Here are a few things I noticed on my recent (and first) trip to China:
This is a crowded shopping area, Dong Men, near the hotel. I took this on Sunday afternoon. The whole city is not this crowded; I include this for effect. (Yes, that is a Pizza Hut. There were two different Pizza Hut locations near my hotel. I did not eat there.) Here’s the point:
New York City has what…? 8 million people? They say Shenzhen has somewhere between 11 and 15 million. Plus Hong Kong is less than an hour away and is as big as New York. And get this! The capital of the province is Guangzhou, also within about an hour and a half and it’s bigger than Shenzhen. One local colleague estimated that this area, the Pearl River Delta, China’s richest area since it was made a Special Economic Zone in the late 1970s, is probably home to 60 million people. The scale of this place is incredible, as is the economic growth. I was dressed all wrong. (For some of you that will seem like a natural transition, those last two sentences.) There were Armani and Gucci stores next door to the training venue. Not for knock offs, either, I should’ve worn the suits I wear to train in Milano.
Then there was the gas mask.
Above the safe in my hotel room closet, I spotted it:
A quick peek around and I also discovered not a King James Bible in my nightstand, but my own little box of Durex condoms. Interesting. This hotel room came with shampoo, conditioner, moisturizing lotion, comb and toothbrush (always a nice touch), and a little box of I’m guessing around three condoms. (hmmm…)
And let’s think about all the fascinating plays on the words safe and safety, shall we? Because after the gas mask (which I suppose would allow for safe evacuation in case of fire or bombing or something.) and my nightstand stash (which in some ways might make sex with a perfect stranger safer I guess is the logic since they’re there surely because of high rates of prostitution), I discovered that I could go to almost every site I wanted on the Internet *except* facebook and twitter. (One Blogger blog I tried to visit was blocked, too.) So associating with a prostitute is safer than tweeting. I should’ve checked a few porn sites just for the sake of comparison.
Ooooooh, boy. I notice I have OPINIONS about all that!
Another interesting note: I mentioned over lunch one day to three lovely young women in the course that I could not access facebook or twitter. I just wanted to see what they’d say… two very smart women who’d both travelled outside China said, “Oh, yeah… that’s the proxy…” then a much younger University student said, “I heard you can see them if your server’s outside China…” then after a few bites she said innocent and sincerely as could be, “Why is it like that, anyway?”
I was not there as a Professor of Media Studies or Media Law, so I put another bite in my mouth and kept on chewing and listening. The context in which she lives, though, was fascinating. She really had no idea.
On a completely different note: we ate Dim Sum in the 2nd floor restaurant of the hotel. It was FABULOUS!
They all said I should’ve taken the picture when the baskets were all full of dumplings and buns and chicken’s feet (!!!), but I was hungry and having fun with my chopsticks and only thought of it near the end. That’s a big glass lazy Susan all the bamboo steamer baskets go on and the you just spin it around to take what you want… a great idea!
Finally, I’ll leave you with a couple of video clips I shot on the Hong Kong Airport Express train. Definitely one of the finest examples of public transportation I have ever seen… and you know how I love public transportation! Everything was so clean and clear. Even in Shenzhen the subway system was fantastic.
Hong Kong Airport Express 1 from Rebecca Self on Vimeo.
Hong Kong Airport Express 2 from Rebecca Self on Vimeo.
