A Cheers Welcome Home! Nothing Like It!
Okay, okay, I’m back! I know it’s been a while since I posted, but no use posting US news when I was in the US.
Great trip! Saw a lot of the US, and had a great time with family. Particularly enjoyed the NCSU victory over UNC.
Nice to get back to Dongguan too. Last night I walked into One for the Road, and I really felt like I had arrived in the bar at Cheers! No sooner than I had opened the swinging door than the manager, Jason had his big paw out in welcome. Joanna and Leon were behind him with hugs and well wishes. And that was followed soon after by more from Lucas, Paul, Mike, Jenny, Gin, and Roger. What a welcome! Even if it is China, it does give you a little feeling of home in this faraway land!
More news soon.
China Report in North Carolina
Are my eyes deceiving me? I don’t believe what I’m seeing! Here I go half way around the world, traveling for 30 hours, finally find a hotel, turn on the TV and what is staring at me? The red flag of China!! Ahhhhhh!!! Didn’t I leave China behind me?? I am in North Carolina! Aren’t I???
Sure enough, I turned on the television in a Chapel Hill Days Inn, where I finally found a room last Friday night, and there was a big red flag with golden stars! It just stayed there for several minutes. And I just stared at it in disbelief! I was really tired and wasn’t sure my mind was functioning on all cylinders. I was in such disbelief I didn’t change the channel.
But then it changed to the screen below and the “China Report” started in Mandarin! Unbelievable. China news was being shown here! In North Carolina! ……….. Okay, it is Chapel Hill. Not exactly the bastion of southern roots.
Turns out the local Chapel Hill station (so my daughter later explained), shows news from around the world at different times. Ironically, I timed my arrival and switched on the television just right. A little eerie. Or surreal at the least.
At least they showed the whole newscast without a censor pre-empting it for Samantha Brown to climb to the top of the cathedral in Seville!
Labels: China, Television
China Report starts on Chapel Hill television. I couldn't get camera to operate for preceding flag of China screen.
Thousand Hands Guan Yin Dance performed by the Chinese Disabled Persons Performing Art Troupe
Labels: Disabled Troupe, Dongguan, Life in China, Thousand Hands Dance
One Legged Break Dancing in Dongguan
Now I have seen a lot in China, but this might take the cake! I have never seen one-legged guys break dance before last night! But now I can say I have! One of my favorite quotes about China is “You see something everyday, you’ve never seen before!” Well, I had certainly never seen this before. I went to the show with great anticipation of seeing one of the extravaganzas I’ve seen on television from time to time, and even used to see here at the Dongguan Cultural Center out my former apartment window. Only this show was not one of the outdoor talent fests. No, this was in the auditorium. So I certainly was a little more than surprised when entertainer after entertainer performed after introductions about their disabilities.
It turns out this must have been the famous Chinese Disabled Persons Performing Arts Troupe. They are highly respected, and certainly put on a great show. Occasionally some of the singing or entertainment was a little lacking, but most were very good. It just seemed a little odd to have entertainer after entertainer come out to perform. I didn’t know if I should feel sorry for them, or just enjoy the concert. I tried to just enjoy. I mean it’s not often you see a performer trying to get the crowd cheering from a wheelchair.
The highlight of the evening was the performance by the dancers doing the Thousand Hands Guan Yin dance. It was similar to the dance performed at the Decca show a month or two ago, but this group was all deaf, and the bigger troupe made it more spectacular! It truly was amazing to see the coordination considering their disabilities. There are many videos of the dance on the web, and I will attach a link here (that I hope works better than mine).
More pictures also available here.
Well, it’s off to the US now. I need a break from the bizarre and “different everyday!”
Labels: Disabled Troupe, Dongguan, Life in China, Thousand Hands Dance
Don't Try to Get A Cab at 6 PM in Dongguan!
It better not be like this in Beijing during the Olympics! I know they are trying to teach folks how to queue, but it sure hasn’t trickled down to Dongguan yet!
The other night I made the mistake of leaving WalMart around 6 PM. I don’t know whose bright idea it was to change shifts of taxi cabs at rush hour, but it sure wasn’t equally bright on my part to try to find a taxi at that hour. (A mistake I’ll try to not make again!)
It was a joke trying to get a cab in front of the busiest shopping area of the city. There were few cabs to be seen, and you can forget any semblance of queuing or courtesy by anyone. It was a free for all of rude citizens just racing into the street to flag down cabs, no matter if others had been waiting before them or not.
I tried to be calm for a while, but finally had to fend for myself and be rude like everyone else to even get a chance at a cab. And all this was near what is termed to be a “taxi line”, which was also right in front of a cart full of policemen. They just seemed to be amused watching everyone’s frustration at trying to get a cab. They sure weren’t stepping in to help or try to organize any queue for cabs.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, I was in Hong Kong on Monday and happily stood in line with a throng of people to get a cab near Landmark. Folks just politely stand in line and sequentially get in cab after cab without a problem. A lone policeman is nearby being observant but also consciously standing back to not get involved unless absolutely necessary. It was so refreshing.
Let’s hope Beijing is learning from Hong Kong and not Dongguan for the Olympics. Otherwise there will be a lot of Westerners very frustrated and upset, just like I and most of my compatriots are in Dongguan.
Labels: Dongguan, Life in China, queuing, Taxis, Wal-Mart
Carolina on My Mind
Oh, let that James Taylor song play loud and long! It sure is in my mind today. Because in one week, I’ll be in North Carolina!! Yes, it’s Home Leave time again. I don’t get back too often, so this is pretty special time indeed. After six months of Chinese language and crazy highway motoring, I’m glad to be going back to the Western World for a few weeks. Oh how sweet it is Baby James!
First stop is (hopefully), the NC State vs. UNC football game at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh next Saturday. Then it is a few days in High Point area on business, before I head to Minneapolis to check out new Decca Contract offices. Then it’s off to Colorado for family time in the Rockies, before returning for Thanksgiving week in North Carolina.
Throw another shoulder of pork on the coals! Pour in that rich red vinegar sauce. I’m home for BBQ soon!
Basic Tentative Schedule:
| 09-Nov-07 | Hong Kong to Chicago | UA 896 |
| 10-Nov-07 | Personal - Raleigh, NC | |
| 12-Nov-07 | Decca Furniture USA, High Point | |
| 13-Nov-07 | Charlotte to Minneapolis | US1623 |
| 14-Nov-07 | Decca Contract USA, Minneapolis | |
| 15-Nov-07 | Minneapolis to Denver | NW 561 |
| 16-Nov-07 | Personal - Denver, CO | |
| 18-Nov-07 | Denver to Charlotte | UA 410 |
| 19-Nov-07 | Decca Furniture USA, High Point | |
| 20-Nov-07 | Personal - North Carolina | |
| 27-Nov-07 | Charlotte to Chicago | UA 345 |
| 27-Nov-07 | Chicago to Hong Kong | UA 895 |
| 28-Nov-07 | Arrive Hong Kong | UA 895 |
Phone Contact: My cell phone card in the US is +1 336-508-0676.
Labels: Home, Life in China
And Just Like That: Prices Hiked
Well, the government didn’t waste much time. Gasoline prices were hiked yesterday by 10%. Only that was not before one person was killed at a gas station over the lack of available petrol.
So the station owners got their desires and are now making more money. Volume is now expected to be freed up to relieve the congestion from rationing that stations had imposed over the last few days.
Sure glad I don’t drive. My drivers occasionally stop at stations for gasoline, but they usually handle in my absence. So I don’t have to worry about the lines and availability.
Right now I’m just hoping we have enough fuel to be sure to get me to the airport next Friday. Because I’m on the way home again!
Labels: Dongguan, Gas, Life in China
