The Fabric Market

Chinese "Traffic" Jam

I bought an electric scooter a few months ago for my commute to work. I never could have guessed how much I've fallen in love with riding it. Its top speed is about 35 mph, which is enough to feel the wind in my hair, but the thing about it is that its opened up the part of Shanghai where I live to exploration. I feel like the Chris Colombus of electric scooters as I zoom down the main road in front of my house, with factories and high rises everywhere, and after a few turns here and there, finding myself standing on a small path in the middle of rice fields, as farmers expertly and urgently tend to the rice.
My commute is more fun as well as I now look forward to scooting to work. My school is about a 40 minute walk from my house, now with my scooter its a five minute ride. I take a shortcut to work everyday, I discovered an alley that takes me past a small creek and through a traditional Chinese town. Its very relaxing...and usually easy to nagivigate, except for one day last week, when a car tried to drive down the path meant for scooters and pedestrians. This happens often, as Chinese don't think anything of driving on a bike path, if it cuts a few minutes off their drive. Check out what happened to this unfortunate driver....

Hong Kong

I just recently got back from a trip to Hong Kong with my girlfriend Karen. I really had no expectations of Hong Kong, I didn't know much about it before the trip other than it was more Westernized than mainland China. We spent a week there, and now I can say with confidence that it is my favorite Asian city. Built on several small islands that are in a river delta in southern China, it reminded both Karen and me of San Fransisco. Where China's mainland is flat, Hong Kong is extremely hilly. The most famous island is called Hong Kong island, and it is considered Asia's Manhattan. Tall buildings everywhere, people in suits walking on the sidewalks, it has an air of importance, as well as an elegant, if not manufactured, beauty. The other major island is called Kowloon. This is where Karen and I stayed. If Hong Kong island is the stately beauty queen, with her hair done perfectly and whose every photograph is magazine quality, then Kowloon is the loud, brash, funny girl who grows on you after spending a few days alone. Kowloon is a more authentically Asian section of Hong Kong. We stayed along Nathan Road, which happens to be the shopping metropolis of Hong Kong, similar to the Magnificent Mile in Chicago. The western flavor of Hong Kong is readily apparent on Nathan Road, we were within walking distance of both an Outback Steakhouse and a TGIFridays, as well as a movie theater. (We saw a movie called District Nine - our most western date since we've been in Asia.) Up further along Nathan Road, Kowloon changes - the clean buildings begin to grow older and dirtier, and the sidewalks louder. Where before the shops were major brands from the West, now Kowloon becomes truly Asian. A left turn puts you in a goldfish market - where every store sells fish of all kinds. The bird market is this way as well, an entire street filled with the songs of birds, living in cages, waiting to be bought as pets. This is the part of Hong Kong that gives it life, gives it a flavor. While we were in Hong Kong, we also had a chance to go to an amusement park, called Ocean Park. Hong Kong also has a Disneyland, Disney Hong Kong, but strangely, Ocean Park has a better reputation than Disneyland. At Ocean Park, which was fantastic, we had a chance to spend some more time with pandas. The panda we saw was named An An...and as you can see, is as cute as a panda can be. Interestingly though, when we arrived, An An was sleeping. A group of people were gathered around for a few minutes, watching An An sleep, and then suddenly An An started to rise and stretch. People were lost in the cuteness at this point. "Awwww, look how cute!" Little kids were jumping up and clapping, a man kissed his wife, old men, heretofore unable to walk, rose to their feet for the first time in ages, inspired by the cuteness. The cuteness continued as the panda walked up the small hill, next to a tree. Everyone stood transfixed, as the cuteness had become a paralyzing thing, everyone with baited breath waiting to see what the panda does next. As the panda stood next to the tree, a little girl yells out, "Look, mommy, the pandas tail is moving!" The man kissed his wife again, kids clapping, old men banging their canes against the ground...so profound was the cuteness of the panda....and then it happened. The tail lifted, and we all watched in horror as the panda left a trail of "cuteness" along the ground, as bamboo apparently moves through the system very quickly. The little kids, mesmerized by the cuteness just moments before, begin crying, traumatized, and now, probably, in need of years of therapy. The man slaps his wife, the wife in return slaps him back. Old men stop banging their canes, turn and slink out, muttering under their breath. The panda, the cuteness gone, mosies on back to his original spot, lays down and falls back asleep. What was so cute to the crowd was the panda bathroom run, akin to a stumbling, 3 am in the dark out of bed stub your toe trip to the toilet. Not as cute as we thought....