The Cheerful Boatman..

Haggling about marked up prices is nothing new to a tourist. The minute you are marked as an outsider, partly because of appearance , you know that almost anything you may buy is much more expensive than it seems. And so ensues a game of cat and mouse, where you come up with a random number , your idea of what you think is the right price...

This time we played the game on the shores of the beautiful Hongzhou lake. And our boatman Tao with whom we seemed to be negotiating a ride spoke with animated gestures :). Finally we settled on a number and we were off...

The void which briefly surfaced because of the absence of language, (we speaking English and he Chinese) quickly disappeared because of his cheerful disposition.. When language failed us he did the smart thing and broke into song. It was lovely. The cool waters, the swish of the boatman's oar , and his merry voice breaking the hot summer's air..
When he found the need to explain things about the lake , he continued where he left of in song in Chinese, pointing at objects , and we nodded ; empty nods devoid of understanding :).

When we got off after a long boat ride, what stayed with us was the voice of our Boatman Tao.. :)

-Meena Venkataraman

The Jade Buddha Temple

The Jade Buddha temple is a recent construction. It was built in 1928 over an older temple, to preserve two rare relics. Both relics, statues of the Buddha were brought down from Burma by a monk Huiegen. The temple sits in a poorer part of Shanghai or so it seems. Outside there are several shops selling souvenirs. As we walk on an old man asks us for alms. Its a side of the city I am seeing for the first time.

Entrance to the Temple

The front yard is filled with visitors, some tourists, the others here to pray. A coat of incense hangs in the air. During the cultural revolution which overthrew the Monarchy of the Quin Dynasty, the old temple was destroyed. But recognising the historical importance of the relics, the two Buddha's were housed in a newly constructed temple. Unless told it would have been hard for me to guess that this had not been the original place to house both statues.
For the temple retains its old world charm and has an aura of peace. The interiors are with the signature gold and red

The Buddha

Inside the temple

The sitting Buddha in his moment of enlightenment, is made of a rare white Jade. Jade is considered auspicious by the Chinese. It towers over the visitor and is a beautiful presence in the dimly lit room.

As we go around the temple , the aisle is lined with other statues. It reminds me so much of the smaller deities lining our courtyards in the beautiful temples of Southern India. They are called 'Gods of the Twenty Heavens'. Its amazing how cultures so distinct, intersect and converge in strange ways.

Gods of the Twenty Heavens

The resplendent seated Buddha

Offering

Outside visitors burn offerings with incense in an enclosure. Its sunny. A beautiful day out in Shanghai.

M

Memories of Shanghai

China fascinated...Five long years after I first visited I can still vividly remember the five weeks I spent there. For no good reason I decide I would go through with the exercise of blogging about it.So here I go..

We first landed in Shanghai. Shanghai is in every sense the realization of the Chinese dream. Its China's advertisement of success to the rest of the world. And its such a wow city!

Shanghai is a veritable concrete jungle. A colleague of mine told me that 1/3 of all the world's concrete was possibly found here The evidence in favor of that argument was so overwhelming that it did not occur to me that I should doubt that statement. Though this is what the world was to see of China I was told that vast areas of China were poor and economically deprived and many people faced the same struggles that others from across the world face in the battle for survival. I did not get to see the other side as my travels only took me as far as Shanghai and Beijing. But someday I hope to go back and see much more of this vast ancient country. Though China's emergence as an economic  giant is fairly recent, trade between India and China go a long way and has been mentioned in several Indian books

Entrance to the Free Trade Zone in Pudong..

From Shanghai

AS most big offices which have made their foray into the vast Chinese market place, ours was in the Free trade zone in Pudong, which means 'East of the River' in Chinese. The river in question is Huangpu , a tributary of the great Yangtze before it empties into the East China Sea. the lifeline of Shanghai, the name of which means Yellow Bank River , it also serves as a major waterway. The impressive Shanghai metro has several branches which run under the river. Morning comes and we see a flurry of cyclists cross our path. I have never seen so many people cycle to work,the green alternative to motored transport. The cycle lanes have been beautifully planned and built hugging the huge motorways, all the way upto the Special Economic Zone in Pudong.

Local Cuisine..

From Shanghai

The world arises in Language they say, and the purport of the statement hits you square on the face when you visit China. They had no need for English except in the recent past, and so we had no way of communicating. We realize that even Sign language has heavy cultural biases and what we thought we were saying was always met with blank stares. Our way around the problem was to get small bits of information written on paper in Chinese which we would hold up :). Limited but effective. Being a vegetarian, I had my little sheet saying I do not eat meat or fish. The communication barrier surpassed, there really is nothing to worry. Instructions are followed to a T. :). While we are on the topic of food, being a vegetarian I had absolutely no problems here. There was plenty to eat. The average Chinese meal comprises of a couple of serving of meat and a couple of servings of vegetable, along with a small quantity of rice. I even tried a little imitation meat, made entirely of Soya. The cultural nuances of Chinese eating would have been lost, if we had decided to get rid of the chop sticks and stick to forks instead. For each meal is served on a circular table, from which you pick up food and eat. Rice was a smaller bowl than we expected and was often eaten alone, picking up the grains with the chopstick, without any accompaniment to go with it. That also explains why we did not see too many fat people there. The other reason as explained to us by a colleague was the enormous amounts of green tea the Chinese consume. Even hotels do not serve water with a meal. Its only Tea that is drunk to sate parched throats.

Hoardings in Xintiandi

From Shanghai

One evening we visited Xintiandi, the flashy and affluent area laden with shops and eateries and with a beautiful view of the skyline. Xintiandi means 'New Heaven and Earth'. Very close by is the site of the first communist party of China. In this place of bright lights, big hoardings, shopping malls and narrow cobblestone streets we stroll around

View from the Pearl Tower

From Shanghai

Shanghai's skyline is impressive. And no better way to see it then from the top of one of the tallest buildings , 'The Pearl Tower'. All around the Huangpu river snakes around the city meandering its way into the sea. Tiny barges flicker in the distance. The Shanghai World Financial Center, towers like a giant above midgets. At 492 m, its the tallest building adorning the skyline.

Shanghai is a spectacular city. First opened up to trade under the 'Treaty of Nanking' in 1842, to mark the end of the first Opium war, the city has grown in stature as one of the foremost commercial hubs in the world. The city has known a long history and has been at the center of many a conflict to where she stands now. Shanghai was the succor to Russians and Jews fleeing persecution from the newly established Soviet Union and was also the center of the radical leftist movement. Prized and coveted though out history, Shanghai is a gem of a city.   All around us we see evidence of China's growth as a global power. But as we wander along the tiny lanes leading up to the Jade Buddha temple, we also see evidence that some have been left behind.

M

To Malaysia and Back..

Just got back from a quick visit to Malaysia. Didn't get to see much, in fact didn't get to see anything at all. Apart from that really enjoyed the trip and all the insights it gave me into Malaysia and who she really is. Getting to know a country is like getting to know a person. Many shades, Many hues and then the core.. You don't always have to go around seeing places. You could also get to know her by just staying there, talking to her people...

First Spoiler - 500 odd passengers , seated strapped to their seats. The plane makes its way to the run way and then a 15 min stop followed by an announcement. Apparently since the effort to move to the new Bangalore airport is under way, it had somehow (i cant see how) led to a shortage of trained personnel for moving baggage, and so the Plane made its way back , engines were turned off and the luggage was loaded.... Finally after a two hour delay , the plane took off.

Bangalore really needs to do something to alleviate the airport situation. Had to run to get my connecting flight before the gates closed in Singapore.

Second Spoiler - Land in Malaysia. Get a cab to the hotel. Hungry , Tired , Irritated, A nice hot shower, that's what I need I mentally decide ... And the receptionist smiles sweetly at me and says .." It will take another hour for us to get your room ready mam. You could have a complimentary drink at our coffee shop "..So I sit in the lounge, and wait and wait and wait.. One hour seems like ten when you are tired ..

Finally my bags were taken up and I was there. Of course they didn't let me have a sea side room . But this one was nice. First thing I did, Pulled aside the drapes ; loved the view...

Third Spoiler - Run to my bag . Want a picture of the view. Get my camera out. Turn it on and click.. Nothing!.. My camera stopped working .........:(:(:(:(:(

Good I got all the bad stuff out of the way..

Slow internet connection meant that I had the perfect excuse to not work once i get back everyday.

Some things about Penang..

Penang comes from the word 'Pinang' meaning 'beetle nut'.. wonderfully clean. Great Roads. Multi Racial - Malays , Chinese, Indians. Extremely friendly people - Loud and Loquacious.

My Hotel was right by the sea and I did manage to sneak a few beach side walks. The beach in Penang reminds me of the beach in Pondicherry. A fortification prevents you from going to the shore line and you can walk along the foot path built for pedestrians.

Every morning I need to get to Kulim. So my colleague and I take a cab to work. The Sun is a late riser in Penang and she sleeps late too.. We are out by 6:45 and we sneak past the sleeping sun. Our ride takes us through the beautiful 13 Km Penang Bridge. I am told that when the traffic gets too much Cars are ferried across. Those 30-40 mins are filled with conversation spanning over a wide variety of subjects These conversations were an eye opener in some ways. I learnt that there are some things which are far better in India than any where else in the world. I learnt that in the US if you need to get to the doctor you can't without medical insurance. When i asked.." What if you tell the doctor that i don't have insurance but I'll pay my bill".. I was shocked to hear that a simple visit could make you a 1000$ poorer in terms of paying just the consultation fee. Was even more shocked to hear that a family of 4 could very easily pay about 500$ a month as insurance and finally "What would you do if you were poor and you fell sick".. Bottom line - " If you don't have med insurance you dare not fall sick" .. !!

How many times have I paid paltry amounts like 50 rupees (approx 1 dollar) as consultation fees.Sometimes we don't seem to know what we have..


On one more ride was told about the ethnic conflict in Malaysia by the cab driver. He scared me a little by yelling at the top of his voice and condemning all those responsible for suppressing the rights of Immigrant Indians. I was aware of the ethnic conflict in Malaysia being a regular with the morning CNN IBN news. But news in a strange way can be misleading. Sometimes the Perspective it offers is too narrow. Sometimes it makes ordinary men and women seem like monsters. In order to really understand something you need to be at the place of the action, you need to hear the story on both sides of the dispute. On the outside I didn't really see any obvious signs of discontent. The friendly vibe between most people seemed to belie the simmering discontent and distrust underneath. Most Indian immigrants are Tamil, Their fore fathers had been brought there as labourers when Pre independent Malaysia was still a British Colony. Most of them are cab drivers, and they claim that several of the fundamental rights (like education) which should be theirs being Malay born had been denied to them.
Elections were round the corner and It was interesting to see the election scene in another country. There were no where close to being as noisy as ours. But the banners were out and I was told that the opposition party this year was in it's strongest position in fifty years.

There were some other interesting dynamics I observed among the cab drivers. The Chinese and Indians had formed two distinct groups. Business from corporates hinged on whom the receptionist chose to call. Like China the English here is extremely hard to understand. So some of these cab drivers have made a determined effort to improve spoken English skills. Here the Indians score over the Chinese.

Some quick shopping on Friday and Saturday it was time to leave. I had an eight hour transit at Singapore. Lunch first at Cauvery followed by Shopping. I love the Singapore airport. What struck me this time is How much attention to detail had been given to even the minutest of things . For instance Safety aspects were top class. The airport abounds in high tech gadgets and needless to say there are loads of kids running around. But all these equipment have been placed in such a way that there could be no obvious damage done to them and nobody would get hurt trying.

Finally we were on board the flight back to Bangalore and as luck would have it we were asked to get off as there was some technical snag in the flight that could not be rectified. Another two hour wait and finally I was back home. Cleared immigration quickly , but the worst was yet to come. Waiting for the bags was a nightmare. There would have easily been around 500 people on board my flight. The Thai airways flight had landed at the same time and what followed was utter chaos. The trolleys were in bad shape. They wouldn't move. And it was like being in a bad game of Bumper cars. Someone hit my leg atleast twice and I had a bad feeling that there would be a stampede. Somehow the bags arrived and then I had to figure out how to get out.

..Out of the airport and back homeeeeeeeeeee :):)..Back to my nest!! No place better in the world!

-Meena