China - Day 6.

So on day 6 I was feeling a bit under the weather, and it was our "free" day to do whatever we wanted. So we slept in late, Sandy getting over the worst of her illness, me coming out of mine. Then we went shopping on Nanjing Road picking up omiyage and gifts and whatnot for everybody. Well, she went shopping. I ditched her early - in order to preserve both her and my sanity - and parked myself with a cup of coffee and a magazine while she went and fulfilled her shopping agenda. Then we were driven back to the airport and flew home. Where I did truly appreciate the wonder and joy and efficiency and cleanliness that is Japan.

So. Overall... China?

I think that I think about China the way I think about the Naval Academy. It was a good experience, and I'm glad I did it, but I don't think I'd do it again.

The history? Very cool. The food? Excellent. The Shanghai Circus? Worth the trip almost by itself.

But.

Man, did I hate the pollution. The air quality alone, just horrible. Not seeing the sun for six straight days [except from an airplane, above the smog layer]? Man, did that suck. The haze and dirt gets in your eyes, your lungs, your clothes. I don't think I took a really deep breath until I came back to Japan.

And the other other thing I really didn't like? Well, first, a disclaimer... I am absolutely positive there are hundreds of millions [literally] of fine, considerate, upstanding, consciousness and kind folks in China. That being said, 90% of the people you meet as a tourist [at least that I met] were loud, pushy, aggressive and rude. I mean, really, really rude. Peddlers constantly yelling at you, grabbing your clothes, standing in your way, making you walk around them...

Think of [what I imagine] New York, Times Square circa 1983 was like - and the classic "Hey man, you want a watch? I said, hey man, you want a watch! A watch motherfucker! Do you want one?! Well fuck you then!"

Yeah, kinda like that.

And everywhere. Even on the Great Wall of China.

I kid you not, in Xi'an, there was an old lady - had to be pushing 80 - who hit me... yes, that's right, HIT me [hard on the arm, too]... because I didn't want to check out whatever trinkets she was selling. I turned around and looked at her and just thought WTF? And then laughed. I mean, what else was I gonna do? Drive her into the pavement?

And not just street peddlers either. In the shops you couldn't browse, pick up or look at something without having some salesperson attach themselves to your elbow and follow you around the store the rest of the time you were there, constantly try to sell [or if you were already buying something - upsell] you something.

Gotta say, it got pretty damn annoying and more than a little draining.

Maybe it's a cultural thing - and probably is, to be fair it was worse up north in Beijing and Xi'an than down south in Shanghai. There's some supposed stereotypical differences between northern and southern Chinese that might account for some of it, but mostly I think they were less aggressive in the south because, well, Shanghai isn't as desperate to make a buck. Their economy is a lot stronger, and they don't have as many people who are having to scrape by peddling stuff on the street. Maybe.

But between the really bad pollution and the way they treat tourists... the Beijing Olympics in August have huge "crash and burn" potential.

So, anyways... package touring was a mixed bag. It was awesome to have someone else taking care of the headaches of logistics and driving and flights and whatnot. But on the other hand, your schedule is at someone else's discretion. And they are definitely trying to separate you from that tourist dollar. Every cool thing you see - museums, making jade, ceramics, silk, etc - is accompanied with the requisite high pressure salesmanship in the conveniently located gift shop.

Random thought - Chinese TV is a trip.

I saw Jackie Chan selling gyoza, so now I can die happy.



Basketball is huge in China. Just huge. Always on.

As was table tennis, going to show that stereotypes aren't always wrong.

But the funniest bit was "Chinese Oprah." Yang Lan is known as the Chinese Oprah and catching bits and pieces of her show - her sets, intro, video, layouts, style and everything else are ripped straight from the "How Oprah Does It" manual. That was kind of surreal to see.



But I think, ultimately, what's most important to take from China, is that I now have a tshirt that has a panda doing taichi on it.

Which, I'm pretty sure, if you look up "awesome" in the dictionary, there's a picture of my shirt there.

If you've any kind of masochistic desire, you can find all 300+ pics from China here:

2007-12-30