John & Sun-Ling are winding down in Shanghai after a two-year tenure and are planning for a 5-month adventure in southern China and northern SE Asia. Go to http://meckleyearth.blogspot.com for our upcoming travels.
We have lived in four apartments in the past four years; two in Shanghai and two in Jacksonville. Those have been fantastic experiences for us, though it was not completely our choice the first time around. I love the choices and freedom apartment living afforded us. I would even venture to declare that home ownership is overrated, except
1. Having a house gives me a tremendous amount of security. If ever our wild escapades go awry, we can retreat home anytime. 2. Recently we were almost thrown out of our apartment by our landlord for the last two months of our Shanghai stint because they wanted to sell. It's awful when someone else messes up your plan.
Now we are about to embark on a new phase where we will again test our family motto: Home is where we are together.
The dream of many photographers is to get published in National Geographic. Well, I didn't get published in National Geo, but I did get a photo published in the July issue of Shanghai Talk, a local English language magazine.
[Of course we now have at least 4 copies floating around the apartment. ;-)]
They needed a wide angle photo of the Shanghai Exhibition Center for their monthly architecture column and spotted my photo on flickr. The rest is history.
Here's a scan of the mag. Excuse my boasting but it was the highlight of the summer for me. ;-)
Since June 7th, I see this when I log into my flickr account.
No pics! That's right. I can upload photos, edit titles and descriptions, but I can't see the photos themselves. Looks the Great Firewall of China - GFW - has struck again.
The current official Flickr position is
11 June 23:30 (PDT) We know images from Flickr are still blocked and definitely care very much about our friends who cannot access pictures. We have been contacting people to hopefully get a positive resolution with restoration of photos, but this of course has not happened yet. The Flickr team is very sorry for this continued issue and will update you when we have more to share. Posted 66 minutes ago.
The quality of life in Shanghai has just improved. I spotted these Nacho Cheese and Rock Taco flavored Doritos at my local Family Mart in XuJiaHui. I tried the Nacho Cheese (3.40 RMB a package) - not as cheesy as the ones in the States, but still quite tasty. Correction: Careful reading of the package reveals that the name is "Nacho Cheesier" NOT "Nacho Cheese". Hmm.
As most if our friends know, we are cutting edge on some technologies and Luddites on others. Email in the 80's, home wireless in 2000; but first CD player in 1995 and first mobile phone in 2005; never an MP3 player nor iPod.
When we came to China in 2005 we brought about 40 CDs from our modest collection: Neil Young and The Clash for John, Sting and the Police for Sun-Ling, along with REM, The Who, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Pretenders, Mana, Lucinda Williams, Miles Davis and others.
The audiovisual equipment in our apartment (aside from our 3 laptops) consists of a DVD/CD player, TV, and a set of 5.1 speakers. We are in the habit of putting one CD in the player and playing it repeatedly until we get tired of it. Some CDs last but one listening. Others are played over and over again. In fact, we played disc 2 of The Police box set Message in Box about 50 times in a row - before, during and after the Chinese New Year holidays; some days we listened to it 3 or 4 times - before I swapped it out for disc 3. We never actually got tired of disc 2. It was just getting strange. ;-)
Other CD’s that recently yielded repeated listenings: Beggar’s Banquet, London Calling (currently in the player and getting better with each repeat), disc 4 of the Buffalo Springfield Box Set, Time Fades Away, and Who’s Next. In contrast, Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks only survived only a single repeat.
Final word: my old friend and music buddy Dave sent me a CD of some of his older stuff which I played about 10 times in row. "Buy My Book" – Excellent!
Getting goods delivered in Shanghai is super easy and inexpensive (or free). I think it has to do with cheap labor, population concentration, and family cars are just beginning to become popular.
A lot of the times delivery is free. It goes without saying, we get our 5-gallon water bottle for the water cooler delivered free. Among the more reasonably priced and accessible beers, John likes Carlsberg best. We get them delivered by the 12-bottle case in the 20 oz size. Our fruit vendor delivers with a phone call though they are only 150 meters away. I order on the web from our grocer (Lianhua, a huge chain). Delivery is free for 20 RMB purchases, 2 RMB otherwise.
I do quite a bit of my purchases online. Next day delivery is 5-6 RMB for the 1st kilogram 100 kilometers around Shanghai, including pickup and dropoff. Now, whenever I need to get something to a friend or relative, I use the courier service too.
The only problem with delivery is that you have to be there to receive and sign. For small things, I have them delivered to my office. In the lobby of our apartment building, there is an Ayi from 8am to 8pm. The Ayi is kind enough to sign for us. The other day we picked up a small piece of furniture when cruising the street. It got delivered and was waiting for us with the Ayi in the lobby before we even got home.
When we changed apartments and districts this past November, we also changed maids. I liked Xiao He, the old maid. She was talkative – although I rarely understood what she said – did a good job, and it turned out that we were born in the same year. I'm 3 months older.
Our new maid is Xiao Xiao. She is not talkative, does a great job, and it turns out that she is 3 weeks younger than Sun-Ling.
Xiao Xiao is a neat freak.
She washes clothes every day because she can't stand the smell of a single dirty sock in the laundry basket.
The garbage can is lined with several layers of plastic bags. When one bag is full, pull it out, take it outside and the next one is already in place.
Last week she stacked the loose change on my dresser by denomination.
She prunes yellow leaves off my orchids before I do.
Not only does she fold my socks neatly in the sock drawer, she stacks them by color. Wow!
Yesterday, in the space of 10 hours, we experienced Shanghai's colonial past on the cricket pitch in Pudong and it's Olympic future on the athletic track at Shanghai Stadium in Puxi. Two sporting events. Two Shanghais. An old game, cricket, in the new economic zone. A new game, the Olympics, in the old town.
Here's the story. After a leisurely morning including breakfast on the balcony, an attempt to pack for our upcoming Japan trip, and a lemonade lunch, we hoped on the metro and headed over to the Shanghai Ruby Football Club in Pudong to spectate at the Shanghai International Cricket Sixes 2006 tournament.
I had never seen a cricket match in person. We saw the movie Lagaan several years ago which does a pretty good job of explaining the game, but I was interested in seeing a live match. It turned out to be quite the colonial affair. A mostly expat crowd with folks from the UK and the former British Colonies: Australia, India, South Africa, etc, either sitting under white tents next to the pitch sipping cold drinks or sunning themselves practically on the pitch as northern Europeans like to do. One could imagine a Merchant and Ivory scene. See photo below.
There were 16 teams in the tournament from all over Asia. I had corresponded via email with the captain of the CBB team (Colonials Behaving Badly) who graciously invited Sun-Ling and I to stop by the tent and have a beer or three. So we did.
There was a Chinese team in the tournament - the so-called China Women's Team - who played the Scotland Women's team in the marquee match of the day, complete with national anthems. The Chinese team was surprisingly good even though they lost. Their bowlers were capable and their fielding was strong. The first two batsmen were impressive, but the rest of the lineup was not very savvy and was "run out" to end the inning.
We don't usually get over to Pudong, the new-development zone of Shanghai, but it's noticeably different with wider streets, newer and cleaning building, and certain areas with lots of businesses catering to foreigners.
Then it was back to Puxi for the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix 2006, a world class track and field meet featuring the 2004 110 meter hurdles gold medalist and Shanghai native Liu Xiang. We grabbed a quick dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant and then bought 2 tickets from a scalper. These tickets had a face value of 1888 RMB each, about $250 US, but we bought 2 of them for 200RMB, 10% of their value.
The track meet was great. Lots of action in 14 events. The highlight of course was the penultimate event, the Men's 110M Hurdles which was won in dramatic fashion by Liu Xiang who came from behind to nip Alan Johnson by two hundreths of a seconds. The crowd went wild. Liu Shan collapsed in either joy or exhaustion or relief or all three.
Here are the photos.
On the way out of our apartment we ran into the Pizza Hut delivery guy. Cool logo on helmet. And cool electric bicycle.
The Chinese and Scottish teams line up for the National anthems.
The pitch of the Shanghai Rugby Football Club.
The women's polevault before and during the competition.
Sun-Ling says: Shanghaining (Shanghai natives) are an arrogant lot. They strongly identify with their city and are intensely proud of their city. They look down upon their provincial brethren.
Not having lived in Shanghai for most of my adult life, I don't much consider myself a Shanghaining in its cultural sense, though it's undeniable that the fact I was born in Shanghai and my parents were born in Shanghai makes me a Shanghaining. In fact, I have gotten together with a colleague who left and returned about the same time as I did, and complained how clueless Shanghaining are. They delude themselves as social sophisticates when they have no clue about consideration for others when in public, standing on the left side of escalators, cutting in lines, honking mercilessly at every opportunity, parading on the street in pajamas, shouting into their mobile phones, etc, etc.
This past Sunday, we went to the Shanghai Art Museum 2006 Biennial Hyperdesign exhibit. We were completely taken by surprise. The exhibit was so well curated, John and I went around gawking at everything, fascinated and enchanted. At the same time, I was brooding over this jealousy for Shanghaining. We have traveled the world, seen a lot & done a lot. Yet a mere two-month long Biennial broadened my horizon and opened my eyes. Shanghaining can just go down the street leisurely stroll to the exhibit on a Sunday and it happens for them every two years! None of this traipsing around the world is necessary. No wonder Shanghaining consider themselves as sophisticates, not to mention the cosmopolitan world they live in, mix of Chinese/West, modern/colonial/3rd world. The world comes to them.
The Shanghai Art Museum is housed in the former clubhouse of the horse race course from the colonial past. In the 1950's, the Communists demolished the old horse racing track and turned it into People's Park and People's Square. The old clubhouse became the public library. In the 1990's the park, was reduced in size, the square "filled in", and we now have the Shanghai Museum, the Shanghai Opera House, and the Shanghai Grand Theatre in their place.
We caught the Biennial on its 1st Sunday afternoon. A lot of other people had the same idea. We got there at the right time. 15 minutes after we went in, the line started going out of the door. By the time we left, the line was going around the building. I credit Shanghaining for having the good taste of catching/creating such a top rate exhibit. Click here to go to the homepage.
The content of exhibit is entirely accessible. The audience was really having fun. The museum had the atmosphere of a science museum. The level of interaction between art & its audieunparalleledparallel.
We were so enthralled by the exhibit, we are already planning on going back before it closes in November.
John says: I become an ugly American again. Let me ramble a bit starting with the first time I was an ugly American. Several years ago we flew to Marrakesh from Paris. On arriving we set our watches back one hour to the local time. I was excited to be in Morocco, and Marrakesh. I giddily exchanged a few words of French with the taxi driver on the way in from the airport. A certain CSN&Y song was playing in my head. I was ecstatic to find an internet cafe with a French keyboard and sent email to all my friends with every "a" and "q" reversed. Thqt wqa auite fun. I snickered to myself when I noticed that the clock on the wall of the internet cafe was off by one hour. These locals don't even bother to keep the correct time.
The first hotel we stayed in was not up to standard so the next morning we inquired about a room at a well known backpacker hotel (the name of which escapes me now). The woman behind the counter had a free room and said to come back at 12 noon and the room would be ready. When we showed up at noon, the room was not ready. I thought these locals are not with it. Well to make a long story short, I will reveal what you have probably guessed. Morocco is two hours behind France, not one, and we were so arrogant that we went about our business for almost two days thinking that we knew the time better than the locals. That explained the internet cafe clock, the woman's wrist watch at the hotel, the hotel room non-readiness, the children walking to school at 10am, and the tourist attraction that was supposed to close in 5 minutes but was actually open for another hour. I was mortified that I had been an ugly American.
So now I'm in Shanghai. I few months ago we went to a special exhibit of Impressionist drawings and paintings at the Shanghai Museum (not to be confused with the Shanghai Art Museum). Of course I know how to handle my self at such an exhibit. I've been to the Prado in Madrid, The Hermitage in St Petersburg, the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, etc. You first study the work from a distance, careful not to get in anyone else's line of sight. You don't touch the art. It's uncool to take photos even if no "no flash" is allowed. Sketching is OK and very cool. You wish you could draw. You read your guidebook's description of the work or punch a number on your audio guide and stand then in awe of the work of The Masters. "Wow" you whisper to your companion.
Thus I was shocked when this method did not work in Shanghai. The locals like to really enjoy and understand art up close and personal. They stand eyeball, nose, and finger to canvas. They touch, take illegal photos, and talk loudly. They come and stand right in front of you as you admire the work from a distance. I shook my head. Uncivilized. This is an art museum, not a "touch and feel" science museum. And then ... I unhappily elbowed my way in close to each work to get a good look....Much to my surprise, a close-up view of an impression drawing or painting with lots of neighbors is pretty neat. And why not chat loudly with my companion. It's not a hospital. So I found myself enjoying the exhibit quite a bit. Maybe "up close" is the way to enjoy art...Once again the ugly American reveals himself and repents.
So... We now come to the Shanghai Art Museum 2006 Biennial -- HyperDesign. So just what is HyperDesign? ... Anyway this was quite an exhibit with a large, lively, and loud crowd, not to mention that everyone had a cell phone or camera and was clicking away. Photos were allowed. I was very happy. Rarely are cameras allowed in museums and I was ready for up-close art.
The show was fantastic. The best ever. I took 165 photos and short videos, too many to show here. So what we have below is about 4 minutes of video. Sorry that I do not know the artists. I'll have to go back and buy the catalog. And Â… below that, about 20 photos. Each is a photo of someone taking a photo of the art or posing for a photo in front of the art or both. Hope you find that interesting.
《HALONG-KELLONG NO.1》 by Shi Jinsong. It's a cross btw the poor man's walking tractor and the rich man's Harley.
《Valiant Struggle NO.10》 by Chen Wenling
《Urbanus-Male》 and 《Urbanus-Female》 by Choe-U-Ram
《Dazzled》 by Wang Luyan - See if you can find the photographer - me - in this one.
《Fake Female Artist Life》 by Mathilde ter Heijne
《The Eternal Wow 1260》 by Sylvie Fleury
The artist is Julian Opie.
"Wall Adhesive Tape" by Ceal Floyer UK
《Nightlife-Xintiandi》 by Daniel Lee
《Bala de Leite》 by Beatriz Milhazes
《Four Seasons》 by Jimmy
《Four Seasons》 by Jimmy
《Landscape: A Tribute to Huang Binhong》 by Shen Fan
《Landscape: A Tribute to Huang Binhong》 by Shen Fan
Our local English language newspaper is The Shanghai Daily. It's fairly informative about local, national, and world events. Sun-Ling and I check out the web version www.shanghaidaliy.com almost everyday. Click on metro to get a good idea of what's going on in Shanghai. A sampling of today's headlines:
We're back from our trip to the US. It was good to visit with friends and family in Fairfax, Raleigh and Newport News.
The 50th wedding anniversary party was awesome. Visited with some people I had not seen in over 20 or 30 years. Wow! Also got to jam with the boys in the band. That's always fun.
The flights to and from China were long but uneventful with one cool thing. The flight from Chicago to Shanghai first heads north over Canada's Hudson Bay, goes across the Arctic Ocean east of the North Pole, and then down over Siberia and Beijing before landing in Shanghai after 14hrs and 16minutes. The cool thing is that the flight is in daylight the whole time and on this particular day(s), the skies were clear allowing great views of the still frozen Hudson Bay and its tributaries, and of the completely frozen Arctic Ocean. I did not take any photos out the window. Bummer. Anyway the views were fantastic.
It's income tax time in the US. Sun-Ling and I have to file a 2005 Federal tax return with a status of "living in a foreign country on Dec 31 2005". The whole thing is a bit tricky since we were in China for only 2 months of 2005. However with the help of Turbo Tax, I think I'll get it straight by June or so. ;-)
An additional twist is that Chinese companies do not provide something like a W2 with salary and tax totals for the calendar year. Wages and interest are taxed at the source on a monthly basis. Period. There are no refunds. No year end balancing. Your monthly pay statement is all you get.
The tax rates on monthly income are progressive. For PRC citizens, the first 1600 CNY per month is not taxed. For foreigners, it's the first 4800 CNY. After this "deduction", the rates are as shown below. [Reminder that 8.1 CNY = $1US.]
Table of Income Tax Rates in China for an Individual in 2005 Tax%..Income (CNY) 5% 1 - 500 10% 501 - 2,000 15% 2,001 - 5,000 20% 5,001 - 20,000 25% 20,001 - 40,000 30% 40,001 - 60,000 35% 60,001 - 80,000 40% 80,001 - 100,000 45% 100,001 and above
The annual rituals must be observed, even when in a foreign land.
This is a shot from several weeks ago when 3 Duke fans (including your truly) and 4 UNC fans gathered at a downtown Shanghai sports bar at 10:00 am in the morning to watch the 2nd Duke-Carolina game live from the Philippino satellite feed. "I'll have a Bloody Mary and some fries please."
FF: Duke, Memphis, UConn, Florida Duke beats FL 76 to 68 in the final.
