The ride is about to finish

While the last few days in Shanghai have raced by, the pace to see, small, touch, experience and eat has not wained.

Saturday night was a Christmas dinner with the a bunch of the local crew, mostly Aust expats that have lived here for years, with a mix of others to spice up the conversations. A great night that concluded late at the Glamour Bar. By the way, Jelly fish can be added to the list of crazy foods one has eaten. It actually crunches when you chew on it.

Sunday (complete with hang over) was a trip to Suzhou to explore the water Village. This area was made famous by one artist who painted a scene from there. It is now a major tourist spot and a different look at Shanghai (which it is part of even though its an hours drive away). You have probably seen those classic pics of the Chinese water Villages. Well, here's a couple more.

Yesterday was a big one, with lots of shopping and a trip up the Oriental Pearl TV tower to get an aerial look at this mega city.

The best way to show you what Shanghai is really like as a mass of buildings is to show you.

Now, what great insight can I share to conclude my last log?

Ten tips on shopping in Shanghai (and China).

1. There is a souvenir stand with an eager salesperson (99% of the time, a women), at every location a tourist may go, so you will never miss out on the "one off" momento you just have to have.

2. Not only are the people great at making copies of the newest and latest gadgets, bags, watches, pens etc. They can make things look brilliantly old. So, even if it looks really old and they say it's and antique, its probably, fake old.

3. When they refuse to bargain with you because you started at a low price, you know you have started too low for them to make money. They wont bargain if the can't win.

4. It easier to bargain with them on 'slow' days at the markets. Like very cold (1 degree) Mondays. They offer a 50% discount as you walk in the store, which gives you a head start for the game to begin.

5. They sell more than we buy, so they are experts at bargaining and will never loose money. Trust me, they never loose money, they just wont sell things if it is at a loss.

6. The target price for bargaining is 10-30% of what they try to get. (depending on the item and over value.)

7. Don't buy anything without trying to walk away or out of the store at least once when the deal is almost done. They hate loosing a sale. It's a competitive environment for them, so use that to your advantage.

8. Women buy red lingerie to celebrate the Spring festival / Chinese New Year. It helps keep the devil away (NOT). So if you like red (I do), now is the time to buy.

9. At some stage, you will get ripped off. It happens. Especially if you start your negotiation too high and are not willing to walk out and not buy the item.

10. "Bu ya" are the two most valuable sounds you can make. Especially with a flick of the hand and confidence. It simply means 'NO.' So when a beggar grabs your arm, or a hawker is getting in you face. A simple Bu Ya with a touch of attitude and they back off (most of the time). When you can get approached 100 times in about 20 minutes, it's a very handy tip.

11. (There's always one more tip) Have fun shopping for the most amazing things from super tacky to exquisite. It's all here.

So, tonight I fly out of Shanghai and China. And this will be the last China Log.

It has been a fantastic journey, with many learnings, insights, discoveries, experiences and observations. I have been privileged to have the opportunity to live and work here. And I will always value the friendships I have developed.

It's a wonderful place, everyone should see at some stage.

I hope you have enjoyed my logs. A big thank you to all for the comments and taking time to read my ramblings. Thanks to Jonas the god of Blogs for the inspiration and support. And thank you to everyone that has taken the time to read it. By the way, there are people in Ireland, Canada, United Arab Emirates, UK, Italy, Switzerland, USA and of course Australia checking it out. so hopefully you all got some laughs along the way.

It has been great to write and to share my life here. May you all have an awesome Christmas and a fantastic New Year.

Cheers

Daz

North to Beijing

After over four weeks in Shanghai, I have ventured north to Beijing for a few days. A chance to see if The Great Wall is really great, a chance to see if Tiananmen Square is really square, a chance to see if the forbidden city is foreboding, a chance to see if Chairman Mao is really dead and if Peking Duck tastes better in Peking.

Let's start at the start and finish at the end. Or as Confucius (the beliefs of an old Chinese religion) would say; 'he who start at the end not know where the start is'

The Great wall is GREAT.

Today we ventured north to the wall. It was cold, damn cold, so cold I just saw one of those guys in the orange robes burst into ice (sorry, badly adapted movie reference). Anyway, the great wall is GREAT. We had a great time. It is perched on top of great hills, so if any of the foreign armies came, they would be almost dead climbing the great mountains first, then the great 'Ming Dynasty" soldiers would pelt down on you with great numbers of arrows - not fun if you are the enemy.

Yesterday, we walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked around the forbidden city. It is massive, a true city. The Ming dudes new how to build a place. 9999 and a half rooms. Place for the Eunuchs, Concubines, staff, Emperor, Empress, the parents, the maids, the cooks, the cleaners, the builders and on and on and on the list goes. Some wonderful architecture, amazing stuff in the collections. And the stories are the best. Especially about the Empresses (and past Empresses - "Empress Dowager") ruling from behind screens, killing off the concubines, holding their son's (Emperors) in house prisons, sending Eunuchs to be monks and much more. Apparently, there are many Chinese TV series about the stories. They call them things like 'Days of our lives,' 'Young and the Restless,' 'The last Emperor' and so on. (see slide show)

Now, while I didn't get time to check out the Chairmen Mao mausoleum, he is truly passed, but there's plenty of photos to remind us of him. And, the odd souvenir on ever street corner. He apparently didn't want to be preserved and placed on display (a la Stalin). But the people did it any way. It's one time they disagreed with him and didn't get arrested!

The Building sits on the south end of Tiananmen Square, which as we know, shot to infamy in June 1989 with a couple of tanks and kids. A piece of trivia for you, the scene of the student defiantly standing in front of the tanks, that was broadcast across the world. Well, that wasn't on Tiananmen Square proper, it was on the road out the front near the Tiananmen gate "Gate of Heavenly Peace." (Get the irony) It's the entrance to the "Imperial City" which is where the the 'officials' lived and surrounded the Forbidden City. As it was the entrance to the Official Part (not the royal part 'forbidden city') it has historically been the place where the people (common people) protested. And it still is today.

To get onto the square, you go under ground and through a security check point. Then, you will find there are army personnel, police and security everywhere. And that's the ones you can see. There are plenty of secret services there as well. We saw one women arrested by a young guy three people away. It was a quick action that's for sure. The guys, standing next to me when I was waiting for the flag ceremony, all of a sudden pulled out radios and walked off. They were secret police. Strangely, it made me feel safe.

Now of course you know that Beijing was originally Peking and that Chairman Mao changed it in around 1946 (give or take a year or two) Well, Nanjing, the former Capital means 'south' and Peking means 'north.' So, when Chairman Mao moved the capital back to Peking, he changed to to Beijing, which means 'Capital'

So, Peking Duck is sometimes called Beijing Duck, but here it is just called Roasted Duck, cos we are in Peking/Beijing. Well it is awesome. Cheap and great. Even eating the duck head was good (the beak was crunchy but the head was a bit chewy)

A whole Roasted Duck is just 200RMB ( about $45). Enough for two people easy. Good value and good eating. And the restaurant was 100% Chinese glam. And best of all, you get a certificate of authenticity for the Duck you ate. It's very own number. We ate duck number 425228.

So that's a taste of Beijing.

One more thing. Ever tasted live scorpion grilled over the hot coals. Based on the gestures of the vendor, its good for penile erections (If I ever have a problem, I am going for the Viagra, not the scorpion!). Check out these guys ready to go onto the barby! Enjoy.

It's Christmas time

If you know know any Buddhists, you know they don't 'do' Christmas. Nor do the Muslims and Taoists and the Hindus, the Jews. Christ-mas = Christ-ian (Christ's Birthday). So it ain't the biggest thing in the year in China. But like our capitalistic western society, it's a good excuse to get people to buy stuff, and that is something the Chinese do celebrate - with great passion.

By the way, Chinese New Year is the one to celebrate here. Apparently the place just goes OFF. No surprise since it's the "Chinese" New Year. (Do we have an "Australian" New Year - maybe its time to start one?) - I digress.

Apparently, each year the Christmas decorations get bigger. So, this year I thought I would do the first ever (Official-esque) INDEPENDENT SURVEY OF CHRISTMAS TREES. Or as I have come to call it, the I-SOCT. It's a review of trees for the magnificent "Best in Trees" award.

The interesting thing here, is that often the department store or building will get a resident shop to sponsor the tree. In return the company gets nice signage, and a warm fuzzy feeling outside of the building. So negotiating skills are all part of the deal.

Might I also point out, that unfortunately, the judge has not been bribed in any way. So the views are independent and unbiased.

Let me share some of the contenders.

At the local (very good) shopping centre. A Swatch sponsored tree, nice but small. Especially when its in front of the awesome decorations for the building itself. (see pic 2)

The shopping centre (awarded best overall decorations) - but not BEST IN TREES

Last Place - outside of Raffles Plaza - its a robot tree (dumb)

The building I have been working in (just lame)

And using the street trees just doesn't cut it.

The Nanjin Rd Mall. Big, colourful, bright - good but no prize this year.

THIRD PRIZE - The neon tree at Plaza 66. It changes colour and is accompanied by deer, sleigh, small trees etc. It's very good.

SECOND PRIZE - All class. Longines sponsored at Times Square. The biggest tree. Elegant and modern. Very Longines. Very classy, Very good tree.

The 2008 BEST IN TREES

The huge, the soft, the cute, TOY TREE. This is a great idea well done. You can cuddle the tree. How crazy, yet cool. A new spin on it all. (check out the small shots - its all soft)

So, after of that excitement, I wish you and your family a happy, safe and wonderful Christmas and a new year full of good fortune. (And don't try cuddling your Christmas tree - it will prickle you)

All black and shiny

It's been a while since I logged anything. It's been a busy last week at work and a couple of days not feeling 100%. Much better now and officially on holidays (yeah). So hopefully, a few more logs to come before I return to Australia.

Well, this little (long story) has been in development for some time. It has required a fair bit of walking, talking and even a little risky research through personal experience. What's it all about then, you ask?

Hair. Not the play - but the stuff on most people's head.

After being here a while, you notice that almost everyone (99.9 out of 100) has black shiny hair (and mostly straight too). - accept at the Glamour Bar and Bar Rouge (where the Russian Prostitutes have discovered peroxide!).

Being an attentive and understanding bloke, I have heard more than one women say; "I hate my hair, its too this, or too that...." If it's straight they want curls, if it's curly they straighten it, if it's dark they lighten it. You all know the story. Well imagine having the same colour and hair type as your mum, dad, neighbour, friend, cousin, school teacher, colleagues, boyfriend, the person on the street and the other 20M people in town, or the other Billion or so people in China.

Then, when you look close you realise, there are lots of things that the hairdressers manage to do with straight black hair. So I, 'take my hat off' (bad pun intended) to the efforts of the guys and girls of the hair profession. They do a great job of creating lots of good looks and different looks. Because after a bit of serious people studying , you notice there is a great diversity of things they achieve with black shiny hair.

I guess the competition of quality has also sporned the huge industry that it is. There's a salon on every street. They are everywhere. And, they use the traditional lolly pop signs as designators. (see pic), so you can spot them easily. And where these signs were once used for barbers, all hair places use them here.

Now at this point, I want to move to the whole concept of getting your hair cut in a foreign country where you don't speak the language. Unlike the restaurants, they don't have a menu with pictures that you can point at, smile and nod to. You have to communicate with the person that is going to take sharp implements to your head. A slightly daunting if not hilarious prospect.

As most people know, after 3-4 weeks, my fringe gets way too long, it annoys me, I have trouble seeing etc. Not to mention the split ends I have to deal with. So I am a regular hair cut sort of guy. (and quite proud of getting a hair cut for $12 in 12 minutes at the local shop in Brisbane).

So, I have been here for 4 weeks, making it 5 weeks since my last 'do'. So, it was time. I just had to build my courage and hope that I could pick the right salon (important point as you read on)and not stress if they destroyed my precious locks. A task I thought about for a week.

Now before I share that experience, let me share a "China Hair" story from Friday in the office.

On Friday, our CEO Jen, who is Singaporean (Asian) and a great personality, went out to get her hair cut. Jen speaks pretty good Mandarin (Chinese) as she's been here for 4 years. So Jen is confident enough to communicate. Well, she tells us in the afternoon, that she went to get her hair done. The hair dresser sat her down, and she explained in Chinese, that she wanted her hair straight not curly (it has a slight natural curl). The guy stormed off in a huff and another came back. He introduced himself as "Curly". Yep, 'Curly' was his name and the other guy thought Jen wanted Curly to cut her hair, so stormed off. Well, she explained what she wanted again and he proceeded to put the best looking curls in her hair you have ever seen for a petite Singaporean girl. Curly, gave her curls, all the while Jen was asking to have her hair straightened.

So the moral here is, 'even good Chinese can put you in a curly situation.'

This did not help my trepidations about getting my hair cut. Imagine trying to give me curls?

Anyway, I have returned with my hair cut. Not one word of English or Chinese was spoken between the hairdresser and I, but he did a good cut (I think). It's amazing what a few vocal noises (buzzing sound like a cipper) and actions can do for international relations and communications. I also had to show him which clipper I wanted as he was actually going to just shave it all off. (don't laugh!). Then after a diligent cut, a great 'hair (scalp) wash' and 'head massage', and a quick blow dry. Not bad really. I left happy, especially as it only cost $7.50AUD. (see pic of my local hair salon)

There's lots of different types of salons, (see pic below). This one you can get boozed at (saloon) and go right next door for your face lift. A quick trim and tuck anyone?

Now, there's another more exotic side to the humble salon in Shanghai. They are salons, you can tell because they have the same traditional "barber lolly pop" signs

I had heard from friends about these salons that have frosted glass on the front, or small windows. They are 'salons' of a slightly different nature. Some are also 'foot massage' shops, which are also common here. (see pics)











How are they different?

To start. At night when a good looking bloke walks past on his own, the girls jump up run to the door and beckon me in. I am not sure what they are saying, but they seem more keen than most girls I know, so that creates some suspicion.

Secondly, the girls are often wearing lingerie (see pics). You can see them sitting around knitting or eating noodles.

Wide shot (note the lolly pop sign on the left)

Close up

And, the advice from friends for these slightly odd places is that, you get a different form of 'head massage' with you hair wash. Or, a foot massage, for all three legs. A hair cut with a happy ending? Get it?

I know years ago, a guy set up the topless hair salon in Melbourne, which flopped (gravity works) but this is quite unique really (I think).

So, the hairy learning is; be careful where you go and what you ask for as you never quite know what you are going to get - curly hair, or a curly experience!

It's all part of getting your hair cut in a world where everyone has black and shiny hair. (Accept me, as I now just have short fine fluff left)

You're plucked

Eating is a big thing in China. It's part of the social and cultural fabric. So where do 20 Million people get their food from? It aint the farm down the road, I can tell you that.

They go to "Wet Markets." I guess they are called wet markets because, the floor and everything is tiled. It''s probably like the George Hotel in St Kilda. A place when at closing, they hose your feet so you leave. Thus it's a wet market (I guess)

Anyway, this is where you can get all kinds of delicacies. The fruit and veg looks OK, but some of the meat and seafood, mmm, I'm not sure.

One thing is for sure, in these wonderful little den's of Asian gastronomic desire, your nasal hairs curl. I am not sure what smells most the fish, the meat, or the chook shit. I just try not to smell anything.

There was an interesting article in the paper the other day about how these very local stalls even have prices for the 'Lu Au' (white man) and prices for the locals. You expect it in the tourist spots, but basically, if they can squeeze a few extra Yuan out of a white man, they will. I just expect to get ripped off everywhere as my Chinese is non existent, so that's the price I pay.

Although, I can get home in a taxi speaking entirely in Chinese now. (I am impressed with myself, especially given that my drunk Chinese is as good (as bad) as my sober Chinese.)

Back to the food. These markets, are pretty good if you know what you are doing, and they certainly show of some interesting food we don't normally see. And, it's always good to see someone killing and plucking a fresh chook on the side of the road.

You're plucked

Next?

The international world of Shanghai

Firstly, I want to send a HUGE congratulations to all of my friends and colleagues back in Brisbane. On Friday night, CumminsNitro won the prestigious "B&T Queensland Agency of the Year" award for the second year running. It's the result of a lot of work by the greatest agency team that work with the best clients in the State. I am incredibly proud to be a small part of what is now a large and fantastic team. Well done guys and gals, have a great party next Friday. Celebrate like there is no tomorrow.

Now back to Shanghai:

Thanks to one of the guys I work with (Shags), I was introduced to the exciting and oh so chic international side of this great city.

We headed to THE BUND for dinner as I had not been down there at night (which is when its at its best). Shags used to work in China two years ago and is back, and still knows his way around.

It started with a fantastic Japanese dinner. At Aqua, where the reception has a tank with 4 black tipped reef sharks swimming ferociiously above the entrance. Talk about a welcome sign! Warm Sake, beers and the "Beef Tongue" was great, full of flavour and not as chewy as we thought it might be.

Then NEW HEIGHTS bar. A balcony and bar over looking the river and PUDONG. There is an entire building that is like a giant TV screen with super bright moving images. Cristian would be able to run his water fall image here for Nature Own and it would look great. I will get a photo of at some stage.

Then the Glamour bar, which is just that, all Glamour (owned and ran by an Aussie Chic no less).

A few Bourbons at the bar and a lot of people watching. My big observation was that the bar had more blonde women than black haired women. That's a rare sight here as you would expect.

At about 12 we headed to the opening of the newest and hottest "lounge" in town (thanks to Shags mate Scottie). The international side of Shanghai was certainly on show.

The new spot is on the 23rd floor of the "Want Want" (that's its name) building. The Lounge is simply called SIN. The VIP and media Invite only party was pretty cool. french Champagne and 42 Below were flowing. The music from Opera to Hip Hop to Dance, it was pumping. Through Scottie and his girl Cherry, I got to meet some of their friends and did a lot people watching. There were acrobats, models in the most amazing costumes, dancers. It was going off. But, people were there for people. It was the place to be seen last night.

And, meeting people is like travelling the globe without getting on a plane. I struck up a chat with a Mexican Girls and and Indian guy. He is here to set up a restaurant and she works in some science stuff I didn't get. That there was Kristell from Canada who has a Latin American boyfriend and it just goes on and on. It was a huge night (and morning).

I have been to some big parties and had some big nights over the years, but nothing quite like this one - I had a taste of the fast paced international social life of Shanghai, and all I can say is WOW.