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.

Working in a Global Firm

I've attached a couple photos of CEIBS. My other course is called Working in a Global Firm. In the class we discussed in great detail how to manage a long-term international career, which has never been discussed in my previous classes at Kelley. In another class period we talked about the challenges of working on projects in different locations with different cultures. Eight people in our class were selected randomly to play a game and everyone else observed. I was one of the eight who were given blindfolds and given instructions. The blindfold was to simulate communication over the phone. We each had game pieces in our hands and in 30 minutes had to tell the group which two pieces were missing from the group. We could not exchange pieces with each other. We were given vague instructions, but that was to simulate the real world. Since we had no idea what was going on, there was no way to put together a plan. We just had to start communicating what shapes we had in our hands. We could ask what color the shapes were in our hands. The observers said that the initial part of the game looked very chaotic. Through discussion we were able to figure out that there were 5 colors and a total of 28 pieces, two were missing. The interesting part came when people described the shapes. Our group consisted of people from the US, Europe and China describing the exact same shapes with different words. Apparently only half the teams who have participated in the game succeed in 30 minutes and we did it in about 20. Not bad!

The best part of the class was that we had a self-directed learning project. I have been told that if I want to do business in China, I need to understand Guanxi. My goal for the project was to begin to understand Guanxi in theory and in practice. I was unfamiliar with this concept, so I wanted to know how it differed from the Western concept of Networking. I began my learning with secondary resources. I conducted research online, read articles, and read books about the topic. I had a unique opportunity to learn about it while living in Shanghai, so I also conducted primary research. I interviewed individuals in business to understand how Guanxi works in the real-world. Though I still am no expert on the topic, below I compare some of the differences.

Western Networking

• Independence

• Fear of losing resources

• Focus on economic value

• Associated with business

• Formal (bureaucracy/rules)

• Develop relationships quickly (short term)

• Reciprocity is typically in the near future

• Openly discuss disagreements

• First transaction → Then relationship

• Obligation comes from written contracts

• If not there, opportunity to build relationship without intermediary

Chinese Guanxi

• Interdependence (Confucianism)

• Fear of losing face

• Focus on social capital

• Associated with everyday life ex. hospital care, entrance into schools

• Informal (efficiency)

• Develop relationships over time (long term)

• Reciprocity has no time limit

• Harmony

• First relationship → Then transaction

• Obligation comes from relationships

• If not there, then treated like a stranger and need intermediary to make introductions

Day-trip to Suzhou

CEIBS organized a trip for all the exchange students to a city nearby called Suzhou. Unfortunately, it was quite cold, so it was a little difficult to enjoy the gardens. It’s definitely the type of place that you should visit in the summer. We also explored an in-door botanical garden where we saw a range of beautiful flowers. Our tour guide spoke English. I understood every single word he said. However, I have no idea what he was saying because the string of words made very little sense. I’m sure there is a lot of interesting history in that city, but I just wasn’t able to capture it from the tour.

Touring the city of Shanghai

I’ve also explored a bit of Shanghai, during the day and at night. There’s a clear contrast of old and new around the city. For example, you can look at a temple in the Yuyuan Garden and right behind it see the Oriental Pearl Tower. The garden includes a zigzag bridge. I saw this type of bridge in other places and later learned that it's meant to ward of the spirits who can't turn corners. I also heard that winding roads in these kinds of gardens are intentional. You’re supposed to lose yourself physically and in terms of escaping from the stresses in your life. The man who built this particular garden spent twenty years and all his savings to please his parents. In Chinese culture, you take good care of your parents when they grow old. I’ve also explored Nanjing Road. In one section cars are not allowed and people come up from everywhere to sell you fake bags and watches. At night I walked around with Carlo, Laura, and CEIBS friends around the Bund and along the other side of the river. There is so much to see and do in this city, and I don't have enough time to do it all.

If you are interested in reading another perspective about life in Shanghai, please take a look at Laura's blog.