Scaffolding

This is disassembled Chinese scaffolding...need I say more?

Kettle Corn?

These guys were hanging out in front of the Bank of China this afternoon, popping rice, corn and some sort of chip thing. I don't know how it all works, but he turns the crank over the fire and the pop corn comes out fantastic!

Soup Dumpling

One of life's little pleasures...the soup dumpling (汤包). Somehow, the folks who make these manage to fill the dumplings with soup and pork and then steam them. I used to say that edamame was the perfect hangover food, but I am starting to change my mind. Get this, these are all made in the restaurant and the price? RMB4, which is just over fifty cents in USD, for one steam basket of them!

Stinky Tofu

I dread going to Carrefour (French version of Wal-Mart), not necessarily because it's a French company or the fact that there are hoards of people who constantly shove you out of the way and have no clue how to queue up...it's the exit! It's right next to a stinky tofu place. Imagine sauerkraut to the 10th power. I nearly have to hold back vomit every time I leave. I appears to be popular, though.

Old Film Coffee

While I was walking along Duolun Rd, the gentle rain turned into a torrential down pour so I had to find a place to duck into for a while. The place I found was an old house which had been turned into a restaurant/cafe called "Old Film Coffee." I was so happy to find it as their lunch was great and had Blue Mountain Coffee, which I have no idea what makes it special. The atmosphere there was what you would expect from a privately held coffee shop amongst art galleries. I strolled around and each photo was Katherine Hepburn or Maryln Monroe and this photo was taken from the second floor. Just a really cool place.

Duolun Road

I decided to walk around the other day, even though it was raining off and on. I went back to a place where I had been a few days before, called Duolun (多轮) Rd. It is a group of shops and galleries with a great collection of original pieces. There is an art museum there as well, but their latest exhibition ended on the 24th of August, so I just missed it.

Shanghai skyline at night

This is a scene I have been wanting to share for a while, and thanks to the new camera, I finally can. I am lucky enough to look out my window everyday to see this. The farthest structures are Jin Mao Tower, the World Financial Center and the TV Tower.

Camera

So I finally broke down and bought a camera. I have been interested in an SLR for about the past five years and decided to make the leap...from a camera phone no doubt! After a considerable amount of research, I decided on a Nikon D40. It is highly recommended by experts (whomever they are) for a first-time SLR. I went to the wholesale market both yesterday and today to check out what they had and settled on a price I was happy with (about a third of the standard retail price). Now, I will finally be able to take the photos I have been wanting to! It's the smallest SLR on the market and packs a powerful punch. Now, I just have to learn how to use it.

It's a snake!

I came out of the local wholesale market yesterday and found some white guy taking pictures of this cage, so I stopped to see what was in it. This was no pet store. In fact, the sign behind the cage says "Snake guts, RMB1 per." That's right, on top of the table was cooked snake and you can even pick your own! Out of sheer curiosity, I plan to return and try it, but I have to talk myself into it a little more.

Biohazard

Gee, nothing like a row of used syringes and biohazard material just chilling next to a hospital. I walked to Carrefour the other day and took some shots of the site and people were quizzically staring at me taking pictures, perhaps wondering what I found interesting enough to snap photos of. This means, to me, that it is a usual site to see. Imagine what happens when it rains...where does the water go? What is in the water? Scary.

No glove, no love

Coming from the relatively Puritanical US, I was amazed to see condom vending machines on the side of the street.

Pudong

It's really hard to imagine that about a decade ago, Shanghai Pudong was filled with warehouses and some farms, especially when you walk out of the metro station in Lujiazui (the financial district) to see these two towering buildings. The one on the left is the famed Shanghai World Financial Center and next to it is Jin Mao Tower. Shanghai World Financial boasts the highest observation deck in the world and overlooks the historic Bund here in Shanghai. I look forward to making it up there in the near future.

Back to barracks

The SISU guest house （迎兵馆） is located on The Shanghai International Studies University, and caters to the expatriates teaching and studying at the university, but the rooms look more like the Air Force barracks I used to live in. I expected suite rooms with a kitchenette in each room, but I was welcomed by the photo depicted. To give you an idea of the cost, the room charge is about RMB2160 per month for a two-person room. The support staff (at least the person I talked to) makes about RMB1000 per month. I may just end up looking for an apartment while I am here.

Leaving Tianjin

The new train station in Tianjin is quite nice, and I hopped on a Z train from Tianjin to Shanghai on Monday. I had a 软卧, which is a soft sleeper, four to a room but there were only two of us. Two of my friends, Mark and Mark, saw me off at the station at 8pm and the train arrived in Shanghai at about 7am on Tuesday. The train was cheaper than a flight and not bad at all.

Non-reporting reporting

My friend Scott Gurian, who is the news director for KGOU in Oklahoma City, called me last week and recorded the conversation, which is part of a larger story on China. The story, which will air on 11 Aug 2008 at 11am and excerpts are here. As a caveat for the Chinese government...I was not reporting, it was merely a recorded conversation.

Media clarity

You may not know it, but some reporters push one side of a story and I am going to set one story straight. A couple of weeks ago, I watched a BBC broadcast about people who were being forced out of their homes to make room for flower beds. Although this is true, they totally missed the fact that those flower beds are merely temporary fill until a building is built. See the photo? This is Nanjing Rd in Tianjin, really the major corridor for businesses. The bottom left of the photo shows a large park area. This is actually two sites which will be developed in the next few years. The Chinese government isn't just forcing people out of their homes, there is a greater purpose. Additionally, the property rights law which was ratified last October requires compensation for relocation in event of Chinese-styled Eminent Domain reclamation. The downside of that plan is there is not established market for property as a family will often live in a home for generations.

Breaking zoo rules

Here I am, feeding the animals like a rebel! As you can see, the grass truly is greener on the other side of the fence for these guys, so I brought a little of the other side to them. One was eating a plastic bag, to which I informed one of the zoo keepers. I was amazed at how few people were there, though.

Rush hour

I have been trying to snap a good video of rush hour here, but don't seem to find the right opportunity, so here's a photo from the bike lane. It's packed from this point all the way up to 巴黎台桥 (Balitai Bridge) which is not the immediate bridge depicted, but the far bridge. Everyone seems to be in such a rush, and inexperienced at rules of efficiency that a complete traffic jam ensues because everybody wants to be first. This is one result of the rapidly increasing incomes throughout China (I see VERY few old cars). There are millions of new drivers in China every year, so picture millions of 30-40 year-olds who drive like 16 year-olds (or worse) hitting the streets. Welcome to a new breed of rush hour.

Birthday cake

Although this posting is about three weeks overdue, Michael and Sophie (my host family) were kind enough to get a birthday cake for me. There were two candles for each decade and one for the year, so I turned 21 for the sixth year in a row! A tradition for the Chinese is for the celebrant to cut through the cake and leave the knife, to which someone else will take over.

Walking on water

It turns out that, among other things, I can walk on water...at least fall on my butt on water! My friend, Daniel and I went by 天津天塌 (the TV Tower Park in Tianjin) and saw these balls you can walk in, though it was substantially harder than I thought at first. We drew a crowd of about 30 people who were interested in watching crazy Americans make fools of themselves, and we were more than happy to provide the entertainment. There is a limit of 15 minutes in the ball because it is air-tight, but when we both got out, we felt a bit nauseous and light-headed due to the high levels of carbon dioxide. I think we lasted about 10 minutes before we finally gave up.