The tree out my window 

Christmas in Shanghai

Shanghai's expat population is down considerably this week as many Westerners have gone on vacation for the holidays. Western food restaurants are pleasantly uncrowded for a change. Christmas came and went before I hardly realized it. It's not because I didn't have plenty of reminders - there are Christmas decorations everywhere in Shanghai. Almost every business has a Santa Claus in the window and every department store features extravagant Christmas decorations. Waitresses in restaurants wore Santa hats and said Merry Christmas to patrons. Try as they might, I'm afraid it all was missing the spirit of Christmas. It's even more of a commercial promotion here than in the West.

What is an odd contrast with the States however are the religious songs played in the McDonalds, the malls and department stores of Shanghai. To most of the Chinese, these are Christmas songs, but when I asked them about the meanings of the songs only one person understood the song's content. Most of the Chinese aren't tuned in to the religious diversity of the West either. A couple of my Chinese acquaintances couldn't understand why Jews don't celebrate Christmas and some of my Jewish friends here seemed a bit frazzled by all the "Merry Christmas" greetings thrown their way by Chinese co-workers and waitresses that thought they were being seasonally appropriate.

Of course there are many Chinese Christians here and the numbers are growing despite the Government's efforts to limit proselytizing and church openings. There's also some pretty strong anti-Christian feelings. One young Chinese office professional told me she liked foreign Christians but couldn't stand Chinese Christians. "They're just like the Red Guard of the 1960s," she said.

The Battle of the Buffet

We attended a Christmas Eve "Gala" dinner at a Shanghai hotel tonight. The best part of the evening was the lovable rosy-cheeked little girls that sang Christmas songs and danced. While they sang Silent Night I thought about the contrast with 30 years ago when little girls like these were singing Madame Mao's revolutionary songs and wearing army uniforms and dancing with rifles. Oh, Mao, how I wish you could have been there tonight!

The not so enjoyable part of the evening was the meat-laden Chinese food, the cigarette smoke and the pushing and shoving at the buffet. There must have been over a hundred buffet items and the mango cheesecake was the only thing close to vegetarian. Anyone familiar with Shanghai would not be surprised that there was no buffet "line" to be found but the ferocity of the patrons pushing to get to the food surprised me. I had to throw my shirt into the wash as soon as I got home least the sauce and wine stains that had been slopped on me dried too hard. The chunks of sea creatures, pigs and cows that had become lodged in the folds of my clothing were easier to remove.

Red Azalea

I just finished reading Red Azalea by Anchee Min - a book about her youth in Shanghai and on a commune and then as an actress during the Cultural Revolution. The book was published in 1993 but I'm a bit behind on my reading. It's a moving and true story - well worth reading but what's remarkable is how she learned English in less than ten years well enough to write such beautiful prose. Makes me even more frustrated with my slow progress in Chinese.

Frostbite U.

I had a meeting this morning at one of Shanghai's finest universities. The entire university had been rebuilt on a new campus in one of Shanghai's suburbs. Modern buildings, open spaces, newly-planted trees, and parking space - a rarity in Shanghai. The building I entered had more marble in it than a quarry.

A gentleman from the university gave our group a Powerpoint presentation that boasted of their new research labs, wind tunnels, and PhDs. Only problem was - there was no heat in the building. As he proudly told us of all their fancy equipment we sat there wrapped in overcoats, shivering in his marble-walled refrigerator. This would have been bearable for an hour but our meeting lasted for five hours. By the second hour some in our group had turned on their laptops and were huddled over them for warmth. One man begged the rest of us for extra business cards and a match.

This situation exemplifies a lot of what I see in China. Huge expenditures on visable infrastructure and hardware but cutting corners on "software" and systems. Good roads with up-to-date traffic lights but no one to enforce the traffic regulations. Machinery but no spare parts. The latest medical testing equipment made useless because the hospital buys cheap knock-off reagents that foul the test results. And beautiful campuses with no heat.

 

Hong Kong "Save the Dogs in China" Poster 

From A New Angle

Just back from Hong Kong and back to work. Have you ever had that experience of seeing something from a new light, a different angle, that completely changed the way you saw something or someone? Have you ever known a grumpy and unpleasant person that unexpectedly did something real nice for someone and allowed you to see that they weren't so bad after all? That's kind of the way I feel about Hong Kong after approaching it from Shanghai.

I've always liked Hong Kong for it's scenery and exotic contrast to my world - Peavine. I used to think of Hong Kong however as one of the most chaotic and rude places on Earth. That was before I came to live in Shanghai. Approaching Hong Kong from Shanghai one can appreciate Hong Kong's relative order and civilization. I never thought I'd say that.

I couldn't believe my eyes when cars, all cars, stopped at red lights or when they politely declined to plow through throngs of pedestrians in crosswalks. I was equally shocked to see most people actually letting subway passengers alight before rushing through the door. I didn't see anyone spitting or shooting snot out their noses on the sidewalk as if it was an Olympic sport either. What a nice break from Shanghai.

Gman and I ate most of our meals at the Pret a Manger sandwich and wrap shop because a simple sandwich is something you don't come by easily in Shanghai either. Eating raw vegetables in Shanghai is still risky business so I gorged on spinich and avacado wraps. We did try to eat at regular restaurants but we never could get in. Hong Kong people eat out a lot and lines at restaurants are the norm it seems. I don't do lines.

I also loved to see the free expression of thought in Hong Kong. To my surprise and relief I saw a number of anti-Communist and anti-Beijing protests. I even got a chance to participate in one protest. We came across a large demonstration of people against the current draconian slaughter of pet dogs going on in Beijing and other areas of mainland China. We joined right in!

The best thing about Hong Kong however is the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor. I love riding back and forth on those old boats and smelling the sea.

Filapinas Line the walkways on Sunday 

Real Donuts in Hong Kong