Back in the zhou

I am safely back in Chenzhou, where the weather is trying to decide if it wants to be winter or allow the tides of Spring to come forth and take its claim.
Thus far, winter is putting up an impressive mark upon this small city in the mountains. It makes for a fairly depressing time here, especially when you have spent the better part of your vacation amongst 85 degree weather in Thailand and the south of China.
I am here to do a job, however.
More pictures and such are on the way and I am going to be getting back into my work mode much more in the coming weeks in the hopes that I will actually get enough content written to make the decision if I want to try to publish it all or not....
So keep your eyes peeled. Read more!

These will be the last images that you will have the privledge of seeing for awhile as I head back to China in a couple of days and dont think I will have much time to be updating the blog. Today is the first day in a week that I have seen clouds--it seems like it is going to rain today, the air is very humid and thick--it would be nice to see a little rain, but I am sure that I will be seeing it soon enough upon my arrival back in Chenzhou.
It has been a good time here in Bangkok--easily the best city I have seen in a long time.



These pictures are all of the the grand palace and the Emerald Buddha temple--without a doubt the largest compound in Thailand. It was an amazing 250 bhat to see it, but well worth it. (250bht is about 8bucks)











Ahhhh, a monk. Actually, this is a monk that I caught smoking, so I asked to take his picture to remind me of him. Every male must become a monk in Thailand for at least two weeks. I didnt want to ask this monk how long he was in for....





And finally a shot of Patpong....
This is about all I was allowed to take before being threatned to have my camera smashed. :) Read more!

China Google

Google limits China searches
The Associated Press and Bloomberg News
PREV of NEXT


SHANGHAI, China — Google launched a search engine in China on Wednesday that censors material about human rights, Tibet and other topics sensitive to Beijing. The Internet search giant defended the move as a trade-off granting Chinese greater access to other information.
Within minutes of the launch of the new site bearing China's Web suffix ".cn," searches for the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement showed scores of sites omitted and users directed to articles condemning the group posted on Chinese government Web sites.
Searches for other sensitive subjects such as exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama, Taiwan independence, and terms such as "democracy" and "human rights" yielded similar results.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin said his company's decision to self-censor its Chinese search system followed a change of heart over how best to foster the free flow of information.
"I didn't think I would come to this conclusion, but eventually I came to the conclusion that more information is better, even if it is not as full as we would like to see," Brin told Reuters in an interview in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum conference.
Google, whose high-minded corporate motto is "Don't be evil," had previously refused to comply with Internet censorship demands by Chinese authorities, rules that must be met in order to locate business operations inside China, the world's No. 2 Internet market.
"I know a lot of people are upset by our decision, but it is something we have deliberated for a number of years," Brin said.
The voluntary concessions laid out Tuesday by Google parallel some of the self-censorship already practiced there by global rivals such as Yahoo! and Microsoft, as well as domestic sites.
Google's move was prompted by frequent disruptions of the Chinese-language version of its search engine registered under the company's dot-com address in the United States.
Government filtering has blocked access or created lengthy delays in response time. "The practical matter is that over the last couple of years Google in China was censored, not by us but by the government, via the 'Great Firewall,' " Brin said.

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Google already notifies users of its German and French search services when it blocks access to material such as banned Nazi sites in Europe.
"France and Germany require censorship for Nazi sites, and the U.S. requires censorship based on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. These various countries also have laws on child pornography," he said.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires U.S. Internet service providers to block access to Web sites violating copyrights on materials such as music or movies.
"I totally understand that people are upset about it, and I think that is a reasonable point of view to take," Brin said of Google's compromise.
China has more than 100 million Web surfers, and the audience is expected to swell.
"There is no question. Google would tell you that going into China is about making money, not bringing democracy," said John Palfrey, author of a study on Chinese Internet censorship and a law professor at Harvard Law School.
Chinese Internet users said Google's move inevitable was given Beijing's restrictions on the Internet, which the government promotes for commerce but heavily censors for content deemed offensive or subversive. "Google has no choice but to give up to the Party," said one posting on the popular information-technology Web site pcOnline.
Google senior policy counsel Andrew McLaughlin said the company wouldn't host its e-mail or blogging services in China that can be mined for information about users, and would inform users if information had been deleted from searches.
Technology analyst Duncan Clark said Google probably hopes to avoid the bad publicity incurred by Yahoo! last year after it provided the government with the e-mail account information of Chinese journalist Shi Tao, later convicted of violating state secrecy laws. Read more!

The bus that I took through Lao--the hell journey that I think I have described earlier-- I think...
Ahhhh, my first dish of Pad Thai at the border. After living with Chinese food for six months, this was a welcome change... Delicious when washed down with a lovely Pepsi.
Some famous Thai Soap opera star--Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see his lovely eye make up.
The bus as a before picture....
NEVER TRAVEL THROUGH LAO AT NIGHT ON A BUS.

I dont quite know what to say tonight. I have been in Bangkok for three days now and could imagine spending the rest of my life here quite easily. The weather is constantly beautiful, the people are for the most part friendly and happy--except for the foreigners and the tourist industry that surrounds supporting all of these people seeking their various conquests from the European sex vacationier (which makes me a little ill when I see 50 year old fat men with beautiful tiny Thai women hired for the week) to the touring fiends looking for the cheap deals in the public market (I can't talk too much about that one-- I have bought some nice masks for my collection and about 3bucks a piece and some fake Polo shirts, etc)...
All of this is a part of the Thailand that I am growing to love--but the real key is the low prices of everything and the access to most things--the language is fascinating and the culture, beyond the sex markets and the bustling downtown where I am living is curious. Buddhism lives here like I have never seen it.
There are some great pictures I have not uploaded to my computer as of yet, but they will be here soon enough. These pictures should be enough to keep you going for awhile.
I leave on Tuesday and begin the trek back to a cold and rainy China, but the trip has gone, for the most part, very well and I am glad that I opted for the long journey to here instead of staying in China as was planned a couple of weeks ago...
Special thanks to Mom and Dad for sending a little extra cash to get me over the hump in these last weeks--to Cliff for floating a little my way and for Andrew for making me see all sides of Bangkok--its an amazing time fo sho.... Read more!

One Night in Bankok

If I never leave this country, it is going to be okay with me.
24 hours in the most beautiful country on earth. 18 hours in one of the most fantastic cities on earth--I am at a loss for words. Why I have not been to this place before remains a mystery to me, but the fact that I am here now leads me to believe that I must come back here again and again.
I am staying with Andrew in his apartment in the hospital where he works. It is centrally located in Bangkok, with the center of the sex city just blocks away. We visited last night and it was most interesting. The most beautiful women and men who look like the most beautiful women--all for hire.
But that is not what makes this city amazing. Buddhism abounds--temples everywhere--pictures will be available soon enough...
Time passes--must go and see the rest.... Read more!

Thailand Arrival

I have safely arrived in Thailand, but what a harrowing adventure it has been....
The original plan was to go from Kunming in the Yunnan province down to the "banna" region and take a cargo boat down the Mekong River to Thailand--basically the same place that I am at right now.
Problems began in Kunming when my cell phone was stolen in the enormus Bird and Flower Market. At that point I had decided that it was probably a much better idea to just stay in Yunnan and not go further south. I quickly recanted this concept and decided to abandon the comforts that I suddenly developed in Kumning and bought a bus ticket for banna that night. The ride from Kunming to Banna was long and difficult. The road was washed out in several areas--I was trapped in a tight sleeping bus for 9hours as I made the journey south. In the morning, upon our arrival, I headed directly for Mai-Mai Cafe, which has the most up to date travel information for the region. It was a little early--8am, so I ordered breakfast, a lovely omlette with bacon like pieces of meat, black mushrooms and onions--all in all a lovely feast. I then asked the waitstaff about getting the boat down to Thailand and she informed me with a frown that there was no ships until the 6th (tommorow) because of the Chinese New year. Sad.
I was really looking forward to making it to the Mekong river and relaxing.
I would not be allowed to relax at all.
I had travelled on the sleeper bus with a guy from Harvard who was studying Chinese at Beijing University. He saw a couple of friends of his from college, one who was heading to Laos in half an hour. Another friend of thiers, Jen, had recently done the trek to the other side of Lao, near the Thai border and said it was fairly easy to accomplish.
With that said, I was on my way with them. We booked a ticket heading for Lao (it is called Lao by the native people -- I was told that the French Bastardized it by adding the S) In a matter of moments, we were on the bus to Lao. This was a fairly amusing, but very long ride through the south of China on what we thought was going to be a bus, but it turned out to be a Toyota like minivan--packed with rice and locals going from town to town--read--it took a long, long time to get from point A to point B--but it was done.
We stayed in a boarder town for the night, still in China. Prostitutes and massage parlours everywhere--it will hopefully be the last of dodgy chinese food I have for a long time. The next morning we went to the bus station and boarded another, larger minivan for the border--which was about 1.5 hours away. We cleared customs much quicker than I thought we would--no checking for anything from the Chinese government--which was quite amazing considering the amount of heroin that passes through the region.
Once in lao, things changed quickly. Buildings give way to huts--Chinese food turns into grilled squirrel ([pictures later)
Once we arrived in lao, it was another 1.5 hours of bumpy roads and difficult travelling until we reached the town. Once there- I lost my travelling buddy. She was staying at the border for a couple of days and then moving into the dense forests of Lao. I quickly booked a ticket to get to the other side of Lao--I needed to get to thailand--no need to spend extra time.
We arrived at 2:30pm.
The bus to the Thai border was supposed to leave at 3pm, but there were not enough people to make the journey, so we had to wait for the bus to come from the capital city to connect it before we could leave.
"But it will be here at anytime"
5hours later (and 3lao beers) it finally arrived. After much negoitation, my pack was tossed on the top of the bus, with the slaugherted pigs and chicken crates and we were on our way.
This was the most harrowing experience- I have ever EVER EVER had. Mountain passes made of clay, road washouts--all in the middle of the night--the scariest roller coaster ride for 6usd and 9 hours of terror. It was amazing-an experience I am glad that I did, but will NEVER try that again.
We arrived at 330am on the other side of the Mekong from where I am now. I cant tell you right now how nice it feels to be here. What an amzing journey--but one that I am not likely to repeat for quite some time.
There are many more details to tell, but it will have to wait for another time. I have three and a half hours here and want to see as much as possible before heading to Bancock to watch the Superbowl and enjoy the 90 degree weather.
Its nice to be alive. Read more!

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Kunming....

Another milestone in the travel.
I have arrived this morning in Kunming, in Yunnan province. The sun is shining ever so brightly--it is the first time I have such sun in a month or more it seems.
The youth hostel I am staying in is called the Cloudline Hostel and it is nothing shy of amazing. It opened about a year ago and the rooms are lovely. I will send a picture when I get the chance--and its all for 75rmb a night, which is about 9bucks.
The trip from Chongquing was bittersweet--I was sad to leave the port city that reminded me of Seattle with its foggy weather, but the infastructure was nothing short of amazing. I giant city that is growing by the minute--it was pleasant just to walk along the shores and think of what it looked like 5 years ago and what it will look like 10 years from now.
The train ride was without any issues whatsoever, I am happy to report-although it was a little challenging as the people were not as friendly as I am used to and they didn't really care to try speak English with me, which was a welcome relief. The only real downfall to the train ride was the Chinese man sitting across from me who snored and spat the entire night. But, the brightside of it was that he wasn't a thief...
So, that is the excitement thus far. I am happy to see the sun and its Chinese New Year...! Read more!

There are some pictures below this post....
I will add more to this later when I have time--right now it is once again time to go and eat more food yet again.... :)
Congrats to the Seahawks for finally making it the Super Bowl--too bad its in DETROIT.

Journey to the West Part I
There something sick and wrong with calling this adventure Journey to the West, which is a play on one of the famous Chinese classics that is better known as “The Monkey King”, but the fact is that I am headed west and this is a journey, so it seems fitting.
I am sitting right now in the home of my student, Ring’s uncle. It is in a city located just outside of Chongquing. The journey has begun.
I left Chenzhou two days ago in the middle of yet another cold and gloomy afternoon. The weather was dark and cloudy, reminding me of a Seattle winter morning. I departed the University, pack on my back in such a haste that I managed to leave all of the food items I intended on taking with me on the train so I wouldn’t have to worry about paying the highly inflated prices for food that had been sitting around for hours in steel bins that got a weekly scrubbing at best.
I met two friends of mine at the train station who were worried about me because I didn’t have a seat on the train I had booked myself on and I certainly didn’t have a sleeper, which is what I really desired to have. This was to be expected though—as it is the spring festival season in China-which is where the majority of the 1.3 billion people are on the move to get to families homes as work all but stops for a few days for some workers to weeks for others. It is the equivilant of the Christmas and New Year holiday in the West, but even less exciting for the most part. Most of this lack of excitement stems from the tradition of what most Chinese people do—in this way it matches the tradition of Thanksgiving in America. Most of the Chinese I know will be spending it with their families, watching state-run television programs that showcase the country’s obsession with all things Karoke. Hours upon hours of people endlessly watching other people taking much loved Chinese songs and turning them into a shrill, shrieking overly dramatic impression that makes even the most die hard Karoke fan wince.
The New Year festival for all intents and purposes is family oriented, especially for the kids. Children visit their relatives hoping for a red bag—which contains money, which the children do not actually receive the cash, this goes to the parents, who in turn give it to other children who come and visit them looking for a red bag. All in all, the situation is truly confusing.
People traveling for hours and days, just to gather together to watch television. This is what the spring festival appears to be for me. The crowds and the lines are nothing short of amazing—thirty thousand people stranded for hours at the Beijing Train station .
The train I took, one that originated 4 hours south of Chenzhou in Guangzhou, was packed with people when it arrived, yet I managed to aquire a sleeping ticket, which was lucky because I am not sure I would have been able to bear having to sit on my pack for 24 hours with the peasant population spitting and smoking whenever they pleased. The train was packed with people—packed. Bags and people lined the cabins where the seats were located.
The seating area and the sleeper is split in half by the dining car, which for an additional 30rmb charge, you can sit at as long as you like—provided that there is apace at the time. I had little trouble in aquiring a sleeper on the train. My friend Betty had written a request for a sleeper to Chongquing and the woman who helped me was more than happy to oblige.

--NBA
--BIjo and La Jao
--Running around the street Read more!

Hotpotting

Journey to the west Part I
Week one of my 33rd birthday and all is quiet for the time being. I am still in China, travelling through chongquing right now, taking it easy as I get ready for the long trek south to Thailand. I will be here in Chongquin about three more days and then its down to Kunming for Chinese New Year and then possibly to Dali and then to the Banna region --known for its lush forests and minority mixes--note:not the traditional China that I am growing somewhat tired of...
Not to mention that it is very cold here--and the North is experiencing temperatures that they have not seen since the second world war. This is problematic. I can only speak for the southern region, but it would seem that there is very little heat in China in the form of centralized heating. There is such a strong reliance on the natural heat--which must suck in the summer as well--Chongquing is one of the hottest places in China during the summer where the average temperature is around 40c. Regardless, my sleeping bag is getting a lot of use and it will be nice to get down to the South of the country and into warmer climates. Having spent a good deal of time in Buffalo, I feel like I appreciate the winter, but here you are almost always cold because of the lack of a good heat--and the marble floors are not much help either.
Anyway, per your request-- here are pictures... Read more!

Say Goodbye

Ahhhh, I have been waiting for some weeks to post this entry.
Tommorow, I leave Chenzhou for a month and go and explore Asia. Its an exciting time for me as I finally have earned enough time to get out and actually see the country--but I won't be spending too much time in China. Its really dismal here right now and there is a place that is nicer-- THAILAND.
Ahhh, yes, temples, Buddhism, freedom and good food await me in the land of the sun.
But, I have to get there first. In typical Hogg style, I have decided to go the most difficult way possible, just to check and see if it is possible.
Here is the scheduled itenerary:
Tommorow, about 2:30 my time, 11:30pm your time on the left coast, I will get on a train for Chongquing--the 3rd largest city in China-- 20 million people. It is a 24hour train ride because it is high in the mountains--the same mountains where the famed Yangtze river begins. If you don't know much about the Yangtze, you will. Right after the summer olympics in 2008, the Chinese government will flood the Yangtze plain, which stretches from Chongquing to Shanghai *essentially and it will be the largest enviromental change of its kind ever done. In total, more than 2 million people will be displaced--probably more when most of this scenic and historic area goes underwater. So, I want to poke around and see it before then. When the flood happens, Chongquing is expected to become the largest city in the world within 10years--mostly due to the explosion of huge demand for products, which will all be made here.
Following a week of exploring there, I will head to Yunnan province, which is considered to be one of the golden gems of China. It is where most of the tea for the world is harvested--and the temperature will go up about 30 degrees when I reach the area.
All in all, I will spend about a week travelling in Yunnan, to Dali and possibly Lijang--before heading to the "banna" region of the province, which is near the Laotion border. I will attempt to hire a cargo ship to take me to Thailand, which should take about two days in total.
I will then be in North thailand and will spend time touring the north and sightseeing and enjoying 80+ degree weather. Then its off to Banckok to see Andrew, which I am sure will result in Choas, which I am quite looking forward to. Then, depending on how bad the hangover is, I will head down south to Phuket to see the Tsunami zone in all of its glory.
I will try to report back as much as I can.
I turn 33 on Saturday--what an awesome way to spend your birthday-- I feel so young and so old at the same time. I didn't think that this is where I would be when I turned 33, but I have to tell you, its probably better than where most people are in their lives.
:) Read more!

Changsha Calamity

This is a long story, unedited and unfinished, but I reached a good point to stop and thought I would share it now and add more to it in the next couple of days. This is the kind of writing that I am working on over the next week--trying to get all of my thoughts together of the last 5 months. It has really been an amazing journey and I think that this story documents just how different things are here in China.
For those of you that are picture junkies, I will upload those in a couple of days as well.

January 10th, 2006

Today will go down as one of the craziest travel days of my life for a solo journey, with return, in one day. The day began at 7:45 this morning and its half past 8 in the evening and I am on the train that I hope will take me to the train station in Chenzhou, although I am not sure that it will. As usual with traveling solo, especially in China, I am in the hands of people that don’t know me, but still manage to steer me in the semi-correct direction. This is something that I have learnt to deal with, something that I seemingly embrace more and more now.
The goal of the day was to help out my dear friend Chris to get him, his family with two young children and his immense luggage to the Changsha airport, the provincial capital of Hunan province and onto the plane safely. That is the short end of the inventory, but as you will see in the following entry, there was much more to the complications than we had intended. Most of this task was accomplished, but with much trouble.
Chris and his lovely wife Ina have two of the most spectacular children I have known. Both of them have Africans names, which I am sure I will butcher, so I will simply refer to them as “the boy” Atlef and “the girl. Travelling with a child is tough, traveling with two of them as well as your wife is highly discouraged in a place like China if you are from the west and your family is accustomed to traveling better. The Chinese have no issues with it whatsoever, but as I mentioned, this is not the case for even the best traveled Westerners. Patience and a total trust in other people is needed.
For the past several days, we discussed at length the different options that were going to be available for Chris to do to make the journey to get to the airport, get on the plane and fly back to South Africa. The first issue was that he had to change his flight. Again, anywhere else on the planet, this is an easy option. You simply change the ticket, pay a fee if there is one applicable and move on. However in China, this is not as easy. There is not much of a credit system, so all possible change fees happen just prior to boarding. This is important to remember.
The other issue that immediately became of consequence was luggage. There wasn’t just a lot of it, there were huge amounts of it. It’s a family that moved to the orient to teach English and to look into importing some goods into South Africa as a side business. So, in addition to the normal things that a family of four needs to survive, there were also added samples of different things that he is trying to import. These are not small things either—shovels, axes, hardware equipment that is expensive in South Africa. So in addition to having family supplies, he was burdened with the types of things a traveling salesman has—making the amount of luggage a lot for such a small family.
We began to discuss his options. The original plan was to take the family down to Changsha a day early, stay in a nice hotel, have a nice breakfast and spend the day relaxing before getting on the plane and heading off back to his reality.
Unfortunately for him, he let me prepare a late snack for his family. A few days before I had discovered this lovely, simple dish called tang yuan, which is rice flour balls with a sweet peanut mixture in them. It is simple to make, the little purple balls simply heat up in a little boiling water and are quite delicious—a perfect kids treat.


The boy ate too many. That, mixed with his certain butterfly in stomach syndrome that one normally gets from traveling the night before a big journey, produced a thick purple vomit paste all over the bed in the middle of the night.
Time to resort to plan B. At the time, plan B was nothing more than the standard, we need to figure something else incase something goes wrong.

TRAVEL NOTE: WHEN TRAVELLING CHINA, HAVE A PLAN A-D.
When I went to see them off yesterday morning, I could immediately tell something was amiss. Of course, I could almost instantly see that there was an issue. Bob, (all Chinese have random English names because we, the pathetic speakers of English, cannot pronounce any Chinese names except Yao Ming and Jackie Chan, was there with a slight worried expression on his face as well as Joanna, our resident Chinese do anything for the foreigners (imagine that little asian boy in the Indiana Jones films that was always there to help Dockta Jones), which meant that either they were on the verge of leaving or something has happened. As soon as I saw Chris had his clothes on from the last night, I quickly came to the conclusion that a plan B would be needed soon.
They decided to revert from Plan A because the boy had been sick that night, which normally would not have been the most serious of issues, but if you are going to be traveling by bus or train in China, it is recommended to be in the best of health as you are more than likely to be sickened by any one of a number of things that happen on public transport. Everything from the lack of normal toilets, just about everyman smoking incessantly to spitting usually does it for most. The decision was to cancel the reservation at the hotel and make the journey all at once. The reasoning was mostly the boy, but it also had to do that the flight didn’t leave until 7pm, which should have left tons of time to get everything settled and get on the plane. By either bus or train the journey takes 4 hours. By being on the road by 10am, that would leave 5 hours before the plane left—seemingly plenty of time.

Plan B seemed pretty easy.

Then again, so did plan A. We agreed to all go into town that afternoon and have a send off dinner and do some final shopping together. I agreed to meet them after giving another round of exams to my students. When I came back several hours later, I found the Chenzhou Television crew at their house wanting a last minute interview before leaving the country. I could feel the tension in the room as soon as I stepped in. Ina rolled her eyes at me as I looked to see what was going on in the house. This is not the best time to conduct an interview, I thought to myself. Julian, one of the most aggressive teachers I know, was the ringleader of the event. He had forgot to inform the family that they were going to be featured. If he had informed them, I think he would have received an unfavorable response. Not only were they conducting a short interview, but they were going to be following the entire family around for a full afternoon to see what a family such as theirs does while they are living in China. Of course it, like everything else that runs in the media, needed to be staged. The reporters wanted shots of the children watching their DVD’s, purchased from Chenzhou shops. They wanted to go shopping with us, which Ina immediately denied because she was planning on buying some last minute clothes in the shops. However, they were persistent and did not understand our demands to simply make it short and allow them a little rest before their long journey.

The camera crew followed us to our last supper, where the reporters left us just after eating most of the food which we paid for. The boy did not make much of an effort to participate in because of his stomach, which forced an early retrat from the men. We decided to go back to the house and avoid any problems with the little one puking all over the bus. When we arrived back to the campus, we were informed that the camera crew was awaiting our arrival back. I tried to shout at them, but their English is at level where the only thing that they knew was that I was annoyed about something.
After they left, we sat and thought more about the plans to go to Changsha with the children. Chris felt that the only option was to take the bus. He had attempted the bus before and it was less than acceptable of an adventure—especially when you follow it up with being in a plane for 12 hours. The bus offered less opportunities for a little kid panic attack, less Chinese sprinting for god knows what.

As we began to explore the options for a bus connections, Bob calls and says that he found out a car is going to Changsha and gave the option for them to travel in the car, which seemed like the idea scenario. The only car that they could acquire a Volkswagen Passet—a large sedan but nothing in contrast to what they needed to take six people with enough luggage to support a small nomadic tribe.
After many ideas going back and forth, a plan c was formed.
Chris, Ina and the kids would ride in the sedan with as much luggage as the car could carry. It seemed somehow possible that they car could hold most of the luggage. I volunteered as the standby who would take the remaining luggage to the airport by bus, an easy four hour journey from Chenzhou. It was my pleasure to help the family out however possible. Over the past several months, we had become good friends and I didn’t want to see them struggle with something as simple as getting out of the country for a well deserved break.
The next morning, the troubles began as soon as the car arrived with passenger. Bob seemingly forgot to inform the driver that the family would have large amounts of luggage in the car. When the car arrived and the trunk was opened, there was a speaker box taking up a large portion of the trunk and two other boxes with materials in them. The driver refused to remove any of these items, which left nothing but a small space in the trunk for the large bags. In the end, we are able to get two of the bigger bags in the back and three smaller ones with the children. This left Chris out of the car with me and five pieces of large luggage to take on the bus. Chris was not happy to be leaving his family on their own to travel to Changsha with a passenger and driver who spoke no English whatsoever, but there were no other options for us to explore. A plan D had been created out of the ashes of plan C.
I had already hired a car to take me to the bus station, figuring that there would more than likely be a lot of luggage left if all the family had gotten into the cab. As the car left, we packed the bags into the back of hired car and we were off to the bus station.
Travelling by bus in China is much easier if you are traveling with a family or with a lot of luggage because the train is almost always crowded with people and you have to keep a close eye on your possessions at all times. A train makes many stops with people getting off and on at rapid succession, so keeping an inventory over the bags was not a job we wanted to undertake. The bus is much more expensive than a seat on the train, but the comfort level is usually much higher and you can usually fall asleep without worrying about anyone going through your things.
As we boarded the bus, we were both relieved to discover that the back seats of the bus were empty of people. For a reason I have yet to fully uncover, the Chinese do not like to sit in the back of the bus and the seats are always free. They would rather sit next to the toilet than the back of the bus. Although I do not understand why, we certainly appreciate this. The bus would be the perfect way to travel, except for a few major problems. The first and most important are the conditions of the roads in China. Part of the reason why the world looks to China for cheap manufacturing of goods is in part to cheap labor costs, but it is also due to the cheap cost of transport of materials. There are seemingly no regulations when it comes to truck capacity on the roads in China, so the freeway system in clogged with vehicles attempting to go different speeds. Huge trucks roll slowly down the freeway while busses and cars try to weave in and out of the stoppage, trying to keep a schedule that is rarely adheared to. The way that transportation is set up in China is the first thing you notice—it is uncontrolled chaos at every turn. In the cities it is mopeds and motorbikes weaving through the lanes of clogged taxis and black automobiles carrying the privledged few. Buses and people weave into the chaos, stirring up a reciepe for disaster, but one rarely happens.
In reality, the statistics say that everyday more than 500 people die in China everyday from auto related accidents. That’s 182,000 people a year, which seems difficult to imagine, until you factor in that the official population of China is somewhere around 1.3 billion people although, like most other things in China, the data collections methods are shotty at best.
When you are on the bus, it is difficult to get anything close to solid rest because of the constant barrage of the airhorn coming from the bus to signal that it is coming through the area and to move. This is almost a constant noise that blares out about every three minutes. The bus needs to keep the traffic moving or it gets behind. People in China love their horns. Love them. Whenever they get the smallest opportunity to use it, they do, and it not just a short honk, the kind that you give to a friend as he is crossing the road. No, these are the types of honks that have the same effect as someone taking their nails and scratching the chalkboard. These are the types of honks that turn ordinary people into road ragers. When a bus driver presses the air horn and lays on it for a couple of seconds as he goes screaming past these over weight trucks, I can help but think of how this scenario would play out in America. Here, however, it works just fine. The trucks normally slowly get out of the way, in the same way that an elephant would if they traveled on the freeway. There are never any fingers traded or swearing, just a strange kind of cooperation between occupations.
It is, however, enough to wake the dead in the right mode. We have all watched too many car crashes in film and on television to be able to sleep soundly through a bus going about 70 miles an hour that suddenly lays on its airhorn and slows down to about 30mph in about 2.2 seconds. I imagine it is the same feeling as when a plane is about to nose dive into the ocean, minus the blaring airhorn. However, the Chinese seem to sleep through all of it, while Chris and I simple awake with fright, that tiny bit of drool dripping from our mouths from the deep sleep. We don’t mind it at first because our first thought is that is our last moment on the earth, but then as we realize that it is just another moment on the bus, we regain composure and wipe our mouths quickly.
Then, to further top it off, there are the distractions that are happening inside of the bus. In America, we take pride in having our own gadgets to tone things out if we want to. In China, the bus and at times the train likes to play music and show movies to help entertain you during the long journey. Most of the time it shows videos of pop songs that stick in your mind for weeks at a time, but it also occasionally likes to show films, mostly the B-rated kind of stuff that you never catch on movie screens, much less blockbuster.
The moment that we loaded onto the bus, I knew we were into trouble. Immediately, I noticed the music. Normally it is some Chinese rip off of a boy band that has long faded into the abstract of American pop culture, but today was something new. Indian Pop music, which in its very own merit, is actually much, much, much worse than anything the Chinese could copy—and its original. Not only was it a video of horrible Indian pop music, but it was a full length film set to music. More than an hour of the journey was dedicated directly to this “film”.
But wait, there’s more.
When the film ended, I felt a sigh of relief and instant relaxation begin to kick in. I thought to myself that maybe this is not so bad-we were comfortable, the sun was shining and I was on the road. Then the next movie began.
This one was pretty much devoid of music, so I would say that in all honesty it was actually a film.
If you have seen the puppet action movie, Team America, then you may have wondered where the idea for such a silly film came about. It was almost certainly this film. To go from a Indian pop music video movie to a B rated film about how America deals with terrorists in a Rambo like format goes without saying. I caught Chris’ looks as he watched the film in horror-not because he was scared, but he was scared of his children who might be on this bus with him. Explosions, guns, violence, the whole nine yards of things that you want to keep away from your children as much as possible were all being displayed in grave detail for the bus to watch and enjoy. It’s the kind of films that make farm boys patriotic in high school and they type of film that makes people beg for censorship even through they are aware that the first amendment protects such garbage—but here it is for all of China to watch.
Following that gruesome film, we thought that we must be getting close to Changsha and began to chat about what Chris was looking forward to doing when he arrived back to his homeland. Topping the list, as with most people from the west—Food. He had thought for weeks about exactly when they were going to land, so he could look forward to the meal that was closest to that moment. Most of all, he missed breakfast. Bacon, eggs, coffee.
Just as we were swapping stories of struggle like old war buddies, the next film began. We laughed with each other as we looked at the screen.
Within five minutes, we figured out just what we were in for—a horror film. Not just any horror film, but one with heads being ripped off, delicious slang like “I am going to skull fuck you” shooting through the air faster then the bullets. Chris just shook his head repeating “I can’t believe it” like it was his personal mantra.
Thankfully, we arrived soon.
Which is where the adventure began. When you arrive at any new destination in China, it never seems right. The bus station in Changsha is a prime example of this. The bus station is not even near the downtown area of Changsha, which makes it difficult and expensive to get to the downtown area. The easiest solution to this problem would be for the government to have a shuttle that runs directly into the downtown. If this available, no one knows about it.
Regardless, when you arrive at the Changsha bus station, you are immediately greeted by a large crowd of people who are all attempting to take you wherever you need to go. Explaining that we needed to go to the international airport took a little bit of time and we decided to go with the most innocent looking person—a woman who actually had another women drive with us because I think she was a little scared of us.
As she began to drive away from the mob, I nodded to Chris. It was a good idea just to get out of there as quickly as possible. We could make this woman take us where we needed to go with the right bargaining skills, which I have learned in my five months here.
Travel Tip: Always find out exactly how much A Chinese would pay for a cab ride.
The first thing to do is find out what the Chinese think it should cost. For this, I went to the guy that brought me to China,—Bob. After filling him in on the details, he informed us that the price that the cab driver was demanding too much money in his experience. I could tell by his tone that this was a lot of money in his eyes. 120rmb was the price quoted. I decided to believe Bob and I signaled for the woman to pull over. She immediately became concerned about my wishes. As the car slowed, I quickly made a move to get out of the car, this is the best way to bargain with the cab driver that is trying to rip you off. The problem with this was that in my haste from hearing Bobs tone, I forgot to inform Chris of my plan. As I jump out of the car, it catches Chris off guard. Before he is fully aware of what is happening, I am out of the car, walking to the back of the vehicle where I begin to bang on the trunk, yelling 100rmb in Chinese. The moment becomes both tension and humor coming together as the women and Chris are not really sure what is going on, which makes it funny because I am sure I am making a statement. Due to the Chaos, the woman agrees 100rmb and I get back in, acting pissed off at the situation. I say to Chris in an angry English tongue that if he ever thinks he is being overcharged for a cab fare, the best thing is to get out as soon as possible and leave. He laughs heartily. The plan would have worked if we didn’t have so much luggage, and if I would have let Chris know of my plan.
The cab ride still ends up costing Chris 120rmb, because he had to pay the toll to go there and back, which is 10rmb each way. He didn’t care, he just wanted to see his family. Afterall, the total cost was a whopping $13.00usd, which is what you should always keep in the back of your mind when traveling in China. 120rmb sounds like a lot of money, but in reality, it’s the cost of a CD.
* * * Read more!

The Plan

Tommorow I will finish my grading for the term and will spend the next week going over as much as I can with my writing before taking up what I consider to be the third leg of my trip. The first was the journey here, the second is comprised of all that I have done since arriving here and teaching. The third leg is going to be about the travelling that I came here for--three weeks of solid bliss that was originally earmarked for travels in China, but has since changed and will now involve a little rest in Chenzhou before heading out to explore as much of China as I can without freezing. Then I will come back to Chenzhou for a couple of days to relax and refuel and then head off to see Thailand for about two weeks.
So, you will have about a week of blogging where I will upload a lot of content, then I will be off travelling for three weeks, which at this point, seems so surreal. Read more!

Ahhh, the end of the school year is here.
The last week has been an interesting one.
The weather has turned this once warm, tropical like area into a frigid tundra which really isn't a tundra at all, but the Southern end of China doesn't really know how to heat their homes very well, so the cold circulates and settles in without much to prevent it. A subzero temperature in America is the equalivant to freezing here because of the lack of proper insulation and heating. The days are often covered in low level fog, much like Seattle for most of the winter, but a little colder. The days where the sky is clear and beautiful, the blueness of the atmosphere radiates like the sun in September here. I long for those days where the airconditioner was at its coldest, the mosquitoes having everything from a mid night snack to the full course meal Tim Hogg style and my nights full of nightmares of catching malaria or typhoid.
Now, I lay in bed for hours more than I should, afraid to get out of the bed and face the inevitable chill the morning without much sun brings.
These days my patience has been tried several times as well as the kids that are my students have met their day of reckoning, the day where it shows what kind of students they really are. With the weakest ones, I try to have mercy on them, knowing their plight--knowing that they are smart, just like me, but they don't care for all this that doesn't seem to really matter--this that really bares not much significance on them or what they are going to end up doing once the fantasy of college is behind them.
I try to have mercy on them, either because they remind me of a younger me or because I feel pity for them in their time, their life in China.
There are some basic rules about the students in China that fit into the following catagories:
1. The Serious student. In each of my class, I have about 5 of these people. Most of them are my friends and I know their names. They like English either because they are fascincated by the language or the culture--either way, they enjoy it and they do well with it. You can tell that they do well with all of their subjects because they are not like the other students--they are smart and ahead of their other students.
2. The student. Not much going on here. The majority of people at my school are these people. Not too smart, not dumb, but mostly don't really care for the academic side. They like the foreign teachers and think we are here mostly for the entertainment factor (which we hate, by the way) Most of these students are worried more about the social side of college--they are always going to all these little parties the students put together, but they don't really understand the English classes and their level of comprehension is enough to pass, but this is mostly because the level is set so low.
3. The "I am an English major because my parents made me go to college because we have money and I don't know how to do anything else."
Need I say more? These are the ones who speak little english and don't give a shit.
4. Cheaters.
I fucking hate cheaters.
Every class has a couple of ones that are just cheaters because they think (and they are mostly right until they met me) that they can get away with it. These are almost always males, which is hilarious because I have about 5 guys in everyclass. My final project assingment on its face seemed like it was a difficult assignment-- my students had to read a book in English, keep their thoughts in the journal on the book and then work hard and provide a good paper in the end to document what they learned by reading the book and what they went through in thinking about the themes in the book.
Most of the students turned in book reports of the book, which was okay with me for the most part--the first couple i read I was upset with them, but the more I read, the more I realized I was pushing them too hard with all of this. These kids have been spoon feed an education all their lives--they have difficulties thinking outside of the box, which is what I was asking them to do. I gave everyone a break on this note and seriously scaled back the assignment, admitting defeat.
Yet, I still had several students turn in work that they tried to pass off as if they actually did most of the writing--until I found the exact paper on the internet and accused them of cheating. I will probably upload a couple of examples of papers in the next couple of days, both real and stolen, so you can see the difference. It is just amazing that these kids actually thought I wouldnt find the papers or accuse them of cheating. I was more angry about that--if you are going to cheat, at least spend some time trying to be a cheater!!!

Then the worst part of it all, none of this matters. If you fail a student, they don't have to retake the class, they just keep going forward, getting toward the degree. What motivates any of them to do any better? I think that it mostly comes from a need or a desire to suceed for some of them. For the others, they know that they are stuck in this wierd realm where they pass through without proving themselves to anyone, which must be a strange and somewhat difficult place to be. I try to have patience and understanding with this system, but frustations like these draw me on edge. The school makes light of the foreign teachers finals and puts heavy stress on the week long "finals", which do not account for that much in the long run because the finals don't actually cover as much what is taught in class as much as what the students need to learn, which is what they just memorize a week before the exam. This makes it very difficult to educate--both for the institution and as well as the instructors. Read more!

2006

Ahhhh, the holidays. One would think that in China I would be depressed because there is not really any celebrations like New Years or Christmas.
Wrong indeed.
There were many plans in the air to do many things, but when it came down to it, I was more than happy to just hang out in Chenzhou and see what the holidays were like for the people that I see all the time. Many foreigners I know headed down to Yangshou to ring in the new year with other white people, but that idea really did not interest me. I was glad I didn't.
New Years here was a bit of a joke, but a fun one with some western style drama included in it. You will have to wait for the long version of everything in regards to these events because I am wanting to write it all out and giving little chunks of information about the week is not going to tell the full story. Let's just say that I am really beginning to appreciate time when I can just sit in my flat and read or write--for the first time in a long time I am content with just being. Most of this is a mix of being really tired of people here and just needing time to get the things done that I have promised myself to finish. I have a lot of work to be doing between now and the time I leave and I am trying to arrange my life with a game plan when the time comes to depart from China (which is approaching quickly).
The next couple of weeks is going to allow for that. Finals are going to happen this week--if I want it to or not, its here. Then, we break for about a month. During this time I will be doing one of two things:
Option A is to go to Thailand and see a friend who is in Bankock. Tickets to Thailand are dirt cheap and it would be nice to get out of China for a bit.
Option B is to stay in China as I am only here for a year and that is a short time to see such a vast country with so many different provinces and people. I feel like I am cheating the overall experience a little if I do not try to stay in China for the entire trip. The problem is the cold weather and my lack of cold weather gear, which was actually resolved today when I bought a new North Face jacket from a downtown merchant. Now I am prepared for any kind of weather that come my way--so I am leaning to staying in China again. If I did stay in China, I would more than likely stick to the lower end of the country and focus on the provinces here that interest me the most-- Yunnan for the delicious New'er teas, Sichuan for the various terrains and spicy food (which does not interest my stomach so much) and Chongdoung province, which I will be sure to discuss much more of in future posts.
So, I am not sure which route to take--most of it just depends on how the cards fall when the time gets closer. Regardless, I am going to hang out here for a week and look at Chenzhou without all the people and distractions and try to get some good writing taken care of. The last couple of weeks really show me how busy with nothing you can really get. I feel like my whole plan of getting an hour or two of writing in everyday has been replaced with repeated discoveries of the same places all the time. I catch myself avoiding writing at any cost because it is real work at times and producing the volumes of babble I put up here will eventually have to be edited and thought over and I am just not at that point where I am ready to put it all together and see what really comes out of it.
The other problem is trying to find enough information about doing anythingin this country is difficult and seems to take hours of time. Communication here is mostly done through short text messaging, which keeps me busy as well. (Not to mention that I am grading 500 students over the next week--so its long days these days, all built on final exams--another finite point I am going to discuss at length)
So, steady as we go.... Read more!

For the most part I have been nothing but a big slacker when it comes to this blog for the last couple of weeks. This is due in part to many different things, mostly because I have been slammed with many things that take up the days.
First, the trip to hainan.
Second, upon my return, I was stunned to discover that most of my students had cheated on their papers that they were to have turned in while I was gone. So, it has been slow going in grading them.
Thirdly, the holidays. The chinses are very concerned that I have a good time and enjoy myself, so I have been to countless dinners and such since my arrival back from Hainan--which is nice, but the food has been spicy and my stomach had rejected most of it either because of the spice or because of the ridiculous fucking MSG.
Tonight we dined with the president of the uni--who was a nice guy and the food was just great. A lovely experience in dining for once.
Anyway, more later when I feel better-- I promise. The holiday is coming and I promise I will add more stories as there have been a lot in the last couple of weeks that you will all enjoy. Read more!

It's the time of the Season

Season's Greetings to you all.
As per usual, I am enjoying the holidays.... I'll be back in full swing in the next couple of days, but I am dealing with another case of bad chinese food again and trying to finish the book Papillion.
I hope everyone is doing well.
These were taken just yesterday. I am the assed out Santa--what a blast. Read more!

Hainan

The sun has now set upon Sanya once again and the fireworks barrage has begun. This is my second night here in this furthest city in China. The island of Hainan is sleepy and peaceful, but it will not be this way for very long. Huge buildings are being erected just like everywhere else in China as the country goes through a construction movement that leaves foreigeners like myself wondering who they are building all of these for?
Here in hainan the problem is perhaps more pronounced as the buildings that have been built are all empty and one wonders who in China would be able to afford these places if they were to come south.
To the foreigner, Hainan is a place of unbridled beauty--beautiful tropical sun which I have never really experienced before, andy beaches with far less people on them than one would expect. If you keep your eyes focused on the sea, it makes for a really lovely place, but if you turn around and see the skeletons of the resorts being built in front of your eyes, as you see the future, you want to run into the warm water and stay there as long as possible before they take you out of it and charge you for using it.
Ahhh yes--the Capitalist China. It is coming alive. People in the capitalist trade, the taxi's, the fruit vendors, the shell vendors, everyone wants your money here and lots of it. Not that its expensive, because its not, but the constant barrage from people trying to sell you something really stays with longer than the fruit that the sell.
Christmas is a great example of just how pathetic China is getting in catering to Western causes. The Chinese do not celebrate Christmas but here in China all the shops and the shop workers are all dressed up in their Christmas attire and singing Christmas songs --because Christmas means extra sales and extra sales means, well, for these people, nothing. They don't get paid by how much they sell, they get paid very little to stand around and try to help you however they can--its better than selling your body for sex.
Not that I am not having a good time on the beach--its a little boring travelling by yourself to a tropical paradise and it beats being in America at this time of the year. Drinking and eating fresh cocunut off the tree and mangos for breakfast is really the life, even it is a bit boring. It would just be so much nicer if we werent all so fucking worried about money all the time and it really makes you ill to see it here because you know it doesnt need to be this way...!

More later. Read more!

A blog entry that I will write at another time has to do with this statue. Part of the huge building that is going on in China is also the creation of these new historic parks. Basically, to help develop tourism internally, the local governments in China are basically developing these scenic parks in which they design new copies of old buildings and charge huge prices for the public to come and view them. This is a picture of one of the statues in such a park. I will send more pictures of this at another time. Its an interesting thing to watch out for in China--the land of imitation.


This little girl is from the school where I was an acting judge for a compitition. She was by far one of the cutest. They teach these kids how to speak English through action--so they learn songs and action moves to go along with them. Think Britney Spears on Star search.






Two of my favorite students. Natalee and Honey. I play badminton with them once a week. I have gotten to be quite good at badminton lately. It is a lot of fun.







Ahhhh, the Chenzhou bus. Lovely isnt it? This shot was taken just yeasterday as I went to the city to buy my bus ticket and as I suspected, there was a thief on the bus. He was caught trying to steal someones cell phone. Too bad I didn't get him in the picture!!




The school gate and Ms. Fiona, one of the people that works in the foreign affairs office at the University. We had lunch this afternoon and I took this picture of her outside of the gate.







The last week has been very busy with school work and trying to keep warm in this ever changing climate. Although it has not gone below freezing, I am constantly either too warm or too cold as the flat does not hold any heat for very long. This is the case over most of China-- I have a nice flat, but no insulation whatsoever.
The heaters are the air conditioners that now have the heat element hooked up, but they merely blow a little hot air into the room, circulating the cold air. It keeps the temp from just where you can see your breath, but not much higher.
I am off to Hainan for the week to soak up some sun and take a much needed break from all of this.

The time has come rather quickly for a vacation--even though the big one will be here in a month. This will serve as good time away to come back and refocus for the final half of my chinese experience. I can not believe that it is Christmas time already. It certainly does not feel anything like it, but next weekend is the merry time of the year. Unbelievable. Perhaps the beaches in Hainan will make me think more of the Christmas season-- driking coconut milk and sunning is just what the doctor ordered.

See you all in a week or so. Read more!

Off To Hainan...

Finally, a break.
The last couple of weeks have been a bit tedious--dreadfully cold weather, rain, gloom. The weather mixed with the students anger that I am making them write a final paper on a book that they have read this semester *they have NEVER written a paper before*, it is time to take a little bit of a break before having to lock myself in my apartment for two weeks and grade 6-9page essays.
One solid week of nothing but warm, sandy beaches and relaxation await me in Hainan. I will be leaving for the Hainan area next wednesday afternoon.
Hainan is recently very famous for its recent hosting of the Miss World finals, which are held in Sanya, in the southern end of the island. Hainan has similar weather to Hawaii--hence why it is known as Chinese Hawaiian Island.
A week in Hainan, followed by two weeks in Chenzhou grading term papers, followed by a month long vacation.
I will start the journey in Hong Kong or Guangzhou for my birthday, followed by Chinese New Year, followed by three weeks in Thailand. All of this will cost less than $430 USD.
So, I miss Christmas, but I will be on the beach until just before Christmas eve. :) Read more!

Tea Crazed

Over the past several weeks, as my body begins to realize how vile and bad booze really is, I have discovered the true beauty of tea.
I must confess, that if anything, tea is in my blood. My father, being English, was a constant drinker of it until he had this realization that anything that was somewhat stimulating in life was bad for him. At once, for health reasons, he gave up all booze and caffeine and meat. He know leads a life sin free, except for sweets. If you want something from Dad, come bearing chocolate. It helps his menstral cycle I guess.
Giving up tea was the hardest for him, but the doctor said that it had to go. It just wasn't good for his health.
Well Dad, if you read this, I may have found a cure.
Red Tea.
It is actually black tea, but the processing of it seems to take out the caffeine in the process. The story of the tea is varied, so I am going to give you what I think is the truth, but, like many other things in China, it might be the truth. So, look for corrections on this in a later blog entry.

The story begins with the continuation of the story from the other night. When we went to this tea shop in the walking street, I was quite blown away by the culture of tea. It was my first exposure to the different methodology with the tea than what I was used to: Loose tea that steeps, or sits in hot water for a few minutes, then is poured into a cup and served with cream and sugar for more flavor. I thought that nothing beat a nice pot of PG tips on a Sunday afternoon with a good book, but that has all changed.
The other nights tea experience turned out to be a bit of a fraud. It turns out that the brick of tea that I recieved as a gift the other night turned out to be terrible. So terrible in fact that the tea shop that I went to today called it "fake".
I am still not sure what to think of the gift--if it was meant with the best of intentions or it was meant to show off to the girl that went with us. Regardless, it was a sham. When we opened the package, the tea was moldy and the package was not consistant with the good teas--it was wrapped in plastic. The tea shop owner or boss as they are called here, pointed out that good tea will either have no wrapping and you just buy the brick, or it is wrapped in linen and expensive good tea is boxed in bamboo. A good lesson to know for next time.
I was eager to try the new tea and on Friday morning I had taken the tea with me to a meeting with a fellow teacher, Mrs. Chen, who is a big fan of Guyang tea, which is a decent green tea. She bought me a couple of sample tins that other day to see if I enjoyed it, so I thought I would take this tea to her to show her and get her thoughts. When she saw it, she thought it was expensive tea and invited me to have it looked at by an expert--the boss of the tea shop where I spent all of the afternoon. She suggested to bring the tea with us and she would buy some others to contrast it against.
The tea failed in every catagory.
The tea shop where I went on my pretend date is on the walking street in the town--a nice little place in the heart of where the action is in Chenzhou. It is a nice tea shop and expensive--the first couple of times that we went there they charged us a 12rmb sitting fee, plus the cost of the tea, which I thought was silly. Since I have been there a few times now, they don't bother to charge me anymore.
When I went with the girl and the police officer, who is a regular customer, it was quite an experience because he is well connected. It is because of this that I don't think I will raise the issue with the boss about his bad tea. It is not worth the hassle. The boss, who is from Taiwan, seemed to have a good knowledge of tea and the different experiences--that is, until I met this boss today.
The shop we went to today has only been in operation for a month. The boss and his brother recently relocated from Yunnan, where the majority of this red tea comes from. They had been doing a lot of business in Hunan, trading their tea with the hunan green tea (which is not good) and the Changsha Jasmine tea (which is nice), so they decided that they would open the shop down here. The location is not the best--it is a little off the beaten path, but it is quite a nice little place, but is about 1/6 of the size of the big teahouse in the walking street, but it looks like his business will be centered in the wholesale trade.
My intial response to this place was not positive because of the immediate insults of the tea I brought into his shop. Again, as in other posts, my American suspecion of everything occured.
Tea is difficult to gauge because of the variant in trade prices. The Yunnan tea, which is my personal favorite, ranges from 130rmb a brick to 3500rmb and the taste, just subtle differences. The main difference comes from ageing. Red teas are treated and packed to last a long time. Their flavor retains its strength for many years. The 3500rmb tea is 25 years old and tastes like most of the other teas, except it has a nice smooth finish on it with some hints of walnut. Its quite an experience, but not worth 3 weeks salary.
I decided to give the 130rmb a try. It was a good decision. I am enjoying the first pot of some 80 that I will get out of this brick of tea. In another post, I will explain the process of making the tea--it is very involved, but it is easy if you practice through the afternoon. The key is that you dont steep the leaves--this causes them to become bitter--which is probably why the english had to use the sweetneers and such.
Anyway, I need to get back to grading the outlines my kids have lined up.
To be continued.................... Read more!

Traditional Chinese dating is something that is very heavily guarded. Where I live here in the middle of Mao country, there is not the worry about AIDS or loose women. Sure there are hookers (and cheap hookers at that), but they are well hidden and kept away from the mainstream traffic.
The women who are traditional are guarded heavily. Especially the really good looking ones. I met a really good looking one last weekend. Her name is Lei Hui Zhen and unlike most other Chinese girls, she does not have an English name because she loves her name and wants people to know it.
Now, I am not romantically linked to this girl in anyway. However, a collegue of mine found out that she wanted to take me out to tea and he gave me a fairly stern warning:
"Bad things happen to people that have sex with a Chinese girl without bearing a ring."
Now, to be fair, this guy is from the country and comes from a family of rice farmers. He clearly has not lived in the city long and still thinks all Chinese women but the whores are as fresh as Colorado snow on Christmas morning.
I asked him what he meant by the comment--if he was threatning me.
"No, I am not one to really care, but many others do. Consider this your warning. She is a lovely girl."
I still didn't catch his meaning.
As my good friend Tiny asked me when I relyed the story to him:
"What, does he mean like an honor killing?"

I decided to just not pay any attention to this absurb talk. I am a grown man who generally makes good decisions. I have no intention of sleeping with a traditional Chinese girl--I just can't see the point of hugging for three months before getting a kiss. I don't have that kind of time. I have already crossed the path of immortal sin, thanks all the same.
But, we did go out tonight. She was going to introduce me to her yoga teacher. Easy enough. However, when we went to the gym, I was challenged by someone to a game of ping pong. At first, it was ok. I could tell that the other guy was playing with me, giving me crappy lobs and trying to watch to see how bad I could be. The Chinese take their table tennis very seriously--which is kind of funny because in America you see it more when you are in a friends basement at the age of 12 then at any other time. So, I let him have his fun for a bit and then he decided to give me a good lashing in front of the girl.
He then says he wants to take me out for some tea. The way that he described it in Chinese made it seem a little planned out. The girl agreed and excused herself to go talk to the Yoga person before the three of us head out to have tea.
I like tea and am beginning to really enjoy Chinese teas, so I was looking forward to it. I didn't know what, if anything I would do with the girl, so this seemed to fit nicely. No awkwardness.
Basically, the three of us head to the tea shop and it then becomes very apparent that this guy thinks we are on an actual date! I shake my hands-- No, No. He nods and shows me his badge-- YES! YES!
and smiles. A police escort.
Lovely.
So, an honor killing and a police escort. Odd.
But wait, theres more.
The teahouse had some of the best damn tea I have EVER tasted. Red tea is the best, by far. I found one particular type that I enjoyed the most-- it is 700rmb a KILO!!! Which is close to $90 USD.
Of course, its good for your health.
To make this story a little shorter, we had a good time--and I got my first traditional Chinese tea lesson (Britian does not have anything on Chinese tea culture)
As we were leaving, the policeman, our escort on the date I wasn't on, gives me two bags. One with a brick of the red tea--probably valued at 50 bucks, and the other, the traditional Chinese lucky tea frog set, another 50usd.
As we leave, he has a car outside to take me to the University.
Its moments of pure kindness like these that make me wonder why people aren't always like this. It makes me wonder why we, as rich Americans, would NEVER do something so kind. It makes me think that there is another motive behind his actions. I am always suspect of policeman bearing expensive gifts...

It just amazes me how lovely these people can be.
Then again, this is China.... Read more!

Part of the frustration that is a constant in china is the lack of finding information. First, there is the language barrier, which is not that bad as long as you try to surround yourself with Chinese people that speak english and understand how difficult it must be.
However, within the culture of the Chinese is a total lack of a clear cut way to do most things. This is the main source of most of my frustrations in China.
For example: I was riding on the bus back to the University with one of my students. Anna is from the North, near Beijing and is much more educated and cultured than most of the other kiddies here at the University. I mention to her that I am interested in going to Hainan for a weekend because the cold weather is getting to me because I do not have enough warm clothes.
She offered to call a friend of hers who is a travel agent in town.
She rings the woman at about 9 at night and she is still working. She asks which way I want to go to Hainan and I say the cheapest possible. She says that there is a train, which takes a long time, but you can fly there for 1000rmb roundtrip from Guangzhou, which is four hours from here. I repeat--no, I want to go the cheapest way possible. She says this to the travel agent and they go back and forth, several times. I sit wondering what they are discussing. A lot of discussing always worries me because it usually means that my friendly translator is making decisions without conference--which never turns out to be what I intend.
"She said that it is just 1000rmb to fly. If you go to guangzhou, stay in guangzhou overnight and catch the train in the morning, it will cost you about 800rmb, so why not fly?"
We go back and forth on different options before I decide to think about it some more. When we arrive back at the school gate, Anna calls a friend of hers from Hainan and asks her what she normally pays to go back home. The woman cannot hear us clearly, so we agree to meet each other in the English department. When we meet, she tells me it depends on which way I want to travel to hainan. I say, again, the cheapest route possible. She says that the cheapest route possible is only available to students.
I gasp.
"Okay, the cheapest route to Hainan for me."
She spends several overly confusing minutes discussing the different transport options available. I laugh to myself at how complex all of this seems to be. There is a bus from Chenzhou, but its slow.
You can take a bus to Guangzhou and take a train to Hainan.
You can take a train to Guangzhou and take a train to Hainan.
You can take a train to Guangzhou and take a bus to Hainan.
or you can fly.

The prices are all varied and she doesn't know how much it is because she is just a student, so she only knows how much the student rate is.
I talk to another friend of mine later in the afternoon who says that there is a direct bus to hainan that leaves here each morning at 10:40am. It arrives in Hainan 7 hours later. The total cost: 150rmb each way.

I will let you know in a couple of days if this is the case.
I must go teach the kiddies now. Read more!

Revaluing the Yuan

In other news, China has announed today that it will not revalue the Yuan.

This is good news for me as my meager salary will still go futher in the marketplace. It is bad news for American workers and the rest of the world that is producing products for consumption because it essentially means that China will still be the best deal in the world to do business in for low end goods.
Why?
Because even though China has joined the WTO, they are still taking their own sweet time in coming into the marketplace at a fair and just rate. They keep the exchange rate high, which lures big business because it basically gets a deal that should not be available in the market--think of that scenerio where a stolen truck pulls up to your street with 52 inch Plasma televisions for sale at $200 instead of $2000. That is China.
The United States keeps shaking their finger at China, threatning to impose trade restrictions and China, as it will always do, is polite and doesn't directly say no (it is against Chinese culture to directly say no.)
Bush and the other big business capitalists in charge in Washington, know that this is political bullshit, but they also know that there isnt a thing that they can do about it.
Why?
For years, decades even, China has been getting a lot of money from open market capitalism and not giving any of it to the people in the people's republic. Instead, it just reinvests in the market--both in the bond market as well as the US market. They are the No. 1 country that owns most of the US debt. While Bush is fighting a war, he is essentially doing it on credit. The credit card used by more Bush's-- Bank of China.
So, while the US likes to use big words to make us seem like big balls, China has our balls and knows how small they really are and they have their cold hands cupping them gently and telling us to just cough and everything will be alright.... Read more!

Its about time....

Sorry about the lack of posting over the last several days--just not too much to report here in China. Winter has set in and so has a slight tinge of depression. The holiday season is among you, but here its just business as usual. Things are starting to annoy me more and more here as you get past what the foreigners call the "honeymoon" with China and settle into your everyday life. Now it is becoming more and more dismal and winter enters the picture.
Most of the problem that I am encountering comes from a lack of people to share the experiences with. For some reason this has always been a common problem. The other foreigners that are here are just so different than me in too many ways that we have little to talk about and when we do, it gets me down. They are always so pessimistic about the experience--and that says a lot coming from someone like me. I just realize that I am a little special in the fact that I have really had the chance to experience the good life and the shitty life really brings a lot of light and clarity when the times are good. When it is the other way around, it is difficult.
I didn't imagine I would miss Americans, but in a way I do. The only American to come to Chenzhou was Phillip, who went packing after a month. This is a good thing--I was lobbying hard to fire the guy and he certainly wouldn't have made it this far along in the game.
I have to just keep remembering that the end is coming faster than I want it to. Soon enough I will be applying for jobs both in the US and abroad and looking for the next move. there are many options to consider because nothing concrete has really surfaced as of yet.

I have learned alot of things here about myself as well as society and what people can really live on--it is both an amazing concept and one that is shocking to me. I just can't believe at times that people live like they do here, but it also makes sick when I think that people are buying homes in Seattle for the price they are going for--it just makes you very aware of where you are. That's not too say that either side lives a better life than the other--it is all in the mind about where and what is good and plentiful in the world. For me, I am just happy I get to see both sides of the coin for what they are. Read more!

A response.

My dear friend Christian decided to remark on my slight rambling last night and I have decided to publish a more formalized version of what I meant by my comments. Last night was just a momento for me where I began to think again about how much my feelings about our government has continued to change in the wrong direction since this yahoo took over the oval office.
Now that I have been somewhat called out, I feel that I need to formalize my thoughts.

Going to war with Iraq unilateraly without the support from the community was a mistake.

First off, I am going to make these comments in Red and I am just doing this to be devil's advocate...

The main issue with the Bush administration and, for the most part, the Republican party, is that they don't do anything with the involvement of a community. A committee, yes, but not a community, which is made up of citizens with different opinions and rationale's. This administration does whatever it wants and then uses political bully tactics to carry out its agenda. Sometimes this option works, but for the most part it is a temporary fix on a bleeding artery--which to continue the metaphor, is the American People.

However, no one neither UN, EU, ASEAN or IAEA never claimed that Saddam Hussein should stay in power. I also don't think they said that he needed to removed by the United States.

However, the problems created by the U.S. is that the unilateral pre-emptive attack opened up a whole lot of worms. The U.S. got lucky as to defeating the Red Guard. No one expected them to drop their loyalty towards the regime once tanks began to role over the boarder.

The issues created was:
1. Increased hostility towards U.S. interests in the region I would add the world. It was a nightmarish PR move for every segment of the global population except for republicans and rednecks. Oh wait, it's just republicans I guess.
2. Increased hostility towards western interests in the region Not to be redundant, but the global market.
3. An increased tension within the Middle East which might spreat through the Arab world towards Muslim states boardering Russia and to Turkey and the EU I think this is true but relations will get better over time as long as we do not leave the area in a mess, which we are more than likely going to do.
4. Pre-emptive attacks can only be considered as justified by the attacker. This opened up the issue of making it legitimate for other countries in attacking who they consider the enemy. Which is the rhetoric that Pakistan and Israel has been using after 9/11 in "their fight against terrorism".
Again, this is another nuance for Bushie. He is the one that changed the policy that said that the US could now attack in a preemptive stance in this post 911 world. He changed the policy, our lawmakers voted it in and our media didn't cover it. Ooops. It must have been super bowl weekend.

5. The attack also created tention between the U.S. and the EU and the United States lost much of its credability in the international community. I don't think this is from the attack on Iraq as much as it is that Bush is not a statesman. He turns his nose at order, but not in a rage against the machine way-- He is a the king of the pompous arrogant prick. He is captain of the football team that no one likes.
Something that in the end is dangerous as the U.S. still has the most powerfull military arsenal.However, with this said I wanted to point out that attacking Iraq was by itself not wrong. Yes it was. We can agree to disagree, but the fact is that Bushie had his eye on that prize since he did wrong to his Daddy. We all forget to go back to this issue, but we all know its totally true. When Saddam watched the WTC explosion, he said "Oh Shit"--even if he knew about it.
Sanctions did not work and had already killed hundered of thousands of innocent civilians. Oh, okay. So the US cares about innocent lives now? Hmm, well maybe Rwanda or the Congo or the Sudan or AIDS might be better off then--but they aren't. Why? Because we believe that if you cant play with the expensive toys, then there is no game.
The issue was that the United States acted alone. The United States acted alone because they acted out of turn in the chess match of weapons inspections. Bush and his people saw the opportunity to mislead in a time of conflict and turmoil and went for it. When there were still questions raised, he still went. Guns a blazin-- just like in the old West movies. John Wayne would be proud.... This is the problem when you have a failed Texas businessman trying to act like a public servant--you getting him trying to act better than Ronald Regan.
But, the in order to create som stability and for the United States to gain trust in the future from the world community they need to stay in Iraq but work closer with the world community. Oh, and Bush was just really doing an impressive job of that when he was just in China. One of the major concerns regardging Iraq was that the U.S. would follow suit and leave once body bags started to pile up in Dover. But a political administration cannot and should never cave for public opinion when it comes to Security and Foregin policy. The public opinion changes depending on the news cycle. If politicians would listen to the public in these matters there would be troops sent to every atrocity committed everyday all over the world. And not even the United States has the resources to do so.
In closing, I would agree with this last statement, if we had someone that was a respected public servant doing this job. But, as Dave Eggers says, "Mistakes were made". You don't just keep moving on with the same plan to find the secret treasure when there isn't any secret treasure. No, we shouldn't leave Iraq, but we should get Bush out and let someone in there that can make some sense of this whole mess.
But, it isn't going to happen. You know it and I know it. Everyone except the families and Michael Moore are being encouraged to just forget about it. It's going to go on and on and on and on and on and on and on until someone just pulls the plug and says that we have done the best we can--there is nothing left and we pull out the troops and there is civil war, thousands die (but they aren't Americans, so we are all happy because maybe the World Series will be on the tele, or maybe Friends will be having a reunion!) and one of the main minority groups takes control (maybe the Kurds) and they make a deal with US for protection and arms....
And Saddam is still on trail.

It's a never ending cycle of bullshit--which is really sad because it involves people losing their lives in something that they don't even think of why they believe what they do, but they believe and that is all that matters....

Sometimes I think we have progressed so far, then I wake up from my dream and pull off my goosedown comforter and the chill of reality sets in....

Read more!

The mark of good leadership is admitting when you are wrong.
Again, the Bush administration has gone out of its way to deny the fact that going to war in Iraq was a bad decision. How can it be a good one? Where in all of this does anyone see a positive result? Saddam Hussain is in a trail that will certainly never end--if it ever begins. Even if it does end and he is shot and killed--does that bring justice to the thousands of people that have lost their lives?
No, of course not.
But we still have Bush in the White House, still trying to con everyone into believing that this war has some echo of justification in it.
It makes our country look terrible. People do not see this as a strength--they see it in the same way that all men are when they are lost and they refuse to stop and ask someone for directions.

I am obviously sad today.
I don't know the answer either--but it is not to tell people that we are not leaving Iraq until everything is in its right place--because it isn't our country. We shouldn't be in the business of telling Saddamn Hussein that he can not invade Kuwait and then invade his country. Its a game of Chess for fools.
We, the foolish American people, elected this king of fools to keep us Checkmated in a world that we do not belong.
Enough rhetoric. Read more!