Dom vs./ likes China

In his "Tâo Te Ching" Lao Tze (“the father of Taoism”) writes :

"We look at it, and we do not see it, and we name it 'the Equable'. We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it 'the Inaudible'. We try to grasp it, and do not get hold of it, and we name it 'the Subtle'. With these three qualities, it cannot be made the subject of description; and hence we blend them together and obtain The One."

I might be slightly modifying the original message Lao-Tze intended to transmit at the help of these lines – since he probably had rather the course according to which the visible phenomena take place, incognisable by human sense and capable of only approximate description by terms appropriate to what is within the domain of sense (actually pretty close to Platon's "Eternal Ideas”, right?) than a being, culture or country in his mind - when I say that China is (largely) to me what Lao Tze describes as "The One".

I feel it, I perceive it, I react to it but I do neither grasp nor understand it. Sometimes this constant feeling of incomprehension suddenly turns into something like repulsion. During these moments I have the feeling that I've seen enough so as to repulse what I claim to "know", reject it, correct it, rant, shout “this can’t be it!!!”, aaaaaaaahhh, etc, etc...

Last Sunday I was in one of these situations, which are (at least for me until now) as rare as they are intense. It was a nasty potion composed of:

• The feeling not to understand and still being far away from understanding
  
• The (deceiving) feeling to know enough so as to legitimately reject “the whole thing” while, simultaneously, being aware of the fact that I couldn’t actually change what I was rejecting.
  
• A pinch of physical and psychological exhaustion and some small but coinciding disappointments

Result: A pretty decent BANG! I aired the whole shit, let it out and Echo, my roomie, was the unlucky person that was closest to me at this moment… she got it all...

So what made me run into this situation in China? And how to flippin’ deal with / avoid such situations? I guess one of the basic factors is one that connects the two questions: The way to go about things, lead my life and potentially make sense of the unknown - “The One”. Chinese ideology prays it, and numerous Chinese live it day by day: Take things as they are. If the wind blows, the grass has to bend, otherwise it breaks. Or “doing nothing and yet doing all things". This somewhat passive way is probably one thing that really clashes with my sometimes quite rationalistic nature, my restlessness, my at times rather unhealthy urge to actively look for understanding and my wish to understand things rather yesterday than today.. It’s this DESIRE to know that makes me probably push too hard, that makes me restless, impatient, sometimes bitter.. Even though I believe that I can and should learn quite a bit from Taoism in this respect, I failed to do so at this moment. "Who can (make) the muddy water (clear)? Let it be still, and it will gradually become clear." Shit, I just couldn’t wait so long…

Another thing that really struck, strikes and is likely to continue striking me is the role of emotion in daily life here. While not all Chinese (please forgive me this generalisation which I actually and normally reject) behave like the sage described by He Yai, an ancient Chinese philosopher, meaning that “the sage do not have joy, anger, grief or happiness” they still are at least closely related to this sage… While I’m aware of the fact that emotion holds some dangers and risks, I’m still kind of addicted to it, especially after my time in Colombia, which I enjoyed so much partly for the very fact that people there express their emotion so freely. And here again, why do / did I freaking compare, since I am actually aware that comparisons are most frequently a source of discontent? Simply because I felt like it??

Well then, I dealt with it. At first, actually already on Saturday, with kind of a shock therapy: I walked through the streets, earphones on and listening to some Salsa, Merengue and some songs that clearly fall in the category of “musica para planchar” (music to listen to while ironing (for it’s cheesy, “tearjerk-ish” tune and texts ;). But hey, it made me smile, dance and even sing in the streets. I loved it, not only but especially for its somewhat surreal character.. it was as if I wanted to somewhat defiantly shout and show that "this is how it should be!!!!" (silly, but it definitely helped :)

It was also great to have people around who would actually take the shit and return it in just the right dose. And people that noticed that something was wrong and contributed not only by sharing their personal experiences but also by the mere fact that they noticed and acted upon. And then there were the amazing, constantly “wise” persons, who’s comments you wouldn’t want to accept at this moment since they act like a freaking mirror and seem to get it straight (meaning they mention the toughest, but likely to be the most effective solution to the problem. Which, however is exactly the one you were actually about to escape from / avoid for the very reason that it is the toughest, most complicated one). Echosita, BjØrn and Aidita: Thank you!

Well, then. Dom is up and kickin’ again and more than ready to continue, since, as paradoxical this may sound: it’s exactly during this kind of moments (well, may be shortly after them) that I notice that I’m currently at the right place! :)

Yuppies in Shanghai

It's been already two weeks since I've rushed away from work so as to catch a plane to the vibrant economic center of China, the "Whore of the Orient", the "Paris (*) of the East" - Shanghai.

"Telegraph - random thoughts style"

... No horror stories with regards to my first flight within China ... Plane de luxe, stewardesses (constantly) smiling and food crap... >normal ... The gang from the beginning ideal and sometimes harmonious ;) who:


... Devrim: Man, Godfather and King of Hospitality ... Give him a steak and he will think of BJ (Beijing..? ;) Lady Echo: A charming princess directly imported from Thailand. Queen of Hospitality and fanatic about Men's talk.. Nick: The Australian Mr.China spitting already like one of "them"... Ad some Swiss laziness and tons of hair (on the head..)... et voilà: the Shanghai Gang! ... Program: Welcome drink in Devrim's fridge, aka apartment ... Room party at pretty accountant's ... with wine and white sofas ... (Nick) Meet(s) "the beast"... Dancing Coyote and especially ugly style on the counter of a small bar... Watch Echo change "boyfriends" 3 times in only 5 minutes ... Heading for the palace and the royal toilet ... Random talk at random places ... Sleep and Snore ... Getting ready for THE Brunch ... Azul is the place one shouldn't miss ... flex in comfy cushions while savouring sausages, scrambled eggs, bacon, scones, etc Smoothies or bloody Maries ... take and talk 3 hours: Nick(ita)?, Brunch-up Bj? and even: Cartoons - everything goes? ... Get up, take taxi, walk - well, rather stroll -, talk, think of where to eat next, eat ... get a massage (first professional one in Dum Di Dom's life) ... ah, uh and the guy saying in the end "bu hao" (not good) while pointing at my back ... well then ... getting ready for house party at Triins et all. ... Learn some Estonian, Talk with Rohit about our meeting in "Les Brasseurs" in Geneva, talk with Carlos about "Chinese SN in Colombia" experience while dreaming of the latter, eye-up a clothespin and marvel at Lady Echo's attempts to sit down ... Hitting the road again so as to go to a fancy bar on "the Bund" ... marvel at the skyline in the dark and the dust ... Drink, chat, ... heading back home to our camp ... Sleep, snore, shower and get ready for another ample and mouth-watering brunch ... Digesting while strolling along the "Bund" ... Marvelling at the rush hour on the Huangpu River with a mystic (well, or simply smoggy..) touch to it ...


... crossing the River and "WOW": Pudong ... How was it again? Wasn't Shanghai the "Paris of the East" (amazing, I could finally read signs in the street, as loads of them were written in the language of JC and all the other "nombrilistes" ;) Ah, les Welsches, le "toto" vous adore!) ? ... But hey, Pudong feels rather like Manhattan ... well at least what the latter must have looked like some decades ago ... Skyscrapers mushrooming ... Driving ranch just next to the 420.5m Jinmao tower ... Hype ... Wow ... bloody hell this is amaaaaazing ... or scary? ... The "New York of tomorrow"? ... or rather like Thailand before 1996? ... Crazy contrasts also, and over and above, in Shanghai / Pudong ... 1RMB snack in the foreground...

... Driving ranch, Jinmao tower with Grand Hyatt and 300USD+ bed in the background ... Heading to Jinmao ... taking the elevator up to the 54th floor ... jaws down ... god damn ... wow !!!? ... Lobby of the Grand Hyatt (seen from the roughly 80th floor. eg below)

... Lobby? ... Zion in the "Matrix" ? ... Off we went to the bar on the 84th floor ... Dom was speechless (guess others liked it) ... absolutely surreal ... Some great drinks and spicy chats ... Jippie we are hobby-Yuppies ! ... Off we go, down from the 9th heaven to Pudong and from capitalist Pudong to the House where the first Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held ... Like Devrim's expression: red like a radish ... After some more - how do you know? - great food, drinks and talks back to Beijing - Dom train, Nick plane ... what a shame: a superb week-end was over ... Pretty "Yuppie", but guess that's what Shanghai is / can be all about ...
Godfather, Princess and Chick - High 5 and Thanks a lot !!!

Fondue with Chopsticks

Do you know the feeling to be living abroad and, all of a sudden, feeling the ultimate desire to eat some food you used to eat back home (the land of the cows, watches, banks and cheese (to mention some of the clichés) – or simply Switzerland- in my case)? I felt it last week and decided to finally open the packages of fondue and Rösti that I have been storing in my fridge for quite some time.

I, therefore, sent out some text messages looking for victims crazy and courageous enough to join in the feast consisting of cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese and some pro forma potatoes.. I was delighted, that Rebecca, Isabelle and I could finally “cook” for Soraya, Edu, Keshav, Aude, Pierre, Hemant, Pavel, Derren and Nick.

The cooking and eating was slightly and charmingly different from the all-Swiss version. As there were no forks in Echo’s apartment (Even though she was sunbathing in Thailand at the time she let us use her roomy apartment. “Danggschön vill mol” (as a Bebbi would say) Echo!!) we had to change plans and use chopsticks instead. Great way to grab the bred and dip it into the cheese actually! Try it, dear Swiss friends. Another thing we couldn’t get hold of: Schnaps. Well then, we swapped it for Vodka, drank some white wine and quite some beer (which, I know, and we all know by now, is not what one should drink with Fondue..)

Satisfied (well, at least I was..;), with a considerable nugget in our stomach and somewhat “happy” we finished the evening dancing in Echo’s (and soon Nick’s party) apartment. Felt like home, especially among so many seemingly masochistic fellows. Cheers!

Burning down the house - - Spring Festival continued

Some of you might know why one of the aspects of Spring Festival - the "there is no such thing as tomorrow" attitude of Chinese when it comes to firework - especially appeals to me: I am a convinced firebug (with a somewhat doubtful CV.. (I sometimes "use" the opportunity of a nice dinner with candle light to set parts of restaurants on fire..)

As touched upon in the post on Spring Festival in general, loud noise was one of the successful strategies back in history to scare monsters and evil spirits away. While one might discuss the exact motivation of today's average Chinese to set off firework (evil spirits or simply seeking the Crash Boom Bang kick) one can say for sure that they do it:

• area-wide. Contributing factor may be: Firework is as manifold as cheap. One decent, ear-splitting firecracker costs around 1Fen (roughly 0.15 Eurocent).. Swiss sized "Frauenfürze" (literal translation: Women's farts) are not a patch on their Chinese counterparts..
• feverishly. Especially in Beijing, where authorities had lifted a 12-year ban on firecrackers within the Fifth Ring Road. Hence: the hell of a lot to make up for..
• with a high propensity to take risks

While people started setting off firecrackers already early in January and continue until to date, the night of the 29th was clearly the climax: absolutely amazing, almost scary.. It felt as if the floor trembled, as if the city was about to pop as a giant-sized cork. Walking down a street was an adventure: one had to constantly mind firecrackers placed by a random player and/or skyrockets (am talking about firework..) slightly off track.. It was also impressive to see where (literally everywhere) people would set off firework: Living on the 9th floor of an apartment building, for example, I had the privilege to watch skyrockets explode beautifully and in palmtreeshape at eye level and just about 2 meters away from my nose (well, there was a window in between..;).. Craaaazzyyyyy.. but fun!!

Early in the morning(s) the city then resembled somewhat of a war zone. The vestiges of firecrackers and fireworks were scattered all over and formed, somewhat exaggeratedly, the alps of Beijing.. (thanks Habib for the cool shot!) Well then, this experience was pretty mind-blowing and I enjoyed it thoroughly. And hey: if you feel like upgrading your firecrackers or preparing your own one's right away here comes the recipe ((c) China Firework Culture Museum):

1. Cut out a small piece of cardboard, roll it and put glue on one end. Wrap the glue end with a piece of red satin for waterproofing and decoration.
2. Fill the cardboard tube with saltpetre, earth and a drying agent until it is 3/4 full. Allow the earth to dry completely before proceeding.
3. When the earth is dry, put a small hole in the middle of the tube and insert a piece of unvarnished fuse.
4. Fill the hole with flash powder. Pack the explosive tigthly in the tube with a wad of tissue paper. Repeat several times to make a pack and then tie together.
5. >> Kawoooom and a smile on the face when entering a hopefully Happy Year of the Dog.

.. for me it's a bit like with cooking: I rather eat... :)

Yet another "New Year"

Alright, alright, it took me quite a long time to finally wish you (second time within a month only..) a prosperous (Chinese) New Year or 恭喜发财 (Gong Xi Fa Cai)!

Chinese New Year, or Springfestival - summary in 16 words: Crash Boom Bang, good and plentiful food, family and lots of traditions to keep in mind - is rather big and without any doubt one of the most important and popular events in China. So what is "Spring festival", starting on the first day of the lunar calendar each year and lasting for 15 days, all about?

Duration: From New Year (Chu Yi) to Yuanxiao 15 days later. In between the second (Chu Er), fifth (Po Wu or "throw out fifth") and seventh day have a special signification.

Origin of the festival: The original myth of spring festival varies in its details but generally puts a lot of weight on the agricultural cycle (especially important during the pre-modern age when agriculture was still the primary concern of common people) and involves a magical young boy called Nian (today the Chinese character for year). This courageous young bloke drove off a monster named Xi which was menacing the harvest and livestock and with it the villagers. Reportedly Xi was frightened off by a lot of red and incredibly loud noise.

Even though at a lesser extent than for example in Europe the influence of "modern times" and the consequent shift of focus from family to spectacle are noticeable also in China. Some of the numerous traditions resulting from the original myth have, therefore, paled somewhat or continue to be practiced only by the older generation(s). Nevertheless, heaps of traditions and rules persist and, for "Wessies" as me, vary from being fun, interesting to outright weird:

Rules and traditions that are reportedly more relevant to older generations than to the new (urban) ones:

• On “Chu Er” (2nd day of Year) one (as Beijing ren) was to pay a mandatory visit to Wu Xian Temple where the five gods of Wealth (Wulu Caishen) housed. The fastest to do some kowtows ( kneeling and touching the forehead to the ground in expression of deep respect, worship, or submission) at their altars and to light incense was the most likely to profit from good luck and wealth during the year to come.
• Reportedly, what used to be an elbowing match of speed (Guess that was one of the moments of the year when people were most creative) turned into a war of the wallets and who is able to make the greatest “contribution” .. Quite paradoxical result: one buys ones wealth.
• Do not sweep the floor or throw anything away until the fifth day (P0 Wu) of Spring festival:
  
• > Reason: Every speck of dust or dirt symbolized wealth and was therefore not to be removed from the house. Reportedly people went as far as sweeping dust from the street and into their houses hoping to profit from good fortune.
• >> Oh boy, If this rule still applied I (as a convinced chaotic and “pile up the dirty dishes until mushrooms grow on them” –er) would be freaking fortunate and rich (but probably still disgusting..;)
  

• Get rid of old shoes before “Chu Yi(1)” and do not buy any during the 30 days to follow.
  
• > Reason: Shoe (Xie) sounds like the word “Evil” (Xie’e). Hence, to throw out old shoes past midnight hour or buy them during the first 30 days of the year signified bad luck
• >> now, that's an easy one for an unmoivated shopper as I am

• Do not cut your hair during the first 30 days of the year
  
• > Reason: If you do so, the brother of your mother is going to suffer from bad luck (somewhat scarier versions go as far as: he will die)
• >> I truly hope that this rule does not apply to foreigners, since it's only February 12th and I already look like Bon Jovi during his best years.. Heinz (the concerning uncle), I promise to try not to succumb to my vanity...

Traditions that are still largely respected and traditions that have undergone some modifications:

• Wear red, decorate your house in red, wear a red belt (especially the ones born in the respective year or the year minus x*12 years; the "dogs" in 2006 (Nick (see pic on the right) is one of these "humble, responsible and patient" dogs)), wear red underwear,..
  
• > Reason: according to the original myth, the monster (sometimes also the "evil spirits". Well, something nasty in any case..) was scared away at the help of the colour red. The colour therefore stands for luck and wealth (and not so much for Com munism/Com munists, even though the latter probably like the fact that the colour was and still is red rather than any other colour)
  

• The menu is largely predetermined
• prepare tons of Giao(4) ze (dumplings or somewhat more Westernized: Chinese style ravioli) since they symbolize gold ingots. Eat them on New Year's Eve.
  
• Other dishes typical for Spring festival: steamed mantou, steamed doubao and nian gao. Also clams and spring rolls are served because their shapes represent wealth: clams look like bullion and spring rolls are shaped like bars of gold. To mention one more: Also fish can play an important role as the word for fish (yu(2)) sounds a bit like the word for abundance. Hence: serve a fish > wish prosperity
  

• PutYasui money into little red pockets and hand them over to children
  
• >Reason: Interpretation I've read but not quite understood yet: avoid that they grow up too quickly.. Anyone out there willing to "enlighten" me?
• Other interpretations have extended the group of receipients to unmarried persons as well. Jeje, liked this version a lot until I found out that this rule does not apply to foreigners.. :( Whatever, am still a convinced "single"..
  
• But hey, I've still received my little red pocket, since McDonald’s has adapted the idea and distributed vouchers for sprite, coke, etc. in the form of little pockets.. commercialised culture.. yek..
  

• Setting off strings of firecrackers / fireworks
• This part is worth a post of its own as Chinese apparently still very much believe in the value of noise so as to scare away the evil spirits... (or so...). As for now: Beijing resembled a warzone.. Craaaazzzzyyyyy!!

• Watch the 4hour CCTV Spring Festival Gala. One of these new but stunningly popular "traditions" that was introduced in 1983. Roughly 99% of all Chinese I asked have actually seen this show which is a mixture of comedy, com munism and commerce.
  

• Visit Temple fairs. Go marvel at dragon dances, "little emperors" on poles, see people light incense in front of temples, buy plastic wind wheels, mice, go to weird "snake" shows during which artists insert snakes into one of their nostrils only to take them out through their mouth again.., savour scorpions on sticks, etc etc.. truly stunning.

Well, let me ad some random thoughts / facts in bullet point style:

• Don't expect to get hold of a train, plane or bus ticket during Chinese spring festival. Why? Imagine 1'200'000'000 people out of which an estimated 40% decide to travel on the same day(s) so as to be with their family.. Chinese sources speak of the biggest movement of humanity on earth (sounds dramatic, doesn't it...) during this period and stories of exploding sales of diapers for adults, etc circulate, more
• Beijing during Spring Festival felt like Paris in August or "Zermatt (ski resort in CH-Alps) in Winter - inverted". While Zermatt passes from 4'000 to 34'000 inhabitants during holiday season, Beijing shrinks from roughtly 15'000'000 to way less (yes, I am precise as that...;) - just imagine: there were almost no traffic jams!!
  

All those that have read this post until the end: "Chapeau". May you have started your New Year with plenty of garbage on the floor and neatly cut hair. :)

Chinglish - some bloomers

Chinese and English are worlds apart (a fact that I'm perfectly aware of: My Mandarin still progresses at the pace of a rheumatic cow..). Some funny side-effects of this are:

• Some restaurant's menu cards become pretty scary. Or would you like to eat for example:
• "explodes the stomach" or "explodes the sausage" (we spontaneously decided not to risk it.. ;)
• "double boiled deer's tail in water duck soup"

• All kinds of movies with English subtitles end up being somewhat funny (or flat-out hilarious!)
  
• A great example is Starwars "Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" (or as the subtitle calls it: "The backstroke of the west". Go visit Winterson to have a glimpse at some more great screenshots..

• Some ads change sense slightly and become somewhat sarcastic
• The ad of the posh Beijing Garden hotel on the flipside of "City Weekend" (Great Entertainment guide in English, with quite an important readership) tries to push it's business among other with its [Club house] Swimming poor, gym, sauna,..

• Some of the translations spit out by the online translator Xie Lei (a love of a colleague (die "gute Seele" von Exoweb)) and I use to (potentially) understand each other:
• "Beijing of evening of today snowing. Ride the bike to fall down carefully."
  

• Some signs have a hard time getting their intended message across:
• "The Safety is dependable from save to bring on oneself to charge reasonable" (Next to the lockers at the train station in Harbin). Hüüü?!
• "Question Authority" (in a bank.. guess what they want to say is: address your questions to a clerk, or something alike..)
• "In order to keep fit, no spitting please". I wished Chinese would actually abide by the rule established by this sign... ;)
  

Somewhat selfishly, I do hope that the average Chinese's English level is going to stay on the level of my Chinese for a little longer. Otherwise life would be way less funny..

I "very like" Chinglish..! :)

BLOG-Colombia-ay-ay-ay !!

Let me introduce a charmingly crazy "Welsch" friend of mine who just started his BLOG: Antoine "Tonio" just relocated to this treasure of a country which is Colombia. In his first post « J’ai épousé la Colombie » he writes:

Un pays comme la Colombie ne peut pas laisser indifférent, soit on le déteste et on voit tout le mal qu’il produit : enlèvement, massacre, misère, exclusion, corruption, clientélisme, drogue… etc. etc. Soit on en est amoureux. Et nombreux sont ceux qui viennent et tombent sous son charme. (for all non French speakers: basically you either hate the country or you fasten an idolatrous love upon it)

I definitely belong to the second type of persons: those who succumbed to its charme - its fantastic people, its diversity, its "jugos", its rumbas,.. - and utter a spontaneous, deep-drawn sigh and feel a strange urge to move their hips (even stiff Swiss hips such as mine.. ;) every time they think of Colombia..

"Tonio", I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts, "conneries", political statements, etc. etc. and wish you and Paula a terrific time!

Azúcar!

An Illusion - Or the state of the Union?

When I just read the state-of-the-union-speech 2006 by a person we all know, I had to spontaneously think of a passage in Syriana (new movie (worth a discussion on its own) starring among others George Clooney (to the deception of "Marilyn" and others he's slightly chubby and not all that sexy in this movie..;):

When a country has five percent of the world’s population but does fifty percent of its military spending then the persuasive powers of that country are on the decline.

Even though I definitely agree with one part of "W"s speech where he states that there is a difference between responsible criticism that aims for success, and defeatism that refuses to acknowledge anything but failure I nevertheless caught myself thinking: how long will people continue believing the illusion created by the sometimes well-chosen words and argumentations (but then, what about f.e. the one at the 4th line from the bottom)?)? And how are we going to tackle the problems (partly) resulting from the discrepancy between words and deeds? And then, even if the current administration is going to be replaced by a more responsible and decent one: who is going to take over the lead from this (great) country on the decline? I feel that during the upcoming years we're going to face an above average amount of challenges but doubt that our leadership is fit to takle them.. what do you think?

News from "Wunderlich-Junior"

The happy parents to be, Kurt and my younger sister, just sent me the most recent pic of "Wunderlich-Junior" (he/she is already 1.5 inches tall! ;).


I wanted to share this with you as I was quite taken aback and amazed by the fact that there's such a thing as 3D ultrasonic scans! (call me a retarded Neanderthal man if you wish..;) I could actually make out what I was supposed to see without having someone tell me.. yeeebbboo! :)

But then: is this full-grown bean a HE and already pretty "well equipped" or is "that" simply the umbilical cord... Pa please enlighten me and make me sound less ignorant.. ;)