, which was filmed for a month in Shanghai, did not give sufficient attention to modern life and skyscrapers and showed underwear and tattered clothes drying on bamboo poles. It also depicted the police as slow and dull, the report said. A decision on release has not yet been made. But a film insider reportedly said some unspecified lines and language by actors would have to be changed and indicated that Paramount had agreed, opening the way to release. Fang Chunhua, a spokesman of the office, said the State Film Bureau is examining the film strictly because nearly one third of it was shot in China. The film was sent for a third examination last Friday. "We will inform the media about the result as soon as possible," Fang said. "The previous report is purely fictitious." A State Film Bureau insider said some domestic film distributors had favorable comments on "Mission Impossible 3" and predicted domestic income might exceed 100 million yuan (US$12 million), according to Shanghai Evening Post. The insider said it was quite possible to show the film on the mainland, but some actors' lines need to be changed. But he did not identify them. "Mission Impossible 3" isn't the only foreign film that needs cutting and changes. The State Film Bureau decides what changes are needed to make foreign films suitable in China. "Sometimes political content, violence and eroticism are cut or changed," said Wu Hehu of United Cinema Lines, the city's largest cinema chain. So far, China doesn't have a movie rating system. If the new movie is approved, it could be released in mid-July.

When Monkeys Attack- Club Med Indonesia

Tiffany and I just got back from a Chinese Labor Day vacation, also known as May Holiday here. We spent a relaxing 5 days at Club Med in Indonesia, located just a quick boat ride from Singapore. Club Med, for the uninitiated, is like a big family camp, and everything is pretty much taken care of for you, from transportation to three meals a day, to cheesy entertainment shows and countless activities to enjoy. It was just the lazy, peaceful sort of break we were looking for. In Tiffanys case, however, Mother Nature had other things in mind.

It started well enough, we stuffed ourselves full of fresh bread and fruit at every meal, and waddled around trying all the activities from archery and swimming to badminton and pingpong.

The weather was beautiful and warm, and we were surrounded by lush, tropical greenery, with the quiet sounds of the wild replacing the noisy Shanghai construction. We read on the beach as the sun set into the gentle waves lapping at the soft, white sand.

We had been warned by the staff to keep our balcony door shut when we left, as there were wild monkeys roaming the resort. Wild, but not stupid. “They go straight for the minibar every time,” our host explained ruefully. “So smart! So smart…” he muttered in a frustrated tone that revealed the likely numerous times he’d been outsmarted by the monkeys. “But just let us know if that happens, and we will charge it to the monkeys!” he conceded with a wide grin.

Apparently, on the morning Club Med power walk, as much as guests might hope to spot a monkey munching on a banana, they were more likely to witness the clever primate downing a can of Coke for its morning caffeine fix.

That night at dinner we witnessed it first hand, as a band of monkeys took up positions along the roof of the dining terrace and watched closely for an opening to the buffet.

They seemed remarkably calm and unfazed by our presence, only backing away when the restaurant staff, who the monkeys apparently had come to recognize, approached them menacingly.

After peeking over the roof ledge and finding a clear path to the food, one monkey managed to snatch up what appeared to be a cherry Danish, before leaping away to safety.

The next day Tiffany and I went to swim with the dolphins in a dolphin preserve located on another small island outside of Club Med. It was so much fun and Tiffany got to hug and smother the dolphins with love, just as she’d always dreamed!

Everything was going great until later, after we'd gotten out of the pool, and the dolphin instructor offered to show us the monkey that the staff kept as a pet. Sandy, as they’d named the monkey, was tied to a leash in the back and came running out to greet us. After I cautiously allowed Sandy to stretch for some cake from me, Tiffany bent down to feed her. Still overflowing with animal affection, Tiffany completely ignored all basic rules of wild animal safety by taking her attention away from Sandy, and sat there holding food all too close to Sandy’s range. In a split second Sandy snapped at Tiffany’s hand, biting at her fingers.

Tiffany jerked back and luckily, no skin was broken, but a valuable lesson was learned that day: Be careful when feeding wild Indonesian monkeys.

So thankfully we escaped unharmed, but I did warn Tiffany that if I even see a hint of foaming on her mouth, I’ll have her locked up in a corn cob faster than she can cry “Old Yeller!”

A day later and we were happily swimming in the ocean when Tiffany was stung by jellyfish, across her thigh and foot. She proved to be a valuable radar safety, as she was swimming ahead of me and suddenly yelped in pain. I stopped, looked down into the water and spotted the stinging offender, and quickly stepped aside of it before coming to harm. Four people got stung that day; apparently the brief storm the night before had brought them into the shallower waters. Despite my best efforts, Tiffany refused to let me pee on her leg, and instead accepted vinegar from the Club Med physician.

The physician, by the way, probably thought Tiffany had been hexed, because earlier that day, we had stopped by his office to have him examine a rash that broken out on Tiffany’s leg. He assured us that it was probably a food allergic reaction, and handed us some anti-histamine. We never figured out what caused the reaction, but Tiffany did inhale about 3 pounds of fresh pineapple a day during our trip!

So despite Tiffany battling it out with the wild environs of Indonesia (and I think we both agreed that Indonesia was the clear winner), we had a terrific vacation eating great food and having a ton of fun with all the activities. It was so beautiful and peaceful there, and all the Club Med staff were super friendly and accommodating.

I was especially hooked on the trapeeze, which I played on for at least one hour each day, culminating in my final day when I managed two catch tricks (in which I had to fly from my bar and grab on to the instructor swinging from another bar). I am happy to post my circus exploits online, at http://www.mindobserver.com/tiffzach/ZachTrapeeze.htm

p.s. Previously we’d written about our parents and family visiting us, and the great time they all had touring through China. You can see some of their photos at http://mindobserver.com/china2006/

p.p.s. Tiffany is doing just fine, the jellyfish stings itch a bit but they and the rash are fading fast!