Stephen Michael Plaza, PhD

Sunday January 16th 2005 09:47:33 AM EST

Day 1,2, ...Forever---The Flight
Unfortunately some of these entries will occur a little later than they should. I just discovered the internet cafe today.
Well, the flight left DTW around 2pm. It was a grueling and tortuous ride. In the end, I traveled 8000 miles, primarily to give an oral presentation, only to lose my voice due to a cold. Unfortunately, I entered the flight with virtually no sleep in the previous 24 hours. This lack of sleep served only to make me too tired to enjoy the numerous comedy tapes that I purchased for the flight. But, I could never really get any sleep on the plane.
I sat by myself on the plane, as Todd and Valeria, both professors and my travel companions for this trip, got their boarding passes at different times. I did meet a very friendly Japanese guy on the plane (but he might have actually been a she as I later found out). (s)He went to the University of Wisconsin and was heading back for a surprise home visit. (s)He pointed out that there apparently was some relatively famous Japanese comedian sitting in the next aisle. Unfortunately, I neither recognized him nor retained the name that the Japanese (wo)man gave me.
I want to go into a brief rant about the airplane service and flight itself. The seats and the space given to each passenger was barely enough room to stretch out passed the fetal position. They did not start playing any movies until after 3 hours into the flight. However, the start of movie playing only brought more pain starting with "Catwomen", then "Little Black Book", and finishing with "Shark Tales". I actually watched "Little Black Book", attempting to at least be mildly entertained--which I was not. In other arenas of flight service, the food service was very slow starting...eventually...with some beef tips followed by a sandwich later and finally some eggs and sausage at the end of the flight. I believe airlines have a goal of dehydrating passengers as they seem to possess the smallest glasses of water imaginable while hardly ever stopping by.
I really felt physically exhausted after the first flight. We finally landed at the Tokyo international airport around 5PM Tokyo time. The change of scenary was warmly welcomed. My stay in Japan was brief but enjoyable. I boarded another plane shortly after for a 3 hour flight to Beijing. We almost missed the boarding time.
The next flight was on an Airbus plane rather than the 747 that we flew on first. This flight was incredibly better. There was little of the brain-jarring turbulence that the 747 encountered. Also, the flight was nearly empty (probably many people got lost in Tokyo and missed the flight) and I had a whole aisle to myself. Each seat had its own TV and hence I could choose my own movies. Logically, since I was tired, sick, and very stressed out, I picked the intense shark movie, "Open Water", to watch--I didn't finish watching it because I was too tired. I finally got a little sleep and I felt energized enough to take in my first sights of Beijing.
I did a brief back of the envelope calculation during the boring flights and discovered that around 15% of my trip will be in the air. I am really looking forward to the flight back to Detroit.

Sunday January 16th 2005 10:21:27 AM EST

Entry 2: Day 2--Arrival in Beijing (Saturday 1-15-05)

I noticed that there was some formatting problems with my webpage and I cannot readily fix it here. I will number each entry from now on to make the chronology clearer.

We arrived in Beijing around 9:00 PM. I knew something was different right away when I was going down the walkway and I could see the tops of everyone's head. The airport was exceptionally quiet as I made my way to the buggage claim and was in the process of trying to find my flight companions, who I think were trying hard to lose me.

I went through some brief security checks, thankfully found my luggage, and set off into a very Red world. The first interesting thing I noticed was that they had a huge line-up of taxis greeting the tourists. Sounds normal, right? Well these taximen were some of the biggest crooks around. One guy was trying to make us pay for 2 cabs despite the fact that 3 people with little luggage can easily fit in one cab. I also noticed that the fairly visible presence of MPs standing guard were mainly window dressing and seemed to care a very little about what was going on around them. They probably only get charged up if the wrong word is said in public.

The cab ride was an ordeal with 3 people crammed in the back seat. It was a 0.5-1 hour drive. The freeway system heading to our hotel seemed very modern. To my surprise, all the signs had English translations. I also noticed on the ride to Beijing, that it was a very decentralized city. There were clumps of tall buildings at different parts of the city but nothing that I could definitely call "the downtown area".

The cab driver got lost on his way to our hotel which was particularly bad because none of us knew Chinese and he knew no English. The hotel we picked to stay at (actually Valeria picked out the hotel) was a rather obscure, traditional looking place. The cab driver eventually found the place after calling for help several times.

On the outside, the hotel looked uninviting and in a desolate area. However, the simplicity of this hotel was part of its magic. After entering the main gate, the place opened into a cozy outdoor courtyard. Each room lined the courtyard and they all had a traditionaly look and feel to them. There were also nice hardwood floors along with very ornate bed sheets.

I went to sleep around 11-12 looking forward to an exciting day. Unfortunately, no one in my group enjoys eating as much as me so I could not convince anyone else to eat before bed.

I will have to write the next entry later as the internet cafe is closing. Sorry for the brevity. There is some good stuff coming.

Monday January 17th 2005 08:38:09 AM EST

Entry 3--Into the Dragon's Den--(1/16/05)--Morning to Afternoon

I woke up after a very well deserved rest around 7:15 AM. That's correct--AM. For those who know me well, I rarely wakeup in the AM. However, the 13 hour time difference for Beijing actually has shifted my sleeping patterns into the patterns common among most people. In other words, no jet lag.

I went to my small hotel's (named the Beijing Haoyuan Hotel) complimentary breakfast. I fully expected a small breakfast of fruits and bread common in many hotels. Instead I found enough quality food to almost equal the meager cost of the room. For those that know me, I just need to say one thing--unlimited eggs.

After breakfast, our group decided to head over to the Forbidden City which oddily enough welcomes thousands of tourists a day. We decided to walk. On the way, I could see countless numbers of small shops and restaurants mixed with corporations like McDonald's, KFC, Nike,..., and Playboy. The streets are extraordinary crowded with both cars and bicycles. Beijing is known as the bicycle capital of the world with around 9 million bicyclists. The bicyclists here are crazy and car drivers even worse. Bicylces dart in and out of traffic, and cars frequently make many dangerous U-turns and cut people off at will. Later on in the day, I believe that I witnessed the aftermath of a crazy biker meeting a crazy driver--a bad day for the biker.

Our group briefly stopped by a bakery and then some of the stores lining the streets. I realized quite quickly that, in China, one should try to haggle every price. However, Todd went overboard by trying to get a $4 item down to $3.50 and then leaving when he failed.

The outside of the Forbidden Palace was surrounded by gigantic Red walls. Inside, we passed through a seemingly endless array of temples and palaces. The Forbidden Palace was built for the Emperor and its access strictly restricted from the public. Its enormity and splendor were particular amazing and I have taken many pictures of the various buildings. During the journey through the city, I noticed that many non-Chinese tourists were buying Chinese flags. Although I have nothing against that, I was particularly shocked on how many people waved it around proudly. As a contrast to this, last time I was in Washington D.C., I really do not remember any foreign tourists proudly waving the American flag...oh well, I digress.

The first full day in Beijing was starting out great. I already took about 150 pictures in a couple of hours. However, my camera battery unexpectedly died early--unexpected because the flash was off for most of the pictures. This was the only time so far, with exception of the first plane flight, that I have been at all upset or negative--which is an amazing feat given my penchant for pessimism. I simply bought a disposable camera along with a battery back up for my digital camera later in the day.

Because I lacked a digital camera, I was forced to take my infamous Tiananmen Square picture with the disposable. For those who do not know, I was hoping to take a picture in front of Chairman M's Mausoleum's. I will use M to throw off the censors. The picture was to have me looking like I was about to get knocked down by a tank. Unfortunately, I was only able to get off one shot and I really did not do a good job looking terrified. Otherwise, the thing to notice at Tiananmen Square is the gigantic portrait of Chairman M on one of the outside walls. At Tiananmen square, we ran into a very friendly Chinese man, Neil, who provided a wealth of information about the area. His friendliness seems to be a result of him wanting to practice his English. Apparantly, Chinese students spend many years learning English but rarely get an opportunity to communicate with native English speakers. Most Chinese do not know English but many in the tourism industry do and English is almost mandatory for students nowadays especially with the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

On our way back to the hotel, we walked into more small shops most of which had a modern feel rather than a market type atmosphere. There are a number of outdoor food markets, though. Quite a few stores possessed huge plastic flaps that hung across the doorway entrance and acted as the door. Other stores had a door combined with these hanging flaps. They are probably used as a cheap way of insulating the store from the cold.

The afternoon was still young and the journey continues...in the next travel blog entry.

Monday January 17th 2005 10:07:06 AM EST

Entry 4--Joseph the Amazing Technicolor Dragonball

Our group decided to take a cab and go to a location that the hotel recommended for picking up a cellphone that we could use for a low cost in China. At the end of the ride, we stepped out into an area of Beijing that looked like a residential district with no sign of a cellphone store. We walked around confused for a little asking for help until we ran into Joseph.

Joseph understood English well and was willing to help. He tried to tell us that the information given to us was ludicrous and that there was no such place in the area we believed there to be one. Instead of directing us to a new place, he escorted us personally for about 10 minutes to another cell phone place. Despite, the fact that this man looked busy with his accounting work, he entered the store with us and negotiated a good arrangement for us. Furthermore, he offered his phone number if we ran into further problems. We eventually departed ways but not before a couple of group pictures and assurances that we would send him copies of the pictures. It is possible that the more nonchalant work ethic in China contributes to this but I really do not know whether most people have this type of generosity. However, I have met very few rude people except for cab drivers or, for that matter, anyone driving. It may also be that tourism is part of the impetus for the booming Chinese Economy--complete disregard for US copyrights being another...

We decided to eat at a Muslim--Uighur restaurant called the Sichuan at another part of town. On our way through the crowded Beijing streets, we entered an infamous DVD store. I have preached strongly against the blind eye China gives these illegal vendors and was pretty determined to avoid the temptation of buying anything that might hurt the US economy. Upon entering the store, I decided to look for my favorite anime series, Dragonball Z. I eventually found a thin piece of plastic with the Dragonball Z emblem. I was trying to get passed the Chinese and Japanese characters to see what set of 20 episodes were on the discs when I noticed that it was simply a reference card for the real disc package and that it contained all 289 episodes for only around $30--about $200 cheaper than the best deals that I could get from Japan. I remembered by oath but also remembered not to hurt the US economy. These DVDs do not exist in the US in the original form and must be imported from Japan. Therefore, I had little doubt that purchasing these discs were in my best interest and I completed the transaction for around $25.

After hauling away a huge number of DVDs jammed into a plastic case, we continued our journey to the Sichuan. We passed a huge outdoor ice rink where many people were ice skating or gliding along in chairs. After much strife we finally arrived at the destination. It was a very extravagant atmosphere but there were few people there. The waiting staff was numerous however and they seemed to watch us Americans with great amusement. There was good reason for this. Todd out did me in table mishaps--spilling hot water on his hand was just one entertaining moment.

Now for something completely different. There seemed to be a fair number of MPs around Beijing along with a lot of private security. Each guard looked extraordinarily well dressed and very serious despite the fact that they appeared to carry no weapons and probably could inflict no serious damage on anyone but a 90 lb woman.

Back to the story. The food at the Sichuan was plenty, good, and cheap. We had beef cooked on rocks, duck, prongs, rice--of course, and soup. The price was about $10 per person.

Heading back to the hotel, I noticed that the food had taken a lot out of my older travel companions. However, I suspect that my often annoying dialogue was starting to drive them crazy.

I am currently a day behind in my blog. I hope that the next entries for 1-17-05 are as exciting to read as the day was for exciting for me--ha--not a chance. Next entry will feature my descension from 3rd wheel (3rd man out) in our travel group to 5th wheel. It will also feature my travels with the fact-filled Ingrid along with more crazy adventures and insightful political and cultural analysis.

Before I forget, the weather here has been cold--around 30-40 degrees. There is no precipitation and the skies are clear most of the time. On a cultural note, many people throw trash directly on the streets but there is almost a whole army of sweepers to clean this up every morning from the streets. Finally, do not tip anyone in China. The people here do not usually receive tips for their services.

Tuesday January 18th 2005 01:46:51 AM EST

Entry 5--The Magical Mystery Tour--1/17/05--Part 1

I have to apologize before continuing about the grammar and quality of these blog entries. I really do not have a lot of time but I have much to say. As a result, sometimes words get garrbbld in my tiredness and without spelll-chek, there are assuredly errors. Also, to clarify for those concerned, in general I am very distrustful of most people. There are numerous people in China trying to force goods and services on tourists. There are also many dishonest people in general. I always use discretion when talking with others. Also, I have met very few people who could physically challenge me unless he had some weapon of sort. That includes the MPs who look much more serious than they should be.

Back to the story. I began this day similar to last one. I was anxious to go on the Great Wall and Ming Tomb tour but had yet to reserve anything or inquire about the packages. Because I was interested in the Great Wall, Todd and Valeria were not and insisted that I go alone. I normally disdain going on such adventures by myself. It is my belief that going with friends or family generally increases the quality of the trip. However, determined not to let solitude deter me, I decided to take the journey alone. I inquired about possible tours at the front desk and she said I was too late. Being persistent, she arranged for a private tour for an extra 100 Yuan which is about $12.50. The total price was 300 Yuan or around $37.50. Keep this price in mind next time you go to Cedar Point or a semi-fancy restaurant.

I was skeptical about the tour mainly because I was worried that the tour guide would be very unsocial and have poor Engrish. I also was concerned that I would be exceedingly bored because I would not have anyone to talk to. I was in for many surprises on this tour.

The tour car came to my door containing a driver and the tour guide. The guide's American name was Ingrid and to my delight her English was quite good. As we set out to the Great Wall (which is about a 1 hour drive from Beijing) she regaled me with many insights on the Chinese culture and I asked many questions as well. She discussed how Chinese are starting to take more elaborate vacations in the last 10 years mainly due to the economic boom. She also talked about the school system and how educational cost is not covered by the government. Also, to my surprise, the pollution situation has improved considerably according to her. She cited that Beijing is witness to many more blue skies than before although this might just be El Nino.

She eventually began talking about the different Chinese materials like silk, enamel, and jade. As she was discussing the properties of jade, to my surprise, we pulled into a jade factory. I was greeted by someone from the place and given a special tour of it. I took pictures of some of the laborers sweating in the shop making these magnificient items. After the mini-tour, I was free to explore the gift shop. Now, at this time, I would like to point out that there was virtually no pressure for me to purchase anything on this tour. The store contained some very meticulous design work and combined with the power of the all-mighty dollar, I was able to get some good deals. Among the items I purchased was a green jade dragon and a jade sphere. I also got some gifts for various family members.

After visiting the jade place, we set out for the Great Wall. While we were approaching, the driver was kind enough to pull over so I could take pictures of the scenic mountains with the Great Wall quite visibly snaking its way through the hills. This section of the Great Wall, called Gandaling I believe, is one of many that make up the 7000 KM long structure. This section is maintained quite often by the government and is the most picturesque and frequented of the sections. Upon arrival, Ingrid kindly took pictures of me so that I could have some proof of my visit. I also paid for an official Great Wall picture along with companion book. Because of the pathetic nature of my solo journey, I asked Ingrid to join the picture. At this point, she pointed up to the top of the great wall which stretched up a large mountain and told me I had about 1.25 hours to walk around.

On this section of the Great Wall, tourist can feel relatively safe climbing along the wall as it stretched up a mountain. However, the steps were very high and there were many little holes and irregularities in the steps. I set out walking atop the wall from guard tower to guard tower frequently stopping to catch my breath and take some pictures. It was very cold today and the winds increased as I scaled the mountain atop the wall. Embarrassingly enough, at numerous points I was bent over in agony as I could barely catch my breath (perhaps because of all those eggs I am eating) as I saw people 2 and 3 times my age walking up the stairs gracefully. However, to my credit, I was walking dangerously fast up the numerous stairs. Even more dangerous considering that a few hours earlier I took some medicine to combat dizziness.

As I climbed higher and higher, it seemed like the mountain became taller and taller. I started to notice less and less tourists and I became increasingly dehydrated and disoriented. Luckily I brought some bottled water in my bag. After much struggle, I eventually reached the top and took some wonderful pictures of the valleys below. No other tourist was up there and I yelled as loud as my hoarse voice would allow. I also started singing the Star Spangled Banner to mark my accomplishment.

Noticing that I only had .6 hours left, I hurriedly started back down. Luckily I was wearing my new Nike shoes as they prevented me from twisting my ankle, or much worse, on a number of occassions. When I finally reached the bottom I was greeted by the ridicule of Ingrid who called me stupid for climbing 300 meters up the steep mountain atop the wall. Particularly so, because the winds were strong at the top (probably around 40 MPH gusts) and my face was a little wind burned.

Tuesday January 18th 2005 03:10:39 AM EST

Entry 6--The Magical Mystery Tour--Part 2

We left the Great Wall and drove up to another surprise venue in the tour. I entered another sweat-shop where enamel products were being made. Again, I had another private tour and was treated like a VIP going to places that the other tourists were not visible. I took many pictures of the laborers most certainly not to their delight. Afterwards, I was sent upstairs to have lunch in a very elegant dining area. I ate alone and in front of me was enough to feed 2-3 people easily. They kept putting more and more trays in front of me and in the end I probably consumed about $60 worth of food if I were in the US. In China, this was surprisingly included in my $37.50 tour. It is a rare occassion when I leave considerable amounts of uneaten food--but I could barely eat half of what was given to me.

After this, I went to the gift shop and again purchased some fancy souvenirs. Among the items I purchased was another dragon, some miniature vases and a relatively expensive copper plate with intricate artwork. I probably will give most of this stuff away but I plan on keeping the dragon.

We set out for the Ming Tombs at this time, which houses the remains of many Ming emperors. The first tomb is for the 3rd Ming emperor and is the largest. That was the one I visited. I took many pictures that are hard to appreciate without viewing. I will probably post some of these later when I return to Ann Arbor. Each succeeding emperor had smaller tombs with the most recent Ming emperor having the smallest.

Starting back home, I reflected back on what was quite the value packed experience. I was treated like royalty with the driver always carrying my souvenirs and opening my door. I learned much about the Chinese culture and its history. Also, I received a nice exercise. I think if I walk along the Great Wall again, I will put water pales on my back like in Kung Fu movies. This was undoubtedly the best tour I have ever taken.

Before reaching my hotel, another surprise awaited me. The guide took me to the largest tea house in Beijing. There, I was given a taste test of many different types of tea. In addition, the lady demonstrated the proper ways to prepare the various teas. To my embarrassment, I have probably remembered few of these techniques so do not ask for a reproduction. At this place, there was a little more pressure to at least have a cheap glass of tea. But being an enthused American tourist, I went much further and purchased a complete tea set, 4 containers of different types of tea, and a set of mugs that change color when hot water is poured into them revealing the many landmarks of the Beijing area.

We finally returned to my hotel about 7 hours after the start. The tour guide and driver carried my bags into my room thus concluding my $37.50 magical mystery tour.

Tuesday January 18th 2005 03:42:33 AM EST

Entry 7--For Crying Out Load People, NO Happy Ending!!! 1-17-05

I returned to my room and was waiting for Todd and Valeria to return with the hope that they would want to do something that night. Tired and restless from waiting, I decided to try to enjoy one of the services that inundates the streets of Beijing and, no, I am not talking about prostitution but rather a foot massage. I have never received a foot massage and consider it a silly waste of money and time. For a guy, I also feel that it is an indication of metrosexual tendancies (excepting guys with chronic foot pain along with other pertinent medical problems). I intend to keep this blog PG-rated and clean and I can assure the unknowing reader that metrosexual is now a common word unfortunately recognized in recent dictionaries. My motivation for the foot massage was to do something completely different from what I normally would do.

I want to spare the reader the graphic details of my disgusting feet only to say that the service was 45 minutes long and was very relaxing. I think the lady was frustated because I cannot loosen up and even after the massage my feet were still apparently tense. At this time, I want to assure the reader that there was no happy endings nor were any offerred . I had to spend some time to convince Todd and Valeria this.

Todd and Valeria eventually returned from their bicycle adventure through Beijing which was undoubtedly exciting but not nearly as exciting as my adventures.

As expected, everyone else was tired and I decided to walk to Tiananman Square which unfortunately was closed. The outside was lit up nicely bringing out the furious stare of Chairman M's eyes. I then headed to the internet cafe and went to bed.

Tuesday January 18th 2005 04:06:36 AM EST

Entry 8--The Beijing Adventure Nears the End--(1-18-05)

Well unfortunately, I have to leave Beijing and head for Shanghai by plane in a few hours to give my presentation the next day. I am writing this entry to bring the reader up-to-date with my Beijing experience. Also, I probably will be brief in this entry because of time constraints although I managed to see quite a bit in the morning and afternoon before my flight.

I realized that I had the difficult task of packing all the souvenirs I purchased. Not expecting to buy so much, I had to purchase another cheap carryon for the flight. Afterwards, I took a long taxicab by myself (giving up on trying to do something with Todd or Valeria) to the magnificient Summer Palace--Resort of the Chinese Emperors. The Summer Palace is a collection of many magnificient buildings, ornate walkways, and beautiful temples. A lot of the funding came from the Dowager Empress who funded her resort instead of the Chinese navy which suffered subsequent defeat at the hands of the Japanese navy, I believe. I really cannot describe this place too well because not everything was labeled in English although I did later purchase a book that explains the Palace in more detail. I can say that I took as many pictures in a couple hours as I did on my Magical Mystery Tour.

After this visit, I took another long trip to the Lama Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in China, I think. I took a cheap tour and was diappointed by the pour English of the guide. I still learned a lot but was prevented from taking any good pictures as they were forbidden in the temples. There were multiple Buddhas in the several buildings and several tourists and regulars who were burning incense and praying to the different Buddhas. The Lama Temple contains a Buddha that I believe breaks some record for its large size.

I returned back to my hotel and then set off to the internet cafe where I am right now.

In Beijing, I believe that I took close to 500 pictures along with almost exhausting the disposable camera I bought. I saw the most important sights and got to talk with several interesting people. In general, I would highly recommend Beijing for a travel destination. I think the rich cultural history along with the amazing monuments and numerous shops available makes this a good destination for almost any type of person excepting those who like to sit by an ocean all day. The people are in general friendly and it is relatively easy to get around even without knowing any Chinese. I believe that probably some tourists get ripped off from time to time. I think I luckily came during a tourism offseason allowing me to explore the sights with less pressure from the crowds. The only concern is that you always have to watch your step because Beijing is filled with camels. Every person in Beijing seems to spit all over the place and quite loudly. It is actually quite amusing.

I am unsure about the accessibility of the internet in Shanghai although there should technically be many more places to get a connection. I also probably will not talk about my first night in Shanghai tonight unless their is access in my room as I will be preparing for my presentation for the following evening.

Wednesday January 19th 2005 11:33:51 PM EST

Entry 9--Anxiety, Folly, and Rage--(1-19-05--Evening)

I apologize for not writing sooner. I was busy last night. The Shanghai segment of this trip will undoubtedly contain shorter blog entries as I am busy with work-related meetings for most of the day.

On Tuesday night, we had to take a domestic flight from Beijing to Shanghai. In addition to arriving to the airport relatively late, I had no idea where anything was because 99% of the domestic travellers were Chinese and few spoke decent English. Because of the confusion of the moment, I made an error of judgement. On this blog, I will not hesitate to mention and ridicule any stupid thing I have done. In the airport, there are several well-dressed individuals who go around preying on confused foreigners, providing instruction, and then charging a fee. In my situation, I decided that I had little alternative but to trust one of these agents. Now, he did help me out but he also demanded money that exceeded what the service should probably have been worth. My major error was not in paying for help but was that I definitely did not need help. If you strip away a lot of the foreign writings and large crowds, the airport really was no different than any in the US. Furthermore, if I bothered to look at my watch, I would have noticed that I actually had ample time to check-in my bags and board the plane.

I boarded the plane and took the two hour flight to Shanghai. From what I heard before, Shanghai is a very modern city that copies many elements from Western society. Also, the government seems to be a little less heavy-handed with its censorship policies. As with Beijing, Shanghai had a number of cab drivers anxious to make some easy money on unsuspecting tourists.

Everyone in our group was tired and was looking forward to a nice rest before a busy day of meetings the next day. Furthermore, my presentation was to take place the next day, and I wanted to review some of my notes. Unfortunately, the excitement of the previous day would turn into rage when the hotel manager said that there were no rooms available. He tried to combine all three of us into one of their luxury rooms, but we insisted that we booked three seperate rooms and we wanted three seperate rooms. For whatever reason, the manager was extraordinarily unhelpful and was unwilling to admit responsibility despite the obvious nature of his mistake. We tried to get him to set us up at another hotel but he seemed to be unable to do this. Finally after a couple of hours (it was now around 1:00-1:30 AM), he seemed to magically produce extra rooms at the hotel. But these rooms were luxury rooms that we were to have only for 1 night. When all was said and done, I stayed in the second best room in the hotel--Presidential Suite #1. To put this in perspective, if GWB came to China and stayed at the Equatorial Hotel, I would be in Dick Cheney's room. Actually this might be a better example--if GWB and Jacques Chirac were both staying and the Equatorial Hotel, I would be in Jacques Chirac's room.

The room itself was probably four times bigger than a normal room with a layout larger than my parent's house. On a number of occassions, I seemed to make wrong turns and get lost inside the room. There were two bathrooms and a marble shower with a seperate bathtub. Despite these amenities, I really desired sleep and went to bed putting an end to a day that was supposed to be uneventful.

Thursday January 20th 2005 12:06:05 AM EST

Entry 10--Play That Funky Music Chinese Boy--(11-19-05)

(The previous entry should be 11-18-05!!!)

Wednesday started off like the previous day ended, in chaos (although I was able to go to the lounge for breakfast that was reserved for the bigshots because I was staying in the Presidential Suite). I went to register for the ASP-DAC Conference(Asia and South Pacific Design Automation Conference) at the hotel only to find out that my credit card was rejected. Concerned that my credit card was deactivated, I spent 1/2 hour trying to contact them only to find out that it was active and there was plenty of credit still available. I went back to the registration desk and my card failed again. This situation really annoyed me because I had already used my credit card on a number of occassion up to this point without problem. Finally, ASP-DAC gave up arguing with me and gave me the registration materials and suggested that I send a check when I return home.

I attended very few meetings that morning and afternoon (there were several presentations going on concurrently throughout the hotel dealing with various fields in computer engineering). I was mainly concerned with getting a mid-day nap and going over my presentation notes for that late-afternoon presentation. When it was time for my presentation, I was well rested and not very nervous. The room was a little smaller than I hoped with only around 10-20 people. I wanted a larger audience and room to test my ability to project my voice in a formidable fashion. The presentation went well excepting two things. I should have made more eye contact at different parts of the room, and I should have brought my bottled water up to the podium. However, my advisor said the presentation was very good and at least one person seemed very interested with the discoveries that I had made.

Despite two more days of meetings, the major burden of the trip was over and I was ready to celebrate. Oddly enough, I met a fellow student, Vivek, who actually also attends the University of Michigan but who I had never seen before. It is strange that I had to travel to the other side of the world, to meet someone whose advisor is a couple doors down from mine. Vivek was an interesting character who had hair that was surely the result of a drunken barber with a personal vendetta.

He was interested in exploring the Shanghai dance club scene. Even though I rarely attend such venues, I decided that it would be an interesting experience. We started walking through the streets of Shanghai heading, we thought, to the infamous Bund area where many shops and bars line the river. Shanghai had many attributes similar to any Western city. In particular, the bumbs were extraordinarily aggressive and numerous (what a disappointing thing for communist country). Whenever they saw a westerner, they would simply follow him for about 10-20 seconds begging for change. With all the energy that they expended, I think they would have been better off trying to find a real job.

Shanghai had many extravagantly designed buildings and elaborate shopping centers. The downtown area was not as dense as New York but there were probably as many buildings. We walked for a few miles until we saw a sign for a Disco and Techno Dance Club, ROJAM. ROJAM had a sign that said it was Ladies'night and it was foreigner free. We could not figure out whether it meant that foreigners were admitted for free or that no foreigners were admitted. As it turned out, it really meant neither as we were allowed inside and had to pay a cover charge. In Shanghai, many signs contained information in English and in Chinese. However, I think most people, including the youth, only spoke broken English. The people also seemed more distant and less helpful than in Beijing.

When we entered the dance club, we saw a very nice floor with a balcony overlooking it and a bar off to the side. The first thing one would notice is an interesting mixture of English words and Chinese words thrown in by the DJ's despite the fact that 99% of the people were Chinese. The DJ's, from what I heard, were mostly American. The dancing was similar with one important difference. In China, there seems to be even a larger social bubble of personal space than in the US and it seemed like most people on the crowded floor stayed as far away from each other as possible. This is quite a contrast to the US, where everyone dances about as close to each other as possible.

ROJAM provided about the same mind-deadening music that one would expect at any club. They also featured some special ROJAM dancers with elaborate costumes that danced on various stages. One of these dancers seemed to be a Westerner. Another dancer was a scary mixture of West and East. It was a guy dressed in a flamboyantly gay outfit with blond-dyed hair. The other dancer was a female in some sort of bikini type top. ROJAM also featured, interestingly enough, a hip-hop floor in the back. The music played here was exclusively American hip-hop. I never felt like a better dancer in my entire life as very few of the dancers knew how to dance to hip-hop (not that I do but I have seen a music video one time or another).

The youth in Shanghai seemed to be taller than their counterparts in Beijing. This might be due to a more Western quisine. I could still see the tops of most heads on the dance floor.

We left the club around 1:30 and set out for our hotel. We managed to get quite lost and decided just to take one of the numerous taxis back. I was tired and sore and ready for sleep.

I finally caught up with my travel blog and am accessing the internet from a computer station provided by ASP-DAC. I will hopefully have some things to write for 11-20-05 tomorrow. I probably will not do to many things until Saturday and which time I will probably take a tour of the city.

Please email me if you think that I should explore something in Shanghai. There is a lot to do but my itinerary is not nearly as full as it was in Beijing. Also, if you have any blog comments, feel free to send them to me.

Friday January 21st 2005 12:31:50 AM EST

Entry 11--Cultural Confusion--(1-20-05)

The previous night exercise forced me to sleep in to around noon. During the course of the day I attended about 9 different presentations. At ASP-DAC the majority of people are Chinese due to the conference location. Although this is a conference spoken exclusively in English, I have noticed that most people presenting have extremely poor English skill or Engrish skills for that matter. This is added in with the normal inability of members of academia to effectively communicate their ideas. I am not very familiar with the Chinese language but I imagine that much of the language problem is due to the difference in the sounds produced in both languages as the Chinese seem to have problems pronouncing certain words. But I also believe, that most of the people here have traveled abroad very infrequently and their formal training in the English language is quite poor compared to people in Europe. Most of the Europeans are pretty fluent and clear in their English. From the presentations I have heard, the best non-native English speaking group are Arabic people. Their command of the language is strong and their pronounciation is almost impeccable. It is possible, though, that almost all of them studied abroad in the US or UK or at Middle Eastern American schools.

The presentations themselves are, in general, boring and poorly delivered. Some presenters describe their work in too much detail leaving the majority of the audience confused about the high-level accomplishments. Other presenters talk too fast or mumble too much for anyone to take too seriously. Unfortunately, the art of public communication is lost on most people at this conference. I will be interested to see how this compares to other more prestigious conferences in the future.

As the evening approached, most ASP-DAC participants attended an elaborate banquet in one of the hotel's biggest halls. It was a multi-course meal with a weird collection of Chinese/European/American entertainment that included Italian opera, American hip-hop, Chinese face dancing, a magic show, and other forms of traditional Chinese music. I fail to understand China's fascination with the degenerative music form that hip-hop is. However, it was amusing seeing three Chinese woman trying to do their own version of hip-hop in a style similar to a Destiny's Child. I think however they were really doing a lot of hopping without much hip.

The Chinese face dancing was perhaps the most interesting form of entertainment. It involved a woman that would quickly change face masks during her dance routine to reflect the various moods of the song. The face transitions were so quick that most people were unable to figure out exactly how she changed her masks.

When the banquet concluded, Vivek desired to explore a little more of the Shanghai nightlife. This time we took a taxi to the area of town called the Bund. The Bund is a street that stretches along a river that houses numerous shops, bars, and a stunning view of part of the Shanghai skyline. We decided to walk around and were greeted by more bumbs and Chinese pimps. It seemed like there were several unintimidating guys who appeared to be selling female services. There were also Chinese police who looked to be ready to jump on any foreigner stupid and immoral enough to pursue one of these offers.

The Bund appeared more upscale and European than the rest of Shanghai. We went to this place called the BoRouge, I believe, which was a French style bar on the top a building with a good view of the river front. The place was very western and most people spoke English in this place. There were many fine wines and drinks served here but I, of course, ordered a Sprite.

After a brief stay here, Vivek inquired on any popular night spots. We took a taxi to very affluent section of the city that contained many westerners. There was this building called the Party House which appeared to be a building filled with small rooms that could be used to host small, private parties. There was another building that housed another bar/dance club that interested Vivek called the California Club. This club had no covered and feature many westerners from the age of 20-60 drinking and dancing. Unlike ROJAM, where I was probably the oldest person there, I felt like quite the minor at this place.

After an hour or so we took a taxi back to the apartment and completed another interesting and exciting day.

Monday January 24th 2005 11:46:20 AM EST

Entry 12--French Connection--(1-21-05)

I apologize for being behind in my blog entries. I am actually writing these final entries from my room in Ann Arbor.

Despite being cold and raining this Friday in Shanghai, I fully expected that the city would be quite alive. Vivek and I went back to the Bund and walked up Nanjing Lu road which is well-known for its shopping. We decided to stop inside the Shanghai Silk Commercial Building where I purchased a customized suit at a great price. Afterward, we continued to walk through the maize of European-style shops and stores.

After walking around for awhile, we decided to examine the party scene once again. We had to stand in line for a taxi at the hotel where we waited for some time because of the rain and the fact that it was Friday night. Frustrated by waiting for a long time, we decided to ask one of the gentlemen ahead of us if we could split a taxi with him. Basically, we would take the taxi to wherever he was going and then go to our destination. Because cabs are so cheap in China, we figured that this was a good idea. But this is when we encountered the French man.

Coming from the Equatorial Hotel most of the patrons were rich businessmen and the French guy we shared a taxi with seemed to be no different. When we entered the cab, the French man seemed to speak some Chinese to the driver and then told us how the cab driver was crazy and did not know what he was doing. After a few minutes, the French man reached his destination. At which point, he said some things to the driver in Chinese and shouted out--"Vive la France"--as he quickly left the vehicle. The first thing we noticed is that the French guy did not pay for his part of the trip. We figured that maybe he was a little confused about our agreement. The second thing we noticed was the enthusiasm in which he said vive la france after leaving the car as if you was somehow trying to poke fun at us Americans.

After driving in circles for several minutes. We got the impression that the French guy told the cab driver in Chinese to screw these Americans. Although this seemed to be the prevailing view in the car, we soon realized that the driver might have just been crazy and high on pot. He eventually stopped in the middle of the road and started to talk on the cell phone as if he did not even have customers. We decided to leave the cab without paying and promptly found another one.

We eventually arrived at this club called Judy's, if I remember correctly. This club played a mixture of American and Latin music mixes. It was mostly Asian youth with a fair number of Americans and Europeans sprinkled in. Amusingly enough, when we approached the club's entrance, the people charging a cover charge let Vivek in for free because they liked his hair so much. However, they told me that I had to pay a cover charge. Even though I was not nearly as cool as my friend, Vivek, I used the best strategy that I could, evoking pity. After waiting outside in the cold while Vivek was in the club, the people working at Judy's eventually felt pity for me and let me in the club.

The club was very crowded and featured two floors where the second floor was mainly a bar to cool down after dancing on the first floor. I managed to talk to a couple of different people from Shanghai for awhile and got chance to learn a little more a about modern Chinese culture.

We left this place really late at night and went back to the hotel. At the hotel, we ordered some late night room service--courtesy of the University of Michigan (for me, a hot dog, fries, watermelon juice, and a chocolate milk shake).

Monday January 24th 2005 12:24:39 PM EST

Entry 13--Que Sera, Sera--I'll see you in my dreams Shanghai (1-22-05)

At this point, I thought that I seen most of the relevant aspects of Shanghai. However, this was the first day that I had no Computer Engineering obligations and had the whole Saturday to explore Shanghai. After a quick breakfast at the Equatorial Hotel where the cook hand-made noodles in front of the customers, I set out to pay for the suit I ordered the previous day and made sure that they shipped the finished product to the hotel that night. Vivek and I then left to visit the Yuyuan Bazaar, an area with hundreds of small shops and markets. Unfortunately, many stores were outside and it was raining pretty hard. Vivek purchased some strange items including a cane and a ninja star. I also purchased two little red book cigarette lighters.

We set out for the Pudong new area which features many large structures including the Oriental Pearl TV Tower--a massive 468 meter tower, one of the largest in the world. We went to the revolving restaurant that was close to the top, again courtesy of the University of Michigan. It actually was snowing pretty heavily at that height above the city. There were many tourists at this location in particular Japanese tourists who are always quite visible with their incessant laughter and picture taking. Upon seeing Vivek, they rushed toward him to take pictures of him because of his funky hair--it was pretty amusing.

In the meantime, we were trying to discover what KTV was. We saw signs advertising KTV everywhere in Shanghai. We thought it might be some type of brothel, but the concierges that we talked to seemed to not understand exactly what went on at these KTV parlors. KTV stands for karaoke TV, but we finally found out later from someone knowledgeable about the Shanghai nightlife that KTV was a place where you could watch TV--probably pornography--with various women of your choice. I am still not exactly sure how this system works since any type of visible brothel would probably be shut down by the government even in the relatively free-spirited Shanghai.

We went to another dance club in a different part of the city that night. It turned out that this place was apparently owned by the same people that owned Judy's. As a result, this place seemed to play the exact music mixes as the previous club along with playing some songs over and over again such as a rock version of Que Sera, Sera.

However, the comparisons with the previous dance club ended with the music. This place seemed a lot more international and wild then the previous places visited. People including bartenders danced on the bars, some nearly nude. This place had a fair number of business people including people much older than myself. One middle-aged European with a heavy-set managed to strut his stuff precariously on top of the narrow bar taking off many of his clothes along the way.

The people in this club were fascinating. One person looked like an independently wealthy middle-aged entrepeneur that seemed to really enjoy touring Asian countries. He had four rings on his fingers that signified wives he had or has in different countries including the US and several Asian countries. He would frequently approach a girl half his age asking her if she wanted to be part of his ring collection.

Vivek had a lot of fun at this place especially when he worked up the courage to buy a drink for a girl. It turned out that this girl was actually a bartender at this club. Even better, she actually went behind the bar and poured her own drink after his purchase.

In the meantime, I was upstairs in this small diner that was relatively empty excepting a couple of American expatriates who complained that their wives or girlfriends broke up with them because of 9-11. One of the guys lived in Shanghai for a year and opened his own place to teach Chinese Swing dancing.

We stayed at this club until it pretty much closed around 4-4:30 AM which was also about 2 hours before I had to take a cab to the airport. The club was surprisingly filled with many Chinese cops. I am not sure exactly why they were there. Perhaps to protect the many westerner sthere. However, I anticipate that they were there primarily to watch out for prostitution or other illegal activities. These clubs seem to possess many prostitutes.

Monday January 24th 2005 01:28:13 PM EST

Entry 14--Trip Home and Reflections--(1-23-05)

The plane ride back was a fairly mundane experience but surprisingly went much better than the flight over to China. I was quite exhausted from the dance clubs and the lack of sleep and managed to get some sleep on the plane. The flight left the very easy to navigate and modern looking Shanghai Pudong National Airport which was several miles from our hotel in Shanghai. Although I took a taxi to the airport, it is connected to Shanghai by a very fast Maglev train that can travel over 200 MPH, I believe. The plane refueled at Narito Airport in Japan and then set out for Detroit. The food on these flights were pretty bad and the movies were not much better featuring Princess Diaries 2, Bourne Supremacy, and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. The Bourne Supremacy was watchable. (The flight to Narita also showed I-Robot which I have already seen but the flight was not long enough to show the whole movie). As with the flight into China, I felt a little under the weather with an annoying non-SARs cough. There were also several crying babies in the row ahead of me and behind me on the plane. Luckily, I put my headphones on for most of the flight.

Because of the tailwind, the flight was much quicker and we actually landed in Detroit about 0.5 hours earlier than planned. I had a little delay getting through customs as I had to pay a $12.00 customs fee because of all my purchases. Luckily, they did not confiscate the tea that I purchased. I was unsure whether this was on the prohibited list or not.

I want to give some brief comments and general impressions of the trip. I think that Beijing is a better tourist destination than Shanghai. However, Shanghai has something to offer to people of all ages. Shanghai seems to be a very lively city like a New York or Rio de Janeiro. There is a lot of shopping and a strong international flavor to Shanghai. I think I really enjoyed Shanghai because it was distinctly international. Many of the clubs I went had people all over the world with very interesting stories.

In Shanghai, the dollar is not as strong as it is in Beijing but there are still pretty good values. On the last day in Shanghai, I managed to get a haircut for about $2.50. This was an amusing story in and of itself as none of the hair stylists could speak English and Vivek had a hair style that I hoped would not serve as a template for me. The food in Shanghai seemed to be more Western than in Beijing. The people in Beijing seemed a little friendlier than in Shanghai. Shanghai also had its fair share of city problems like poverty and prostitution. Shanghai is probably an excellent city to work in full-time. I think that a trip to China should include a visit to Shanghai.

On a personal note, I really enjoyed this trip especially because I made a great effort to try different things and stay optimistic at almost all times. I also think this blog added to the quality of my trip and forced me to keep trying new things and explore new sights.