Just back from Beijing, having decided to fly back so we could take care of laundry today. Such minor conveniences drive our lives. In any case, i've two stories for you today about the last week. Far more stories remain, but time is limited. Despite the two stories, we did manage to visit a different section of the Great Wall, since the Badaling section (the popular one) is closed all week for Olympic bike racing. We also managed to visit the Forbidden City yesterday before taking in women's basketball last night. By the way, we sat between one girl who attends Delta college in Stockton and a set of girls from UC Davis. It's a small, small world.
The Trouble with Wang Qiu (Tennis)
We flew into Beijing Friday afternoon, a journey I'll now call Plan F and one which i'll write about below. We got settled quickly and arranged to travel to the Great Wall on Saturday. Great trip, although exhausting. Sunday was our first day of Olympic events. now, Beijing is fairly locked down, meaning that we can get close to the Bird's Nest. Only those with tickets to a Bird's Nest event can board busses to the area. All others are turned away.
We're lucky that our hotel is next to subway line 5, which runs north/south. it's about 30 minutes (maybe 8 -10 stops) to line 1, which is the main east/west line. Line one will take us to both the Forbidden City and to the Basketball stadium (another 30 minute ride). Sunday morning, we boarded the subway to pick up tickets and then we made a dry run to the tennis stadium. All went well. Strangely, we tried to take a taxi back to the hotel and promptly got lost. This is the first time we've had a taxi drive who had no idea where we were or how to get us to our hotel. Within 20 minutes he'd gotten half way to our hotel, made a U-turn, and ended up onthe other side of town. We finally just got out and found another taxi.
Our evening Tennis match was scheduled for5pm to 11pm and our seats couldn't have been better (row ten in the closest section). We arrived just around 3:30pm, waded through the security line, and stood in packed lines waiting to be admitted. apprently, a few matches were still in progress so they were waiting for those to end before admiting us. Well, shortly it began sprinkling following by a deluge that would not end. While the staff did hand out plastic rain parkas and we did have our umbrellas, it rained hard for 90 minutes, never letting up. Finally, we were told that the "session" was cancelled and that we could apply for a refund following the games.
huh? I ordered my tickets in January, 2007, got GREAT seats, and miss watching Federrer by moments. While i hate to disparage women's basketball (which was great, by the way), we were/are tremendously disappointed. more to follow.
Don't Plan on Plan D
We thought we had it all figured out regarding picking up Chris at the PuDong airport. He would arrive at 6pm ((40 minutes late) but we would still have time to make the fast train to Nanjing, followed by the plane to Beijing the next day. Well, the plane did arrive as expected (6pm). We'd arrived around 5pm and began standing in the gauntlet around 6:10 to wait for Chris to clear customs. The exit area for International travel in any airport consists of a single exit that, inthis case, consists of a long, "U" shaped journey which allows spectators plenty of time to spot their loved ones and meet them at the exit.
Or so i thought. What actually happened went like this (well, this is my side of the story). Around 6:20pm, i turned to Mia and asked her to walk down to Burger king (yes, they're in China now) to get him something for dinner. I'd continue to wait for Chris at the gauntlet. Well, somehow i missed Chris' travel through the "U" and he continued walking past the crowd and into the rest of the airport. Yes, Mia and I continued to wait until 8:30 pm when we finally figured out something was wrong. around the 90 minute mark, she'd gone up to United Airlines to ask if he was on the passenger list. They wouldn't tell her (privacy issues). At the two-hour mark we also had the airport make an announcement asking Chris to come to the international area. Around the 2:30 mark, we went to the airport police who told us that we couldn't complete a missing person's report for another 24 hours. A call to his mom told us that he'd left SF, so we suspected he was somewhere in the airport. We just didn't know where.
Finally, Chris had the good mind to stop at an airport business center to ask to use their phone. He called us and we found him.
Unfortunately, we'd missed our train, so we made our way to the train station to ask about later departures. Yes, trains depart constantly through the night, but only standing room was available. Our only possibility was the 6am fast train. NOw, it was 11:30pm and we were dragging. After checking out several local hotels around the airport, and discovering that most were full, we found one at midnight, (mia and i without luggage). We slept until 5am and then made our way to the station for our train.
oh, well, we thought. At least we'll be watching tennis in 48 hours.
Or so we thought.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Plan D from Outer Imagination
First, Joe Wood has been pestering me (ok, asking) when i'd be posting pictures of our adventures. Strangely, i've not taken a single picture yet. All our travels in Nanjing have been thorougly captured in the past so i've not been swept into the mood. i know that will change in BeiJing though. Unfortunately, Window's XP here in the cafe doesn't have firefox or Picasa for me to upload through. Plus, all the menus ar in Mandarin characters, so i'm working from memory most of the time. So, pictures will need to be posted after our return.
If you've been following our ticket purchasing ordeal, i've a surprise. After being denied Plans A and B and settling on Plan C, Mia came home from here evening teahouse retreat with her friends with a surprise. One of her friends attested that plane fares from Nanjing to Beijing were only 400 yuan ($60) which is fairly resonable. Accordingly, i was politely nudged into accepting a new fate. (at least this way, we could arrive earlier and watch the Open Ceremony fireworks from her friends balcony). As it turns out, though, there was another 200 yuan tax/fee attached bringing each ticket to $90. So, after all the running around the last three days, at least i have a good story....or two.
This will be the last post until we return back to Nanjing next Tuesday. We'll take a few pictures and movies, though, to bore our friends at home.
Zaijian
If you've been following our ticket purchasing ordeal, i've a surprise. After being denied Plans A and B and settling on Plan C, Mia came home from here evening teahouse retreat with her friends with a surprise. One of her friends attested that plane fares from Nanjing to Beijing were only 400 yuan ($60) which is fairly resonable. Accordingly, i was politely nudged into accepting a new fate. (at least this way, we could arrive earlier and watch the Open Ceremony fireworks from her friends balcony). As it turns out, though, there was another 200 yuan tax/fee attached bringing each ticket to $90. So, after all the running around the last three days, at least i have a good story....or two.
This will be the last post until we return back to Nanjing next Tuesday. We'll take a few pictures and movies, though, to bore our friends at home.
Zaijian
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
New Discovery and Plan C
Most summer days here in Nanjing are a variation of hot and humid, with a high dose of smog thrown in for effect. Think Hawaii in LA. My first few days started out that way before the five-day monsoon that followed. After the rain stopped, we had several days of low humidity, light wind days that were pleasant meaning my shirt didn't soak through with sweat soon after leaving the house. Yesterday, things began to crank up bit and the smog was intolerable with visibilities less than a mile. Today started out a bit better until we left the house a short while ago. Then, looking up at the sky, i noticed something i've not seen in a great while, even in Modesto.
Blue Sky as far as I could see. It's still hot and humid, but at least i have something beautiful to look at when i'm not looking at Mia.
Now, Plan C of our quest for train tickets. This will be short.
During Mia's endless evening with her friends last night, one volunteered to contact a travel agent to ease our pain this morning. The agent would immediately try to snatch tickets to the 8:30 or 9:30 overnight trains on Thursday and then give us a call. That's nice. Shortly after 9am today, we got the call that all the tickets to those two trains were sold out. yes, sold out. we quickly trecked out of the house and down the street to the local ticket outlet to inquire about other options. Plan B was to bring Chris back to Nanjing on the 8:20pm fast train, arriving around 10:40pm and then take the 1:11am train to beijing. Unfortuantely, the ticket office couldn't sell those tickets because we were outside the 3-day purchase window. we could "reserve" the tickets at the Nanjing train station. So, we jumped in the taxi for the 16 Yuan trip, and got in line at window 30. Yes we could reserve tickets. (a note here. To reserve any tickets to Beijing, you must prove who you are and prove that you have business in Beijing (you little trouble maker, you). This means you need passport numbers and a receipt for olympic tickets)
So, yes we could reserve, but the 1:11am and the 1:30am trains were sold out. The 7am and 8am trains were sold out. Ok, time for Plan C.
Plan C (which is where we settled) is to bring Chris back to Nanjing, stay the night at our house, and then take the noon fast train to beijing. yes, tickets were available. The train, traveling at 155 MPH, will arrive around 8:40pm, meaning that we'll miss a good chunk of the opening ceremonies. LIfe goes on. We have tickets to ride. Of course, we'd already purchased JiaWei's ticket earlier, meaning that he'll still leave the evening before and will be in Beijing about 10 hours before us. Mia's friend (the hotel manager) will pick him up at the station.
And so it goes.
Blue Sky as far as I could see. It's still hot and humid, but at least i have something beautiful to look at when i'm not looking at Mia.
Now, Plan C of our quest for train tickets. This will be short.
During Mia's endless evening with her friends last night, one volunteered to contact a travel agent to ease our pain this morning. The agent would immediately try to snatch tickets to the 8:30 or 9:30 overnight trains on Thursday and then give us a call. That's nice. Shortly after 9am today, we got the call that all the tickets to those two trains were sold out. yes, sold out. we quickly trecked out of the house and down the street to the local ticket outlet to inquire about other options. Plan B was to bring Chris back to Nanjing on the 8:20pm fast train, arriving around 10:40pm and then take the 1:11am train to beijing. Unfortuantely, the ticket office couldn't sell those tickets because we were outside the 3-day purchase window. we could "reserve" the tickets at the Nanjing train station. So, we jumped in the taxi for the 16 Yuan trip, and got in line at window 30. Yes we could reserve tickets. (a note here. To reserve any tickets to Beijing, you must prove who you are and prove that you have business in Beijing (you little trouble maker, you). This means you need passport numbers and a receipt for olympic tickets)
So, yes we could reserve, but the 1:11am and the 1:30am trains were sold out. The 7am and 8am trains were sold out. Ok, time for Plan C.
Plan C (which is where we settled) is to bring Chris back to Nanjing, stay the night at our house, and then take the noon fast train to beijing. yes, tickets were available. The train, traveling at 155 MPH, will arrive around 8:40pm, meaning that we'll miss a good chunk of the opening ceremonies. LIfe goes on. We have tickets to ride. Of course, we'd already purchased JiaWei's ticket earlier, meaning that he'll still leave the evening before and will be in Beijing about 10 hours before us. Mia's friend (the hotel manager) will pick him up at the station.
And so it goes.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Train of Thought: You Can't Be There if You Can't Get There
My next story is about our quest to purchase train tickets to BeiJing. I've given you a preview of some of the travel challenges here during the Olympics. While train tickets can normally be purchased 14 days in advance, this summer, most trains have a five day advance sale and trains heading to BeiJing have only a three day advance (more about that soon). I won't repeat about my previous blog, so i'll start in the present.
Today is three days before we hope to leave for Beijing (today was Monday and we leave Thursday). We already have our tickets to Shaghai to pick up Christopher and our plans are to purchase three overnight train tickets from Shanghai to Beigjing leaving at 8:42pm thursday and arriving about 10am the next day. (It's a really long trip, the equavalent of riding from Modesto to Seattle). Mia's son JiaWei will leave separately from Nanjing and his train will arrive 10 minutes after ours.
This morning we had reservations to play tennis from 7am to 9am at the local courts. Mia's plan was to leave just before 8am, walk five minutes to the ticket office by our house, and purchase the tickets. Strangely, she was told that tickets weren't on sale and that the "three days" included the date of sale. Now, this confused me greatly (and i'm certain my questions drove Mia nuts), because the "five day advance" for the other tickets didn't include the date of sale. She returned to the tennis courts with her story and we talked strategy on the way home. We were both a bit nervous (OK, I was the nervous one) since we're getting a little too close to thursday and if we can't get tickets our options are fairly slim.
After showering, we took a taxi to the Nanjing train station, a 20 yuan ride ($3). If you've ever taken Amtrack, you would think you're on another planet here. The Chinese do transportation right. The train station is as large as some airports and was recently rebuilt so that taxis and busses have clear and quick access and egress. It's an incredibly busy station with 30 (count 'em 30) ticket counters on one floor and two separate ticket areas on the left and right sides of the station. More than 100 trains leave each day, most of them packed. it's really an airport on tracks. We waited in the line labeled (olympics) and our line, like all of them, were 15-20 people long. After waiting only about 8 minutes, we were told to go to line 30 which was the information line (but also sold tickets). Another wait and this time we were also told that tickets didn't go on sale until tomorrow (8:30am). we could reserve a ticket today for JiaWei, but couldn't because they wanted his ID number. This is one of the security measures put in place because of the Olympics, one which has scared away a number of tourists, but not enough to make it easier to get train tickets. Evidently, you can reserve tickets if you're leaving from a specific station but you have purchase them AT that station. Since we can't go to Shanghai today to reserve tickets, Mia called a travel agent in Shanghai. yes, he could reserve tickets for us, but we would have to pick them up tomorrow.
Huh?
And this just added to our paranoia. Tons of people must be reserving tickets in advance using these methods which could severly limit our ability to purchase tickets tomorrow.
A side note. The other day when we purchased tickets to Shaghai, the gentleman in front of us was attempting to purchase tickets to a far away destination, one that was a full two-day train ride. The ticket office could only offer him standing room. Let me say that again. Standing room.
We left the station knowing we'd need to call my son back in Modesto to get his passport number and planning to get in line early Tuesday morning (just 12 hours away now), hoping for the best. We have several plans outlined, including taking the train from Shangahi to Nanjing followed by taking the 1am train to Beijing. Things are just hopping around here.
Today is three days before we hope to leave for Beijing (today was Monday and we leave Thursday). We already have our tickets to Shaghai to pick up Christopher and our plans are to purchase three overnight train tickets from Shanghai to Beigjing leaving at 8:42pm thursday and arriving about 10am the next day. (It's a really long trip, the equavalent of riding from Modesto to Seattle). Mia's son JiaWei will leave separately from Nanjing and his train will arrive 10 minutes after ours.
This morning we had reservations to play tennis from 7am to 9am at the local courts. Mia's plan was to leave just before 8am, walk five minutes to the ticket office by our house, and purchase the tickets. Strangely, she was told that tickets weren't on sale and that the "three days" included the date of sale. Now, this confused me greatly (and i'm certain my questions drove Mia nuts), because the "five day advance" for the other tickets didn't include the date of sale. She returned to the tennis courts with her story and we talked strategy on the way home. We were both a bit nervous (OK, I was the nervous one) since we're getting a little too close to thursday and if we can't get tickets our options are fairly slim.
After showering, we took a taxi to the Nanjing train station, a 20 yuan ride ($3). If you've ever taken Amtrack, you would think you're on another planet here. The Chinese do transportation right. The train station is as large as some airports and was recently rebuilt so that taxis and busses have clear and quick access and egress. It's an incredibly busy station with 30 (count 'em 30) ticket counters on one floor and two separate ticket areas on the left and right sides of the station. More than 100 trains leave each day, most of them packed. it's really an airport on tracks. We waited in the line labeled (olympics) and our line, like all of them, were 15-20 people long. After waiting only about 8 minutes, we were told to go to line 30 which was the information line (but also sold tickets). Another wait and this time we were also told that tickets didn't go on sale until tomorrow (8:30am). we could reserve a ticket today for JiaWei, but couldn't because they wanted his ID number. This is one of the security measures put in place because of the Olympics, one which has scared away a number of tourists, but not enough to make it easier to get train tickets. Evidently, you can reserve tickets if you're leaving from a specific station but you have purchase them AT that station. Since we can't go to Shanghai today to reserve tickets, Mia called a travel agent in Shanghai. yes, he could reserve tickets for us, but we would have to pick them up tomorrow.
Huh?
And this just added to our paranoia. Tons of people must be reserving tickets in advance using these methods which could severly limit our ability to purchase tickets tomorrow.
A side note. The other day when we purchased tickets to Shaghai, the gentleman in front of us was attempting to purchase tickets to a far away destination, one that was a full two-day train ride. The ticket office could only offer him standing room. Let me say that again. Standing room.
We left the station knowing we'd need to call my son back in Modesto to get his passport number and planning to get in line early Tuesday morning (just 12 hours away now), hoping for the best. We have several plans outlined, including taking the train from Shangahi to Nanjing followed by taking the 1am train to Beijing. Things are just hopping around here.
Yes, We Have No Paizi
Two stories to tell tonight, while Mia is out with friends and i'm breaking from reading. I'm just a third through a 750 page sci fi story that i hope to finish before we leave for BeiJing. Mia's friend Zhou is back in town and they and Fan are across the street at the ChaGuan (tea house). Now Chaguans are not exactly the equivalent of a Starbucks that serves tea. In fact, they're more like a small restuarant that has couches and easy chairs at their tables. Mia and I ate there last night and her friends often frequent this and another teahouse nearby. they really have a relaxed atmosphere, one where the help doesn't bother you to move on so they can seat more customers. In fact, it's not usual for people to linger for hours after eating, talking and playing games. All for the added price of some tea or snacks along the way. but i came here to tell a few stories. My first tale is about garbage bags. Yes, garbage bags. (Gee, that brian. he must be running out of things to say.) Just you see.
You'll remember that San Francisco was threatening to ban plastic grocery bags this year, a trend that may catch on, but i don't know if SF's proposal ever saw day. If it does, i'd venture to guess that it will slowly catch on and move towards a tipping point several years down the road.
However, things can move terribly fast in China. Earlier this year, the government decreed that all plastic grocery bags would be banned as of June 1st. We knew this since we follow the news here. One site is in my Google Reader news folder and i often meander to the main site: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/. So we knew about the news and we brought several sturdy cloth bags with us to carry groceries. One of them, the CUE Conference bag, is serving just PERFECTLY, since it can hold so much water and soda. (you just don't drink the water here).
In one fell swoop, an entire county leaped years ahead of the US by recognizing the waste created by these tiny bags that don't decompose. You can do that here.
There's a problem, though. Just what do we put our garbage in? NOrmally, we use the small bags (about 2-3 gallons in volume) to hold our daily garbage and another to hold our recyclables. We dispose of the garbage daily and place the recycles out by the side of our building where savengers pick them up. (oh, that's more stories to tell). In any case, we had about 10 garbage bags when i arrived, the result of bags we'd gotten when shopping at non-grocery stores. yes, bags are banned in grocery stores but not in stores where you purchase hard goods. If you forget your cloth bag, though, you can purchase a bag for .2 yuan (about 3 cents). A few days ago, we ran out and things were about to get ugly. Mia had left to meet her friends and my mission, after i wrote my last blog, was to venture to the store to purchase bags.
Now, the GREAT thing about the ban was that while stores couldn't GIVE you the bags, they could sell you them if you didn't have a cloth bag. The ban, though, as created a culture where nearly everyone brings a cloth bag with them for their purchases. however, i needed some badly. How to ask though? My mandarin is pretty pathetic since a 600 vocabulary just doesn't cut it. i got out my dictionary out, looked up "garbage bag", and found Paizi. NOw, MOST of the time, the dictionary gets things right, but sometimes it conflicts with words that real people use. With my made up conversation firmly implanted in my head (and neatly rehearsed), i went to the store, purchased a good number of sodas and waters, and proceeded to the check out stand. Getting my CUE bag out, i pointed to the plastic garbage bag at the counter and asked in my best Mandarin, "Is this a bag?" Ok, it sounds silly, but that's the way it went. The checker said yes, so i knew is was on the right track. I then said, "I would like five", pointing to the inside of my bag where i wanted them. "Wu ge" (5) she said with an expression that told me that she thought i was 12 eggs short of a dozen. She continued to look at me for what seemed like ages, but was probably only an hour or so, wondering how i could possibly want five bags, unfilled, placed inside my perfectly good cloth bags.
She complied, counting them out slowly, placing them in my bag, and shaking her head in disbelief.
So, add one more word to my slowly expanding vocabulary, and one more grocery clerk that thinks American's are crazy.
Next year, i'm saving all my plastic WalMart bags to bring over here. Yes, if i bring 100 WalMart bags, i'll save $3, but at least I'll have some place to put my garbage.
You'll remember that San Francisco was threatening to ban plastic grocery bags this year, a trend that may catch on, but i don't know if SF's proposal ever saw day. If it does, i'd venture to guess that it will slowly catch on and move towards a tipping point several years down the road.
However, things can move terribly fast in China. Earlier this year, the government decreed that all plastic grocery bags would be banned as of June 1st. We knew this since we follow the news here. One site is in my Google Reader news folder and i often meander to the main site: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/. So we knew about the news and we brought several sturdy cloth bags with us to carry groceries. One of them, the CUE Conference bag, is serving just PERFECTLY, since it can hold so much water and soda. (you just don't drink the water here).
In one fell swoop, an entire county leaped years ahead of the US by recognizing the waste created by these tiny bags that don't decompose. You can do that here.
There's a problem, though. Just what do we put our garbage in? NOrmally, we use the small bags (about 2-3 gallons in volume) to hold our daily garbage and another to hold our recyclables. We dispose of the garbage daily and place the recycles out by the side of our building where savengers pick them up. (oh, that's more stories to tell). In any case, we had about 10 garbage bags when i arrived, the result of bags we'd gotten when shopping at non-grocery stores. yes, bags are banned in grocery stores but not in stores where you purchase hard goods. If you forget your cloth bag, though, you can purchase a bag for .2 yuan (about 3 cents). A few days ago, we ran out and things were about to get ugly. Mia had left to meet her friends and my mission, after i wrote my last blog, was to venture to the store to purchase bags.
Now, the GREAT thing about the ban was that while stores couldn't GIVE you the bags, they could sell you them if you didn't have a cloth bag. The ban, though, as created a culture where nearly everyone brings a cloth bag with them for their purchases. however, i needed some badly. How to ask though? My mandarin is pretty pathetic since a 600 vocabulary just doesn't cut it. i got out my dictionary out, looked up "garbage bag", and found Paizi. NOw, MOST of the time, the dictionary gets things right, but sometimes it conflicts with words that real people use. With my made up conversation firmly implanted in my head (and neatly rehearsed), i went to the store, purchased a good number of sodas and waters, and proceeded to the check out stand. Getting my CUE bag out, i pointed to the plastic garbage bag at the counter and asked in my best Mandarin, "Is this a bag?" Ok, it sounds silly, but that's the way it went. The checker said yes, so i knew is was on the right track. I then said, "I would like five", pointing to the inside of my bag where i wanted them. "Wu ge" (5) she said with an expression that told me that she thought i was 12 eggs short of a dozen. She continued to look at me for what seemed like ages, but was probably only an hour or so, wondering how i could possibly want five bags, unfilled, placed inside my perfectly good cloth bags.
She complied, counting them out slowly, placing them in my bag, and shaking her head in disbelief.
So, add one more word to my slowly expanding vocabulary, and one more grocery clerk that thinks American's are crazy.
Next year, i'm saving all my plastic WalMart bags to bring over here. Yes, if i bring 100 WalMart bags, i'll save $3, but at least I'll have some place to put my garbage.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The Search for Souvenirs
Before tonight's story, a brief (ok, not so brief) preview of today's happenings.
I'd not anticipated returning to the cafe until tomorrow, but Mia received a call from one of her best friends this afternoon inviting her to dinner and shopping. Fan is a close friend, a VP at a Nanjing bank, and real connector of people. Her other best friend, Zhou (pronounced "joe") is out of town until Monday. So, i find myself trying to slow down my reading since i've polished off four of my eight novels and i'd hate to have nothing to read on the plane ride home. here are today's events and then the souvenir story.
Today, after five days of heavy, monsoon-like rain, it stopped. the skies didn't clear which was a blessing. When they do, the humidity will kick up several notches and life will be unbearable. After breakfast, we walked five minutes to the local ticket office to pick up train tickets to Shanghai next Thursday. Normally, train tickets go on sale 14 days in advance. because of the Olympics, local trains now go on sale 5 days in advance and any trains to Beijing go on sale only three days in advance. pretty scary if you're really depending on the train. We're traveling down to Shanghai on Thursday afternoon to meet my son, Christopher Clay Chiu Ming Bridges, at PuDong Airport. This is his first trip out of the US and, i hope, a memorable experience. From there, we expect to take the overnight train to Beijing, arriving around 10am Friday morning the 8th. We'll rest, shower, pick up our tickets, and watch the opening ceremonies on TV in the hotel. While hotels have raised their rates 500%, our rooms are arranged through Mia's college friend at nomial rates. Oh, how lucky. By the way, trains leave every few minutes to Shanghai, a tribute to China's GREAT transportation system. it's really incredible how many people move through the system. We're on the "kuai che" (fast train) so the journey will only last 2 hours 18 minutes at 155 MPH.
In any case, Mia asked the ticket office about ticket sales to Beijing. While we can't purchase tickets today, she wanted to test the waters. What if we were to leave in 3 days? Sure enough, tickets were available. Another test. What if we were to leave in 4 days (meaning that tickets went on sale yesterdy). Sorry, tickets for that date are sold out. This means, of course, that demand is VERY heavy and we'd better get in the ticket office early monday morning, which is three days before our trip. One hitch. We already have tennis reservations from 7-9am on Monday, so Mia will play with JiaWei and I for an hour before leaving for the ticket office.
By the way, the internet cafe consists of perhaps 60 c0mputers, perhaps more, spread over several rooms. It's open 24/7 and costs 2 yuan an hour (about 30 cents). About half the computers have regular chairs and the other half have barcaloungers. Because of the cheap hourly rate, many people just pay the hourly fee to sleep overnight here since it's much cheaper than a hotel. In fact, Mia tells me there is a special rate for them. Go figure.
In the afternoon, we taxied to a store where we could shop for household art and vases. We ended up purchasing two nice paintings which, it turns out, don't fit in my suitcase. They won't carry on, so we'll be looking for a box we can place them in for the journey to our house.
The Search for Souvenirs
This is an issue that plagues me each and every year (and my own damned fault). This is my seventh visit to China and each time I've brought home souvenirs for friends and co-workers. It started off innocently enough, but the task has ended up consuming a bit too much time every year. yes, i could easily find the nearest piece of junk, buy 10 of them, and end my task. If you know me, you know that's not good enough. Sometimes, the search is completed quickly. However, more often that naught, it drags until the last minute as i try to find the "perfect" trinket to give my co-workers and friends. I've gone overboard at times. A few years ago, I found a very nice cylendrical jade pencil holder, bought ten of them (at the last minute) and dragged them home. They were MORE than heavy, consuming a sizable portion of my suitcase.
This time is no different. Mia and I have traversed several shopping destinations and have almost come up empty handed. we did return, yesterday, to buy seven of an item i thought might be interesting, but the search will continue until i'm satisfied. At times, i must admit, i wonder if the purpose of my trip is to purchase trinkets. At times, i want to scream my surrender. However, my quest continues, as it must.
As part of my surrender, I purchased some BaiJiu today at the store. BaiJiu (white lighting to those of you at home) is a clear, fairly potent whisky. more, next time. thanks to those of you who read and more thanks to those who comment. i'm honored. I LOVE my job and LOVE escaping here to Nanjing to be with Mia.
I'd not anticipated returning to the cafe until tomorrow, but Mia received a call from one of her best friends this afternoon inviting her to dinner and shopping. Fan is a close friend, a VP at a Nanjing bank, and real connector of people. Her other best friend, Zhou (pronounced "joe") is out of town until Monday. So, i find myself trying to slow down my reading since i've polished off four of my eight novels and i'd hate to have nothing to read on the plane ride home. here are today's events and then the souvenir story.
Today, after five days of heavy, monsoon-like rain, it stopped. the skies didn't clear which was a blessing. When they do, the humidity will kick up several notches and life will be unbearable. After breakfast, we walked five minutes to the local ticket office to pick up train tickets to Shanghai next Thursday. Normally, train tickets go on sale 14 days in advance. because of the Olympics, local trains now go on sale 5 days in advance and any trains to Beijing go on sale only three days in advance. pretty scary if you're really depending on the train. We're traveling down to Shanghai on Thursday afternoon to meet my son, Christopher Clay Chiu Ming Bridges, at PuDong Airport. This is his first trip out of the US and, i hope, a memorable experience. From there, we expect to take the overnight train to Beijing, arriving around 10am Friday morning the 8th. We'll rest, shower, pick up our tickets, and watch the opening ceremonies on TV in the hotel. While hotels have raised their rates 500%, our rooms are arranged through Mia's college friend at nomial rates. Oh, how lucky. By the way, trains leave every few minutes to Shanghai, a tribute to China's GREAT transportation system. it's really incredible how many people move through the system. We're on the "kuai che" (fast train) so the journey will only last 2 hours 18 minutes at 155 MPH.
In any case, Mia asked the ticket office about ticket sales to Beijing. While we can't purchase tickets today, she wanted to test the waters. What if we were to leave in 3 days? Sure enough, tickets were available. Another test. What if we were to leave in 4 days (meaning that tickets went on sale yesterdy). Sorry, tickets for that date are sold out. This means, of course, that demand is VERY heavy and we'd better get in the ticket office early monday morning, which is three days before our trip. One hitch. We already have tennis reservations from 7-9am on Monday, so Mia will play with JiaWei and I for an hour before leaving for the ticket office.
By the way, the internet cafe consists of perhaps 60 c0mputers, perhaps more, spread over several rooms. It's open 24/7 and costs 2 yuan an hour (about 30 cents). About half the computers have regular chairs and the other half have barcaloungers. Because of the cheap hourly rate, many people just pay the hourly fee to sleep overnight here since it's much cheaper than a hotel. In fact, Mia tells me there is a special rate for them. Go figure.
In the afternoon, we taxied to a store where we could shop for household art and vases. We ended up purchasing two nice paintings which, it turns out, don't fit in my suitcase. They won't carry on, so we'll be looking for a box we can place them in for the journey to our house.
The Search for Souvenirs
This is an issue that plagues me each and every year (and my own damned fault). This is my seventh visit to China and each time I've brought home souvenirs for friends and co-workers. It started off innocently enough, but the task has ended up consuming a bit too much time every year. yes, i could easily find the nearest piece of junk, buy 10 of them, and end my task. If you know me, you know that's not good enough. Sometimes, the search is completed quickly. However, more often that naught, it drags until the last minute as i try to find the "perfect" trinket to give my co-workers and friends. I've gone overboard at times. A few years ago, I found a very nice cylendrical jade pencil holder, bought ten of them (at the last minute) and dragged them home. They were MORE than heavy, consuming a sizable portion of my suitcase.
This time is no different. Mia and I have traversed several shopping destinations and have almost come up empty handed. we did return, yesterday, to buy seven of an item i thought might be interesting, but the search will continue until i'm satisfied. At times, i must admit, i wonder if the purpose of my trip is to purchase trinkets. At times, i want to scream my surrender. However, my quest continues, as it must.
As part of my surrender, I purchased some BaiJiu today at the store. BaiJiu (white lighting to those of you at home) is a clear, fairly potent whisky. more, next time. thanks to those of you who read and more thanks to those who comment. i'm honored. I LOVE my job and LOVE escaping here to Nanjing to be with Mia.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Sittin, Readin, and Lookin out the Window
It's a very rainy afternoon here on GuanZhou Lu (road) in an Internet cafe. This post will be fairly short as i've been sittin and readin mostly and couldn't love that more. today is the fourth day of heavy rain. Creative seeds are already planted for this year's work goals and we'll push forward with implementing some great new features and one rather grand expansion at CLRN. For now, though, being here in Nanjing is a great refresh, one needed so badly after a busy year and an even busier July. I may have bitten off more than i can chew but i know that path.
for now, i'm wandering through a sci fi novel (asimov) after finishing the completely depressing McCarthy novel, The Road, a sad story about a father and son trudging down vacant highways after doomsday. Little life exists (plan, animal, or human) as they search for food and the good guys. It's not the light summer bubble gum reading i was expecting, so i turned to something escapist next. i brought 8 books to read and will probably finish all before the Olympics end.
After reading two day's of email, catching up on my 90 Google Reader feeds, i discovered that my friend's blog, Joe Wood Online, is blocked here in China. Bad boy Joe. CNN wasn't blocked so i read some of the rather scandalous news that's happened lately before trying to read a story about web filtering in Beijing this summer. As expected, the article was blocked. And so it goes.
But, i've turned my back on the real world, escaping to one of my own making here, loving our small condo, playing tennis (two hours today in an enclosed facility 10 minutes away), and polishing off book after book. McDonalds is around the corner but not tempting enough. I'm on a mission to avoid reality so that i can return refreshed and ready to tackle several major projects.
Thanks to Joe and John Patton for reading and commenting. i'm flattered.
Back on Sunday.
for now, i'm wandering through a sci fi novel (asimov) after finishing the completely depressing McCarthy novel, The Road, a sad story about a father and son trudging down vacant highways after doomsday. Little life exists (plan, animal, or human) as they search for food and the good guys. It's not the light summer bubble gum reading i was expecting, so i turned to something escapist next. i brought 8 books to read and will probably finish all before the Olympics end.
After reading two day's of email, catching up on my 90 Google Reader feeds, i discovered that my friend's blog, Joe Wood Online, is blocked here in China. Bad boy Joe. CNN wasn't blocked so i read some of the rather scandalous news that's happened lately before trying to read a story about web filtering in Beijing this summer. As expected, the article was blocked. And so it goes.
But, i've turned my back on the real world, escaping to one of my own making here, loving our small condo, playing tennis (two hours today in an enclosed facility 10 minutes away), and polishing off book after book. McDonalds is around the corner but not tempting enough. I'm on a mission to avoid reality so that i can return refreshed and ready to tackle several major projects.
Thanks to Joe and John Patton for reading and commenting. i'm flattered.
Back on Sunday.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Girls Night Out
Greetings,
It's 6:15pm on a very rainy wednesday night here in Nanjing. i'm in a large Internet cafe located a couple blocks from our house, which surprised us. The last time we sought out a cafe, four years ago, we sensed that cafes were going out of style as more China familes gained computers and broadband access. this is certainly more convenient than twittering away on my iPod Touch at a faraway Starbucks.
So, i'm here alone tonight since it's girls night out. Mia and her two best friends are having dinner followed by a "spa" treatment, what ever that may be. it's one of the reasons we're here, though. Here's the story.
Many of you know i met Mia (Wei SuJuan) online seven years ago. She was teaching high school English and i was, well, me. We hit it off pretty quickly and within a week we were video conferencing daily using NetMeeting. I can't imagine building a relationship by phone or email, but videoconferencing was another matter. we spent hours every day, despite the 16 hour time difference, talking about everything. i visited her several times, here in Nanjing, before she pulled up stakes and moved to Modesto to be with me.
it was an enormous sacrafice, one i'm not sure i could make. Think about it. She sold her home, gave away her things, quit her 17 year job, said goodbye to her family and friends, and moved 7 thousand miles away. yes, after we married she kept in touch with her friends via phone, email, and blogs (she had hers befrore i had mine). She videoconferenced daily with her mom. We quickly realized, though, what a mistake it was for her to sell her house. Of course we should return yearly to visit her family and friends. Of course, her son JiaWei should return to see his father and grandparents.
So, four years ago, we spent part of our vacation here searching for an affordable house here in Nanjing. The pickings weren't great, though, for our budget (about 30K) since prices were escalating quickly. we settled, though, for a nice two-story condo (they're all condos here) on the sixth floor. We're a 10 minute walk from her best friend's office at Nanjing University and a 10 minute walk to the tennis courts. The house, though, was going to be a challenge. See the initial pictures from this link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/bbridges51/NanjingHouseBefore?authkey=0M8v0ryuy9o
See the picture of the bathroom. That's the view as you walk in the front door. Not pretty. So, we hired a designer during the following year, gave her a few ideas, and spent the next summer's vacation completely redoing it. it's a beauty now, all 600 square feet of it. Two bedrooms, one bath, a tiny, but very efficient kitchen, and a renewed look all around. Here are the "after" pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bbridges51/NanjingHouseAfter
while Mia (Wei SuJuan), and let's stop here to explain the name. Wei is her family name as all chinese names begin with the family name. all women keep their family name when they marry, a sort of tribute to family which doesn't bother me. i think it's a great idea. It also means, though, that her son's last name, Liu, represents his fathers name. So, in our household, we have three last names and a postal carrier that must wonder what's going on.
So, while mia comes to Nanjing to renew her roots, i come to escape. Here, i have ample time to catch up on the fiction reading i never have time for during the year. yes, i always make time for the non-fiction stuff, which is always work related.Like most of my friends, work never ends. here in nanjing, it does as i settle down to a good book. Today, i finished my second novel, John Grisham's first, and i'll start McCarthy's The Road when i return to the house in a bit. For, tonight is girls night out andBrian doesn't mind it a bit.
After this, I'll walk around the corner, buy some snacks from the local grocery and then pass McDonalds just before i get home. It's a very familiar life here, although the language still causes me fits. perhaps more on that later. oh, how i wish Edublogs wasn't blocked here.
It's 6:15pm on a very rainy wednesday night here in Nanjing. i'm in a large Internet cafe located a couple blocks from our house, which surprised us. The last time we sought out a cafe, four years ago, we sensed that cafes were going out of style as more China familes gained computers and broadband access. this is certainly more convenient than twittering away on my iPod Touch at a faraway Starbucks.
So, i'm here alone tonight since it's girls night out. Mia and her two best friends are having dinner followed by a "spa" treatment, what ever that may be. it's one of the reasons we're here, though. Here's the story.
Many of you know i met Mia (Wei SuJuan) online seven years ago. She was teaching high school English and i was, well, me. We hit it off pretty quickly and within a week we were video conferencing daily using NetMeeting. I can't imagine building a relationship by phone or email, but videoconferencing was another matter. we spent hours every day, despite the 16 hour time difference, talking about everything. i visited her several times, here in Nanjing, before she pulled up stakes and moved to Modesto to be with me.
it was an enormous sacrafice, one i'm not sure i could make. Think about it. She sold her home, gave away her things, quit her 17 year job, said goodbye to her family and friends, and moved 7 thousand miles away. yes, after we married she kept in touch with her friends via phone, email, and blogs (she had hers befrore i had mine). She videoconferenced daily with her mom. We quickly realized, though, what a mistake it was for her to sell her house. Of course we should return yearly to visit her family and friends. Of course, her son JiaWei should return to see his father and grandparents.
So, four years ago, we spent part of our vacation here searching for an affordable house here in Nanjing. The pickings weren't great, though, for our budget (about 30K) since prices were escalating quickly. we settled, though, for a nice two-story condo (they're all condos here) on the sixth floor. We're a 10 minute walk from her best friend's office at Nanjing University and a 10 minute walk to the tennis courts. The house, though, was going to be a challenge. See the initial pictures from this link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/bbridges51/NanjingHouseBefore?authkey=0M8v0ryuy9o
See the picture of the bathroom. That's the view as you walk in the front door. Not pretty. So, we hired a designer during the following year, gave her a few ideas, and spent the next summer's vacation completely redoing it. it's a beauty now, all 600 square feet of it. Two bedrooms, one bath, a tiny, but very efficient kitchen, and a renewed look all around. Here are the "after" pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bbridges51/NanjingHouseAfter
while Mia (Wei SuJuan), and let's stop here to explain the name. Wei is her family name as all chinese names begin with the family name. all women keep their family name when they marry, a sort of tribute to family which doesn't bother me. i think it's a great idea. It also means, though, that her son's last name, Liu, represents his fathers name. So, in our household, we have three last names and a postal carrier that must wonder what's going on.
So, while mia comes to Nanjing to renew her roots, i come to escape. Here, i have ample time to catch up on the fiction reading i never have time for during the year. yes, i always make time for the non-fiction stuff, which is always work related.Like most of my friends, work never ends. here in nanjing, it does as i settle down to a good book. Today, i finished my second novel, John Grisham's first, and i'll start McCarthy's The Road when i return to the house in a bit. For, tonight is girls night out andBrian doesn't mind it a bit.
After this, I'll walk around the corner, buy some snacks from the local grocery and then pass McDonalds just before i get home. It's a very familiar life here, although the language still causes me fits. perhaps more on that later. oh, how i wish Edublogs wasn't blocked here.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
life is funny
So, after 3 years of snubbing Blogger becuse i felt it wasn't good enough, i'm back for three weeks. it appears that Edublogs is blocked in china. Heaven knows why, but perhaps the word democracy is in one of the posts. nevermind, here is our travel logue to date.
My United flight to Shanghai last Thursday was uneventful, which according to my research was unusual. A good percentage of UAL flights are late. Landed Friday at 5:30PM, went easily through customs, took the bullet train to the edge of town followed by the subway to the train station. Shanghai (and all of china) have an incredible train and subway system. Subway trains arrived about once per minute during the Friday commute and trains were packed. our two hour train ride to Nanjing was on the 'fast train' meaning that we averaged 250 Kilometers per hour.
Did too much shopping on Saturday, recovered Sunday, and took a two hour tennis lesson on Monday with mia and her son. It was a ball, although i've never been so soaked from sweat after a match. In the meantime, i'm finally catching up on some well deserved SSR (silent sustained reading). i've accumulated a great stack of novels the past two years that sat patiently on my dresser at home awaiting their journey to and eventual disposal in Nanjing. It's a great escape.
of course, there are fires to check out on the home fronts. i'd be tempted to turn completely awayfrom the net these three weeks but between a directorship and the cue presidency, i need to stay near enough to respond but far away enough to ignore things. Vacation is restoration and i'll be more creative and energized as result. The next year for CLRN is a critical step in our transition to a more relevant model.
It's rained for two days straight, a probable result of a monsoon passing to the south of us. Who knows. we've no TV, although we did check them out at WalMart the other day. yes. WalMart.
Hope everyone survived the earthquake in CA, but i'm going back to SSR.
My United flight to Shanghai last Thursday was uneventful, which according to my research was unusual. A good percentage of UAL flights are late. Landed Friday at 5:30PM, went easily through customs, took the bullet train to the edge of town followed by the subway to the train station. Shanghai (and all of china) have an incredible train and subway system. Subway trains arrived about once per minute during the Friday commute and trains were packed. our two hour train ride to Nanjing was on the 'fast train' meaning that we averaged 250 Kilometers per hour.
Did too much shopping on Saturday, recovered Sunday, and took a two hour tennis lesson on Monday with mia and her son. It was a ball, although i've never been so soaked from sweat after a match. In the meantime, i'm finally catching up on some well deserved SSR (silent sustained reading). i've accumulated a great stack of novels the past two years that sat patiently on my dresser at home awaiting their journey to and eventual disposal in Nanjing. It's a great escape.
of course, there are fires to check out on the home fronts. i'd be tempted to turn completely awayfrom the net these three weeks but between a directorship and the cue presidency, i need to stay near enough to respond but far away enough to ignore things. Vacation is restoration and i'll be more creative and energized as result. The next year for CLRN is a critical step in our transition to a more relevant model.
It's rained for two days straight, a probable result of a monsoon passing to the south of us. Who knows. we've no TV, although we did check them out at WalMart the other day. yes. WalMart.
Hope everyone survived the earthquake in CA, but i'm going back to SSR.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)