A Georgia Boy in China

TCM Pharmacy

2011-04-15T22:49:00.001+08:00

Foot Massage in China

2011-03-25T22:48:00.001+08:00

See the full gallery on Posterous

Sometimes comfortable - sometimes painful but always a lot of fun!

Limes Anyone?

2011-03-13T21:05:00.001+08:00

Spotted today in the mall...I think this is taking the couples dressing alike thing a little too far!

Happy International Women's Day!

2011-03-08T23:06:00.001+08:00

Today was Women's Day in China and some other parts of the world. What better way to celebrate than to eat some Hunan food at Zhuhai's biggest and best Hunan restaurant! This is the main floor of Huo Gong Dian the largest and the best Hunan restaurant in Zhuhai. This is HALF of the main dining room and there are 6 more floors in addition to this one.

Roasted and stewed pork shank in Hunan mushroom and pepper broth.

Fish head in peppers.

Silk potatoes...finely sliced potatoes...kinda like hash browns but boiled not fried.

And no Hunan restaurant would be complete without the obligatory statue of the most famous person from Hunan province - Chairman Mao. Who once said "Women hold up one half the sky."

Happy Women's Day from China!

Getting Away from All the NOISE

2011-03-03T16:21:00.002+08:00

Sometimes you just have to get away from the hustle, bustle and NOISE of China. What better place to do that but in the mountains! National park outside of Jiangmen City in Guandong Province.

China Hi Tech Toilet

2011-03-01T15:36:00.004+08:00

Saw this in the home improvement store here in Zhuhai this past week. There is also a row of buttons on the other side that controls the heated seat. I understand all the buttons on the control panel except the "light" button. Who needs a light?

I promise next time to post something a little more substantive....but I couldn't help it, I had to post this one.

REAL Chinese Fried Rice

2011-02-23T14:04:00.001+08:00

The real deal...homemade with Hunan spicy smoked sausage, pickled Chinese cabbage, a little soy sauce, couple of thin slices of ginger and of course rice. Yum-yum!!!

Bloggin' Again

2011-02-22T17:01:00.001+08:00

Wellllll...been kinda lazy in the blogging department for the past couple of years. Going to try and do better now in the year of the rabbit. So stay tuned for my nonsense and drivel!

Chinese Idiom of the Day

2009-01-04T16:08:00.002+08:00

狗急跳墙

gou ji tiao qiang

A cornered dog will jump over a wall | To be driven to extremities | To take desperate measures when driven to the wall.

Texas Hold'em - APT Tournament Macau

2008-08-29T13:23:00.003+08:00

I am in Macau this week and I have spent the past week at the APT Texas Hold'em Tournament. APT is the "Asian Poker Tour" and was held at the Galaxy Casino here in Macau. It featured players from Asia and around the world. Purse is 1.5 million US dollars.

Did okay, played a freeroll and won a free satellite entry into the main event. Played in the satellite entry and got knocked out after about 1-1/2 hours of play, not great but not too bad. I could have bought into the main event but the buy-in was $5300 US Dollars...too rich for my blood and I don't think I am anywhere good enough to sink that kind of money in to play against pros.

Speaking of pros, I got to meet Doyle Brunson. He was at the tournament and had a book signing. They were giving away free books and posters. I got 2 of his books and a poster...the books were signed by him. Nice man, very soft spoken and unpretentious.

Still in Macau and will be here through the weekend. Playing a few cash games at the poker room in the Grand Lisboa and so far am up about $6000 HK dollars (about $900 US).

Not sure if anybody is still reading this blog so I guess I am blogging for myself so I can remember this week....it has truly been fun!

Insanity

2008-01-20T00:17:00.000+08:00

I am convinced that too much introspection leads to insanity....I am almost there.

In Memoriam - Marvin H. "Buddy" Bounds, Jr.

2007-11-04T04:27:00.000+08:00

Departed this life October, 20, 2007

From the last email to me:

I remember playing duets with you in the big Victorian house on Rail Road St. The music spinning and twisting it’s way through the thick aromas coming from the tobacco warehouses downtown and mingling with the sweetness of the honeysuckle vines climbing the pecan trees out in the yard.

The cool autumn air lies lightly upon thankful flesh. Raising goosebumps of delight. Summers in South Georgia are a particularly harsh form of Hell. They must be endured in order to be appreciated. Torture indeed. Autumn was glorious respite.

I remember the siren song of gaudy music coming from the “Fall Fair” crammed onto the dirt lots and alleyways behind the rickety old warehouses. Those dusty fields, known only once a year as the “Fairgrounds”, were a wonderland of activity, movement and flashing lights. Smiles all around and laughter rose to a tumult.

The barker’s spiel calling out over an unimaginable dreamscape directly to the eager hearts of entertainment starved children in tiny towns. Strange men calling with promises of mystery and amusement.

“Step right up folks.” “100% guaranteed to be Alive.” “See the ancient wonders in your own backyard.”

I loved autumn in Hahira back then. The smells and emotions waft over me still. Candy apples and memories that stick to this day.

I will miss you my friend....

You Know You've Lived Here Too Long When...

2007-09-03T14:13:00.000+08:00

1. You’re at an expensive western restaurant and don’t even notice the guy at the next table yelling into his cell phone

2. You walk backwards in the park listening to a transistor radio

3. The China Daily is your source for hard hitting, fast breaking, investigative journalism

4. You smoke in crowded elevators.

5. All white people look the same to you

6. You no longer need tissues to blow your nose

7. You find western toilets uncomfortable

8. You throw your used toilet paper in the basket (as a courtesy to the next person)

9. It’s OK to throw rubbish, including old fridges, from your 18th-floor window

10. You believe that pressing the elevator button 63 times will make it move faster

11. You aren’t aware that one is supposed to pay for software

12. You think that a $7 shirt is a rip-off

13. You always leave tray and trash on the table when you are in Starbucks, McDonalds or KFC because you insist it is the way to keep everyone employed

14. You have no reservations about spitting sun flower seeds on the restaurant floor

15. You feel cheated if you don’t receive a full head and shoulder massage when getting a haircut

16. You blow your nose or spit on the restaurant floor (of course after making a loud hocking noise)

17. You no longer wait in line, but go immediately to the head of the queue

18. It becomes exciting to see if you can get on the elevator before anyone can get off

19. It is no longer surprising that the only decision made at a meeting is the time and venue for the next meeting

20. You no longer wonder how someone who earns US$ 400.00 per month can drive a Mercedes

21. You accept the fact that you have to queue to get a number for the next queue

22. You believe everything you read in the local newspaper

23. You regard it as part of the adventure when the waiter correctly repeats your order and the cook makes something completely different.

24. You are not surprised when three men with a ladder show up to change a light bulb

25. You look over people’s shoulder to see what they are reading

26. You honk your horn at people because they are in your way as you drive down the sidewalk

27. When car accidents become a source of heartwarming humour

28. When shopping at the supermarket some laowai (foreigner) stares you down for catching you looking into his basket while you wonder to yourself what laowai’s eat

29. You have a pinky fingernail an inch long

30. You burp in any situation and don’t care

31. You think Pizza Hut is high-class and worth standing in line for

32. You have learned how to detect someone is in a hurry behind you, and now have the ability to not only walk very slowly but also grow eyes in the back of your head, so when they start to overtake on the right hand side, you automatically cut in and walk very slowly directly in front of them

33. You have absolutely no sense of traffic rules

34. You start calling other foreigners Lao Wai

35. You start cutting off large vehicles on your bicycle

36. You go shopping in pajamas

37. Firecrackers don’t wake you up

38. Forks feel funny

39. You realize that smiling and nodding is Chinese body language for, “Go away; leave me alone.”

40. You don’t bother to take the sticker off the lenses of your fake Ray-Bans

41. You only wear a suit when you dig ditches or do home repairs

42. Your handshake is weakening by the day

43. You cannot say a number without making the appropriate hand sign

44. You like the taste of Green Tea and Chivas

45. You start recognising the chinese songs on the radio and sing along to them with the taxi driver

46. You feel insulted when you enter a restaurant and only three waiters welcome you

47. When you wonder how come your friends in your country just buy ten DVDs per year

48. When you pull the bottom of your t-shirt up over your beer gut and proceed to walk around like that for an hour after you've eaten.

49. When people ask you "what is this in English" or how do you translate this, your mind goes blank because you have forgotten too.

50. You stare at other foreigners.

51. You know words in Chinese for which you don't know the translation in English.

52. You whole-heartedly agree with things that you don't agree with.

53. You just love it when new visitors from the states arrive and give you their list of what they will and won't do and eat.

54. You start thinking instant coffee tastes pretty good.

These are just a few and there is more. I will add more as they come to mind or as I find them on the net. Not all of these are mine, but all of these are true!

A Motorcycle Built for Two

2007-08-21T14:42:00.000+08:00

Daisy, Daisy,
Give me your answer do!
I'm half crazy,
All for the love of you!
It won't be a stylish marriage,
I can't afford a carriage
But you'll look sweet upon the seat
Of a motorcycle made for two.

Okay commenters send me a caption for this picture!

Photo from moobol.com

Haiku

2006-12-21T13:21:00.000+08:00

Umi ni dete
Kogarashi kaeru
Tokoro nashi

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Things to do in Guangzhou if you are bored - Go to the XinJiang Restaurant and watch the bellydancers

2006-12-18T15:21:00.001+08:00

Yes, that is a real snake. This little slideshow is from my recent visit to the XinJiang restaurant in GuangZhou. The food is from XinJiang province and is Muslim food, no pork - mainly lamb. The Chinese people in Xinjiang are mainly Muslim and belong to the Uyghur minority group. They do not resemble the Han Chinese but closely resemble the people of Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Norvell Spearman, Jr.

2006-12-14T10:05:00.000+08:00

Thirteen years ago today was the last time we spoke, the last time I heard your voice. You were in Hialeah, I was in Atlanta. We discussed plans about seeing each other during Christmas. Little did I know that this would be the last time that we would speak. I would have loved to have used a different picture but this is all I have left of you. This picture and precious memories.

During our time together, we had our disagreements - brothers always do. But you were much more than a brother. You were 15 years my senior. More of a father to me than a brother. You took me places with you and entertained me. You shared your life and knowledge with me. You gave me a great appreciation of reading, you taught me how to play chess, how to fish and when no one else could understand my problems, you were always there to lend an ear, to give suggestions.

I remember the summer I spent with you in Arkansas. Both of us so far away from home. Playing chess, reading my first Sherlock Holmes story - "A Study in Scarlet" - which you bought for me, getting up early and fishing at the lake (I cast your prized rod and reel into the lake and you dove in and got it), making instant pizza, eatin' raisins and baptizing me into Christ. Precious memories, how they linger.

You would be proud of your children. They are great, intelligent kids, they miss you deeply. You also have a wonderful granddaughter that was born the year after you died. You would love her. Intelligent, beautiful girl with your brown eyes.

I am sorry that we didn't have more time together. I miss you brother. How you ever flood my soul.

Things to do in Guangzhou if you are bored - Go to Hong Kong!

2006-12-04T13:35:00.000+08:00

From Hong Kong Tri...

My trip last weekend to Hong Kong. This a view from Victoria Peak overlooking the skyscrapers of Hong Kong island. In the distance, across the bay, is Kowloon. Had baby-back ribs at Hard Rock Cafe and a great American style breakfast - a Denver omelet - at The Flying Pan in Wan Chai.

Below is a view of the Christmas decorations in Hong Kong at the shopping center near the Star Ferry terminal.

Things to do in Guangzhou if you are bored

2006-12-01T12:58:00.000+08:00

Here is my list of things to do in Guangzhou if you are bored. I will expand on these in later posts.

1. Walk around outside and watch the people.
2. Screw with the minds of the cab drivers.
3. Get a massage at the blind people massage place.
4. Find new places to eat.
5. Buy a puppy.
6. Get a foot massage.
7. Try and read a Chinese newspaper.
8. Get a pedicure. (Okay I know this sounds gay but it's not. Bored people do strange things!)
9. Progressive subway stop exploring.
10. Leave town and go to Hong Kong or Macau.
11. Go to the XinJiang restaurant and watch the bellydancers.

Okay, as I said before, I will expand on each of these in later posts.

Thanksgiving in China

2006-11-24T09:13:00.000+08:00

Another Thanksgiving. Last year I was home...home enjoying the food and the company of my family. This year, in China...a lot lonesome and a lot wishing for some good ham, turkey and potato salad.

So yesterday was Thursday here, still Wednesday in the states...but since it was Thursday I guess yesterday was Thanksgiving here for me. Nothing special! No turkey, no ham but DUCK.

I have an 阿姨 (a yi - literal interpretation "auntie" but more accurate translation is housekeeper). She is 65 years old and she buys the groceries for dinner every evening, does the laundry and cleans the apartment. She fixes dinner, cleans the pots and pans and then leaves. All this for 1,500 RMB per month including groceries - around $225 US dollars. I leave the food selection up to her - she can choose anything but fish, snake or dog and no chicken feet.

Last night's "Thanksgiving Meal" consisted of a small duck cooked in red peppers - chopped up in bite size pieces (bones and all), fried cabbage and of course, rice. The duck wasn't bad, a little spicy but delicious. I hate the Chinese way of chopping up chickens and ducks into the bite-sized pieces and having to eat around the bone. I am really not fond of poultry but if I must just give me a good ol' boneless chicken breast.

Anyway that was the meal. I washed it all down with a big 620 ML bottle of ZhuJiang beer. I then washed that down with a half a bottle of 白酒 baijiu (Chinese 'white lightning' - 56% alchohol). Needless to say, when I finished my Thanksgiving meal I was well snockered. I decided to go out for coffee which is something I rarely do. Two double shot expressos. My cousin Buddy always said that "drinking coffeee does not sober a drunk. All you have is a woke-up drunk." And thats what I was, a "woke-up drunk".

Went to the apartment, tried to sleep. Too much coffee and too many things on my mind. Finally fell asleep around 3 this morning.

This morning, not feeling too well. A little turkey, a lot of ham, a lot of potato salad would definitely have been better and a wiser choice. And thats what its all about isn't it? Making wise choices, something I always fail to do.

Anyway, enough of my rambling and post-drunken depression. I wish to all my family and friends a Happy Thanksgiving. Please eat a little for me.

我想

2006-11-02T10:20:00.000+08:00

远永远永。。。人个这爱。。。静静安安。。。平平
和和活生我让。。。骗不，言谎不。。。题问的我都。。。密秘的我都，事故的我诉告都我人个一有

Awesome

2006-10-24T07:06:00.000+08:00

Well it's been a while since I have posted. Not much going on...but had to write about this. I am sitting in my hotel room in the new Wynn Casino in Macau --- AWESOME! Huge room overlooking the water in Macau and just finished a great American style breakfast here in the room. Been a long time since scrambled eggs, bacon and toast with real strawberry jam.

Not gambling, no Texas Hold'em but what a fun city! A meeting here today, then on to Dongguan, Shanghai, Yangzhou, Ningbo and then back to Guangzhou. Been a busy week last week, Hong Kong and the Canton Fair, and will be a busy week this week.

19-2606

Taxi Talk

2006-10-10T17:08:00.000+08:00

Sometimes revelations come from strange places and the angels that deliver them are often disguised as pretty common folk. Such was the case today as my cab driver said some things to me that I have often thought, but never verbalized. Today's conversation was one of the most interesting experiences I have had in my life...I hated to get out of the cab. I see things a little more clearer now, I understand things a lot better. Today's taxi ride was a call to action...

6 Months

2006-08-24T12:44:00.000+08:00

I recently received news from the states that a former co-worker of mine has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The doctors have told him that it is terminal and he has 6 months to live. This has been in my thoughts constantly since I have heard the news. We worked together for almost 5 years, during this time we had a lot of fun, we also had our share of disagreements. Hearing this news makes the memory of the good times seem so important and the disagreements seem so trivial. My heart and prayers go out to him and his family and I can only hope and pray that the doctors are wrong. He is a man of strong determination, if anyone can prove the doctors wrong, it will be him.

Back in June I came across the following entry from a fellow blogger. For some unknown reason I chose to save it on my computer and I discovered it again today.

"What if you learned tomorrow that you had but six short months to live?

This is the perspective the psalmist prayed God would give him. He said, “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath” (Psalm 39:4-5).

Thus, contemplating life’s numbered days can and should be a positive experience. If you are so inclined, perhaps the following questions will be of some assistance. If you knew you only had six months to live…

How would you start each day?

What would be your first priority in each day?

What relationships would matter most to you?

What would you do just for fun?

What would you look for in others?

What fences would you mend?

With whom would you make peace?

Would you have apologies to offer?

To whom would you apologize?

For what would you apologize?

What bridges would you build?

Whom would you forgive?

What grudges would you release?

What books would you read?

What books would you read again?

Would you want to write anything?

What would you write?

Whom would you write?

How would you spend your time?

With whom would you spend your time?

How would you spend your money?

What unfinished business would you tend to?

What would you be more willing to give?

To whom would you give it?

To whom would you show a special measure of love?

Would you walk away from an argument?

Would you take time to walk hand-in-hand with loved ones?

What burdens would you no longer carry?

What words would you eliminate from your vocabulary?

What thoughts would you refuse to dwell on?

How would you end each day?"

Hot, hot, hot

2006-07-27T21:49:00.000+08:00

I grew up in south Georgia and I always believed it was the hottest place on earth, but now I know that Guangzhou has got Hahira and south Georgia beat in the hot department. It is hot here and the humidity, along with the pollution, is stifling. Today finally we got rain - compliments of Typhoon Kaemi over in Jiangxi province so things have cooled down a bit.

And for those of you that read the blog on a regular basis - friends, family and enemies - just a few news updates for you.

I moved to Guangzhou about 3 weeks ago and started a new job. I am finally once again working for an American company and living in a city that actually has Starbucks, McDonalds and Pizza Huts. I am living in a high rise in the central business district and it is convenient to the subway, restaurants and shopping.

Went to Shenzhen on Monday to met with our sales rep who handles Asia for our company. Took the express train from Guangzhou to Shenzhen. Normally this trip would have taken a couple of hours by car but the train is 1 hour and 15 minutes. I am convinced that public transport in China is some of the best in the world. The train and bus system in this country is amazing.

The guy I went to meet is a little older than me and an ex-pat like me. He has been living in Asia for over 20 years, so it was really interesting to hear him talk about some of his experiences over here. But one thing, real important thing, that he told me about was a store named "Metro" in Shenzhen. When we ended our meeting he helped me get a cab to Metro. Wow - this place is a membership retail store (only needed my passport to join) a lot like a Sam's Club, only smaller. The store had imported American canned foods, REAL coffee (not the powdered, instant kind that is in the Chinese groceries), cheese, butter, salad dressings, mustard, Häagen-Dazs ice cream and...and...ground beef patties. I did not want to buy any meat or ice cream and haul it back to Guangzhou but I did find out that there is a Metro store here in Guangzhou. Guess where I am going grocery shopping this weekend?

Next week - headed to Hong Kong and then to Macau for business. In Hong Kong I am meeting with a gentleman that owns a lock factory there. Before moving to Hong Kong many years ago he had a kid's afternoon cartoon TV program in the states. He was personal friends and was in a movie with Curly Joe DeRita, Larry Fine and Moe Howard, three guys that I spent a lot of time watching as a kid - aka, The Three Stooges. Should be a fun meeting.

Last but most important - Happy 22nd Birthday to Simeon on the 29th! I wish I could be there to celebrate. I miss you and I love you.

Well other than that things here are about the same...nothing exciting to report.

Chinese Haircut

2006-07-17T13:32:00.000+08:00

One of the pleasures in living here is a monthly visit to get a haircut. It consists of shampoo, haircut and blowdry for the low, low price of 40 RMB (about $4.80 in US dollars). The haircut is cheap, by comparison to the US prices, but also involves so much more than the same services in the US.

First, the shampoo. The Chinese refer to this as "washing head" and not "washing hair". The whole head washing process takes about 20 minutes and involves a pretty thorough scalp and hair scrubbing -and also includes a very nice and relaxing face and scalp massage.

After the shampoo you are whisked away to the barber chair to wait for the next available hair stylist to come and start the hair cutting. While waiting for the hair stylist you are given a neck and back massage by the shampoo person. The hair stylist arrives and starts with the scissors and comb. Generally, haircuts for men are not too bad here but the Chinese barbers have a tendency to leave the hair a little long on the top - at least longer than my liking. Maybe they are trying to help me cover up my bald spot, who knows?

Hair cutting finished, back to the shampoo area for another 10 minutes of shampooing and then back to the barber chair for the blowdry. Not a bad waste of an hour on a Sunday afternoon.

Little Friskies

2006-06-20T13:56:00.000+08:00

As further proof of the rare culinary habits of the Guangdong people, I offer the following article from Xinhua:

Activists protest against cat eating in Shenzhen

www.chinaview.cn 2006-06-18 13:35:09

GUANGZHOU, June 18 (Xinhua) -- A restaurant specializing cat meat in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, was forced to close Saturday after the protest of some 40 activists that drew a large crowd including children.

Isobel, founder of a cat-protection website based in Shenzhen and organizer of the protest, and other activists started the protest at 4 p.m. with a white rose on the chest in memory of the slaughtered cats, holding banners and handing out handbills to denounce eating cats and dogs.

Isobel, in her 30s, told Xinhua over telephone on Sunday that they chose the restaurant Fangji Cat Meatball because it slaughtered cats in the street and "it is very bad for the students from nearby schools".

One of the banners read "cats and dogs are friends of human being. Have respect for lives by stopping eating them please!"

In many parts of China especially the southern regions, people take cat meat as their favorite diet. Previous reports said that in Guangzhou alone the citizens ate 10,000 cats every day in the winter season.

The activists, mostly women, poured into the restaurant demanding its owner to set free the cats. They burst into tears upon finding a skinned one in a fridge.

There were no live cats in the restaurant as the owner, according to an eyewitness, relocated them to other places on Friday night.

"I cannot go on with my business, and I will not sell cat meat any more," the restaurant owner said after removing his shop sign from the wall. However, he persisted in Guangdong there is a tradition in eating cats.

"We will continue to protest if this restaurant still sells cat meat," Isobel said.

To her satisfaction, many students on the spot told Isobel that they would keep a close watch on the restaurant and report to her if anything happens to cats.

Eating cats and dogs is often seen in Guangdong, but "you cannot keep eating only because it is a tradition," Isobel argued.

Miss Shenzhen for the year of 2005 Gao Haiyun also went to the restaurant to protest, calling passengers to "stop eating cats and dogs and become civilized".

Thank you for the soap, BUT...

2006-06-17T16:50:00.000+08:00

One thing I have come to expect here is that you never know what to expect.

I went to the bathroom here at work today, "did my business" and proceeded to the basin to wash my hands. I saw that for once there was soap in the soap dispenser. I thought I was lucky, extremely lucky. This was going to be a GREAT day. I was actually going to wash my hands at work with SOAP. I dispensed more than a generation portion of the thick, gooey, smelly soap into my hands and prepared to "scrub up" like a surgeon.

True to Chinese style the unexpected happened...someone had turned the water off to the wash basin leaving me with a double handful of soap and no way to get rid of it. I ended up using the water from the drinking water dispenser to rinse my hands. Chinese boss, thank you for the soap, but if you can't give me water to wash my hands then I'll just use your expensive bottled water from the drinking water dispenser. Maybe next time I'll check and make sure there is water coming from the tap first.

Tags: China, china humor

No Problem

2006-06-15T13:26:00.000+08:00

Today the morning was ushered in with some of the loudest thunder I have ever heard in my life. Scared the crap out of me, followed by the rain coming down in buckets, a regular "toad frog strangler" as daddy would have said. So the lightning fireworks, the thunder and the rain prompted me to hobble out of bed this morning an hour early, 6:00 AM. I "hobbled" out of bed because I am dealing with yet another recurring bout of the gout.

Called Stan, my ~~trustworthy~~ Chinese assistant and asked him if the car would be on time this morning. It was 8:00 and he sounded like I woke him up. The answer, "Oh I thought that perhaps you would take the day off since you were having problems with your foot". Now how many times have I told him NOT to think for me, that western minds are NOT LIKE Chinese minds? He told me that he would call me back and let me know when the driver would arrive and I asked him to please ask the driver to come INSIDE the apartment complex and wait for me in front of my building because of my hurting foot and the torrential downpour. I was clear, VERY CLEAR about this. "No problem", says Stan.

Let me do a little translating for you. "No problem" means just the OPPOSITE of that in Chinese. It means we are going to find a way to make it a problem for you. We are going to take something very simple and turn it into something very complicated. I could write for days about this and give endless examples of how "no problem" always becomes the biggest inconvenience you can possibly imagine.

Calls back, car will arrive in 30 minutes, this means 8:30. 8:30 go out on the balcony and look. No car. Fortunately the rain had quit but my foot was still throbbing. Go downstairs, limp to the front gate of the apartment complex and there sits the driver eating breakfast, parked in his usual place with no intentions of following Stan's directions, that is IF Stan told him the directions at all. I was fuming! I practiced my best Chinese all the way to work with the intention to blast Stan once I saw him. Things like "how can we communicate complex things when you can't even get simple things straight?" or "What part of in front of my apartment don't you understand?"

I get to work, no Stan...he took the day off. I guess he wasn't counting on me working today so he decided he would slough off. If I had known this I WOULD HAVE taken the day off. NO PROBLEM!

Bye-bye DaVinci Code

2006-06-12T17:33:00.000+08:00

The Chinese government, bowing to pressure from the Chinese Catholic church, has pulled the DaVinci code from the screens of all Chinese cinemas. The movie was about to overtake "Titanic" as the highest grossing film in Chinese history and had already earned more money than any film in China this year.

I guess the only way that I will get to see the movie now is to buy a $1.00 pirated copy of the movie from one of the street vendors. While the government is successful in pulling the movie from the theaters it is less successful in stopping DVD piracy.

Who says religion does not have a voice in China?

Tags: China, DaVinci code, movies, Chinese government, Chinese Catholic church

Weekend in Guangzhou

2006-06-12T09:05:00.000+08:00

Guangzhou...known to many as 'Canton' it is the capital city of Guangdong province and the home of 10 million people.

I may be moving there soon, so I decided to go and have a look around.

The place is huge! The best way to get around is the subway. The subway here reminded me a lot of the subway stations in Tokyo but a little less confusing to navigate. The subway was clean, cheap, fast and fortunately not too crowded. I suspect that this was due in part to it being the weekend. My guess is that on weekdays that the subway is very crowded.

I took the subway from the FangCun bus station to the TianHe district of Guangzhou. Guangzhou is divided into 12 different districts. TianHe is the 4th largest of these districts and has a population of around 1.10 million people. TianHe is the district where I may be working and is also home to all of Guangzhou's computer stores and a gigantic shopping center called Grandview Mall. Grandview Mall is 6 stories high with each level about the size of the Mall of Georgia.

I was more interested though in the places to eat than the shopping area. Inside the mall was a McDonald's, Pizza Hut, KFC, sushi restaurant, Brazilian steak house (like Fogo de Chao but not as fancy) and a Las Vegas style buffet restaurant, just to name a few. Saturday night I ate at the sushi restaurant and it soon became very obvious to me that the wait staff in Guangzhou are not as friendly as the folks in Zhongshan. All of them seem to have a "big city", snotty attitude. This proved true both at the Hunan restaurant that I visited and the Brazilian steakhouse as well. Taxi drivers were also a pain to deal with. People here are just not as friendly as the folks in Guzhen.

Came away with mixed emotions. Certainly a nicer place to live than Guzhen...more to do, more convenient to get around but none of that hometown atmosphere that Guzhen seems to have. I will be going back in a couple of weeks to look at apartments. Hopefully the real estate people are a little more friendly than the restaurant and taxi folks.

Dear Mr. Chinese Businessman

2006-06-08T16:21:00.000+08:00

You need a lesson in entertaining and manners. I have lived here for over a year now and I have a few observations:

Just because you like to eat snakes, pigeons and waterbugs does not mean that your customers enjoy the same delicacies. Most of them would prefer eating beef, pork or chicken rather than turtles, frogs, snakes and sparrows. Worst case scenario they would prefer KFC or McDonald's to some of the items that you expect them to eat when they come here. They are not impressed that the plate of conchs or the whole pigeons cost 150RMB. They are disgusting to look at and disgusting to eat. Save yourself and your company some money and take your customers to a Hunan or Sichuan restaurant where they can at least enjoy some decent beef or pork instead of the other critters that you want them to try.

Turn off that damn cell phone! They are here to spend money with you, not listen to you rant for 20 minutes on a cell phone in another language. If you must, absolutely must talk on the phone, then excuse yourself, leave the room and have your discussion. Apologize when you return, then turn it off! That is much more impressive than continuing to take calls. Everyone knows you are busy, everyone knows you are an IMPORTANT person but make your customer feel important. After many of them have been on a plane for more than 20 hours to meet with you.

Quit the hocking and spitting. It is gross as hell and nobody likes to hear or see this. Would it hurt to occasionally discretely SWALLOW that junk instead of making such a production of this?

Stop trying to get them drunk. It's not funny and most foreigners do not 'slam' alcohol the way you think that they do. We do not do 'shots' in business settings. Most customers would prefer a good glass of beer or wine to cognac or baijiu. Most of them would rather sit back and ENJOY that glass of beer or wine rather than try and compete with your Chinese drinking prowess.

Let them rest. Many customers that come to China have been on planes for more than 10 hours. The customers from the US, South America, and Canada have been traveling for more than 20 hours. Give them a break and let them rest. Make an early night of it for them and they will thank you tomorrow. Trying to keep them up by eating until 9:00 PM and then taking them to sing karaoke until midnight does not do you or them any favors.

Just remember, the people that come to visit you and your factory are your CUSTOMERS. They do not come here to entertain you but rather to spend money so you can afford to live in that nice house and drive that Mercedes or BMW. Calling them fat and stupid is not cute, some of them do know how to speak the language.

Do the Chinese Eat Dogs?

2006-05-23T06:32:00.000+08:00

One thing that I am constantly asked by my friends in America or by our customers who I have the pleasure of entertaining is "Do the Chinese really eat dogs"?

As I have said in the past the Guangdong (Cantonese) Chinese are known for eating anything that flies but planes, anything in the water but boats and anything on the ground but trains and cars.

On this blog I have supplied pictures of my Chinese colleagues eating bugs and eating snakes. I have explained why there are so few cats in China. I haven given many examples of the dietary preferences of the Chinese. I have dispelled the rumors about "rice at every meal". I have introduced you to a wonderful, stinky fruit that is like eating banana pudding while on the commode. But I could not give you a definite answer concerning the "dog question". The evidence was lacking - until now.

I now offer to you convincing proof that the Chinese do in fact eat dogs and apparently they learn to enjoy them at a very early age.

Tags: China, China humor, dogs, Chinese food

My Worst Nightmare

2006-05-15T09:34:00.000+08:00

For almost 7 months I have dreaded the prospect of this - having to use a Chinese “hole in the floor toilet”. I have always made sure that I was not experiencing any intestinal discomfort or else I was in close proximity to my safety-zone of western-style commodes: my apartment, work, 5 star hotels, etc. in the event that I got in one of those “situations”.

But this weekend, a little too far from my safety-zones and a little bit too much spicy Sichuan food, my worst nightmare finally came true — I had to use a Chinese “hole in the floor” toilet. I won’t go into the “graphic” details but I had one of those occasions where “nature called” (actually demanded is a better word) and a good-old, western-style, sit-down commode was not within trotting distance.

Having never been trained in the fine art of “squatting” this proved to be a real comedy-of-errors. Also being short, middle-aged and overweight didn’t help either.

Fortunately, I did not end up flat on my rear-end on the floor, but other parts of the activity could certainly have landed a spot on “China’s Funniest Home Videos”. Also fortunate was that I have adopted the Chinese practice of taking a pack of tissues everywhere I go. I never understood this practice when I first came here. Most of the times these are needed at the Chinese restaurants because if they provide napkins they charge you for them. Now I FULLY understand why tissues are an everyday essential part of life in China.

So, if you plan on visiting Asia, or even some European countries, I suggest some deep-knee bend and squatting exercises before you arrive and don’t forget to buy several packs of tissues. You and the paper manufacturers in China will be glad you did!

Congratulations...

2006-05-06T17:35:00.000+08:00

...to the greatest son a man could ever have.

In a few short hours my son Simeon will be graduating from college. He is graduating with highest academic honors from Georgia Tech and I am so very, very proud of him. I am also so very, very sad and ashamed that I will not be there to share in this event.

He has made his mother and me very proud. He is honest, sincere and an all around great person. I'm sorry but you will have to excuse my bragging. He has never caused us any problems and we have been truly blessed by God for giving us such a wonderful son.

Thank you God for watching over him the past 4 years and please continue to bless him and hold him safely in your hand.

Simeon, I love you son and I wish I were there. Congratulations for finishing this next step in your journey! Thank you for making us so very, very proud of you.

Rocket Man

2006-04-25T10:53:00.000+08:00

And I think it's gonna be a long long time
Till touch down brings me round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Oh no no no I'm a Rocket man

Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone

And I think it’s gonna be a long long time...

Politically IncorrectMerry Christmas from China

2005-12-15T10:51:00.000+08:00

Believe it or not, all of the stores around here have put up CHRISTMAS decorations. Also the music in the stores actually have CHRISTMAS songs - even “Silent Night” and “Away in a Manger”. And yes Virginia they are selling CHRISTMAS trees.

The sales people in the stores and the waiters and waitresses in the restaurants are all wearing Santa hats.

No ‘Happy Holidays’ - No ‘Holiday Trees’ for sale!

They even have a Chinese name for the holiday - sheng dan jie - which means “holiday of sacred birth”.

I guess China has not figured out that CHRISTMAS is politically incorrect! Now don’t get me wrong, this is not a Chinese holiday. The Chinese are using it similar to the way we have ~~exploited~~ celebrated it in America for years - as a marketing event. It is just refreshing to know that in China, Christmas has not (yet) become clouded with the trappings of western “political correctness”.

Tags: china, christmas, china christmas

Language Fun

2005-11-10T09:41:00.000+08:00

My Chinese colleagues know I speak Mandarin so if they want to carry on a private conversation in front of me they resort to using Cantonese. Since I am somewhat of a smart-aleck I interject some “unknown” English into their private conversations. Here are a few examples:

“Excuse me, I have an engineering question I need to ask. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?”

“supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”

“Pardon me, I just received an email. Do you know any of these people? Peter, Andrew, James and John, Phillip, Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, James the Son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot?” Of course a good follow up to this one is to recite the 46 books of the Bible.

I also have my own secret dialect. I have taught one of the guys in the office Pig Latin and made him promise not to teach anyone else. Now when we need to carry on a private conversation we use Pig Latin - to the amazement and confusion of the others in the office.

Like teaching “pull my finger” these are my attempts to bridge cross-cultural differences

Oriental Potato Salad

2005-11-08T11:52:00.000+08:00

Necessity is indeed the mother of invention!

This weekend I craved potato salad. So I went grocery shopping: bought potatoes, eggs, onions, mayonnaise, but NO mustard. Mustard was not to be found! I went to another store, NO mustard! What is it? The Chinese do not know about mustard? I panicked! No mustard - no potato salad!

I tried to calm down. think, think, think…what can I substitute for mustard? And then, an epiphany! WASABI - yes, that pungent, green “mustard” that the Japanese use for sushi!

I rush home. Boil the potatoes and the eggs, chop the onion and then in a separate bowl, add 1 cup of mayonnaise, squeeze out about 3″ of wasabi (wasabi comes in a tube like toothpaste). I start mixing the mayonnaise and wasabi. Taste - not bad, but I want a little more spicy - add a little more wasabi. Stir, taste, wow, WOW! I then mix this all with the potatoes and other ingredients, let me tell you it was GREAT!

Mustard? Who needs mustard? I have wasabi!

Medicine Shows-Chinese StyleMy Trip to Beijing-Day 2

2005-11-04T12:06:00.000+08:00

Remember the old time medicine shows? The one where the medicine salesman would park his wagon and hawk his wares and offer to sell you this wonderful drug that would cure everything from dyspepsia to menstrual cramps?

Wel-l-l…the Chinese have figured out how to bring this to a whole new level! My second day in Beijing, the tour group and I were loaded on the bus and taken to a ~~medicine show tourist trap~~ hospital / museum. We were told that this was one of the oldest and most famous hospitals in Beijing. We were led into a examining room, took a seat and then received a 15 minute lecture from a ~~salesperson~~ nurse, who proceeded to tell us the history of this hospital and of all the famous ~~snake oils~~ medicines that were manufactured there.

After the 15 minute lecture the door suddenly opens and now 2 ~~high pressure snake-oil salesmen~~ doctors come to the front of the examining room and invite any of us with illnesses, conditions, sicknesses, maladies, hen-flu-in-ways, lopsidoodles, etc. to come forward and to tell them “what’s ailin’ us” (as my dear old daddy would have said).

Well as P.T. once said “There’s a sucker born every minute” so several of our traveling group came forward like Baptists in a revival meeting and told the “doctors” of their problems. Of course all the cures were in these little bottles of medicine so conveniently displayed at the front of the room. Some folks bought, I did not. Finally after being exposed to these high pressure tactics for more than a half hour we were released. On our way out, we were shuffled into this huge shopping area and were given one more chance to be cured.

However, our tour guides did not come away empty-handed. They were both rewarded with free samples for diverting our little group to visit this ~~tourist trap~~ famous Beijing hospital and pharmacy.

Random Musings

2005-11-01T14:45:00.000+08:00

Last night was Halloween, no trick-or-treaters and no horror movies on TV. CCTV did show “Tora, Tora, Tora” (for you Gen-X’ers this is a movie about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor). It was dubbed over in Chinese so all the actors spoke Mandarin, both the American and the Japanese, and that was kind of weird. I don’t mind the American actors being dubbed over as Chinese, but I want my Japanese actors to sound like Japanese!

The European equivalent of Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi’s recent visit to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine would be for the German Chancellor to visit a church honoring Hitler. At least the Germans apologized for what they did, the Japanese have not…instead they have re-written their history books.

I have seen just about everything here - fast food, discos, garages, car washes, veterinary clinics, shopping malls, subways — everything that we have in America. BUT one thing I have not seen is funeral homes and graveyards. What happens when someone dies here? Does anybody know? Nate Fischer, where are you?

I saw this sign recently at a Chinese factory. “No Quality - No Future!” Think about it. The Chinese are becoming more and more aware that it is not good enough just to produce a cheap product, but they must produce quality products as well.

Chinese love game shows and they will make a game show of anything. They now have a gameshow version of “Antiques Roadshow” where people bring antiques for the experts to appraise. The studio audience is divided into teams and they also make a guess of the value. The team with the most “closest” estimates wins.

What is eaten in the US and is called “Chinese food” is NOT anything like the real food eaten here. Most Chinese prefer white rice to fried rice. What Americans call “pot stickers” is called “dumplings” here. Each province has it’s own unique dishes and styles of cooking. “Sweet and sour” dishes are Cantonese. Spicy dishes are normally found in Sichuan (szechuan) and Hunan provinces. Rice is the staple grain in south China whereas flour is the staple grain in north China. Therefore north China is known more for dumplings, noodles and bread with every meal and south China is known for rice at every meal.

In China, sidewalks and red lights are merely suggestions.

Whoever invented the horn and the motorcycle should have them both put “where the sun don’t shine”. And whoever figured out that you could put an air horn (like from semi truck) on a motorcycle should be doubly cursed. I think more people die here from heart attacks from hearing these horns than by actually being hit by motorcycles.

Everyone here loves to say “hello” (in English) to foreigners. They like to do this while passing you on the sidewalk, while you are in motion. That way they do not have to actually engage you in an ACTUAL English conversation. I call this “hit and run” English. When I first came here, this amused me, then it annoyed me, now I stop, run them down and reply in Chinese, “Dui bu qi, wo ting bu dong yingwen. Wo zhi hui shuo Putonghua. Ru guo ni hui shuo yingwen, ni ke bu ke yi jiao wo?” Which means, “I’m sorry. I don’t understand English. I can only speak Chinese. If you can speak English, can you teach me?” This really confuses the hell out of the “hit and run” English speaker. Sorry, but I am a bit of a smart-ass.

All Asians DO NOT turn the “l” sound into the “r” sound. Chinese people pronounce l’s quite nicely so please do not stereotype Chinese with other Asian languages.

Halloween in China

2005-10-31T14:59:00.000+08:00

So! You think that Halloween is not observed in China? Well - guess again!

Yesterday, I made my weekly pilgrimage to Zhongshan City to eat sushi - yes, there are sushi restaurants in China - and what did I discover at the shopping mall? That’s right! Halloween decorations!

Just when I think that I have witnessed everything that makes China seem more western - clothes, KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, rap music - then another thing comes along - Halloween! Oh by the way, the past few days on TV, American horror movies! Last night was Resident Evil and Poltergeist.

Now I am beginning to wonder if I should buy some candy this afternoon. Just in case the little goblins or ghouls show up and start knock, knocking, knocking on my door. And who knows, if nobody shows up, maybe I will go “trick or treating” or maybe put a jack-o-lantern outside my door.

Let's go Shopping-Wang Fu Jing AvenueBeijing-Day 1

2005-10-21T15:21:00.000+08:00

This photo is only about 1/8 of the street. This place is huge!

So after a day of standing in line at TianAnMen Square, touring the Forbidden City and all of it’s museums, waiting for our tour bus to arrive 2 hours late and enjoying dumplings and roast lamb at one of Beijing’s dumpling restaurants, a quick vist to Beijing’s BeiHai Park, we were whisked away to Wang Fu Jing Avenue - Beijing’s premiere shopping district.

This area, crowded with people, is a “street” that is closed off to vehicle traffic. You can cross the street without the fear of being ambushed by any type of gas-burning conveyance.

The only thing you have to fear is people, lots of people! People walking, people moving, people jostling - yeah let’s not forget jostling. Bumping, shoving, pushing, laughing, talking, spitting (Chinese people love to spit), snorting, coughing, smoking, shopping, reading, resting, haggling, eating, eating and walking, eating and haggling, eating and reading, eating and (Chinese people love to eat). People!

Stores, stores, stores - Hat stores, clothing stores, restaurants, fast food restaurants, American fast food restaurants (KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonalds), a 7 story shopping mall, silk stores, gift stores, book stores, all kinds of stores, more stores than you can imagine….wow!

Tags: China, China cities, Beijing, travel, China travel, shopping, China shopping

Economics 101 - part 1

2005-07-22T11:16:00.000+08:00

or “Why Chinese companies can sell stuff so cheap - Part 1″

Setting: Boss Yuan’s office at a factory somewhere in China.

Yuan: So Li, tell me how is everything going in the factory.

Li: Boss everything is going well. We have almost completed this new order going to America and the containers should be loaded tomorrow afternoon. We did have a small setback however.

Yuan: Really? Why is that?

Li: Xiao Zhang put his hand in one of the ventiliation fans and it cut off 3 of his fingers. He was trying to impress the girls in the factory by showing them he could stop the fan with his hand. Apparently he has done this before with success but this time he miscalculated.

Yuan: Xiao Zhang is a real dumbass!

Li: I agree!

Yuan: Well, when he returns to work give him a job at the milling machine. He can operate that with only one hand!

Everybody bursts out in laughter.

Setting: A factory somewhere in America.

Jones: Smith, I just finished reading the production reports and it appears that we have had a slow-down in production.

Smith: Yes sir we did. One of the workers put his hand in one of the ventilation fans and it cut off 3 of his fingers. He was trying to impress the girls in the factory by showing them he could stop the fan with his hand. Apparently he has done this before with success but this time he miscalculated.

Jones: Oh my God! Were the OSHA approved fan guards installed?

Smith: Yes, they were installed. Remember we spent $1M last year to get everything up to OSHA requirements. But the worker removed the guard and was able to insert his hand. OSHA is still coming to investigate and we will have to close down the line during the
investigation. Also, the worker is threatening to sue because we did not provide adequate warnings about the dangers involved in placing your hand in a fan. He will probably go on disability because he will not be able to work with only one hand. I have already called the legal team and they are considering our options but they feel that we will probably have to reach some type of settlement with the worker.

Jones: Well I guess we should be more careful in the future. If we pay out another settlement this year we will need to increase the price of our products.

’nuff said.

I'm at the corner...

2005-07-08T11:33:00.000+08:00

…of “Walk” and “Don’t Walk”, please send a cab.

And if you can’t send a regular cab, send a motorcycle taxi.

That’s right! These modern conveyances exist all over southern China and are waiting to spirit you away to your final destination.

Have more than one person in your party? Don’t worry! Our ample seating room easily accomodates multiple people. In fact a family of 3 can comfortably sit on the spacious seating area.

Now you may think all of the above is a joke, but seriously these “motorcycle taxis” exist all over southern China and I have seen as many as 4 people riding (including the driver). These
professional drivers patiently wait at the bus stops waiting for the bus to deliver their
next set of customers. So if you are wondering why the guy on themotorcycle is honking the horn at you for no apparent reason it is because he is asking you, “Hey bud, need a ride?”

(Hey you folks a Kodak need to send me a check for a rather stunning commercial placement.)

Just my contribution...

2005-07-05T12:36:00.000+08:00

…to “cross-cultural” learning. Today I taught the guys in the office the meaning of “pull my finger”.

I am hoping that this will catch on and spread like wildfire and maybe one day I can be known as the guy that brought “pull my finger” to China, kinda like a 21st century Johnny Appleseed.

You May Not Like Our Vegetables...

2005-06-16T12:46:00.000+08:00

…But You Can’t Beat Our Meat!

Everyday at lunch these street vendors line up outside our factory selling fruit, vegetables and meat. YES, you heard me right! M-E-A-T! No refrigeration, no fancy red lights to give the fake sense of freshness.

You ask, are there flies? Why of course there are flies!

One of my colleagues at work, sensing my queaziness with the situation, told me that this is a part of Chinese daily life - to buy meat in the open market. He also added that the restaurants here also buy their meat the same way.

Apparently it is not too big a problem since I have not heard of any deaths from food poisoning and I really have not been “food” sick since I have been here. It also makes me think that even though in America we are given the “appearance” of good health and sanitation practices, what about the things that we don’t see? I really don’t want to spend too much time thinking about this, and probably neither do you, so I will move on.

Most of the vegetable and meat vendors have scales, but the meat vendors use a hand-held balance beam to weigh out their offering. Of course, all the prices are negotiable and Chinese people love to “haggle”. They call this bargaining or haggling “tao jia huan jia” or “tao jia” and it is quite an experience to witness the buyer and the seller “give and take”. I think everyone in sales should take a sales class from a Chinese street vendor! They are the ultimate bargainers and closers!If you want to see BIGGER views of these pictures, just click on the photo!

Thanks for stopping by and as always your comments are welcomed!

Tags: China, China humor, Chinese food, food and drink, meat market

A Problem at Work...

2005-06-03T09:57:00.000+08:00

I discovered something today that disturbed me deeply. I realized that our company parking lot is very inadequate. There is not any room for people to walk between the vehicles and there are absolutely NO handicapped parking spaces.

I know that many of my fellow co-workers walk to work, but for those that use a vehicle I consider our current parking situation unsatisfactory. I plan on speaking to the management to see if something can be done to improve the situation to allow people to have more room for their individual vehicles. I shudder when I think of all the “nicks and scratches” these vehicles must get every day because of their close proximity.

Below is a picture of our company parking lot. I hope you can appreciate our plight and any suggestions you may have to improve this situation would be greatly appreciated!

Colonel Sanders is alive and well in China!

2005-05-12T14:28:00.000+08:00

What is this I see across the street…could it be?

Yes, I think it is…

It’s the Colonel!

And a lot of Chinese people love KFC! The offering is a little different than the United States, but they have this one dessert that is similar to an mini egg custard pie which comes in a box of 6 pies. These things are deeee-li-cious!

Washing Machine

2005-04-25T16:40:00.000+08:00

DSC_0029

Where I will be working!

2005-04-07T03:59:00.000+08:00

Some of you have asked, do you have a picture of where you will be working? As a matter of fact I do and it is shown above. Below is a picture of our showroom.

Zhuhai, ChinaOne of the most beautiful places in the world.

2005-04-03T12:19:00.000+08:00

For those of you that think China is an impoverished, third-world country kindly enter the 21st century and look at the above picture. Beautiful, right? Zhuhai, which means "pearl sea", is in mainland China and is 1 hour away from Hong Kong via ferry. Macau is only a 15 minute walk away. It is a beautiful, modern seaside city with plenty of shopping and golf.

Zhuhai is a garden-like seaside tourist city, where flowers blossom all year round. In 1999, it was granted “International Award for Best Practices in Improving the Living Environment” by United Nations Center for Human Settlement and was the only winner of the award in China. Besides, it won series of titles such as “Top Tourist City of China”, “State Garden Green City”, “State Environmental Protection Model City” and “State Hygienic City”.

Compare this to Miami or Fort Lauderdale at 1/8th of the price!

Here are a few more Zhuhai pictures for your enjoyment!

View of Zhuhai from my hotel room during my visit in October 2004.

A shopping center in Zhuhai. Do you see the reflection of the "Golden Arches"?

Hong Kong - what a place!!!

2005-04-02T07:14:00.000+08:00

A beautiful view of Hong Kong island from Kowloon.

And another view from my hotel room in Kowloon.

And another view of the skyline at night. Hong Kong, what a place!

Guangzhou ChinaCapital City of Guangdong Province

2005-04-01T20:56:00.000+08:00

Its international name was formerly Canton, after a French language corruption of Guangdong. As of 1999, the population of the city is about 6.85 million while the urban population is about 4.05 million. Guangzhou, located at the north of the Pearl River delta, is an important trading center as well as a busy port and the capital city of the province of Guandong. The city has an area of over 16,000 square kilometers (6,177 square miles).

The climate of Guangzhou is sub-tropical. The average year-round temperature is 22C. August is the hottest month, with an average temperature of 28C. January is the coldest month, with an average of 13C. The rainy season falls between April and August. Average annual rainfall is 1,720 mm.

Like Athens of Greece and Rome of Italy, Guangzhou also has a history of more than 2,800 years.

Even in China it is still Coca Cola

2005-03-05T10:21:00.000+08:00

Check out the "pull-tab" opening (with the removable tab). Now that is something we haven't seen for years in the US.

Interesting thing about Coca Cola's translation in the Mandarin Chinese language, the pronunciation is kuh-koh-kuh-le...sounds like what we say in English, right? But the interesting part is that the literal translation in Chinese means "pleasing to the mouth".

Country Cookin' Chinese Cooking

2005-02-04T12:32:00.000+08:00

So where is the rice? Everyone that I know seems to think that rice is served with EVERY Chinese meal. But guess what? NOT SO!

Check out this interesting "grain" plate served at just about every meal that I have eaten in China. Corn, hominy, green peas and nuts, but NO rice was served with any of the meals. Strange how we think we know something and then end up finding out how wrong we are. By the way, if you don't know what hominy is...well ask anybody that grew up in rural Georgia. They can tell you. (Hint: Grits are made from hominy, hominy is made from corn.)

More country cookin for you! This is called a "hot pot". This is brought to your table with raw vegetables and meat such as mutton or beef. Basically, this is like a Chinese "fondue" where you sit at the table and cook your own food. But the interesting thing for now is what is in THIS pot. It is TURNIP tops and TURNIP roots. Just like home!

But what about Bar-B-Que? Strange as it may look this is a picture of bar-b-que ribs. Each rib is wrapped in a special plastic cooking wrapper to hold in the bar-b-que sauce. Cooking the ribs this way also makes the ribs very tender. A bit of a pain in the neck to eat, but extremely delicious!