Final Thoughts

It's the following morning after returning from China, and all I can say is WOW!

First, it was an incredible gift to be invited along, and I thank Vicky for sharing this with me.  She is one of the truly most generous people I've met in a number of ways, and I'm grateful for her love, wisdom and companionship on this trip.

So how do I summarize this experience?  It was indeed a learning experience and shattered many of my misconceptions about China and the Chinese people.  China isn't a developing nation, it is developed.  Just like in the US, we have people who live relatively rural lives and some who live in huge cities, there are Chinese who live quite rural existences, and also many many Chinese who live in cities that dwarf New York or Chicago.  Urban Chinese have jobs similar to ours, love their family, are sometimes bored with their work, get sick and tired of traffic, sometimes have ambitious plans, other times are content with what they have (be it much or little). So in one key way, my trip confirms what I've long suspected... people around the world are much more alike than we are different.

So the rest of this post is some random thoughts...

One interesting note is that I saw relatively few examples of starvation levels of poverty.  China has a different approach on this and a few guides told me that the vendors and even beggars are permitted because everyone should have the opportunity to earn.   But even then, there were never more than half a dozen at a given location (ship ports, train stations, etc.).  Far more people were trying to sell even the smallest items rather than begging, and none of the beggars seemed to be starving (I'll admit that's my opinion based on body size, muscle mass, etc.).

Traffic in China is a constant game of chicken.  Generally the larger vehicle gets the right of way and roads are shared with all manner of vehicles.  But there's an interesting overlay to the pecking order in that if your vehicle is a banged up POS, you then get right of way over nicer vehicles.  So the one vehicle that always seems to be moving is the hand-pushed (or pulled) garbage cart.  Even at total gridlock, they just keep on walking and it seems the cars find a way to give a little space for that.

China is really gearing up for tourism and the single thing holding that back is air pollution.  I was in locations that I knew had wonderful vistas, but you couldn't see anything but the faintest glimpse of mountains.  I remember over my life time how much grander the view is around New York now than back when I was a kid, and I know that a society can work so that air quality can be improved - and will be once the Chinese party decides its time for that.  I really look forward to being there once they do that.

The amazing opportunities in China are matched by a "eat or be eaten" sort of mindset.  I was amazed several times at how hard a typical Chinese person works to execute in a role that is similar to one I see back home.  If we ever have to compete head-to-head with them, we'll need to step up our game.

So... it was stunning vistas, great times with nice families, heavy traffic, relaxing cruises, exhausting stairs up mountains, crystal clear mountain air, and suffocating city air, and many many other things.

It was China!

Thanks again to Vicky, Tiger & Brandon for sharing the journey.

Landed!

We landed ahead of schedule. After going through immigration and customs (why is it harder for me to get back into my home country than into China or Hong Kong?), I said a quick goodbye to Vicky and Brandon and met my favorite limo driver for the trip home.

Just to prove I was at Disney!

Saying goodbye to Tiger - 2

Just had to post the photo of Vicky saying goodbye to her nephew.

Saying goodbye to Tiger - 1

The camera is packed, I'm ready to go... (hum "Leaving on a Jet Plane").

Tiger and his father stopped by for a final goodbye.

Hong Kong

It was a 4 hour trip to get to Hong Kong... a little over an hour of which was waiting in line going through Chinese and Hong Kong customs.  But in the end we ended up at the Disney resort there for a quick overnight before our flight back to the USA.  Tiger's parents (Tony & Queenie) came along and took the boys to Disneyland so we had a break.  Vicky took a nap, and since our balcony overlooked the Hong Kong harbor, I tried my hand at panoramas.  I won't post those since they won't come out well on Blogger, but you can find them at www.georgereiner.smugmug.com if you're interested.

After nightfall, we had a chance to meet David, who was Vicky's first boss way way back when she was still in college.  We had a nice chat with him and his family and then a quick dinner with Tiger's parents and then squeezed in a visit to their outdoor maze (on the hotel grounds).

After this blog post, the camera gets packed deep for the trip back... we have to be out early to catch the flight.

Hong Kong

We made it into Hong Kong, which is best described as 40 story residential towers spaced as closely together as possible and set in glorious mountains.

Fitness Park

We're waiting at the Guangzhou bus terminal... Across the street is some sort of fitness park where a wide variety of people exercise using machines based on body weight. Quite a few of them are elderly.

Final preparations...

Everything is packed, we're ready to head to Hong Kong. Can three people carry 6 suitcases and 4 carry on items?

Vicky seemed surprised that her father showed up... I wasn't. What kind of father could just let his little girl go off to the USA for who knows how long without a final goodbye?

Pizza Hut!

We got Brandon to finish his homework throught the age old technique of bribery... Pizza Hut in exchange for all the homework finished.  Tiger was willing to help and they went to work on that while Vicky and I did some last minute shopping - she had to lay in a large supply of decent tea.

 

The pizza hut experience was different.  We went to a (7 floor) shopping mall, where the restaurant was located and there we were met by a 30 page menu incuding entrees, drinks, salads, etc.  They even served beer!

R&R at Vicky's Apartment

Well, R&R is probably a misnomer.  It seems that Brandon has met his match in his quest to avoid all his Chinese homework.  Today we intended to just lay around the apartment, pack at a leisure pace and get ready for the first leg of the travel back tomorrow.  Vicky's parents, however, had other ideas and showed up to help us get ready.  Her father had been ribbing Brandon gently for being Chinese but not knowing Chinese and both of her parents took on the task of dealing with Brandon's inertia.  He stood no chance... and completed half of his 10 weeks worth of not doing homework before lunch. 

 

We then had a last lunch together with her parents before saying goodbye to them.  One aspect of the goodbyes is the uncertainty of business today.  Vicky is on a 2 year assignment to the USA, and doesn't know when she'll come back to China, so I observed her moving around the apartment and packing and wondering how one goes about packing when you're not sure how long you'll be gone.  (We won't get into the tons of junk I carried for just a 2-week trip.)

 

As part of the packing, I photographed Vicky's apartment for her.  This is an incredible 1 BR unit in Agile Gardens (in the suburb of Guangzhou).  It has a nice loft area for relaxing or studying.  The main entrance comes right into the Kitchen with the DR/LR room just beyond that.  Down a hall to the right is a small study alcove, access to her patio (she's on the top floor), her bath and the one bedroom.  To the left of the main entrance is the galley kitchen that leads out to a "service balcony" which is a key feature of the complex.  The combo washer/dryer sits out there along with a laundry sink and a few other utilities.  Despite being a 1BR unit, it has a surprising amount of space.

 

 

Friends and Family Day - 2: A walk through Lychee Wan

After Dim Sum, we strolled though an older part of Guangzhou, called Lychee Wan.  This was the commercial area a long time ago that borders an old canal.  The area has been nicely restored and now is filled with activities on a Sunday afternoon.  We had a nice demonstration of some sort of cross-breed between an hackey sac & a dart, then saw a Chinese opera being performed on a small community stage.  Finally, we tried some of the candy vendors that lined the one portion of the area.

After we completed the loop, the older generation went back to Vicky's parent's place for Mahjong (they have three tables), the younger generation dispersed, the boys went back to Vicky's apt with her brother Tony & his wife Queenie (Tiger's parents), and I went with Ruby & Vicky as they went shopping for fish.

Friends and Family Day - 3: Shopping for Fish & Dinner

I'm sorry for being gross here, but when they said we were going shopping for fish, I wasn't sure if we were going shopping for pets or for supper.  When we pulled up to an aquarium mall, I was closer, but not completely certain.  But it turns out that Ruby and Xiao Liu were in the market for a home aquarium and it was fun to tag along for this adventure.  This was like 20 or more little aquarium stores in one outdoor shopping complex that was covered by an awning of some sorts.  There is a much bigger emphasis on Goldfish in china, but I think they ended up going for a natural tropical aquarium.  (Weird question, do you buy heaters for tropical tanks when you're in the tropics?)  The most interesting part was when Vicky advised me to go away from them during the negotiations - it appears that the presence of a Laowai can inflate the prices a fair bit.

After the shopping excursion, we stopped by McDonalds - Vicky was hungry as she did much more talking than eating during the Din Sum breakfast.  We took that back to her apartment where we played our own game of Mahjong (with the boys playing poker upstairs with Queenie).

From there we headed back out to dinner (after a quick stop by Vicky's favorite tea house) where we repeated the morning's whole-family dinner.  I found myself staring face to face (literally) with a chicken dinner - you never know what you might see on a dinner plate around here.