Shanghai Huangpu River Tour

March 6, 2010

Shanghai is considered the Paris of Asia.  There’s a reason for this and I hope these five pictures and video will show that.

 

Notice the Chinese middle-class tourists on the boat.  Study how they dress. See the cameras. And ask yourself this—if these people are so brainwashed and downtrodden, why are they out taking a cruise on the Huangpu River taking pictures as if they were visiting the Grand Canyon or New York?

Pudong side of Huangpu River

 See the city skyline along the river. 

This is only a small portion of Shanghai.

Shanghai side of Huangpu River - the croweded Bund

East of the Huangpu River is Shanghai. On the west bank is Pudong–fifty years ago, this land was farm land.

A close up of the crowded Bund on the Shanghai side of the river

Check out the number of Chinese tourists visiting the Bund in this photograph.  I’ve waded through these crowds.  These people are laughing, smiling, eating, taking pictures of each other, clowning around.  They are having more fun than I see from most American tourists when I travel in America.

Look at the signs-Nikon, LG, Nestle

China has almost five hundred million people living in its cities. Another eight hundred million live in the country.  If it hasn’t already happened, there will be more Chinese on the Internet than the population of the United States and there are ways to get around the censors.  Fifteen to seventeen million people live in Shanghai.

 

To discover more about Shanghai visit:
Shanghai
Shanghai Huxinting Teahouse
Eating Gourmet in Shanghai
Shanghai’s History & Culture
Chinese Pavilion, Shanghai World Expo

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Not All Factories in China are Sweat Shops

March 5, 2010

Originally Published at Speak Without Interruption on February 15, 2010 by Bob Grant — publisher/editor for Speak Without Interruption. Posted on iLook China, 3/5/10 at 08:00

As I write about my personal experiences in China, I again want to note that they are strictly that—my “personal” experiences.  I am certain there are people, who have visited China who could contradict everything that I have, or will write.  The products I imported perhaps did not lend themselves to the typical “Sweat Shop” stereotype in terms of the factories that produced them.

However, I never saw or visited any factory that, in my mind, would fit that definition.

If the factories were not what I would call “modern”—they were certainly clean.  The employees (factory workers) wore uniforms at most places I visited.  They seemed proficient in their work and the products produced, and for the most part, were without quality problems—certainly no different from products produced in other countries.

There are more photos at Speak Without Interruption

Most of the factories tended to be in Industrial Parks that were quite large.  Usually, the factories were a “small city” into themselves.  There was housing provided for the employees on the factory grounds along with areas for recreation.  I don’t suppose there was another way of doing it, but I saw a lot of laundry hanging from outside the housing units plus commercial apartments buildings I saw throughout China.

Most factories had certifications that were either the same or similar to those held by US factories.  I saw elaborate R&D sections in most of the factories I visited.  The office space was usually as modern and pleasant as any I had visited in the US.

A ritual that I truly enjoyed was at every meeting when hot tea was served. Sometimes the owner or general manager had tea to make in their office and other times it was brought in.  However, I can’t recall a meeting where tea was not offered.

Being a non-smoker, another ritual I did not enjoy was in almost every meeting I attending most of the parties present smoked.  I heard a figure once that 85% of Chinese men smoked. I can attest that this is probably a good estimate.  Once inside the office or meeting room, the smoke became quite thick and uncomfortable for me; however, I was their guest and felt I could put up with the discomfort in the course of conducting my business affairs.

I have fond memories of my factory visits and discussions. I think the fact that I came to China, and met with the factory personnel aided my business immensely versus doing business in name only.

If you enjoy this piece by Bob Grant, you may want to read “A Contradiction of Times” at http://wp.me/pN4pY-bT

 

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Wolf Totem: A Novel by Jiang Rong-book review

March 2, 2010

Jiang Rong

Another way to learn about China is through Chinese literature and film. Jiang Rong is the pen name for Lu Jiamin, a Chinese citizen. Set during the Cultural Revolution, Wolf Totem describes the education of an intellectual living with nomadic herders in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia.

The publisher of Wolf Totem says this novel is an epic Chinese tale and that is true. Wolf Totem taught me a lot about this almost extinct culture. I learned about the fascinating connection between wolves and Mongols and why this connection may have been the reason why Genghis Khan was so successful in his conquests.

I recommend this novel to anyone that wants to learn more about the life of the Mongols and another aspect of the Cultural Revolution. However, the philosophy of maintaining a balance with nature is a bit overdone. I got the message the first time the characters talked about it but then the topic comes up over and over and over—a bit to much for my taste.

I won’t give away the ending, but don’t expect it to be a happy. Most Chinese novels don’t end with happy endings.

A defense of Wolf Totem By Timothy Weston

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

China: Portrait of a People–a book review

March 2, 2010

Most tourists travel by jet or bus and spend nights in four or five star hotels sleeping on plush beds. They eat at only the best restaurants. Only a few visit countries like Sir Richard Francis Burton, the famous nineteenth century explorer and adventurer. Tom Carter is one of those few. Imagine backpacking for two years and walking 35,000 miles to capture the heart and soul of a nation. That’s what Tom Carter did to create China: Portrait of a People.

The consensus among ‘backpackers’ is that China is probably the single most challenging country in the world to visit on foot. That by itself should tell you a lot.

There are more than 1.3 billion people in China. Besides the majority Han Chinese, the population includes fifty-six ethnic groups numbering over one hundred million. Carter saw it all from the teenage girl living in Chengdu dressed like an American punk rocker to the soot covered coal miner in Southern Shanxi. Carter’s camera lens captured the complexity and diversity of China.

Tom Carter is a guerrilla hit and run photojournalist with a camera instead of a grenade launcher.  To take the up close and personal pictures in ‘Portrait of  a People’, Carter risked jail; almost froze on the way to Tibet; faced exhaustion and hunger; was beaten by drunks; plagued by viral infections, and risked being shot by North Korean border guards.  The hundreds of photos in ‘Portrait’ are priceless. I doubt if there will ever be another book about China like this one. From Inner Mongolian nomads to newlyweds in Hong Kong, Carter saw it all.

There is an old saying that a picture is equal to a thousand words. Great pictures tell stories.

In ‘China: Portrait of a People’, each picture is worth ten thousand words or maybe more. Carter’s photojournalist study of China stands alone in its genre as it focuses expressly on the Chinese people. Carter  backpacked to remote areas to visit China’s minorities like the thousand year old Phoenix Village perched over the Tuo Jiang River or the seventy-five year old Pai Yao minority farmer in his red turban.

To reach some locations, Carter had to travel on foot into some seriously rugged terrain. To get an idea what I’m talking about, consider that China, almost the size of the United States, has only sixteen percent of its land for growing crops. The rest is either mountains or deserts.

Between the covers of ‘Portrait’, you will see what happens when a modern day Sir Richard Francis Burton spends two years backpacking through China’s thirty-three provinces and autonomous regions, not once but twice. During this odyssey, Carter discovered that the Chinese are a friendly, open hearted people.

If you plan to visit China, buy this book before you go. On the other hand, if you are an armchair tourist that never strays far from home, Carter’s Rembrandt ‘Portrait’ of China will not disappoint. You will chuckle when you see the young, twin boys walking out of the river after a swim or watch the eight year old acrobat student at Wuqiao bending herself like a folded sheet of paper.

Between the covers of ‘Portrait’, you will start a vicarious journey visiting China like few have done even among the Chinese. You will travel on this 35,000 mile journey without leaving your house, bus or jet seat.

There is no way that this review can do justice for ’China: Portrait of a People’. To try would require millions of words. Seeing is believing. What are you waiting for? Take that first step.

Discover Tom Carter’s Guest Post at 24 Hours in Qiannianyaozhai

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar. 

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

A Contradiction of Times

March 1, 2010

This guest post from Bob Grant had several photos.  If you want to see them, I suggest you click on the Originally Published link and visit Speak Without Interruption.  I will add two photos here that I took on my last trip, And yes, Bob, I also wish I had taken pictures every time I have visited China since 1999.  I took my first pictures in 2008. Digital makes it easy.

Shanghai

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Originally Published at Speak Without Interruption on February 12, 2010 by Bob Grant — publisher/editor for Speak Without Interruption. Posted on iLook China, 3/1/10 at 12:00

During my trips to China, I wish I had taken more photos of the places I passed, to and from the factories I visited.  In lieu of those photos, I am going to mix some that I found on the Internet with those that I took.

The one phenomenon that I experienced was the contradictions in times as I passed through the cities and into the countryside and back again.  As I have mentioned in earlier postings, I have been traveling to China since 1998.  My time spent there was mainly for business purposes—I rarely took time for sightseeing.

Guilin

However, it was the “everyday” sights that interested me the most—not the so called tourist spots of which China has many.  I would pass from new building construction to old crumbling buildings in a matter of blocks.  I would drive by places in the countryside where it appeared to me that people were living the same way they had for millions of years.  We would drive from beautiful multi-lane highways to rutted brick and dirt roads in a matter of miles.  Workers were sweeping the freeways and other roads with large straw brooms.  Everywhere I looked, I could see new and old in a single setting—a large high rise apartment building next to agricultural areas where people were working the land by hand and animals.

Our office was in Bao’an, which is a suburb, if you will, of Shenzhen which is in southern China across from Hong Kong.  Here is a photo of the view from our office.  Shenzhen has around 14 million people—according to the sources I checked—and it was nothing but swampland almost 30 years ago when it was designated China’s first economic zone. 

The construction that goes on in this and other larger cities is unbelievable. 

However, we visited one factory in what I would call the countryside where the owner was enticed to build a new factory because of the inexpensive cost of the land—somewhere around $4 per acre as I recall as the government wanted to build up business in this rural area. 

This factory was in an extremely picturesque location and from the owner’s balcony, I took a photo of an older boat going down the river.  It reminded me of how the setting (or view) must have been centuries ago.  China has a tremendous amount of history associated with their country—I could see it, in many ways, as I looked out the vehicle window passing to and from our meetings during my numerous visits in country.

I certainly found China to be a country in transition—but as a visitor—I hope they never modernize their country to the extent that it is no longer a Contradiction of Times.

If you enjoyed this piece by Bob Grant, you may want to read these guest posts
I have a Love Affair with China and its People  http://wp.me/pN4pY-5p

I Am Not the Manchurian Candidate http://wp.me/pN4pY-6o

I ate no Dog, I Ate no Cat http://wp.me/pN4pY-8y
 

 

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

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