tbaroundtheworld

There really is no place like home. Sure, that sentiment is trite. But truer words were never spoken. Getting there though is probably what makes one feel that way. Since all my pals had spent the time throwing gasoline on the fire that is the Chinese economy, there was no way we were going to fit in one cab for the trip to the airport. So we arranged for the hotel van to take us there at the rate of about $100 for 5 of us. Sounds like lot, but it certainly doesn't compare to a US airport shuttle ride. And in China there is no tipping! Checking out was a breeze, which surprised me since it seemed like I'd been there for months. As we waited for the van, I had to intercede on the behalf of my suitcases when one of the doormen insisted on loading them in a lower-caste "taxi van" that some of my other co-workers had commissioned. They were not going the full way, electing to finish up the final 20k on the Maglev which we had already ridden once on this trip. The Buick ar...

It was an icy day the last time I pulled out of here but no today. It's a hot and sticky and pretty polluted vista from the 26th floor this morning. Thought I'd take the time to make one more post before the long trip home. We got out of work early yesterday and took the subway over to the "real" replacement for the Xiangyang Outside Counterfeit Market. Now you might ask how many more fake Tommy Bahama shirts or Tag watches I really need, but it was a fun adventure as alway and even if I didn't buy anything it was worth for two little experiences. The market is now located in the halls of the Shanghai Science Museum subway station. Not being outside, it's a bit less friendly but not nearly as oppressive as the Qipu market I mentioned previously. It's clean, less crowded and generally more smoke free. The government is really cracking down on the fake goods, so the sellers have to be far more cagey than they used to be. I went with one of my pals to a young...

Took these pictures a couple of days ago on an early morning walk. I'd seen the place coming home from the office and had not made the time to walk down there. So I went out one morning about 6 and stopped to enjoy the sculpture. There were other bronzes along the way, some Giacometti figures and some traditional Chinese. But these really struck me, not only because of the indomitable spirit of this country, but because of our recent loss. I guess I like to think that one of these is our boy Bluey, free of his earthy bonds and running unhindered once again. Capping the moment was a little old man who touched me on the arm and said, "Hello, Ni Hao" and then went on his way into the park. .

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Sometimes the very best things in life come to you when you least expect them. And sometimes those very best things are little more than a day spent with an old friend, the making of a new friend and the wonder that comes with opening yourself up to a new experience. The latter being the real challenge as it almost always requires that you suspend your values, cautions, beliefs and pre-conceived notions about the world and the people in it. My old friend Albert has been over here on this side of the world for a little more than a year and last time I was here we spent a few minutes comparing impressions about who was looking older (he was, obviously) and about work in general. I didn’t have much time on that trip for fun, so I intended to hold him up to an offer of a walk around the place. We exchanged a few notes and decided that the same old Shanghai stuff might be too tame for a tough guy like me so we bottomed out on a ferry ride to an island in the middle of the Yangtze called Cho...

We had come to China with the intention of taking a day in Dalian, the place where we might find ourselves spending a few years of the not too distant future. But the plan was not well thought out, so we cancelled the trip en masse and decided instead that six of us would catch a domestic flight up on Friday, spend the night and return around 24 hours later. The bad news that there were no rooms available was dealt with swiftly – the hotel kicked out their reserved guests and created space for us. We bought our tickets and made plans for our van driver to take us to the airport the following day. Now I’ve been playing with my Mandarin and decided to try making arrangements for our guy to take us out there at 12:30 PM. So on the Thursday night drive to the hotel, I carefully spoke to him, hoping he’d get it. “Qing dai women dao Pudong feijiechang.” He snapped to immediately, I was so shocked and grateful. He asked when, I said, “Mingtian, ershi dian ban.” Tomorrow at 12:30 PM. The “tomo...

You know I wasn't really feeling all that great tonight and the plan to go to the mystery restaurant - Peoples 7, didn't grab me. But, I figured what the heck and off I went with the crew. It was sort of explained to me in a manner that made it sound like a spy genre mystery cafe, one in which I would almost certainly be forced out of the audience and up on the stage to the delight of the patrons while driving me into a fit of abject horror. I figured though if I whined enough they'd let me off the hook. When you make the reservation, they give you a secret code that is required to get you into the place. Falling out of the cab and walking up a darkened flight of stairs illuminated only by a single circle of light with a stylized 7 in it, you're presented with 9 lighted tubes on the wall. The code for tonight was 9-6 so I plunged my hands into the tubes representing 9 and 6 in matrix and a sliding steel panel opened to our left. We walked in and gave our names to the ho...

Blogger is a bit funky in terms of handling photographs and the result is often crazy alignment between words and images. So rather than wrestle with it, I'm going to just do this post with pictures. Nothing special needed in terms of description, I think think they're simply worth sharing. So here you go......

The last time we were over, we spent several afternoons at the Xiangyang Market, that great outside bazaar where one could find all the luxe items offered in the finest stores of the world for cut rate prices. (Not to mention cut rate quality) The Chinese government in an earnest attempt to show their dedication to the protection of Intellectual Property rights closed the place down last June. But, capitalism rules and so the Xiangyang Pirates sailed across town and carved out a space in an existing market called Qipu. Where the other mart was open air and offered a sense of a Sunday stroll through a park redolent of cigarette smoke, this place is enclosed, 5 stories and instead of autumn splendor, evokes the stories we read about hundreds dying in the crush in front of the chained exits while trying to escape the fire in the other end of the building. It was creepy. The difference in the goods offered was immediately obvious. The old stuff - Burberry bags, Patek Phillipe watches, Arma...

Where does tea come from? As far as I know, it comes from little bags in little red and yellow boxes marked "Lipton." Or perhaps in silver tea balls that we the hippie tribes used to float in white dormatory cups, leaving them in a little bit longer in order to impress our friends with just how really strong we like it. What did the little heart appearing in the tea dregs in the bottom really foretell? We all know it really comes from British plantation owners who look and sound like a young Alec Guiness in The Bridge on the River Kwai, striding out between the rows of bushes, British army shorts and knee socks paired with a officers hat rakishly aslant a sweary brow. Oh yeah, riding crop shoved under left arm. Mad Dogs and Englishmen - the soul of tea. In reality, it comes from little tea villages up in the hills above Hangzhou. Well, at least that's where the best green tea in the world comes from. In other words, our next stop. It appeared that we were now in Switzerla...