Reflection

Reflecting on these past several months in Hong Kong, I am grateful for the unlimited access I was given to the CUHK library system. I am also extraordinarily grateful for Hong Kong's (and CUHK's) proximity to mainland China, which allowed me to visit Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Guilin, Yangshuo, Chengdu, and Lhasa.

Much heart-felt mahalos goes out to the Eu Tong Sen organization and the University of Hawai'i for making all of this possible. Aloha!

Last Day

Today is officially the last day of the spring semester.

Departure paperwork was necessary in order to get my deposits back. I picked them up from the IASP office and filled them out on the spot. According to IASP, the deposits should be ready two months from today, so I'd say I'll be receiving them in August.

I was required to cancel my library card by returning all my books and handing in a form to the library staff behind the counter. Within less than 24 hours, I was no longer allowed entry into any of the libraries, which was inconvenient, especially since I still wanted to print documents.

My CUHK email account and access should also no longer work after today either.

Shenzhen to Guangzhou

A new super-fast railway line has opened between Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Total travel time has now been cut to about 1 hour. The railway approaches speeds of up to 196 km per hour and makes only 2 stops between Shenzhen and Guangzhou East Railway Station. The train vibrates and shakes in a way that makes me nervous, but it seems to be secure. A ticket is 75 RMB. Goodbye buses and slow trains！

Expenses

The largest amount of my funds were put on my Octopus Card, which I used to purchase meals at the canteens, groceries at Park n' Shop, and travel between University Station and other parts of Hong Kong. Octopus Cards can be re-charged anywhere Octopus Cards are accepted, which makes it very convenient to use.

My Student ID was used to pay for laundry and dryer use and printing expenses. Between January and the end of April I spent 200 HKD on laundry, having washed my clothes once every two weeks. I placed about 150 HKD on my Student ID to print out documents related to my research.

The best place I found for printing out documents was Chung Chi College Library, ground floor near the back. The printers there are fast and well-maintained.

Summer has Arrived

Today's weather was 73 F and completely blue skies. What a phenomenal change. The rest of the week onwards promises to be even better in the upper 70s/lower 80s with completely blue skies.

Campus Glimpses

On a rare somewhat "ungray" spring day, this is the University Library, the largest of several on campus and a spectacular resource.

One of my favorite views at CUHK. This is in the Mong Man Wai Building. Mong Man Wai is one of the buildings used in the shortcut up to New Asia College from PGH1.

Sports Centre

CUHK's Sports Centre tennis courts. There are tennis courts at every college as well, I believe. Unfortunately, I do not play tennis, but have heard that many exchange students have passed their leisure time playing tennis and badminton. Court reservations can be made online.

What is a "toastie"?

Western menu items tend to go by their British names. This is a toastie, of which there are all sorts of varieties besides this banana cinnamon one.

US-China Relations

CUHK has no shortage of fascinating speakers visiting the university. Tonight, Chung Chi College invited the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong, James Cunningham, to speak to English Table participants. Mr. Cunningham spoke in a sober manner about how the future of the world would be determined by the relationship between China and America. He said it wasn't going to be his generation, but our generation, which would see a China entering the international community.

Mr. Cunningham also talked about common misperceptions the Chinese had about America. The following clip is of the second misperception.

Mr. Cunningham was very clear in saying that the U.S. did NOT want to see a weak China. I do believe the U.S. wants to see a China which can collaborate and cooperate within the increasingly linked international community as a team player. From what I sense right now though, China just wants to be the biggest kid on the playground.

Many Winters

You may have noticed a lack of photos lately. This is because the weather hasn't been at it's best in a while and I don't want to post dismal looking photos. Most days I'll wake up and look out the window (at my million-dollar view as my father refers to it) and just see a misty white haze. We've been having a lot of misty days and "many winters" as my friend commented. One week our weather will be in the 70s the next it will be in the 60s, then back to the 70s, and then back to the 60s. It has been pretty consistent in its inconsistency actually! I can pretty much count on next week being in the 70s since we had pretty chilly weather this past week. For the moment, I certainly don't enjoy the damp 62 degree days followed by 58 degree nights in my room!

A regular selection of clothing brought over from Hawai'i will not be warm enough for Hong Kong's "winter". Fortunately, there is an endless amount of clothing shopping which can easily be done in Causeway Bay, Kowloon Tong's Festival Walk, Shatin's Newtown Plaza Phase III, and TST.

Beware the Mandarin!

After 10 weeks in Hong Kong, I haven't been able to make heads or tails of the English spoken here by most of the locals I communicate with. There's no standardized local-brand of English as in Singapore (where you will hear Singlish being spoken very consistently by all Singaporeans) simply because English is not regarded as part of Hong Kong's core identity. IMHO, Hong Kong is not bilingual in the truest sense. The English here depends heavily on how much ability/accent the the speaker has...and they do come in a wide, WIDE range.

Every now and then, I will switch into Mandarin Chinese in an attempt to communicate more clearly with a local person. Unfortunately, the person I am communicating with will switch into a very heavily accented Mandarin which I can comprehend just about as clearly as their English.

Foiled! Just when I thought being able to speak these two languages would get me by. I read a survey result last night which reported that 53% of Chinese people could speak Mandarin Chinese competently. Around 60% in the urban areas and 40% in the rural areas. I don't think their definition of "competent" was that high, so this is quite an interesting number to think over!

中文能力 Chinese Ability

For a graduate student to fully take advantage of the Chinese opportunities here at CUHK, being fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese would be the best possible situation of course; however, if you are not fluent, then I strongly believe the bare minimum for comfort would be to be able to read 1000 characters or more of standard Chinese (since simplified is not used in Hong Kong) and being able to speak and understand basic to basic-advanced Cantonese.

CUHK has several newsletters published as well as email announcements sent in standard Chinese. The Center for Chinese Studies also announces event and forums in standard Chinese (absolutely no English). In addition, the John Fulton Staff Canteen menu and many menus on campus are posted in handwritten standard Chinese with no English translation.

Mid-Point

Today marks the beginning of Mid-term week for most students as well as the 15th day of the lunar calendar. The moon is full and clear in the sky tonight and I noticed many couples out taking a stroll together as I walked home from the library.

I spent all of this weekend in the libraries drilling through my coursework and research. I noticed that since last week, I have been eating an excessive amount of snacks, which only indicates that I am feeling the pressure and anxiety of this research. Time is ticking and I am wasting away the opportunities for data collection which are just a hop, skip, and a jump across the border in China.

I am most certainly my own worst enemy when it comes to pressure. Thank goodness CUHK is on a beautiful mountain. The atmosphere lessens my anxiety. I will dedicate a future entry to photos of the CUHK campus.

Internet Access at CUHK

The internet access in my room at PGH1 is unreliable at best. I am disconnected anywhere between every 5 minutes to every fifteen minutes to every 2 hours. It's very arbitrary, but I'm pretty sure it has to do with lack of bandwidth in this dorm. Let's just say that over New Year's break when 90% of the dorm was empty, I had no problems with access. Also, it seems after midnight, when everyone is presumably downloading their movies and music, I can pretty much assume that I won't be able to get online AT ALL.

I think I already complained earlier in this blog about how the IT helpdesk responded to my first telephone request for connection assistance for my Apple Powerbook G4. Instead of simply telling me that he didn't know, the staffer said,"There is no access for macs in your dorm.*click*" Those three weeks without an internet connection were devastating for me as a researcher. Fortunately over the years, I've learned to never take no for an answer. Wish I was a little faster about it though.

During the downtime, I visited the 8th floor Computer Room and endured the hassle of using a computer that was not my own. The room also did not have a printer. Actually, it did have a printer...that didn't work...and spit out disgusting ink-stained jibberish. I'm not one who can read papers and articles completely online; I prefer hard-copies which I can highlight and organize. I had originally planned to purchase a cheap black-and-white printer for my room, but after seeing how unreliable my internet connection was, abandoned that idea.

After 2 or 3 trips to the Computer Room, my patience was running thin. Not only did I have sign in and out in the ground floor lobby with every use, I also had to enter a 6 digit password into the door to the room to unlock it. Once I got in and turned on the computer, I had to input my CWEM username and password (which I could never remember off the top of my head) before it would startup. Needless to say, I stopped going to the Computer Room.

As I became more familiar with the campus, I discovered that each library had a computer area with 20 or so terminals. There, you can login simply by inserting your CUHK ID card into the keyboard. The libraries have Add-Value Machines which you can use to add money to your card for printing. I've found this to be the best solution for my online research.

This week I will haul my laptop around see what wireless networks are available on campus.

CLC Spring Party

Tonight the Chinese Language Center hosted their spring party. All the staff and faculty were present along with some of their family members. All together there must have been around 120-150 or so people! It was a potluck and performance. There was an excess of food on which I gorged myself. The performances included a lion dance, songs, and skits, but the showstopper was the beatbox/dance performed by two Japanese students.

Vegetarian Options at CUHK

CUHK's sensitivity for people with special diets is abysmal. You may be surprised, but I rank it under Beijing. Even though Beijingers have no concept of vegetarianism whatsoever, they can custom prepare food however you want it. At CUHK, you pick from what's posted on the bulletin board, no ifs, ands, or buts. (On rare moments, I can get them to go "outside-the-box" and not include meat in a dish, but that's only when the cook is in a good mood and ONLY when he understands my Mandarin or English.)

The best places on campus I've found are ranked in order below:

Chung Chi College - Sandwich Cafe - 3rd floor of the Sino Building, walk thru a hall to an adjacent building. I enjoy the vegetarian sandwich selections here as well as the availability of salads and fruit.

Chung Chi College - Orchid Lounge - across the street and down the stairs from the Sino Building. They can custom make something vegetarian for you for around HKD $35. This is far above student pricing, but at least its veg. I had this pasta dish the other day which was delicious.


United College - Student Canteen. They have about 4-5 vegetarian meal options which are listed under a "Vegetarian" category.
Vegetarian Combo Sandwich - HKD$18. I end up ordering this a lot.
Vegetarian Ham Sandwich - not filling enough
Vegetarian Chicken Hamburger - good, I order two for HKD$30.
Vegetarian cooked rice dish - HKD$15. Always written in Chinese handwriting which I can't decipher and find impossible to order. Must be explicit with the servers that I am vegetarian. It's hit or miss, sometimes the vegetables are severely overcooked.

John Fulton Centre Coffee Corner. I am perpetually ordering the spaghetti with vegetables and the vegetarian sauce choice. HKD$14.

John Fulton Centre Staff Restaurant. They have 3-4 dishes which count as vegetarian. Service is good but prices are high for a student. HKD$38-$42. Here is a dish I ordered.


The Worst Options are below:

Chung Chi College Student Canteen: this one is absolutely the worst. Vegetarian items aren't marked. Sometimes they will tell you a dish is vegetarian when it's not. The vegetarian items that do come out are heavily doused in meat-cooked oils.

New Asia Canteen: one cooked bok choi plate. That's it.

Happy Lunar New Year!

CLICK HERE for Your Greeting Card!!!

Dear Friends and Family,

Wishing you blessings and peace during this time of celebration!

Have a great Year of the Pig!

Going Back to HK from Guangzhou

Wandering among the sea of people around the train station heading home for New Years, I found it very interesting that a lot of young military boys as well as police men were assigned to keep order. Overpasses had become enforced as one-way and entrances to the stations had also become one-way. At one point, the policeman sitting at the base of the stairs had to yell something out of his megaphone at me to remind me that the stairs were one-way only. A moment later, he ran after a Chinese lady who tried to go against the crowd.

As I was climbing some stairs, I encountered an old man with a ridiculously heavy bunch of items on a set of wheels which he obviously would not be able to lug up the stairs on his own. A lady, who may or may not have known him, didn't seem to be able to lift the bottom of the load on her own. I decided to do the unusual (at least in my mind, it was unusual in this society, but maybe I am mistaken) and lent a helping hand. I lifted and bar and realized how heavy the load actually was. "Aiya!" I exclaimed. I sucked it up and together with the woman, helped the old farmer man with the load up two flights of stairs. They both said,"Thanks," to me and it was so uplifting to know that Chinese people DID say thank you to strangers.

To describe Guangzhou's transportation structure (I got a feel for it after wandering around in confusion for an hour), there is a Rail Station and an East Rail Station, a local bus station and a long-distance bus station. Since buses apparently leave for Shenzhen from both bus stations, I decided to visit the less crowded of the two, the Lihua local bus station, which is just above the D4 exit of the Metro and across from the McDonalds.

Signs at the station indicated that I should buy tickets at the 2nd floor (rather than right on the bus). Once I had purchased my ticket and descended back to the first floor where the buses were moving in and out, no areas were listed for Shenzhen. The station workers I asked keeping pointing to a place off in the distance. My ticket said "Long Distance Station 2nd Floor". I was very confused and asked a young worker (the third or fourth person I asked by now) for directions. He said in Chinese, "It's written right there on your ticket!" To which I replied, "I can't read it! I'm not Chinese-ah!" Amazing how fluent I sounded when speaking with a bit of emphasis and frustration. Surprisingly he said, "I'll take you there, okay?"

I followed him 180 meters down the street, up some stairs and through a front entrance and into a waiting hall on the second floor where lo and behold, buses were waiting behind doors with ticket takers. How modern, how Taipei-ish. The bus departed promptly and we were entertained by a Jackie Chan movie and some music videos. The bus arrived in the outer edges of Shenzhen (by Shenzhen University) in just 2 hours. Unfortunately, the next hour was spent trudging along in rush hour traffic. From there it was the routine ride home to University.

Special Sights in Guangzhou

The girl always wanted to hold his hand and the little boy accepted it.


The arrival of New Year's means a lot of these orange plants at doorsteps.

Guangzhou's Southern Yue Museum

Early in the morning, I arrived at the Museum of the Southern Yue Royal Mausoleum which was adjacent to Yuexiu Park. Immediately what struck me was the contemporary design of the museum. With my Beijing student card, I received a student rate of RMB $5 over the regular RMB $12.

The first building of the museum housed a good collection of Han-Tang dynasty pieces. Being early, I was able to enjoy the displays all to myself. I was impressed by a large collection of some 200 ceramic pillows on permanent display. The second part of the museum was the actual mausoleum. The exhibit was such that visitors could walk around inside the tomb itself and explore its various chambers. I was surprised at how small it was...and I did feel a little strange reading descriptions which pointed out where the bodies were found. The third building of the museum showcased the actual pieces found within the mausoleum. It struck me that what I was seeing was none other than the very pieces I had studied in my Chinese Art History class with Professor Lingley at UH. I was able to witness, in person, a particular piece which had fascinated me from the textbook: a bodysuit completely made out of jade, sewn together with strands of red silk. Though the bodies in the tombs had long decayed and virtually turned to dust, the jade suit remained intact. Thinking of it now however, the jade looked in awfully good condition for its age. The King of Wen, inhabitor of the "suit", was buried with many jade bi as well and I was able to see the largest jade bi disc found intact in all of China on display. I was also able to see iron swords which looked more like tree bark now and gold and jade seals used by the King and his 4 wives (two of which were named Lady Right and Lady Left). To my surprise, three Japanese tour groups came through the museum while I was there. I had no idea the Japanese took tours to Guangzhou.

I really enjoyed visiting this museum and found it to be the highlight of this trip to Guangzhou. The unfortunate thing I find at most museums in China though is that, even though photos are prohibited, museum staff don't really care. People were taking lots of flash photography.

I heard from my roommate that another one is the making right at this moment and is being excavated just off of Beijing Lu.