Wedding in China

I had dinner with Sabrina’s cousin and his wife the other day. They asked me if I would be interested in watching their wedding video. It wasn't at all what I thought we would do, but I am so glad that we did! I am not sure if the traditions are specific to this family, that region, or to China. However, I will share some of the traditions from the video.

The family puts small children (around 1 or 2 years old) on the bed where the newlyweds will sleep because it will bring the couple good luck. These kids have to play on the bed and have a good time. When the groom goes to pick up the bride, the bride’s friends prevent him from opening the door. The groom has to answer questions like “how long do you promise to love her?” and do silly things like sing a romantic song. Sometimes he also has to give them gifts. The wedding and reception is at a banquet hall, and there is an emcee. At they end of the party, the couple has to go around and do a toast at each of the tables. That night the groom’s friends prevent the couple from getting into their home. In this case, his Russian friends helped him through his Chinese friends.

That evening seems a bit like a tame bachelor/bachelorette party. The friends make the new couple play a few games. I saw one where the bride wears what looks like a metal lid tied around her waste, and then he wears a mallet around his waste. Without using his hands the groom has to make loud music. You get the idea.

I am so glad that I had the chance to watch the video, and I promised them that I would share my wedding traditions once I have one.

Bloomington bars and Kelley professors

I had lunch with a Kelley alumnus who has a very unique perspective because he is originally from Spain, worked in China, came to Kelley, and then returned to China. He currently helps Spanish companies enter the Chinese market, which is not an easy task.

He explained that people get very excited about China when they evaluate the revenue potential. After all, China has 1.3 billion people. (To compare, the US has 307 million people.) Many people then get depressed when they try and fail at entering the market. There is no easy way to enter this market for a number of reasons. One needs to know how to utilize the government, work in an environment that consists of a lack of trust among business partners and suppliers, build guanxi, etc. The companies that still want to enter the market go to his company for help.

When we were in Huai’an, Sabrina, Guy, and I joked about importing hummus to this country. I learned about the challenges of importing food from the Kelley alumnus. He explained there is a great need for educating consumers, but there aren't a lot of venues to do so. Most Chinese don’t know what makes a good wine. They do care about their image, and want to make sure they look good when they give wine as gifts. It becomes even harder to build awareness for your product when you’re not a multinational corporation because you don’t have the resources to have sales force in all the stores. I’m guessing that packaging becomes that much more important. To make things more difficult for the business, there is very cheap competition and/or competitors that create fake products. As a result, effectively communicating the quality of your product become important.

Foreigners have to follow all the rules and laws in the country, but you may have an easier time if you have a Chinese partner. However, if you have a partner, then you have to make sure there is something in it for him, or have guanxi with the head of the company. Contracts mean very little. Also, if you want to question the supplier through the legal avenues, then it will probably be extremely expensive.

Our conversation then turned to life in Bloomington, Indiana. It was entertaining to talk about a place on the other side of the country with a new friend. We like some of the same professors, and I filled him in on some of the new bars.

(KFC is everywhere, yet US companies like Best Buy are closing stores in China. My dad just shared this article with me. Even Carrefour is closing some stores. What I can't figure out is how Yum! Brands has been so successful in China with KFC and Pizza Hut, but failed with Taco Bell.)

Thankful

On my way back to Shanghai, I finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I realize that I’m late in the game in reading this book, but the timing was right for me.

I read the part about rockets destroying homes and lives just before walking home from Huai’an from the train station during the CNY. On either side of the street people were lighting fireworks. That night people lit fireworks outside of my window from 7 until past midnight. Most of the time I couldn't see the flashes of light, but the sound was intense. I kept wondering if it was a similar type sound that the characters would have heard. (On a side note, I recently learned that fireworks are only allowed in China during the Spring Festival. After that period, fireworks are illegal.)

I realize that the story itself is fiction, but it is based on some truth. For those of you unfamiliar with the book, in the story women are beaten and tortured at one point, and the book described some of the gender-based abuse. At one point dancing, laughing, and singing were not allowed, and women couldn’t leave the house without a male family member. And here I am, a woman, studying abroad in another part of the world. I have sung Karaoke, I have traveled to countries on my own, and I have laughed quite a bit. It reinforced how lucky I am to have these experiences.

It also reminded me of Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, a true story about a man who builds schools for women in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It just so happened that around the time I was reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, Laura got an email from IU language department about a program where people can spend a couple hours a week teaching English to women in Afghanistan over Skype. It sounds so simple, and yet the impact it can have is so great!

Exploring Xiamen (Part 2)

February 11 & 12

The weather the next day was dismal, but we made the best of it by going to Riyuegu Hot Springs Park. Honestly, I’m not a big spa person, but this was a unique experience. We bathed in one hot spring at the front of the park for a little while, and we sat in oxygen, bamboo and spice rooms. We were thirsty, so we headed to the area called "Drinks Galore." It was not at all what we expected. Instead of a refreshment bar, we found ourselves in front of hot springs pools, each with different ingredients, so we tried out the pineapple, ginger, coffee and oatmeal straw pools. Each pool supposedly had a different affect on your body. The Bouquet section included my favorite pool of the day, lavender. The Watering Hole had beer, red wine, and white wine hot spring pools. Laura was excited about the beer, but the scent wasn’t as strong as you would expect. We also tried out the pools in the Tea Garden and the Herbal Garden. We enjoyed almost every pool, and by the end we were completely relaxed. Laura then opted for the full-body massage. I had been told by many people to get a foot massage while I'm in China, so I tried it out. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos at the spa. To finish the day we explored another part of town that has an entire street of cafés called Yundang Hu, also known as Coffee Street. It baffles me that they are all able to stay in business. On our way back to the hotel we found ourselves in a Mexican restaurant called Coyote. (I just noticed that this restaurant is also listed on the Xiamen wikipedia page.) It was surprisingly good!

On the last day of the trip we had beautiful weather, so we explored South Potalaka Monastery and Xiamen University. Nanputuo Temple is on a mountain overlooking the water. I know very little about Chinese Buddhism, so it was interesting to watch the different rituals. In one area of the park people threw special yellow paper into a flame. In another area, people were praying in front of an alter. I watched a woman kneeling in prayer who dropped objects that looked like wood on the ground, which would then appear to split open. She then picked up the two pieces again and threw them to the ground. If you know what she was doing, please let me know. We continued our hike up the mountain where we ended with a beautiful view. Before rushing to the airport, we went across the street to check out Xiamen University, which has a very pretty campus.

Exploring Xiamen (Part 1)

February 9 & 10

The Spring Festival spans 15 days, and we had that entire time off from classes. Laura and I were trying to figure out where to go for part of the holiday, but we knew that everyone was traveling at the time. Beijing and Xi’an were going to be packed, so someone suggested we go to Xiamen, a southern, coastal city.

Our first night we got a little lost walking the streets, and we found ourselves walking down a dark alley. We may have passed by a brothel by mistake. Oops. We also walked around the brightly-lit Zhongshan Road Pedestrian Street, which felt a bit European with the German and British influences. The next day we visited a café called How Coffee (No.32 Hua Xin Road, Siming District) which also felt very European. We walked around a park which happened to have some bonsai trees. That instantly reminded me of Mark and Kim's wedding, thanks to a speech by Kenneth Gilbert. Bonsai!!! The afternoon at Gulangyu Island was a little disappointing. It has the potential to be absolutely gorgeous with its unique architecture, but it hasn’t been maintained, other than the bed & breakfasts. Many buildings across the island were dilapidated, which was a shock since this is a vacation spot for the Chinese. Laura and I wondered why the city hasn't spent money restoring it. Dinner near our hotel was delicious! We were told by a reliable source to check out Xiao Yan Jing seafood (No.7 Middle Hu Bing Road, Siming District). When we walked inside, we quickly realized that we had a major problem. There was no menu. We think you go to the back of the restaurant to pick the seafood and decide how you want it cooked. Along the back wall the list of options was written in Mandarin. We almost considered trying a different restaurant. However, our waitress was clever and quickly found a way for us to order. She pointed to food that passed by us and looked to us if we wanted to order it. We then asked them to pick a vegetable and a plate of noodles for us. This approach was perfect because we ended up eating all the favorite dishes. We had so much fun ordering food, though it seemed almost rude to point at other tables.

Education in China

Before I continue, I want to mention that if you enjoy reading this blog, then you might also enjoy reading Guy’s blog about life in Hong Kong since he just moved there from the UK. http://guyinhk.posterous.com/

I'm still wrapping my head around education in China. I like the emphasis on education in society here. It’s definitely a priority. They also are open and and eager to learn from other countries. However, I think it's important to define "education". This past week I haven't had class or finals, but I've learned so much about business and life in China from informational interviews and casual meetings. Does this count as education? As I mentioned in a previous post, kids in China are not taught how to do things like cook because it is seen as a distraction by the parents. I also get the feeling that they learn how to study for exams, but are perhaps uncomfortable with new teaching approaches. For example, I heard from a couple of students at CEIBS who only like classes that have a specific structure. When I was in Huai’an, I watched a television program on CCTV (China Central Television) News discussing the differences between education in the US and in China. Basically each system has its pros and cons. The Chinese are stronger in math and science, and we hear that in the news in the U.S. all the time. Some suggest that Chinese parents put too much pressure on their kids. The other day there was a different news story about Chinese parents worried about their kids having too much free time during the Chinese New Year, and the story focused on a little girl taking this time to be a tour guide at a local museum. I can't imagine this type of news story shown back at home. I heard elsewhere that a significant percentage of our PhD students are international, and many of them return to their home country, including China. We must be doing something right. The television program also pointed out that American students are taught critical thinking. We are taught to, respectfully, ask questions and question what we are being told, which I hear is not the same in China.

I love that older people here are very active, both physically and mentally. One Sunday morning we saw all these couples in an area dancing in the park. Others were playing cards, flying kites, or practicing tai chi.

Two shows for the price of one

I returned to Shanghai for a couple of days (Feb 6^th-Feb 9^th). As I already mentioned, I was surprised that the fireworks were still going off, but apparently the Sunday after CNY is another big night for fireworks. I tried to set up a Skype call with my mom to let her know that I survived the festival, but we couldn't hear each other because of the explosions outside of my bedroom were too loud.

Laura and I made it a point to go to the Beijing Opera while we were in China, so we got tickets to see Peking Opera Highlights by Tianjin Municipal Youth Peking Opera Troupe at YiFu Theatre. Here is a summary (I think) of the show from the website:

《钟馗嫁妹》相传，唐朝终南山进士钟馗与同乡杜平去京都赴试，钟因面貌丑陋，得不到皇帝重视而落第，他一怒碰死在后宰门外，天帝封他为斩崇之 神。钟馗生前曾经有约，把妹妹嫁给杜平，死后，他为践约和答谢杜平的友情，在一个月白清风的夜里，带着一群顽皮的小鬼回家，完成了嫁妹的心愿。

　　《陈三两爬堂》妓女陈三两义助陈奎攻读。陈奎进京赴试，鸨儿将陈三两卖与富户，三两不从。富户向里正行贿，反把三两送上公堂审迅。知州李凤 鸣受贿，审讯三两。三两申辩，陈述身世，李使知三两乃失散多年的胞姐李淑萍。恰此时新任巡按陈奎将至，李羞惧交加，向三两谢罪，三两怒责之。陈奎至，将李 凤鸣治罪。

We were just as clueless as most of you, and Google translator was not helpful. However, I was still very entertained. I felt like I was watching two shows at the same time. First, I was observing the show on stage without understanding what was said or sung. At first, the show was very visual and active. No translation was necessary. Some of the actors were performing impressive acrobatics. The colors of masks in the opera have significance, but we didn’t do our research ahead of time. The end of the show was less active, so I tried to associate the words with the characters written on both sides of the stage. I was excited when I recognized the characters for 1, 2 and 3!

The second show I watched was audience itself. Here you are allowed to bring food and drink. You are also allowed to take photos, but no flash. Therefore, some people brought in big professional cameras with long lenses. During the show, people slowly moved to seats closer to the stage. They also verbally cheered on the actors. The very second the curtains closed at the end of the performance, everyone crowded at front of the stage and applauded. The main female singer then sang an encore. I never knew you could get one at the end of an opera.

The complete Chinese experience

Most of Sabrina's family spoke little English. Fortunately, one of her cousins took on the role of being my translator during meals when Guy and Sabrina were chatting with the family in Mandarin. He currently lives in Shanghai with his wife, but he previously studied in Russia because he was interested in the relationship between Russia and China. During one of our conversation he explained that there are distinct differences between the north side and the south side of the country, and the division is in Huai'an. For example, the men from the north are generally heavier drinkers than the south. Also, the men are larger in stature in the north than in the south. In general, the north is considered more masculine, and the south is considered feminine. When I walk down the street now I sometimes play a game where I try to determine where a guy is from, though I have no idea if I'm correct.

Between the big meals I was fortunate to participate in some fun family activities. I had heard that karaoke (aka KTV) was a big deal in this country, so I was excited when Sabrina’s family suggested we go. These places provide private rooms, so there is no excuse for not belting out a song. I would never feel comfortable singing Lady Gaga, Eminem/Rihanna (which should not be sung in front of little children), or Taylor Swift in a bar in the US, but I did in China. Despite my awful singing, they encouraged me to keep singing. The Chinese language is made up of four tones, so that may make the songs easier to sing. Everyone in our room sang so well! I wonder if it comes from years of practice, since Sabrina's 5-year-old cousins sang too.

A more active afternoon included flying kits and playing badminton. This was my first time flying a kite. There was a big one that stayed up in the air the entire time and a smaller one that took a lot more work to keep up in the air. Sabrina’s cousin and I talked about the book The Kite Runner, which is known as Blue Kite in China. Oddly enough, a Mary Poppins song kept running through my head the entire time. To finish off the afternoon, Sabrina’s aunt invited me to make dumplings at her house. The fact that Sabrina couldn’t tell the difference between the ones I made and the ones her aunts and uncles made me feel pretty good.

I had an amazing time in Huai'an, and I’ve been invited to come back next year. Thank you to Guy, Sabrina, and her family for making me part of their family!!!

Chinese New Year: a celebration with family, food and fireworks

Sabrina’s father was born in the year of the rabbit, so he gets special attention this year. There are 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac and the order of the animals is based on a story about a race between the animals. The animal that won the race comes first and the slowest animal is last. The rat/mouse was first because he was clever. He rode on the largest animal, the ox, and jumped off at the very last second. To politely find out how old someone is in China, you can calculate it based on his/her animal.

We met up with family for lunch and dinner everyday for a few days. What I like most about Chinese food is that it’s all family style. That means that I can try everything. I can choose to try the eel, chicken, pigeon, pig’s ear, rabbit, fish, shrimp, tofu and turtle. At least those were the proteins that were mentioned to me. (Sabrina, Guy and I were surprised to see a Tesco one day, and we walked around inside. The most surprising part was to see frogs and turtles that were still alive in the meat section.) I learned that if I want to be adventurous, it is better to try food before asking what I'm eating. At the end of the meal, they serve dumplings to ensure that everyone is full. However, you know the meal is over when they serve fruit, usually watermelon and cantaloupe. At that point I was asked if I was full. The correct answer is always yes. I was also introduced to Chinese wine. In many of the restaurants you are given a small pitcher and a very small shot glass. During the meal, you wish someone else a happy new year by taking a drink with them. In a sense, it reminded me of Christmas in Poland where each person is given a shot glass that is filled with vodka. I also observed a tradition where the young children bow to their aunts and uncles on New Year's Day in return for money.

New Year’s Eve (Feb. 2) is celebrated with a big meal and then the family lights fireworks. To say that the Chinese LOVE their fireworks is a major understatement. My point of reference is our 4^th of July celebration. In our case, some people will buy their own fireworks and light them in their neighborhood. Also, the city will put on a fireworks show on one night. After living in China, I don’t think I’ll be impressed with those fireworks ever again. There were nonstop individual fireworks that began at about 8:00pm on New Years Eve and they were still going off at 10:30 the next morning. The video was taken at around 11:40pm from my hotel room, so this wasn't a special location and it wasn't the grand finale. To my surprise, they continued for many days and nights. People of all ages lite them in the middle of the street. I would love to know the number of fireworks sold during the festival. This article says that one fireworks salesman made $4,500 an hour. I’m also wondering how many people end up in the hospital. On Feb. 6^th, back in Shanghai, I walked to the store, and I felt like I was walking through fog with all the fireworks lit near our apartment. This celebration cannot be good for the country's air quality.

The small town of Huai'an

On February 1^st Guy, Sabrina, her parents, and I drove to Huai'an to meet up with Sabrina’s family on her father’s side. Sabrina as well as few new friends at CEIBS gave me the impression that I will be spending the New Year in a small, rural town. I didn’t know until we reached the city that it has a population of 5 million. What’s even more noticeable are all the cranes around new skyscrapers. This city is definitely growing. Chicago suddenly seems minuscule compared to Shanghai. With so many “small towns,” I have a new understanding of why so many American companies are eager to enter this market.

We spent a lot of time walking between meals. On one walk, we got to see an apartment that Sabrina’s parents just purchased for when they retire. I’ve included a photo of the buttons in the elevator. You can see that many numbers are missing... 2 (but I think the first floor lobby area takes up two floors), 4, 13, 14, 18, 24. The number 4 is an unlucky number because it is a homophone with the word "death." I am curious to see how mobile phone companies adjust to this fact when they promote 4G networks. To be honest, this was my first experience in a wooden elevator, and I was quite nervous. You know how wooden roller-coasters can feel a scarier than metal ones? We went up to the 21^st floor first, but then everyone wanted to see the view from the roof. I was very close to suggesting the stairs, but I was afraid of sounding silly in front of Sabrina's mom and aunt. Fortunately, I survived.

I was a big fan of the exercise equipment in the surrounding parks. Part of the fun was trying to figure out how to use the equipment. When I first saw this one, I thought it was a weight machine, but looking closer, there were no weights. I then realized it was a massager where you sit down and pull up the wheels along your back. You can also stand up on the other side and roll the wheels on your back. It looks strange, but feels quite good. They also had their version of a treadmill that didn't require electricity.

Keep Off the Grass

In China, it's common for tourists to take photos of signs with poor translation, and there is a book filled with them. The poorly translated signs were such an embarrassment that the government in Beijing made an effort to fix the signs for the Beijing Olympics.

I found myself taking photos of signs when Guy and I were walking around the park in Nanjing. It was interesting to see the number of ways “Keep of the Grass” could be translated, or I assume that is the purpose of the signs. Perhaps some of them are just saying "Don't Litter." All of them are within walking distance of each other. I would love to know why these signs are not uniform, as you would expect to see in the US. Was it intentional? Are people more likely to look at the signs if they aren't uniform? Were these signs created at the same time? Did someone get paid each time the sign was translated? I was even more amused when I noticed two signs with the same English translation, but the Chinese characters are clearly different. What I like most about these signs is that the translation is so polite.

Exploring the “South Capital”

Right around the Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the worst time to travel. Everyone travels home to their parents or travels outside of the country with their family. It’s a time of family reunions. This ad for a car demonstrates the importance of family during the celebration. Just imagine about half of the population traveling – 500,000,000 people - during the same couple of weeks. No wonder they have such a good transportation infrastructure in place. Most people get off work, and you generally get paid 3x more if you do work at this time.

From what I understand, “jing” means capital, which is why Beijing is a good name for the capital. It means “north capital." After finishing my classes, my first stop was Nanjing, which was once the capital of the republic and was also known as the “south capital.” This is where I met up with friends from the University of Warwick. Sabrina was in my program, and Guy lived in her dorm. They have since married and have been living in England the past few years. It just so happened that Guy is about to get his PhD in statistics and just moved to Hong Kong to do research related to diseases. As soon as Sabrina heard that I was going be in Shanghai, she invited me to spend the Chinese New Year with her family as long as I was ok with eating lots of food. I was in! When I arrived in Nanjing, it was a bit of the blind leading the blind. Though Sabrina grew up here, she was finishing a project before moving to Hong Kong to be with her husband. That meant Guy, who had spent little time in the city, was tasked with showing me around. Fortunately for me, I have a good sense of direction. Like in Shanghai, it was interesting to see the contrast between old and new architecture. We explored the Purple Mountain, the Linggu Temple and the City Wall of Nanjing (a 600-year-old city wall).

In all the cities there are photos and images of rabbits everywhere. It actually reminded me of Easter. The Chinese like their puns, and that partially has to do with the language. Different pronunciation or tones of a word can give it a completely different meaning. As a result, there are many homonyms. For example, the word bat and lucky are homonyms. As a result, you see a lot of images of bats in architecture. The words upside-down and arrived are homonyms, so it’s a joke to put some of the Chinese New Year signs upside-down. Fish and plenty are homonyms, so during the new year you usually make sure to leave some fish on the plate to show that you have had plenty.

Shanghai Museum (Part 2)

When I initially glanced at the list of galleries, I assumed that I would be the least interested in the Currency Gallery. Once you've seen one coin, haven’t you seen them all? I knew that people once exchanged goods for services, but I never thought about how the shape of money became round coins and paper money. The first coins in China took many different shapes. They had ones that looked rectangular, almost like houses without roofs. These evolved into coins that were in the shape of knives. (I wonder if this was the beginnings of the Swiss Army Knife.) There were also round coins with holes in them. The holes made it possible to carry them in stacks by stringing the coins with rope. I’m guessing that is why the knife coins didn’t survive the evolution. This gallery turned out to be one of my favorites. The Furniture Gallery was limited, but I was impressed with the intricate designs which you can see in the folding chair. There was also a gallery for the minorities of the country with articles of clothing and masks from the different cultures. This was Laura's favorite gallery. The galleries with seals, calligraphy and paintings had no audio. I walked through them, but by this point I was hungry and needed to grab lunch with Laura.

Shanghai Museum (Part 1)

If you are only able to visit Shanghai for a day, I would strongly recommend you visit the Shanghai Museum. It covers art, culture and history, and it is made up of a number of galleries. It’s the type of place where an artist, engineer or fashion designer could easily find inspiration. Fortunately for me, they have audio in English for seven of the galleries. I’ve included photos of a few of my favorite pieces, but there were many unique pieces in every direction. You'll just have to trust me that it's worthwhile! In the Sculpture Gallery, I was told that the sculpture of the women communicated, “to be plump is to be beautiful.” It makes me feel better knowing that I'm a size XXXL here. In the Bronze Gallery, there was one piece where the animals inside the dish could swivel 360 degrees. What I like most is the handles that look like an animal observing or hunting the other animals. In the Ceramics Gallery, there is a sign that says “Pottery belongs to all mankind, but porcelain is China’s invention.” The Jade Gallery was surprisingly underwhelming, but still beautiful.