High Fashion

I went to Shanghai the other day. I was on Huaihai Lu, one of the most high-energy, fashionable tree-lined shopping streets anywhere. Tiny little 20-something Chinese rich girls in their clicking high-heeled shoes, Louie Vuitton bags, short shorts or dresses, flawless skin and gorgeous hair swarmed like little bees in the hive of high fashion. How can so many Shanghai girls be so beautiful? I actually like to be in this atmosphere with outdoor cafes, coffee shops, designer stores I can’t afford to enter, and near these hopeful young rich girls that seem to have the world as their oyster.

As I walked the street in the sweltering humid day, I scanned the streets and saw something that has probably always been there, but no doubt my mind blocked out because it didn’t fit the image of this fashionable street. There were men, very poor men, some quite elderly with bent backs, who at every corner were scouring through the trash bins, looking for empty plastic water bottles that they could put in their worn dirty sacks tied to poles they carried on their backs. The men were absolutely filthy, and their dull clothing was in shreds. One elderly man was so emaciated looking that I would have gone and given him some money for food if a red light had not separated me from him for too long.

I admire these men who try to make a living, regardless of the humiliating nature of their work.They could have just as easily gotten a tin cup from home and sat at the train station as beggars all day like so many others do. These men sought to retain their dignity by working. And yet the fashionable ladies of Huaihu Lu were from another world and didn’t even seem to notice that the poor men existed.

The contrasts in this place are both startling and humbling.

A local Chinese garden view

Meat

I rode my bicycle to get some grilled lamb kebabs at the Xinjiang restaurant a few blocks away. Xinjiang (sheen-jahng) is comparable to a state in the USA. It’s way out in the northwest in the barren middle of nowhere. (Sounds like where I grew up. I must go sometime.) The people who are from there, for the most part, are a Chinese ethnic minority who are Muslim. They have exquisitely yummy good, which is why I went to one of their restaurants to get kebabs. I wasn’t interested in a complete meal, I just wanted lamb kebabs, so I went to the grill that is always located outside the front of the restaurants and ordered some for take-away.

These Xinjiang guys working at the restaurant do not look Chinese. To me they look like Turks. They speak Chinese, but it is not their first language. I order ten kebabs. The grill guy asks me if I want the pepper that goes on the kebabs. That’s the way they are supposed to be made, but because another customer before me had asked for some without pepper, he thought he’d better ask. I ask for half with, and half without. I start to tell him that those without hot pepper on them were for my dog who shouldn’t eat spicy food, but then I thought he might get mad that his chef skills were being used for the benefit of a dog. Do Muslims even like dogs? It was safer to keep my mouth closed on this subject.

(Before you judge me about serving my dog this kind of food, I would like to point out that this food designed for human consumption is 75% cheaper than one individual serving of dog food that I can buy in the high-priced pet stores. I would be more foolish to buy the dog food. Things are not the same here as where you live, so….)

I continue to look at these Muslim minority men, thinking about how different they seem than Han Chinese men. And then it happened. One of the Muslim guys standing around pulled the bottom of his t-shirt up under his armpits. That’s when I knew--he was really and truly a bona fide Chinese man at heart.

Oh yeah, I know, you think Britney Spears was the trailblazer of baring the midriff, but no. Long before anyone ever heard of Britney, Chinese men were pulling up their shirts to cool their midsections. In fact, after giving it some thought, I think it is entirely possibly that back ten years ago, Britney had a Chinese man as her stylist. Yeah, that’s got to be it.

I would like to point out that is not an attractive look. On the other hand, it is funny and I always want to giggle. I really would like to take a photo of this sometime to show you, so you can giggle too, but I’m afraid the man being photographed would notice, think I was into him, and try to ask me out or something. So, if you don’t mind, please either go with the mental picture or try it yourself at home.

The Grand Canal

Back about 1500 years ago, the Chinese government wanted to build a "highway" to transport goods between the north and south of China (no wheeled vehicles back then). Since most of the rivers run west to east in China, the gov decided to build a north/south running canal between Beijing and Hangzhou (which is several hundred miles south of Shanghai). The canal is still used to this day, and it is about a block from where I live. I love to go watch all the old-looking barges coming and going all day long.

The Pearl Market

Last week I went to visit the pearl market. I loved it! They had scads of booths selling freshwater pearls from a pearl farm, and the prices were rock-bottom. They had many different styles and colors (even in America, "chocolate pearls" are popular). I liked the turquoise too. They also had jade and other things. I only got to stay about an hour. I took a taxi out there, only to find it is out in the boonies. There was no public transportation to get me back to town, so the taxi driver agreed to wait for me if I only took an hour. I could have stayed three hours! Anyway, here's a couple of pictures of the merchandise....

4th of July

My American friends in Bamboo Forest threw an amazing 4th of July party. It was so fun!!! There were 25 present, and we had lots of yummy American-style picnic food on their first floor patio area. After dinner they had 3-legged races and water balloon throws. Then there were sparklers, fire crackers (noisy variety) and fireworks (the pretty kind that explode in the sky). I better leave their faces off the blog, but I'll show you the hot dogs on the grill so you can see how normal life can be here!

Happy 54th Wedding Anniversary!

Today, July 1st, is my parents 54th wedding anniversary. Here's a picture I took of them in their backyard in April (or early May maybe). Congratulations Padre and Madre.

Beautiful Bamboo Forest

This is one of many pagodas around town. You can go up into them if you pay an entrance fee, something that doesn't interest me. Bright flowers like these can be seen all over town. This city is not a backwater place, it is high class.

This is one of my favorite places in town to visit. You can rent a boat to take you around a small island park. It is quiet and relaxing...makes you think you are back in the old days of China.

It's Hot Here

I know, it's probably hot most places in the northern hemisphere (although my parents and my bro's family experienced snow in Montana in early June).

It has been hot but pleasant up until today. Now the humidity has arrived. I took Mimi walking at 7:30 a.m. and it was so unbearable I thought I couldn't breathe. (Oh dear, does this mean I have to get up earlier now to take her walking?) When I go out on my electric scooter, the speed creates wind to keep me cool, but walking is no fun. I have been in Bamboo Forest to visit in the summers before, and I know it will only get worse from here on out.

Lots of Moving

For those of you who know my family, my brother Curtis and his family just moved to Camp Wood, TX, and my brother James and his family will move to Tyler, TX, in roughly a month. I moved last September, so apparently we are a family on the move. Thankfully my parents are staying put...why would they move with James moving to the same town?!

FYI: Job change for Curtis...he's on staff of a you-know-what as a music guy. James has the same job as he has had, just being transferred.

Summer in Bamboo Forest

Here are some photos taken in Bamboo Forest. Note the first two are taken in a...uh...bamboo forest!

Bamboo Forest is a lovely place to live.  Though I live in the city, this natural beauty is also found within the city. (Sorry, but have you ever tried to type while a dog had your typing hands under attack?  I digress.)

If you look closely, this house is not really built along a street (that is not pavement at the bottom of the photo).  It is built along a canal.  It is like Venice, only different.  :-)

I was riding a boat along this canal when I took these pictures.  Boats, canals, bamboo, waterfalls, this place is a calm and endearing.  I hope "progress" doesn't ruin the charm of the place.

These four small size photos took 54:50 to upload.  That's why I don't post things more often.

Really?

Today is the 20th Anniversary of the incident at Tiananmen Square.  

I was watching CNN yesterday as they did a "piece" on Tiananmen Square.  As soon as they finished they said, "the coverage on Tiananmen Square that you just saw was blacked out [by the Chinese govt.] so that our viewers in China could not see it."  Really?  Where am I?  I could have sworn I was sitting in my living room in China, and I saw every bit of it.

They showed the same thing an hour later, along with the same accusing comment that it had been blacked out.  They showed it a third time.  I saw it every time...not blacked out.

Then, CNN reported that websites like Hotmail were blacked out in China in the lead up to the anniversary.  Really?  I ran to my computer, connected to my China internet server and loaded Hotmail, accessing my Hotmail account immediately, no problem at all.  

This morning I was watching BBC's report on Tiananmen Square.  The BBC reporter said that as he was speaking to us live, the government had blacked out BBC so it couldn't be seen in China.  Really?  How was it that I was in China listening to him tell me I couldn't see it?  Am I stupid?  Are they?  Are they lying because they think people outside of China won't know the difference?

I feel I can't trust anything I watch on the news.  Perhaps you shouldn't believe everything you hear about this country on your news either.

The Shower, Part 1

Last weekend, I held a bridal shower at my apartment for an American friend who is returning to America this summer to get hitched. When I was in America, I got a pastel pink tablecloth and some decorations, proof that I was trying to prepare ahead of time. But some things just don't fit in a suitcase. So, off to Shanghai I go, destination Ikea. (My friend Kathy says Ikea is the Swedish Wal-Mart.)

At Ikea I found a covered glass cake plate on a pedestal, a 3-tiered glass dessert platter, a large modern aluminum bowl for chips, and other odds and ends. I have no car, which means I have no car trunk, which means the goods had to be carried by hand, by me, through one of the largest cities in the world, in and out of train stations, by various taxis, to get back to my place. With only 8 days before the shower, I could not plan to go back another time to get the rest of what I wanted. I had one shot at getting it. So I got it.

It was a miserable experience. I had to soak my feet in a pail of water when I got home, the first time I ever remember doing that.

The Shower, Part 2

Several dozen American ladies were coming to my place for the very first time, and I knew they would form an opinion of me based on the cleanliness of my home. I did not want that opinion to be based on the usual looks of my home, which includes dog hair and dog toys (better known by the public at large as "shoes").

I called up my former housekeeper (she quit in March) out of retirement, and she rescued me by spending six hours here in the days prior to the shower.

While she cleaned, I started making shower food. Now, think about your own stress in preparing for a party, then imagine what it would be like if everything you made had to be made from scratch. I mean, if I make pigs-in-blankets, I have to make the biscuits from scratch using yeast. It is no easy feat.

The shower menu greatly changed with one day left to go. I had great ideas, but not a big enough refrigerator to accommodate those ideas. I had a co-host for the party, but she lived in another city several hours away, so using her refrigerator was obviously not an option.

The Shower, Part 3

A good time was had by all.

When it was over, I collapsed. Can someone please remind me not to have parties like this anymore?

Long Time, No See

Hi.  Yes, I realize it has been awhile since my last post.  I have been way too busy in the past two months.  I'm so busy, I didn't have time to write and tell you that I am in the USA now for three weeks.   I got here last Saturday night.  (Actually, I wrote an e-mail to all of you, but for unknown reasons, my e-mail program refused to send it.)  I'm in the USA for a week-long meeting, and when it is over on Sunday, I plan to fly to Texas to visit my parents for two weeks.  I return to the Big Country on May 4th.

I'm going to post a few random photos here just to give you something to look at.

20% off of certain products at this pet store!

This is the Shanghai skyline...old and new both!

I took this myself...pretty scary, huh?

Meems doesn't care to be disturbed by cameras while sleeping.  

This is candied fruit on a stick...very common in the Big Country.

This friendly lady might be a wee bit wacky.  She wore blue-rimmed glasses, blue clothes, and was knitting something blue while sitting on the dirty ground trying to sell these veggies.

This is some elderly friendly guy and his pet bird.  He could be a bit on the eccentric side too.  :-) The bird speaks good Chinese.

Shanghai

Shanghai is such a beautiful, civilized, interesting city. Here are a few shots of lunch at a restaurant yesterday.  I was going to add more, but my internet is too slow today.

Photography Class

Did I tell you I am taking a photography class?  I travel to Shanghai once every week to do this. The class is in English and is for expats (foreigners like me).  There are 13 women and 1 man in my class.  They are from Brazil, Argentina, Sweden, Australia, England, Korea, Malaysia and who knows where else.  It's kind of fun.  

The young gal on the right is the teacher.  She's professional, friendly, and entertaining.  Here she is explaining some photographic technique.  (We have a man teacher who comes sometimes too.  They do team teaching and switch off as needed.)

Here's a Korean classmate, Su.  

Smothered by Clouds

For a month we have had no sun.  Finally this morning I could see the sun's outline from behind a shroud of clouds, but it quickly went away, awaiting the fulfillment of another rainy forecast.  I feel claustrophobic, and the clouds are closing in on me.  I want to scream.

I watch CNN International, and in the weather forecast they show rain where I live, and they sound euphoric, saying that it will finally break China's drought.  They are so clueless.  The rain is not falling where the drought exists.  The rain is falling on soaked ground where it has been raining for months on end, almost all day every day.  I'm gonna start collecting animals and look up plans for building an ark.  I can't stand it.  The clouds must have heard this is a tourist destination and decided to take a month's vacation here.  I wish God would revoke their tourist visa.  Trust me, I've asked him.

I love the light.  Living in a shroud of darkness and clouds is the pits.