chinaadventure

Taipei - across the finish line

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 09:09:27 GMT

The last week of my internship was probably the most frantic. Although I had gathered all the candy consumption data, most of the conclusions about the project would be based on data gathered from the surveys distributed to patients in the morning and afternoon clinics, and also to new patients registering at the clinic. The survey distribution to the morning clinic was hectic – more people come in the morning (91 morning patients filled out the survey), and many of them have jobs or family to go to right after their clinic appointment, so the time to fill out the survey was somewhat less and many patients didn’t even see the questions on the back. This was recorded as “missing data” but didn’t really affect awareness or recall rates because most morning clinic patients said they never saw candy with stickers. My data showed only 3% of the morning patients could remember part of the slogan on the stickers, but 100% of morning clinic patients who didn’t find out about the candy until they got the survey thought I was a jerk for giving candy to the afternoon clinic and not to them. In fact, I did give the morning clinic sticker-less candy on weekends to prevent angry patients from writing random answers on the survey, but some patients travel on weekends so they were unaware of this. The afternoon clinic was a little slower (55 afternoon patients filled out the survey) but the awareness and recall rates were higher, which pleased me greatly. The new patient survey was given to new patients who came to register at the clinic but was only distributed for four days because of delays in development, so only 7 patients filled out the survey. However, their answers were still useful for my final presentation.
Although I didn’t have time to do a complete statistical analysis on the data, the preliminary results were satisfactory. I focused on awareness (defined as having seen or heard of any type of candy from the Methadone clinic), recall (defined as the ability to remember at least 1 character from either of the two slogans on the stickers), and consumption (defined as any candy not left in the jar when it was collected at the end of the day). I also looked at patient responses to a survey question on whether the patient could draw the picture that had appeared next to the slogan, which should have been a heart or a four-leaf clover. One patient drew a clover-like object and two drew hearts. However, because the rest of the responses included stick figures, happy faces and Hello Kitty, I concluded that despite their creative responses, the patients did not remember the pictures. The results were as follows:
Current patient awareness percentage:
Objective: at least 50% of clinic patients having seen or heard of candy from the clinic.
Actual: 90.9% of afternoon patients aware of clinic candy, 72.5% of morning patients aware of clinic candy (with or without stickers).
New patient awareness percentage:
Objective: at least 10% of new patients having seen or heard of candy from the clinic.
Actual: 56.14% of new patients aware of clinic candy (with or without stickers).
Current patient recall percentage:
Objective: at least 20% of afternoon patients can recall at least 1 character from either candy slogan.
Actual: 29.09% of afternoon patients and 3% of morning patients could recall at least 1 character.
Candy consumption rate:
Objective: at least 50 pieces of candy consumed per day by afternoon clinic.
Actual: 62.4 pieces per day consumed by afternoon clinic.
My final presentation was on Friday. I was the last remaining intern so unfortunately none of my intern friends could attend, but most of the AIDS prevention staff was there, as well as Dr. Yen the hospital administrator. My presentation was in Chinese although the Powerpoint was in English, but I had translated a few key words into Chinese and also provided a paper outline of the project. Presentations in Taiwan differ from those in the U.S. mainly in that professors (or hospital management, in this case) can jump in with their questions at any time during the presentation, and can ask the presenter to skip ahead or go back to revisit whichever topic the professor/manager wants to address. This can be unnerving for presenters who are accustomed to waiting until the end of the presentation to answer questions, but I had already experienced this as a student at NCKU and had seen it at the hospital during other interns’ presentations, so I felt prepared. The only questions Dr. Yen posed during the presentation were about why I had decided to use candy instead of chocolate (which would have melted either in the clinic or in patients’ pockets). There was also a weakness in the study design (no pre-project data) and in the new patient survey (a question on having seen/heard about candy did not ask if the new patient had seen other ads about the clinic, so the results proved that new patients had seen the candy but couldn’t prove that was the only ad they saw). However, Dr. Yen concluded that he was impressed with the results and would consider adding candy advertisements to the needle-cleaning kits given to IDUs. He also wanted all future interns to run their projects as experiments based on behavioral science theories. Finally, he wanted to research cell phone-based public health interventions, which he felt would be both inexpensive and effective because Taipei intravenous drug users, like most Taiwanese, are never without their cell phones. Although this particular week was exhausting, it was a relief to know that my project would be continued in some form after I returned to California, and that it would give heroin addicts in Taipei a chance to lead healthier lives.

Photos from the final presentation and patient surveys: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Taiwan/Taipei%20Internship/Candy%20project%20photos/

Taipei/Kaohsiung - "Addiction is not a crime."

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 02:08:36 GMT

Last week the Methadone clinic had yet another appearance in the media – on Monday, the hospital administrator Dr. Yen held a press conference with such disparate agenda items as “How the Methadone clinic operates” and “How to cure a sore throat acquired from staying up all night singing karaoke with friends.” The Methadone issue was particularly difficult, as neither the press nor the general public looks favorably on drug addiction. Which is understandable, but nevertheless makes press conferences quite complicated. One of the reporters asked how long patients could remain on Methadone therapy; this is a difficult question to answer because to say patients can conceivably remain on Methadone therapy for years implies that the hospital legally offers opiates to drug addicts for as long as they want, but to say that (due to the absence of other support services and the highly addictive nature of heroin) most patients fall out of the program after a few months implies that Methadone therapy is a failure. Dr. Yen chose to answer by emphasizing that the clinic treats addiction, and “addiction is not a crime.” Selling or using drugs is a criminal issue, but being addicted to them is a medical one. The press seemed satisfied with this.
The television media were unusually aggressive last week. One rainy afternoon, I was sitting at the back of the Methadone clinic so I could converse with patients without disturbing their usual behavior patterns. From my vantage point I caught a glimpse of a patient talking with an unknown young woman outside the clinic; after a few seconds, I noticed she was carrying a microphone, and there was a man behind her with a professional video camera. My understanding of medical laws in Taiwan is limited but I assumed they did not include getting recovering drug addicts on film as they were leaving a treatment center. I pointed the woman out to the clinic nurses (they couldn’t see out the window from behind the front counter), and one of them ran outside to talk with her. The woman and the cameraman disappeared after a few minutes; I found out later she claimed to have had the hospital’s permission to interview patients unaccompanied by a staff member, but fled when the nurse called an administrator on her cell phone. The nurses were unable to get a hold of the film, but they said that if it airs the TV station will pixellate the patients’ faces to prevent recognition; however, I have seen cases on the Taiwanese television where only the person’s pupils were pixellated. This doesn’t seem to offer much protection - I assume viewers could guess what color the eyes were.
Over the weekend I went to Kaohsiung to visit my friends Janice and Jack, and also to buy some personal protection. Due to several recent incidents, I decided it would be best to have either mace or an alarm in my purse at all times, just in case. The first shop I visited was a weapons store that sold mostly replicas, since guns are illegal in Taiwan. The owner offered to sell me a very effective alarm that was activated by pulling out the key, but unfortunately it was attached to a Taser, and I could just imagine trying to get that through U.S. Customs. The second shop had mace, which I purchased because it would be much easier to travel with. The shop owner said both mace and personal alarms were generally poor sellers, but she knew the mace at least was very effective – a customer’s boyfriend had found it in the store once and pushed the button, thinking it was perfume. Because of the hot weather, the shop owner had had both the fan and the air conditioner on, and as a result they had had to evacuate the store. “But,” she told me, “at least now we know it works!”

Photos of Janice and Jack: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Taiwan/Taipei%20Internship/Janice%20wedding%20photos/

Taipei - the door to the spirit world is opened

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 06:34:22 GMT

The candy project is now reaching its final weeks. I have gotten positive feedback from both the patients and the nurses in the clinic, so it remains only to see if the candy will have its desired effects. This week, I started designing the post-intervention surveys to measure how much of the candy is consumed by the patients themselves and how much is reaching the IDU community, as well as patient impressions of the whole project. I’m using two separate surveys: one for current patients and one for incoming patients. This will determine whether similar methods could be used in the future as clinic advertising or as a way to reinforce positive health messages for current patients.
Unfortunately, I was unable to use a pre-test to acquire baseline data, because at the time I arrived, the patients didn’t know who I was or how much Chinese I could understand. I also hadn’t provided them with any deliverables at that point, so it’s likely that if I had handed out a pre-test I would have had a low return rate. In addition, it took me three weeks to develop the messages that are placed on the candy. Designing, editing, translating, back-translating, submitting and collecting a pre-test would likely have taken an additional week, at which point the time remaining for the intervention might have been too short to show results. Finally, I know I can get basic background information on the patients from the intake surveys collected by the clinic. So my study design is relatively weak (post-test only), but it does allow me to manage the project almost entirely by myself (interns here are expected to run their own projects largely unassisted), and increases the possibility of seeing some results.
Aside from my project, I’ve had the opportunity to observe some major cultural events. Last week an announcement appeared on the Taiwanese news channel that “the door to the spirit world has opened!” August is the “ghost month” on the Chinese lunar calendar, the period when deceased ancestors can visit the world of the living. During this month, Taiwanese people set up altars in their homes and doorways with offerings to their ancestral spirits – usually food, beverages and paper money. They pray over the offerings with joss sticks and burn the money in fireproof outdoor bins. After the ancestors have had a chance to eat and drink their fill, the offerings are taken down and shared among the living.
Although I didn’t participate in praying over the offerings, I did join my coworkers’ conversations about their experiences with ghosts or ancestral spirits. Most of my coworkers say they have seen or heard a ghost at some point, usually in their college dormitory. This isn’t surprising, as dormitories in Taiwan are generally quite old and therefore have long histories of both corporal and spiritual habitation. I haven’t seen any ghosts myself yet, but I did find out that the fastest way to end these conversations is to mention I’m living alone in a dormitory. Personally, I don’t expect to see many ghosts; my dorm room may look like it was built during the Ming dynasty, but it doesn’t have the air I would expect of haunted buildings (although the attic upstairs looks like a good place to hide bodies). Should any ghosts appear, I hope to avoid doing anything that would incur their displeasure, and to wish them a speedy journey back to the spirit world at the end of the month.

Taipei - from Marxism to Methadone

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 07:51:10 GMT

My second trip to Taiwan is proving to be quite a change of pace. As a grad student at the UCLA School of Public Health, I am spending my summer internship working in the Taipei Health Department’s Methadone Clinic. Methadone is used both here and in the United States as a replacement therapy for heroin users because its effects are similar but it is much less addictive. The Methadone clinic gives injectible drug users (IDUs) an opportunity to get treatment for their addiction, and also reduces the infection rates for diseases transmitted through shared needles, such as AIDS and hepatitis. In practice, running a Methadone clinic for heroin users is as difficult practically as it is politically. Heroin is a highly addictive substance; I’ve been told that the relapse rate for Taipei heroin users is close to 90% on the first attempt. Methadone also carries the risk of overdose if patients continue using heroin while on Methadone treatment. Finally, resources for recovering addicts are generally slim outside of the United States; in Taipei, there are two organizations similar to AA that offer behavioral therapy for addicts, but neither is heavily used, which means drug users often receive medical treatments (such as Methadone) for their addictions but may not get treatment for the behavioral or environmental issues that led to their drug use in the first place. Because my internship is only ten weeks, I won’t have the time to address some of the larger barriers to successful AIDS prevention and addiction treatment, such as the tendency for policemen to gather near needle exchange locations and arrest IDUs as they exit with clean needles (in Taiwan, carrying a syringe is considered probable cause, so anyone caught with a syringe can be taken to the nearest police station and required to take a drug test).
My work in the clinic consists of interviewing patients to find out how their Methadone treatment is progressing, as well as finding ways to strengthen the Health Department’s outreach to IDUs. I’m piloting a Chinese-language peer-to-peer advertising campaign to determine if it’s an effective way to reach IDUs and get them to come to the clinic. I created two slogans in Chinese based on data gathered from interviewing IDUs: “Put down the pen and raise a cup!” and “Throw out Number 4, it’s better to come and drink!” “Pen” is a Chinese slang term for “syringe” among IDUs, and “Number 4” is a slang term for heroin that refers to the substance’s purity compared to other drugs. The slogans were edited to follow the three-character or four-character pattern of classical Chinese literature, which all Taiwanese are exposed to from grade school so the slogans would be easier for IDUs to memorize, then tested for comprehension in a small group of clinic patients. Finally, the slogans were printed on stickers that are attached to candy, which patients are given daily after they drink Methadone to take away Methadone’s bitter medicinal taste. The patients each take a few pieces of candy every day, which increases their exposure to the message and also the possibility that they will share it with other IDUs. After a few weeks, I will give the patients a short quiz to see if they remember the slogans or the pictures on the stickers, and will also ask all incoming patients if they have seen or heard of this candy from any of their friends. I want to determine if the candy is an effective way to advertise the clinic, or if it would be more effective to focus on attitude change among patients by continually exposing them to the same message.
Three weeks in, the project is already showing small signs of success. The patients like the candy because it’s free, it takes away the taste of Methadone, and they can pick through the bin to choose their favorite pieces. After a few more weeks, I hope to show enough of an effect from my data to persuade the clinic directors to continue the program after I return to UCLA. That would be the sweet taste of success.

Photos: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Taiwan/Taipei%20Internship/

The "China Adventure" starts again!

Mon, 21 May 2007 22:15:17 GMT

After a nine-month hiatus (due to my graduate studies at UCLA), the "China Adventure" emails will be starting again! Once again I'm headed for Taiwan, but with a slightly different twist - I will be working full-time instead of studying. I have secured a summer internship with the Taipei Health Department evaluating their HIV prevention program for intravenous drug users. I'm sure you could come up with much better ideas for a summer vacation, but I'm excited about this because it's a great opportunity for me to fulfill the internship requirement for my Master's degree by working in a region where I have had so many great experiences and met so many wonderful people. In addition, thanks to generous support from UCLA's Bixby Program for Population and Reproductive Health, and the Drabkin Fund for international health, I will not have to moonlight as an English teacher in order to pay for my internship. I look forward to sharing more "China Adventures" (and photos too!) with you over the next few months as I work with the Health Department to keep Taiwan healthy.

The start of the next adventure is only six weeks away!

Lalashan, Taipei County - the "Long March"

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 14:32:51 GMT

In an effort to catch a break from the aforementioned rounds of "You a poo-poo head!", I joined my classmates Dominic and Tommy on a backpacking trip in Taipei County last weekend. I knew we would also be accompanied by Tommy's girlfriend Mingzhen, and six other individuals from Taipei whom I hadn't met yet. None of my other classmates wanted to go with us; they were a little intimidated by Tommy's reputation as a serious hiker. Tommy himself had previously said that his favorite hikes involved "opening the road" - that is, heading straight up the side of a mountain with a backpack and a pole for clearing the way. The hike that he led during the class trip to Nantou in January is still a sensitive topic. I wasn't able to attend the trip but I did learn that only half the class was willing to go with him on that "easy" hike, and the survivors are still traumatized. Hanning recently complained, "It went on forever! He just kept saying, 'We're almost there, we're almost there,' but it lasted for hours!"
With this in mind, the four of us boarded the bus for Taipei on Friday. When we arrived in Taipei, I got my first indication as to what kind of hike this was going to be: the six other athletic individuals were all Tommy's hiking buddies from college. I noticed when we got to Lalashan ("Lala" is the local aboriginal word for "beautiful") at 2AM Saturday morning that they had provided only one bottle of water for each person, but they had brought plenty of beer. And a watermelon. We were unable to drive to the park gate on the first night because the guard would not allow the van to pass, so we camped (very noisily) outside the guard station.
On Saturday morning we gathered our packs, each weighing between 15 and 22 kilograms, and hiked up the road to the park gate. There was a minor dispute over the watermelon, as everyone wanted to eat it but no one wanted to carry it for 17 kilometers, so Tommy resolved this by carrying the melon himself. After half an hour we reached the park gate and started the real hike. The weather was cool and the thick vegetation provided some pleasant shade. The time passed quickly as Tommy's friends sang traditional Chinese songs or swapped stories about the daring rescues they had performed on girlfriends who fell injured during a hike. At 2PM we stopped for a lunch of noodles and took the chance to drop the packs, stretch out and relax. After an hour we shouldered the bags again and started the descent.
It was here that the fun started. In Tainan we had found while packing for the trip that Dominic lacked hiking boots but, encouraged by Tommy's statement that this was "an easy hike," we had all agreed there would be no problem with hiking in sneakers. I had done it myself on a previous occasion. However, once on the mountain, the combination of the heavy pack and a lack of adequate footwear meant that Dominic started having knee pain, which by midafternoon was unbearable. Since there was no choice but to continue on, the group decided to separate: six people went on ahead carrying Dominic's, Xiangchun's and Yuming's packs, and the remaining three of us (myself, Xiangchun and Yuming) stayed behind to assist Dominic with the descent. Despite the pain in his knee (we later learned it was tendonitis), he was quite stoic and offered no complaint. We patiently worked our way through the remaining 7 or 8 kilometers, which occasionally involved navigating across rockslides and small waterfalls. There were several places where the trail was less than half a meter wide and the drop-off was precipitous. Xiangchun and Yuming distracted us with stories of how during their military service, they had run the full length of this trail in the dark while carrying rocks. As the afternoon stretched into evening and the shadows deepened, with the trail end nowhere in sight and fatigue setting in, I began to think running the trail in the dark might actually be preferable. Yuming called out several times but there was no response; by sunset we assumed the lead group had already reached the aboriginal elementary school where we would camp for the night. According to the signposts on the trail, we still had several kilometers to go. When it was too dark to see clearly, Xiangchun and Dominic switched on their headlamps. I glanced briefly at the smattering of stars through the treetops overhead. Several times during the hike Xiangchun pointed out an unusual insect native to Taiwan, similar to a centipede but with an illuminated posterior like a firefly. We continued on in the dark, and it was after 8PM by the time we crossed the last bridge and saw the car that would take us to the school. We had hiked for nearly twelve hours, and even though my pack had been passed among the three of us for the last half of the hike, I was still completely exhausted.
There was plenty of hotpot, beer and watermelon waiting at the campsite, so we went to sleep that night tired but very satisfied. The following morning, we packed our bags and hiked down to a small waterfall for breakfast and a swim. The water was refreshingly cold and raised everyone's spirits, so that after breakfast the boys opted to climb the waterfall to check out the view from the top. I stayed below with Mingzhen, who watched Tommy with his friends and sighed, "There he goes again. He always has to be the first one up the waterfall..." One of the boys, Jinzi, thoughtfully carried a digital camera up the falls so that we, too, could see what it was like at the top.
After we finished swimming, we boarded the van for the return to Taipei. At the bus station Dominic and I bid farewell to our new friends and headed back to Tainan; Tommy and Mingzhen decided to stay an extra day in Taipei. In Tainan on Monday, I regaled our classmates in the graduate room with the story of our experiences on the mountain. One of my classmates, Lanceral, shook his head when I finished. "I don't believe it," he said. "I don't think that not having hiking boots would cause such an injury." He added, however, that it sounded like fun and he would like to try it.
It was suddenly clear to me who was going to be the next notch in Tommy's hiking boots, but I only smiled and said, "Next time you can go hiking with Tommy. He'll probably take you on an easy hike."

Photos from the hike: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Taiwan/Hiking%20in%20Taipei%20-%20Jinzi%20Pics/

Tainan - a trip north and a change of plans

Mon, 31 Jul 2006 07:39:01 GMT

After finals ended in June, some friends and I decided to take a trip to Hualien, Yilan and Taipei for a few days to visit classmates. In Hualien we were able to stay with my classmate Hanning Xu and her family, who treated us to an excellent home-cooked meal including breadfruit soup. On our first day in Hualien, Hanning and her younger sister Weining took us to Carp Lake, where we were able to ride a paddleboat out into the middle of the lake for a stunning view. However, they advised us not to try swimming in the lake, as the water is stagnant. Our attempt to get a better lakeside view by climbing an aboriginal watchtower was foiled by some construction workers who told us to get down, it was closed for renovation. We consoled ourselves with freshly made ice cream cones at the sugar factory before heading home for dinner.
On the second day, we woke up early and drove out to Taroko Gorge. Views of the steep forested walls of the gorge and the surging rapids at its base make Taroko Gorge a major tourist attraction in Taiwan. We stopped at several sites while driving through the gorge, including a shrine to honor the laborers who died building the road and a small grotto for swallows overlooking the rapids on the valley floor. Further up the road, we walked through at a tourist center and five-star hotel, where I enjoyed a lunch of sweet rice steamed in bamboo cooked by a Taroko aboriginal woman outside the hotel doorway. Hanning told us that the situation for native Taiwanese in this part of Taiwan has improved greatly over the last several years; twenty years ago, it was not unknown for impoverished native families to sell their daughters into prostitution.
The following day, we headed north by train to Yilan, where we visited the tourist center for the recently opened Taipei-Yilan expressway, which includes the longest tunnel in the world. My classmate Steven Lin said the new expressway shortens travel time between the two cities from over two hours to forty-five minutes. Our journey by car through the main tunnel alone took over twenty minutes. In Taipei we also hiked on Yangming Mountain, which is an active volcano famous for its hot springs. Steven mentioned it was possible to hike all the way up to the peak, but Taipei people prefer to "hike" by driving to the top, so that's what we did, though once at the top we did manage a short hike to see a waterfall. By the time we arrived at the bus station for the trip back to Tainan, I was tired but pleased to have seen a little more of Taiwan.
Back in Tainan, I thought over how much I enjoyed touring the country and how much of it I hadn't seen yet. I decided that July 10, my original departure date, was too soon and it would be much better to teach English in Taiwan for the summer. I was fortunate to find plenty of demand for this service. I now teach a variety of students from five to twenty-eight years old, including four teenagers. This has required me to adapt to the English level of my students; some days I will discuss advanced grammar and essay-writing with my classmates and two hours later teach a pair of five-year-olds, where a typical conversation begins, "It my turn!" "No, it not your turn! You a poo-poo head!" Despite the occasional frustrations of teaching, I am enjoying my last few weeks in Taiwan and will be sad to leave so soon.

Photos from Hualien and Taipei: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Taiwan/Hualien%20and%20Taipei/

Tainan - Dragon Boat Festival and Alishan

Sat, 03 Jun 2006 16:53:13 GMT

Last Wednesday we had a day off from classes in honor of the Dragon Boat Festival, which has two main traditional elements: the dragon boat races and making zongzi (rice dumplings). On the day of the festival I went with two classmates to the river to cheer on my friend Gona, who was a member of the Chinese Language Center's dragon boat racing team. The team, entirely comprised of foreigners, finished third in the races, which prompted one of my classmates to remark, "Wow, Gona's arm is really powerful!"
I, on the other hand, had much less success at making zongzi. The day before the festival, I went to a zongzi-wrapping activity at the language center, where there were a lot of students in attendance and, it turned out, several reporters and photographers as well. Assuming they were from the school newspaper, I readily answered some questions about where I was from, how long I had studied Chinese, and how long it took me to wrap one zongzi. I guessed ten minutes, since I periodically had to rewrap my zongzi (an experienced Taiwanese cook can wrap one in less than thirty seconds). I left the activity and didn't think about it again until the following afternoon when my friend Shawn announced that he saw my picture in the United Daily. I asked if that was the name of the student paper; he said, "Oh no, I think everyone in Tainan reads this paper!" I quickly bought a copy for myself and, sure enough, there was my name and picture under the enormous headline "Wrapping Zongzi: Foreigners are so Confused! It takes some people ten minutes just to wrap one!"
In need of a change of scenery after the zongzi-making, I spent Friday and Saturday with a classmate hiking in Alishan, which is perhaps Taiwan's most famous hiking area. One highlight of a trip to Alishan is a ride on the alpine train, one of very few in the world, which climbs slowly from the flatlands to an altitude of over 2000 meters at the top of the mountain. During the three-hour journey, passengers can watch the scenery change from the tropical zone of the flatlands to the subtropical and finally temperate zone as the train nears the peak. The high point of the trip is the last section of track, where the train is alternately pushed and pulled up the side of the mountain on a series of switchbacks called a "Z-shaped track."
Another of Alishan's highlights is the view of the sunrise from the top of the mountain, which unfortunately we missed because of heavy rain. Still, the abundance of hiking trails more than made up for it. During our stay, my classmate and I were able to visit the site of a 3000-year-old "sacred tree," the magnolia garden, and the Two Sisters Ponds, supposedly named for two sisters from the Tsou aboriginal tribe who dove into the ponds after falling in love with the same man. We also toured the charming town of Fenqihu about an hour's drive down the mountain from Alishan. I left Alishan worn out from hiking but grateful for the opportunity to see another of Taiwan's famous sites.

Photos from the Dragon Boat Festival: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Taiwan/

Photos from Alishan: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Taiwan/Alishan/

Tainan - Not all Taiwanese are "Taiwanese"

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 13:54:59 GMT

While at a Rotaract meeting last week I joked to a Taiwanese friend of mine that I loved coming to the meetings but I had no idea what was going on, since all the meetings are held in Taiwanese (Hoklo) instead of Mandarin. It has been said that the two languages are as much alike as English and German, so while it is possible to understand a few words it is very difficult to follow conversations unless one speaks the language fluently. I was taken aback, however, when my friend admitted he also did not speak Taiwanese. He explained, "I'm waisheng (lit., 'Mainlander'). My family is from Shandong Province so we can't speak Taiwanese."
For most of the last century, the greatest sociopolitical divide in Taiwan has been between the bensheng (Taiwanese) and the waisheng (Mainlanders). Though both groups are ethnically Chinese, the Taiwanese are those whose ancestors came to Taiwan before the Japanese occupation in 1895. Their ancestors are largely from Fujian Province in China, and in fact the Taiwanese language is closely related to the Fujian dialect. The Mainlanders are the descendents of the Kuomintang (Nationalists) and their supporters who came to Taiwan after the end of World War II, when Taiwan was formally returned to China. The Mainlanders have their roots in various parts of China and thus speak Mandarin as a common tongue; they have little or no knowledge of Taiwanese. Aside from language, there are also socioeconomic gaps between the two groups. When the Mainlanders took control of the administration of Taiwan, the most preferential political and commercial opportunities were given to other Mainlanders due to their better social connections and superior Mandarin. The Taiwanese were largely closed off from political or social advancement. The Mainlanders also initially exploited Taiwan's natural and industrial resources to support the Nationalist government in Beijing, earning them the reputation of "barbarians" that, in milder form, still carries over to today. During the White Terror and the decades of martial law under the KMT government that followed, the Taiwanese were frequently viewed with suspicion as "subversives" and imprisoned by the Mainlander-dominated administration. Though relations have improved immensely in recent years, there are still many issues that are not discussed in public, and more than one Taiwanese friend has told me that their families don't mention "Mainlanders" at home because parents find it very upsetting. Another Taiwanese friend told me, "We suffered a lot under them during the White Terror. Some things are very hard to get over."
Fortunately, it seems social relations have improved in recent years. My friends here say only that it's not mentioned; if it's clear that someone is "Mainlander," it's socially acceptable, but in general Taiwanese do not ask each other if they speak Taiwanese. As my friends have said, some issues are better not discussed.

Photos of Rotary Events: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Taiwan/Rotary%20Events/

Tainan - modelling, take two!

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 13:25:59 GMT

At the beginning of April, I had another opportunity to be a hairstyle model, only this time the show was in Tainan so there was no four-hour drive to Taipei. Though grateful for the shorter the travel time, I soon found that there was an additional twist: since my Austrian friend Gona would also be modelling but spoke only basic Chinese, I would be translating for her during the show. This raised the stakes somewhat, since if I made a mistake during the show it was one thing, but if Gona made a mistake because I gave her the wrong translation, it's another thing entirely. Also, I found out upon arriving at the site the day of the show that I was the only one of the four models who had done this before, so as my friend and former modelling buddy pointed out, "You have to be the leader because you are lao niao (the old bird) in the show."
With that in mind, I felt extremely lucky that the show ran as smoothly as it did. Since by now I had learned that "liang ge ba pai" means "two eight-counts," as well as the Chinese words for "turn," "smile," don't touch your makeup," and "say hello to the audience," I felt much more comfortable this time around. I could even manage the final catwalk knowing three other pairs of eyes were watching to see when I stepped forward. I returned to my dorm that evening with a set of pants that will never again see daylight, a shockingly red hairdo, and the knowledge that I can multitask (model and translate Chinese) without too much difficulty.

Photos from modelling: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Taiwan/Modelling/

Tainan - "supernova Chinese" and speaking English

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 15:13:15 GMT

My Taiwanese friend recently told me that most foreigners' spoken Chinese is called "huoxingwen," which translates roughly as "firestar language" or "supernova Chinese." When pressed for an explanation, he said "Supernova Chinese is where the Chinese words are all right but the grammar is not. So when you hear it, it's like listening to an explosion of words. When we begin to study English, our English is the same way, so we know how you feel." Even though after two and a half years of study I have mostly passed the supernova threshhold, my Chinese is far from perfect. I was told recently by my classmates that my Chinese is very clear and straightforward - in as many words, that I speak Chinese like a man. In Taiwan, this is not exactly a compliment. I have since been working with a friend to improve my vocabulary and make my speech a little more "xiuqi"; refined and elegant. I have made some progress but I believe it's a lost cause. I am not even able to speak "xiuqi English," let alone Chinese.
This study of "xiuqi Chinese" has also led to discussions on gender differences in Taiwan. One of these pertains to women and sports. Most of my male classmates are fairly athletic, on par with their counterparts in the United States. However, most women in Taiwan do not play sports at all, primarily because they stay indoors during the day in order to avoid tanning. Another reason is a cultural preference for women who are "soft and pale," so most activities that enhance muscle mass are discouraged for women. One of my classmates said that out of every ten Taiwanese women on average, seven will do no exercise whatsoever and perhaps three will enjoy sports. In our graduate class, he believes the ratio is even lower. Out of the fifteen or so women in the class, I asked who he thought these three women might be; he said "Hanning Hsu. And you. In Taiwan, you are both exceptions."
Over the last few weeks I have been able to learn more about my classmates through teaching than through studying. At the beginning of the semester my classmate Liwen asked me to help her teach conversational English to our classmates and, as a native speaker, I could hardly refuse. We have had several weekly sessions so far and the class size has fluctuated between four and eight students, depending on who feels like getting up early on Friday morning to speak English. The class originally centered on reading an English newspaper and discussing the articles, but lately this has been supplanted by some handouts with English slang words gleaned from Hollywood tabloids, and in the last couple of classes we have barely discussed the news at all. I started making the handouts to keep up the interest level in the class, and the payoff has been listening to our classmates use phrases like, "Wow, you are really a tough cookie!" "Did you have to shell out for a new computer?" and "Did you know Jessie's sister works in Tinseltown?" Liwen and I are both hoping to attract more students to the class, in order to raise everyone's English ability, so in the future we plan to use the handouts as well as speech exercises and English songs to keep our classmates from getting bored or frustrated. Initially I was ambivalent about teaching English to my classmates since I had no teaching experience, but the Friday morning sessions have become enjoyable, and our classmates have started calling us "xiao laoshi" - the little teachers.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Tue, 28 Feb 2006 02:49:26 GMT

Although we were a little tired after our whirlwind tour of Vietnam, we still had one more stop before heading back to Taiwan. We arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia where we were greeted by our guide, Thai, and had our first taste of some very un-February-like weather. In Tainan I seldom saw 25 degree Celsius days during the winter, but apparently they are not uncommon in Cambodia.
Our main reason for visiting Siem Reap was to see Angkor Wat, and as with almost everything else on this trip, it did not disappoint. We spent an entire day touring the temples of Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat and, as our guide also works on the temple restoration project, we were able to learn more about them than we would ever want to know. The temples were actually built by the Khmer people (pronounced Kh-mai) to honor the god-king and were not expected to last as long as they did. As it is, the restoration project takes considerable work because the ground underneath the temple is waterlogged, so there is a great risk of the walls separating and cracking over time. Still, many of the original carvings are preserved, depicting both mythological events and elements from Khmer daily life. Some of the carvings reveal the multiracial nature of Khmer society; there were panels where it was fairly easy to distinguish between Khmer and Chinese soldiers. Other panels had carvings of mythological creatures such as the naga (a multi-headed serpent) and the garuda (a creature with the body of a man and the head of a bird). In one area of the temple, there was a bridge with long rows of stone gods and demons each holding a naga, the gods on one side and the demons on the other.
The high point (literally) of our tour of the temples was a visit to the tower at Angkor Wat, where we had the opportunity to climb the stairs and enjoy the view from the top. This was no mean feat, as the stairs are similar to those seen at Mayan temples so it required a bit more mountaineering than walking. However, the view from the top was worth the climb, and the sight of the towers touched gold by the sunset was stunning.
While in Siem Reap, we also had some opportunities to observe the daily life of the Khmer people. We enjoyed lunch with a local family in their wooden house, which was elevated to keep it from being flooded during the spring rains. We also took an ox-cart ride for a tour of a Siem Reap neighborhood, where we were greeted by barefoot children yelling "Hello!" and watched families drying fermented fish called "prahok," which is eaten with rice as a staple food in Cambodia. Like Taiwan's famous "stinky tofu," we were told that the worse it smells, the better it tastes. Finally, we took a boat ride through the floating village on Tonle Sap, where we visited a floating elementary school and toured a neighborhood of Khmer and Vietnamese houseboats. In a scene indicative of the state of Southeast Asian international relations, the Khmer houseboats were on one side of the channel, the Vietnamese ones on the other.
Our visit to Cambodia concluded with a tour of Siem Reap's Killing Fields memorial, which is now a Buddhist monastery. Though not as large as the memorial in Phnom Penh, it is nonetheless a powerful display. The location is marked by a collection of skulls gathered from the fields after the Khmer Rouge left power. The Khmer Rouge, whose political ideology resembled that of the Maoist rebels currently operating in Nepal, brutally slaughtered one-third of Cambodia's population during Pol Pot's regime in 1975-1979. Their targets were the "new people" from the cities, in particular the intellectuals, many of whom were executed in the fields by blows to the back of the head in order to save bullets. Some of the skulls in the display also had cracked facial bones, which according to a retired physician on the tour are very difficult to break and would require a blow of considerable force. During the regime, it was a habit of the Khmer Rouge to tell the people, "To keep you is no benefit, to kill you is no loss." In their effort to exterminate the "new people," they targeted anyone wearing eyeglasses, as this was seen as a sign of being an intellectual. This stigma still carries over to today; during our four days in Cambodia, we did not see a single Khmer person wearing glasses. After such a traumatic past, it is hoped that Cambodia as a nation can look forward to a brighter future.

Photos of Cambodia: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Cambodia/

Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh/Saigon, Vietnam - Happy New Year!

Sat, 18 Feb 2006 01:36:47 GMT

On the road from Hue to Hoi An, we made a couple of brief stops at a marble factory and China Beach. The beach was cold and windy, but our guide promised much better weather in the summer. We took a tour of Hoi An when we arrived, including a trip to a Fukkienese temple constructed by Chinese immigrants to Vietnam after the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Because immigrants from the same Chinese province also make up a large percentage of Taiwan's population, the temple closely resembled the Matsu temple in Tainan. It was, in fact, dedicated to the same sea goddess Matsu who has protected generations of Taiwanese.
We took a day trip from Hoi An to the My Son Holy Land, where we could tour the ruins of a holy city of the Cham people. The Cham people once formed an independent kingdom before their land was joined with Vietnam, but many Cham preserve their traditional beliefs and lifestyles. Because in some ways Cham culture is closer to Thai than to Vietnamese culture, the architecture was very different from what we had previously seen in Vietnam. The figures carved into the stone showed a much stronger Indian/Hindu influence, as opposed to the Chinese influence more prevalent in Vietnam. Preservation of My Son is an on-going process; we passed a few archaeological sites during our tour. Some of the statues at these sites were missing heads, but as you can see in the Photobucket pictures, we were able to find a solution to that problem.
After a few days in Hoi An we flew to Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon for the last leg of our Vietnam tour. We arrived in the city in time for Tet, the Lunar New Year also celebrated in China and Taiwan. On Lunar New Year's Eve, the streets were swarming with people and motorbikes, most headed in the direction of the river to watch the fireworks display. Outside some of the major hotels we could see lion and dragon dances with Vietnamese acrobats. We celebrated New Year's at a cocktail party in our hotel, then went outside at midnight to watch the fireworks. When the fireworks started at midnight, everyone in the streets began cheering and yelling "Chuc Mung Nam Moi!" (Happy New Year!)
In Saigon we had more opportunities to see another view of the war. We toured the War Museum, which featured pictures from photojournalists of what were once described as "American war crimes." These included pictures of suspected Viet Cong agents being loaded into helicopters, interrogated and in some cases executed. There were also photos of civilians fleeing bombing and napalm raids. Some of the more difficult photos featured Agent Orange victims, in some cases children, and the lasting effect the war had on their lives. As expected, there was limited documentation of the defensive actions taken by the Viet Cong during the war, but we were able to see some of this later in the Cu Chi tunnels.
The Cu Chi tunnels were located just north of Saigon and were a network of underground tunnels the Viet Cong used to stage operations. The region where they were located was so heavily forested that even on a clear day, the entrances were difficult to find. Part of this was due to the tunnel entrances being so small that they could only be entered by raising the hands above the head. The tunnels themselves were traversed by running at a crouch, and were so dark that without additional lighting it was impossible to tell if there was someone right in front of you. Currently the tunnels are clean except for a few small bats, but during the war they could be booby-trapped with snakes and spiders for American "tunnel rats." Outside of the tunnels we could see a disturbing display of additional traps once used for catching animals but modified for American soldiers. Though only simple contraptions of barbed wire and bamboo, we could see that they were devastatingly effective.
After too short a time, our trip to Vietnam concluded with a night cruise on the river. The following morning, we packed our bags and headed for the next stage of our journey - Cambodia!

Photos from Vietnam: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Vietnam/

Hanoi to Hue, Vietnam - oh choi oy!

Thu, 16 Feb 2006 11:49:45 GMT

After finals ended in January, I took a much-needed vacation and traveled with my mother to Vietnam and Cambodia for winter break. After meeting with the ten other people in our tour group, our adventures began in Hanoi with a tour of the city, which has some of the worst traffic I have ever seen (and this includes Taiwan, Bangkok and Los Angeles). We spent some time the first few days learning to cross the street without being flattened. We also learned some phrases in Vietnamese, including "Oh choi oy!" (Oh my God!) In Hanoi we were also able to see the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, which was impressive and quite well-guarded. Our tour guide Quang told us there that the mausoleum was contrary to Ho Chi Minh's last wishes - he wanted to be cremated and to have his ashes scattered in the rice paddies in both the North and the South. We also visited the Hanoi Hilton, where we could see John McCain's flight suit on display, as well as photographs of American pilots and descriptions of their experiences as prisoners of war. Although there were plenty of descriptions and photographs, stories of the prison with which Americans are more familiar were noticeably absent.
While in Hanoi we also took a day trip to an isolated rural village called Tho Ha. Rice paper production is the major industry in this village, so everywhere we went we could see sheets of rice paper drying on bamboo racks. We were invited into a home and served homemade rice wine while a former North Vietnamese Army soldier entertained us on his musical instruments. Although I couldn't match his skill, I was able to try playing a bamboo flute, probably one of few opportunities I will have to play music with an NVA veteran.
After a few days in Hanoi, we spent one day touring Halong Bay and visiting the caves. The stalactites were stunning and the views of the bay from the boat were very impressive. We then hopped a plane to Hue, home of a famous Buddhist pagoda called Thien Mu. We also visited the Care Orphan institute and spoke English with some of the children there. They were very friendly and had many questions for us, mostly about where we were from and what each of us did for a profession. These are the first phrases that many people learn when they study English so we heard them a lot while we were in Vietnam. We visited the Citadel in Hue, which was where a great deal of fighting occurred during the Tet offensive. The Chinese-style architecture and beautiful carvings were elegant, but the impression was marred by the bullet-holes in the walls.
Although the Tet offensive is long past, for me Hue became a source of new misfortune. While in the city, I learned via email that my classmate Haoyu Wang was killed in a car accident in Tainan on January 17. Although I only knew him a short time, he will be remembered as a lively and sociable student, and he will surely be missed by his many friends.

Photos from Vietnam: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Vietnam/

Taipei - I'm gonna be a supermodel...

Wed, 28 Dec 2005 14:08:20 GMT

Having decided that five minutes sitting for a camera dressed in jeans and a T-shirt was enough of a portfolio to go professional, I agreed to be a model in a show in Taipei. A few weeks ago my friend Sharon told me that the hair salon she worked for was preparing for a one-day show in Taipei County to demonstrate their special hairstyling technique, and they were looking for volunteers to be models. My hair was dyed a few days in advance to "deepen" the color (it's now reddish-brown) and orange highlights were added for "character." Since I had never dyed my hair before, I was grateful to have a few days to get used to it before having to pose in front of an audience.
On Monday morning my friend Jasmine and I boarded the bus at 6:30 along with the instructors, the crew and three other Taiwanese models-for-a-day. We promptly went back to sleep for the four-hour ride to Taipei County. When we arrived at the Four Points Sheraton, everyone helped unload the bus and carry the equipment upstairs to the convention room. Although the instructors had said that this was not a large show, there was a stage already constructed in the front and seats set out for about a hundred people. We changed quickly into the black dresses and boots provided for us and rotated between the makeup and hair preparation stations. The makeup was heavier than almost anything I've ever worn; it took almost two days to remove it all. In addition, the combination of lots of dark blue mascara and fake eyelashes meant it was a few minutes before I could stare into the stage lights without my eyes watering. Once the hair and makeup were finished we were arranged by the side of the stage and given a routine for the final presentation. It was difficult enough to remember "First stand facing the audience, turn and put one hand on hip, walk forward, put one foot on the lower step and your wrist on the male model's shoulder, stand a little closer to him and by the way don't forget to smile..." without trying to figure out if "liang ge ba pai" means two counts of four or eight. However, after a few minutes of rehearsal we got it (mostly) right and were told to go backstage and wait for the show to start.
During the show, the five of us were led out one at a time and seated for a haircut in front of approximately fifty people. We had been paired in advance with an instructor who was familiar with our hair type and already had a design in mind, although we had no idea what it was. When my turn came I was seated on stage and told to smile while one instructor styled my hair and another provided commentary on "the foreign model with the curly hair who also speaks Mandarin!" There were no mirrors on stage so I could only watch out of the corner of my eye as big pieces of my hair drifted to the ground. When the instructor had finished I was taken to the side to have my hair blown dry and styled while the next model was led onto the stage. I then had to strut to the end of the stage, smile and pose with my new haircut for a few seconds in blinding stage lights, then turn and exit. When all five of us had been styled, we lined up for the final procession still trying to remember who was supposed to go forward on which eight-count. Despite a couple of hiccups we got through it and went out into the lobby while the instructors talked to the audience.
In the lobby we held a photo shoot, which was much easier than the procession since we didn't have to time any movements. We were each photographed from different angles and then shot some "funny pictures" together before heading to the bathroom to change and start washing off the makeup. By five in the afternoon the conference room was empty so we disassembled the equipment and loaded up the bus for the ride home. As the bus pulled away from the hotel Jasmine leaned back in her seat and announced, "I don't get it. I'm so tired right now, and we hardly did anything today!"

Photos from modelling: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Taiwan/Modelling/?start=20

Shuimen - natives and my nascent modelling career

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 15:23:43 GMT

A couple of weeks ago I took a day trip to Pingtung County to see the Aboriginal Culture Park in Shuimen Village. It was my first train ride in Tainan, and fortunately I bought a ticket the night before so I had a seat reserved. Passengers can also ride the train standing if there are no seats available, but as it was an hour on the train to Pingtung and another hour by bus to Shuimen Village I considered myself lucky to be seated. After catching the bus in Pingtung I got off at Shuimen and had to ask one of my fellow passengers, a Shuimen resident, where the park was. Not only did she show me the direction, she also took me to the park gate on her motorbike and pointed out the stairway down the hill so I wouldn't have to walk down the road when I left the park. This woman also refused any compensation for her effort. It's people like her that make traveling such a pleasure.
The park is set in the mountains away from most vestiges of civilization, which gives one the impression of life in Taiwanese villages sometime before the modern era. It was designed to display living quarters and ceremonial houses from each of Taiwan's major native tribes all in one place. Once inside the park I decided to eschew the tour bus in favor of hiking the main road. The road crossed two bridges, both of which offered scenic views of the surrounding hillsides and the Ailiao River. The path then divided into the three areas of the park, each featuring native dwellings from some of Taiwan's twelve registered tribes. While many native Taiwanese have assimilated with the immigrant Han coming from Mainland China, there are a few areas where their traditional way of life is preserved. The culture park offers visitors a chance to learn about Taiwan's native peoples without traveling all over the island.
While in the park I was able to see a performance of songs and dances from some of the twelve major tribes. Despite the awkwardness of sitting in a performance hall with three hundred people and realizing you are the only non-Taiwanese person there, the performance was enjoyable and even featured English supertext translations of Taiwanese songs. The dances were lively and the costumes brilliant. Photographs were prohibited in the performance hall but on the Photobucket website I do have some photos of Taiwanese costumes that I took elsewhere.
I also had a chance to talk to some of the native employees in the park. Despite the apparent success of the culture park, some of the employees seemed to struggle with health problems - one gentleman smiled at me with his only tooth. It was difficult to tell whether these problems were specific to natives or indicative of the region; Shuimen area isn't very highly developed, and as in the United States the history between the government and native peoples is somewhat checkered, so it could really be either. Nonetheless, the people I spoke with did not seem overly affected by their situation. They were proud of their culture and proud to be native Taiwanese.
I also spoke to a model who identified herself as Paiwan and said her name was Miss Tu. A photographer had seated her when he noticed me on the road and called me over. I came over thinking he needed help with something, but it turned out he wanted me to sit for the camera. Not having had any experience in posing, I was nervous, but he assured me it was fine. He and the camera would do most of the work. He took several pictures of the two of us next to a stone pillar that Miss Tu said was a sacred symbol for the Paiwan tribe, an emblem of the hundred-pacer snake. She also told me another sacred symbol among native Taiwanese is the flying fish, which is a source of food for coastal peoples. When the photographer finished with his shots he took a few with my camera so I would have some for my own album; they are also posted on the Photobucket website.
Visiting the park was a wonderful day trip and a great opportunity to learn about Taiwan's native peoples. Although it was a long distance to travel, the journey was well worth it and I look forward to a chance to visit some real native Taiwanese villages sometime in the near future.

Photos of Shuimen Aboriginal Park: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Taiwan/Aboriginal%20Park/

Lugang and Tainan, Taiwan

Thu, 24 Nov 2005 09:42:42 GMT

I didn't notice until today how long it had been since I last wrote - the last few weeks have been packed with midterms, travel and Rotaract outings. Two weeks ago Carolyn and I attended a Rotaract regional meeting at Nanyuan Farm outside of Tainan. Dr. Su was kind enough to drive us there and even took us up into the mountains for an incredible view of the reservoir. We took many pictures of the lake and the local plant life before driving down the mountain to the farm.
Nanyuan Farm is actually a resort with hiking trails, a lake, cabins and even a small zoo of indigenous Taiwanese animals, including monkeys. My favorite among these was a reticent deer-like creature called a "chiang." Dr. Su told us of a Chinese phrase that shy people are like chiangs, rather like the English term "shy violet." The resort also has a meeting room where the Rotaract members gathered to listen to speeches and elect a new representative. Carolyn and I were able to observe the meeting although we did not have to give a presentation, and afterward we joined the Rotaract members at a lunch banquet where we answered many questions about life in the United States. Several students even expressed the hope that one day they might attend an American college or graduate school. The food, again, was delicious, and at our table we even watched two members successfully carve a chicken using only their chopsticks.
I also had the chance recently to join the Chengkung University language center students on a trip to Lugang, about three hours outside of Tainan, near Taichung. Lugang ("deer harbor") is a charming town whose main attractions include a museum recreating a Qing Dynasty (19th century) home and a Matsu temple. While touring the home we had a chance to see a traditional Chinese altar space for family worship as well as elaborately carved wooden furniture, most of which was made specifically for the family. The most impressive work was a wooden bed with delicately carved fantasy scenes, made for the lady of the house to ease her slumber. The house also included clothing and personal items from the Qing Dynasty, as well as carriages used for family outings. Though brightly painted, the carriage boxes seemed rather small, and since the box was carried by footmen it seems even short journeys would not be comfortable.
Last weekend I joined the Rotaract clubs from Tainan and Kaohsiung for a day of sightseeing in Anping District, Tainan's harbor district and the location of an old Dutch fort. Unfortunately, it rained so the sightseeing was kept to a minimum, although we were able to eat douhua (tofu ice cream) at a well-known restaurant and tour the outdoor market. Anping is also known for its pickled fruits (which taste much better than they sound), although since my vocabulary on fruits is relatively small most of my inquiries turned into a game of "20 questions" to figure out what type of fruit was on display. Finally, we went to dinner and a Rotaract meeting at a very upscale restaurant resembling a classical Chinese home. I was enchanted by the dark wood carvings, the low wooden seats and the huge koi pond in the courtyard. However, the charm quickly wore off when I excused myself to wash my hands and, confronted with archaic gilded Chinese characters for "men" and "women" over the restroom doors, was unable to decide which was the right one.
In the classroom my reading and comprehension has improved immensely and my reading speed has greatly increased. This is particularly important to me because I am turning my research on Taiwanese health care into a term paper for one of my classes, and to finish the research I will probably have to read some articles in Chinese. I hope that by reading Chinese articles I can get a better understanding of the system and whether it would work as well in other countries, so the faster I can read the more research I can do, and the more I will be able to help people in the future.

Photos from Lugang: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Taiwan/Lugang/

Tainan, Taiwan - around town

Sat, 29 Oct 2005 15:03:50 GMT

With mid-term exams rapidly approaching I have to put off any travel plans outside of Tainan for another week or so, but I did have the opportunity recently to visit some of the major sites in Tainan City. My favorite place so far is the 400-year-old Matsu Temple about fifteen minutes' walk from campus. Formerly the palace of the last king of the Ming dynasty, the temple is a sprawling red and gold complex packed with wall paintings, statues, tables loaded with offerings and of course incense. The temple is known as "Da Tian Hou Gong" (Great Queen of Heaven) in Mandarin and is dedicated to the goddess of the sea, Matsu, and the Old Man Under the Moon. Matsu is the patron deity of fishermen and the Old Man Under the Moon is matchmaker god. The temple is centered around a main hall with a statue of Matsu in the back. The main hall is surrounded by smaller rooms with other deities, all featuring a table for offerings and a large iron incense burner. The temple's eclectic appearance seems indicative of Taiwanese folk religion, itself a mix of Buddhism, Daoism and folk beliefs (like the sea goddess). Many Taiwanese people are very proud of their religious beliefs; when I asked my roommate if she had any religious background, she simply said, "Yes, Taiwanese religion."
Another temple I enjoyed visiting is the Official God of War Temple across the street from Chikan Tower. Smaller than the Matsu Temple, it is nonetheless another stunning representation of Taiwanese folk religion. The God of War was a third-century Han general who was made into a god because of his model behavior. The War God is also a god of commerce so businessmen will make offerings here as well. Unfortunately, the front of the temple was under construction at the time of my visit, but I did get some clear shots of construction workers darting about on bamboo scaffolding (It's much stronger than it looks).
My days are busy with classes and homework but at night I like to go out because the campus comes alive. Many students are involved in extracurricular activities here, from volleyball and tennis to cheerleading and taichi. Most of these activities take place at night because students don't have classes then and the weather is cool enough to permit longer practices. My favorite activities to observe are the cheerleading team and the folk dance club. Surprisingly, the gender ratio for both of these clubs is about 50-50. I like to watch the cheerleading team practice their basket tosses although I am concerned for their safety because they practice outdoors on a brick sidewalk covered with a mat. Folk dance, particularly European folk dance and Latin social dance, is also very popular here. The folk dance club is currently practicing circle dances that might be Mediterranean, but I can't tell for sure. Sometimes the music sounds Italian, sometimes Greek, but since I don't understand those languages I can't say for certain. The club also performs folk dances from other parts of Europe. On my first weekend here, my Austrian friend Carolyn was surprised to see this same Taiwanese club practicing an Austrian folk dance.
Last weekend I had the opportunity to go to the night market with some of my classmates. The night we visited was opening night so in addition to being absolutely packed, the market also had a fireworks display and some live music. We had dinner at the market, where my friends warned me not to eat too much because the food wasn't "clean," but fortunately I had no difficulties. For dinner we had hezi (pronounced huh-dzuh), an egg and cornstarch omelette with seafood and ketchup mixed in. Afterward we walked around the market where much of what was for sale looked similar to what one might find at fairs in the United States - toys, stuffed animals, jewelry, combs, even clothing and underwear. One of the stalls had a game where a player could fire darts at balloons and collect points for the number of balloons popped. One of my classmates whose father had taught her to shoot was able to pop several balloons; I couldn't quite match her. We left shortly after because there were too many people, but hopefully I will be able to visit the night market again soon.
Last Monday I gave another presentation at a Tainan Rotary club. This was my formal thirty-minute presentation on my background and my future plans as well as the status of health care in California, particularly community health care. The Rotarians were able to follow along with my explanations and asked some very observant questions, some of which were difficult to answer (how to explain Medi-cal reimbursements in Chinese?). My fellow Rotary Ambassador, Carolyn from New Hampshire, also came to the meeting. She said afterward that although her Chinese is still progressing, she feels that in a month or so she would like to try her own presentation to the Rotary Club. The Rotarians have been very patient and supportive and are very interested in both of us, even though neither of us speaks Chinese fluently at this point. However, as they say here, "man man xue" (bit by bit), and we will both be fluent before we know it.

China/Taiwan photos

Sat, 08 Oct 2005 02:43:00 GMT

I apologize for having neglected to link my online photo album to my journal site. For anyone who is interested in seeing pictures of China, Tibet, and Taiwan, please access the following link: http://photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/

Tainan, Taiwan - Moon Festival to National Day

Wed, 05 Oct 2005 13:31:09 GMT

I am well into my classes now and feeling much more settled than when I first arrived. I had to drop one of my classes when I realized I had already taken it but the remaining three, Sociology, Political Economy I and Research Methods, are more than enough to keep me occupied. Most of the reading is in English, which makes it more of a challenge for the other students than for me, but they have resolved this issue by breaking the reading assignments into sections and having one student write an outline and email it to the other people on the team. This saves them if they don't have time to do the reading itself and if they do, they understand it better since another student has done an in-depth reading. I have just joined a study group this week and will receive my reading assignment soon, as my potential ability to read in English and write outlines in Chinese has made me quite popular as a study partner.
Last weekend I was treated to an authentic Taiwanese experience - my first typhoon. Typhoon Longwang, named after China's legendary Dragon King, slammed squarely into Taiwan on Sunday morning with gusts of wind that I later learned reached 145 mph. It stormed all day, so heavily that no one was able to leave the dormitories. My hall-mates and I spent the whole day subsisting on instant noodles and sugar cookies. Fortunately, by late afternoon the rain had tapered off, and although some temples were destroyed on the east coast Tainan did not sustain much damage. The worst I saw was that some bikes had toppled over in the high winds. Although some students' travel plans were disrupted (my roommate put off her return from Taichung until Monday, but since she was visiting her boyfriend I wonder if the typhoon was the real reason for the delay), overall it was a safe experience.
About ten days ago I had the opportunity to give my first Rotary presentation at a Rotaract club meeting here in Tainan. The Rotaract organization is also known as the "Young Rotarians" in Chinese and consists mainly of people in their twenties who are either in graduate school or starting their careers. Each Rotaract club is sponsored by a Rotary club. The Rotaract members that I spoke to were very accommodating and willing to overcome any linguistic barriers. They agreed to hold the meeting in Mandarin instead of the customary Ho-Lo so that I could follow along. Although I was nervous during my presentation they were very patient and willingly explained their questions so that I could understand them and respond accordingly. In addition, several members gave me their emails and talk with me regularly on MSN to help me with my Chinese.
About a week before my meeting with the Rotaract club, I was able to meet many Taiwanese Rotarians at two separate functions. The first was a "Clean Up The World" event, a beach cleanup sponsored by Rotary. I arrived at the beach with Dr. Ming-Hui Su and his wife at about 7:00 in the morning. The sun was already very hot but a tent had been set up and some Rotarians were already serving breakfast, soup and some gelatinous dumplings. The Rotarians I met were very active and very sociable, and because there were approximately two hundred of them the beach cleanup did not last very long. Most of what we found were burnt firecrackers that had been set off the night before to celebrate the upcoming Moon Festival. The beach was certainly a much cleaner and safer place when we finally left it, and I was happy to find the Rotary clubs here are full of lively, active individuals.
The second time I met the Taiwanese Rotarians was a couple of days later at their Moon Festival banquet, which celebrated a traditional Chinese festival where families reunite and eat moon cakes. Moon cakes are small cakes made to honor the rebellion that ended the Yuan dynasty in the 14th century. The banquet was held in a fancy hotel and featured a band playing a mix of Taiwanese, Japanese and Western classics. There was even karaoke later for the bolder Rotarians. I was unable to follow the meeting itself as it was conducted in Ho-Lo, but my table companions generously translated any parts they felt would be of interest to me. The banquet itself lasted for several courses and I put on a brave show with the chopstick skills I had perfected in Beijing but for some courses, particularly the fish, I think you have to be a native user. When the meal had ended I was introduced to each table where I offered a toast to the Rotarians, and finally led up to the front where I was told, "And now you have to give a speech in Chinese!" This caught me a little off guard, but I was able to thank everyone for inviting me and to explain a little bit about where I came from, ending with "And if you like wine, you probably already know where Napa is!" After this the band played its last few songs and then the meeting was adjourned; some Rotarians moved on to the after-party but I returned to the campus.
The weather has cooled a bit since the Moon Festival in late September but it is still quite warm, so some students are already making travel plans for next week's National Day. Many of them are returning to their homes for the weekend, but as this is not a possibility for me I hope to take the opportunity to see some other cities in Taiwan, perhaps Kaohsiung or Taipei. Maybe my next posting will include some of my travel experiences outside of Tainan!

Tainan, Taiwan - the first week

Thu, 15 Sep 2005 14:40:04 GMT

I have already been in Taiwan for a week and I still have so much left to take care of! I arrived in Taipei last Tuesday after a stomach-churning flight from Nagoya, Japan (there was a hurricane warning in southern Japan at the time we took off) and was escorted to the apartment of Su Shaoqin, a dentistry student whose parents are Tainan Rotarians. Jane Su was very hospitable and explained that her husband was unable to meet me because of work but would see me the following day in Tainan. After a good night's sleep and a brief tour of the Taipei 101 (the world's tallest office building) in the morning, we boarded a flight for Tainan in the afternoon.
My first impression of Tainan was that it was both more humid and more colorful than Beijing. The bright neon signs and decorated entryways to the shops remind me of Shanghai, although unlike Shanghai the air is quite smoggy most days. The heat is almost unbearable, even at night, and I am now grateful for the ventilation of the bamboo pad which will replace my customary mattress for the next year. Swarms of Taiwanese on motorcycles can be seen hovering at the intersections, their faces covered bandit-like in brightly hued masks to protect them from the air. I had a good view of them from the car as we left the Tainan airport, and only a few days later I was on a moped myself, zipping along the city streets at night on a grocery outing with my roommate Jiahui. It was an exhilarating ride as we darted in and out of traffic, and when Jiahui asked if I was scared I responded, "No, go faster!" Although the motors are noisy I wish mopeds were more common in the United States.
The Taiwanese students that I have met so far have been unfailingly polite and are very curious about the United States. Some of them think it strange that Americans hardly ever eat rice at meals and that in some cases, as with hamburgers and pizza, we touch our food with our hands. The students here are from all over Taiwan, but most are from Tainan and the surrounding cities, and most have never been to Mainland China. When they hear I have been to Beijing some of them ask me to describe it and to imitate the Dalu (Mainland) accent. They find my attempts amusing and then ask, "And which do you think is better, Dalu or Taiwan?", which gives me a lot of practice in finding a diplomatic answer.
The Chinese spoken in Taiwan has taken some getting used to. Phonetically it seems closer to Shanghai's Chinese than to Beijing's, so it has taken me a few days to become accustomed to the accent. In addition, many people here speak Ho-lo, the Taiwanese dialect, which is very clipped and which I can't understand a word of. Finally, the Taiwanese have a habit of reversing their words in speech, sometimes taking the second half of a two-syllable word and placing it before the first half. This hasn't happened very often in class but when it does it is frustrating to search through the dictionary for a translation only to find you've been looking up the wrong half of the word.
Although I haven't met any other Americans here besides Carolyn, my fellow Rotary scholar from New Hampshire, there are many foreign students at the university. Among them are Jowann from Brittany, France, who lived in China for several years and speaks Chinese like a native; Carolyn Gann and her boyfriend Andreas from Austria; and Fyodor the garrulous Russian who lives in a town near the Kazakh border. He has told me I can visit him sometime in his hometown and one afternoon we will walk the two kilometers to Asia.
Classes began on Wednesday and while I was eager to begin my studies it has taken some negotiation on my part. The department office was unaware that I would be attending the university this year (when I asked to register for classes the department secretary told me, "But you're not Chinese!") so most of my teachers did not know they would have a foreign student in their classes. I am able to follow lectures in Chinese with little difficulty but my reading is very slow, so after a discussion most of my teachers will allow me to complete the readings in English and to write the essays in Chinese or English. The teachers have been very helpful and the students are quite patient and willing to explain to me anything I don't understand in lectures. Hopefully classes will become easier as my Chinese proficiency increases but for now I feel comfortable with the overall situation.
I feel much more settled in now than when I arrived, but there are a few details remaining. When I receive my student card I will have to apply for an Alien Resident Certificate in order to stay in Taiwan for the year. I have partially resolved the dining issue (there is no dining hall here, no kitchen in the dorms and no grocery store within walking distance of the school) by taking grocery trips with my roommate and by frequenting the fast-food restaurants for my NT$50 fish-and-rice meals. My recent bike purchase has helped me to get around campus much more quickly and I hope to use it to tour famous sites in Tainan in the future.

Lhasa, Tibet - strange eyes

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 23:30:11 GMT

I am back in Napa for a few days before heading off to Taiwan, and although it has been a couple of days already my head is still spinning. On Monday I was in Lhasa, Tibet; on Tuesday in Beijing; now it's Thursday and I am in California. Despite the exhaustion brought on by my recent globetrotting I am grateful for the opportunity to visit Tibet while it is still open to foreigners; even compared with China, this is a strange and wonderful place.
Paul and I arrived in Tibet on Thursday afternoon (Beijing time) and rode a bus for two hours from the airport to Lhasa. The two-lane road was narrow and winding and the driver had to pass other vehicles by swinging into oncoming traffic. By the time we arrived in Lhasa I was feeling a little ill from the journey, yet when we mentioned to the hotel staff that we had flown into Lhasa they replied, "Oh, so you have seen the new road then? Isn't it great?" A quick tour of Lhasa showed that it was vastly different from noisy, crowded Beijing; not only are there fewer natives in Tibet, there are fewer tourists as well, so Western tourists in particular attract a bit of attention. One young Tibetan boy stared at Paul and me for several minutes before commenting that we had "very strange eyes." He had seldom seen blue eyes before.
I later discovered we were lucky to get into Tibet at all. Foreigners need permits to travel to Tibet and because of an event the Chinese government was canceling permits for the following week. We found out it was because the Chinese in Tibet were celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region, so Lhasa was decked out with colorful Chinese banners and parade floats and Tibetans in national costume could be seen hurrying through the streets in the afternoon. The main square in front of Potala Palace often echoed with patriotic Chinese anthems. As impressive as it was, it seemed that the Chinese were much more involved in the celebrations than the Tibetans. Most Tibetans we encountered were either uninterested in the festivities or annoyed that the Chinese had made them stop work for the celebration.
A visit to the Tibet Musuem revealed that relations between the Chinese and the Tibetans are quite complicated. Introductory panels at the entrance to the museum feature stirring descriptions of Tibet's importance to the "Chinese motherland" and the various ways in which the museum complies with the tenets of the Chinese Communist Party. The artifacts inside the musuem were interesting but the descriptions were minimal, even in Chinese, and in some cases the lack of concern in restoration was startling. One clay pot had been "restored" by connecting a few black shards of the original material and using white plaster to fill out the form of a vase. Perhaps more tragic than the restoration attempts were the portrayals of Tibetan history; the Chinese sought to prove that Tibet was and always had been a part of China. Panels at the beginning of each exhibit described historical relations between the "Tibetan regional government" and the "central government in Beijing." One exhibit's introduction stated that because Tibetans like carved jade and Han Chinese also like carved jade, Tibetans are therefore Chinese.
Fortunately, the Potala Palace seemed to be under less Chinese influence than the Tibet Museum. Perched high on a stony hill in the center of Lhasa, the red and white Potala Palace was once the winter palace for the Dalai Lamas and contains an amazing array of Buddhist chapels and icons, as well as living quarters for its former residents. The chapels are draped in colorful silks and usually have multiple gold statues of the Buddhas arranged at the front, and at the sides in "pigeon-hole" cupboards are collections of important scrolls and writings. Most of the chapels carried the thick scent of incense. It was fascinating to walk through, and because my knowledge of Buddhism is limited and we lacked a guide Paul and I latched on to a Chinese tour group to learn more about the history of the Palace. My favorite rooms were the chapels containing enormous, lavishly decorated gold burial caskets for the Dalai Lamas.
The Tibetans that we met in Lhasa were by far the best part of the journey. Through a colleague at the WHO Paul was able to arrange a meeting with a Tibetan woman, Yangchen, who was a public health educator for the villages outside of Lhasa. She spoke fluent English and was happy to describe her work to us, most of which seemed to consist of giving presentations to villagers and working with them to find ways they can improve their hygiene and nutrition. She said the villagers respond best to skits demonstrating how changing some habits, like covering the open latrines with ash to prevent infection, can make them live better. Yangchen generously invited Paul and me to her home to meet her family, where she served a wonderful traditional Tibetan dinner. She made a dish of sweet sticky rice and Tibetan root and said Tibetans usually eat this at New Year's, but they are trying to get villagers to eat it more often because the root has some nutritious qualities for children. Another part of the Tibetan diet is Tibetan yak butter tea, which she said is served every morning. She told us her parents really like this tea because they live in a rural village so they can get fresh yak butter for most of the year.
While we were at her home we had the chance to meet her husband and her young son Samcho, who is learning English and Chinese in school. Samcho entertained us with Tibetan and English songs and showed us some pictures he drew in class. He wants to be an artist and a doctor and a professional basketball player when he grows up.
Another Tibetan woman we met came up to us in one of the side streets near the hotel and asked us to look over her English essay. She had been studying English for a couple of years from a book and had written an essay on Tibetan history. We sat down to help her and explained the meanings of some of the words; although she did not speak Chinese, a friend of hers did, so anything she did not understand in English I explained in Chinese and her friend translated for her. A crowd started forming to watch our improvised English lesson, and the young woman called to some friends of hers who were also studying English. One young man she called "Handsome Boy" stood back a little from the crowd, so she pointed to him and announced, "Handsome Boy, practice English!" When we had gone through the whole essay she thanked us and offered us some sweet milk tea, after which we went on our way.
The last Tibetan we came to know over the course of our stay was an architecture instructor with some 700 students, Tibetan and foreign. He also owned some artisan workshops in Lhasa and gave us a tour of them so we could meet his painting, metalworking and woodcarving students, many of whom were building items for local monasteries. He mentioned that his father was a lama who fled Tibet when the Chinese came in 1951 and now runs a monastery in Switzerland with both Tibetan and Swiss Buddhists. Through his conversations we came to understand the state of relations between the Chinese and the Tibetans. as he lamented that the Chinese had forced him to stop teaching for twenty days because of the celebration. As we passed the construction site for one of his new workshops, he said the Chinese had told him he must put up five Chinese flags on this building, and that every building must have a certain number of flags on it depending on its size. It was moments like this that caused me to wonder what Tibet will become in a few years time, after the Chinese have finished building the railroad that will expedite Han Chinese migration into Lhasa and the surrounding regions. On our last morning in Lhasa Paul and I saw the architecture teacher again to say goodbye, and I found myself wondering if he will still be in business when I come back to Tibet.
We flew out of Lhasa on Monday afternoon and I left Beijing the following morning. I'm in Napa for a welcome break from my travels but it's only for a short time, so my next posting will be from Taiwan!

Photos from Tibet: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Tibet/

Xi'an - not all who wander are lost

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 14:03:45 GMT

Last Friday I took off on a solo journey to Xi'an for a real test of my Chinese ability. Since I would be travelling alone, I would have to use Chinese to find the hotel and travel to all the sites on my planned itinerary: the Forest of Stelae (Beilin Bowuguan), the Great Mosque (Da Qingzhensi), the Great Wild Goose Pagoda (Da Cien Si), the terracotta warriors (Bingmayong), the Shaanxi History Museum (Shanxi Lishi Bowuguan) and the Temple of the Eighth Immortals (Ba Xian An). I only had two days in Xi'an, but I figured that by skipping minor details like eating and sleeping, it would be possible to see all of them.
The first stop after I got off the train on Saturday morning was the Forest of Stelae. This was a musuem of huge stone pillars decorated with artwork, Confucian scriptures and traditional Chinese poetry. The stelae were held upright on bases of bixiu, legendary turtle-like creatures descended from the Dragon King and said to bring good luck and long life to their owners. It was fascinating to walk through the museum and observe the changes in Chinese scripture over time, from the elaborate flowing lines of ancient Chinese to the simpler, standardized versions of the later era. It was also thrilling to see the stone pillars covered with Confucian sayings, the same texts that formed the basis of imperial China's exam system for citizens seeking administrative posts at any level of government.
After visiting the Forest of Stelae I moved on to the Great Mosque in Xi'an's Muslim quarter. Xi'an has a large Hui population, Muslim Chinese who were originally from Central Asia, and many of them have settled in the city center behind the Bell Tower. As with any journey, getting there was half the fun. The mosque was tucked deep in a network of narrow alleyways crowded with merchants hawking silks, kitschy souvenirs, fruits, lamb kebabs, and flatbread. The scent of roasted meat hung thick in the air and the spoken Chinese flying through the bazaar was peppered with English phrases: "Hallo! You want silks? I give you good price! Where are you going? Come back!" I followed the signs for "Great Mosque" dangling from the sides of buildings and ended up passing through the gate into a wide plaza surrounded by Chinese-style buildings with a large pagoda minaret in the center. The whole structure was a seamless blend of Chinese and Arabic architecture, delicate Chinese gates with Arabic scripts carved overhead. The plaza was crossed by long meandering pathways that moved past the gates, the wells and the surrounding buildings and ended in front of the main prayer hall. Naturally, tourists were not permitted to enter this area, as it is still an active mosque, but a glance into the hall revealed ancient copies of Koranic texts pasted onto the west wall for contemplation during prayer (this being China, the prayer hall faces west to Mecca). I could have spent hours wandering around the mosque, but due to time constraints I decided to move on to my next site.
The Great Wild Goose Pagoda lay in the southern part of Xi'an well outside the city walls. It was built to house the texts that a Chinese scholar brought back from India, a purpose reflected in the pagoda's India-style architecture. Incidentally, this scholar's odyssey was later depicted in the Journey to the West, a classic Chinese novel about the adventures of the Monkey King. The pagoda towered over the Da Cien Si temple and, as with the mosque, this was also an active religious site, so tour groups were invariably distracted by monks in traditional Chinese garb running around the temple grounds.
The following morning I continued my exploration of Xi'an with a trip to Bingmayong to see the terracotta warriors. The site was outside the city, approximately an hour away by bus, but the time passed quickly with a tour guide who gave a history of the region and the terracotta warriors. The museum lay on an expansive property with the three archaelogical pits and a small museum all housed in separate buildings. Although the viewing platforms were well above the pits it was still possible to see the individual soldiers' features clearly and distinguish variations in the uniforms. One of the pits even housed a model of the generals' housing and administrative buildings with carefully formed roof tiles. In the small musuem, two bronze chariots were displayed that had been assembled from three thousand pieces found in the pits. The whole site was quite impressive and gave me plenty to contemplate on the way back to Xi'an.
The next stop was the Shanxi History Museum, which gave an excellent overview of the history of Shanxi province. There have been several archaelogical digs in the area and the museum had a wide array of personal and artistic artifacts from the Huaxia dynasty (China's first) to the Qing. Particularly astounding were some of the statues from the Tang dynasty, generally regarded as a period of flowering in Chinese culture.
My final stop was the Temple of the Eight Immortals, Ba Xian An. This Daoist temple was hidden in an alleyway just outside the walls in the eastern part of the city and, like the Great Wild Goose Pagoda, was also an active temple. The walls both inside and outside the prayer rooms were decorated with paintings depicting the Eight Immortals of the Daoist folk legend, and the whole temple grounds were fragrant with incense. I did not stay here long because my train was scheduled to leave shortly, but even a brief visit was well worth the trip.
As fascinating as it was to visit the sites on my itinerary, what made the journey truly memorable were the moments in between the visits, both in the streets and in the taxis. I had several opportunities to stroll down the streets in the city center and join the crowds bustling through the shopping areas. I lingered outside one department store to watch two Chinese children in full ballroom costume perform a Latin dance routine with professional precision, ending with a synchronized bow before running giggling back into the store. Further down the street, three elderly gentlemen held a jam session in a guitar store; the qin player and the zither player were accompanied by a third man belting out Shanxi folk songs. The taxi drivers I met while travelling between sites were equally intriguing. One very sociable driver talked about his family, his job and China in general before dropping me off at the train station with a warning not to let anyone handle my bag for me. Another driver, whom I nicknamed "the Professor," was a Hui Chinese man who lectured me on the history of Xi'an, Daoism, Islamic history, and Islamic philosophy on the way to the Temple of the Eight Immortals. He told me, "We Hui are different from the Han Chinese, even though we speak the same language. Han Chinese people greet you by asking if you have eaten; they think first of their stomachs. Hui people greet you by wishing you peace - 'asalaam aleykum,' because they think first of your happiness." He left me at the temple with his wishes that I have a pleasant time in Xi'an and that I hold my bag close and watch for pickpockets.
So, having visited Xi'an last weekend and ended my classes today, the only part of my stay in China that remains is a trip to Tibet (we were unable to get the paperwork in time for Mongolia). I return from Tibet next Monday and leave for California on Tuesday, so hopefully I will be seeing some of you very soon!

Photos from Xi'an: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Xian/

Shanghai - on top of the world

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 08:32:54 GMT

Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit Shanghai and, although it did not turn out exactly as Paul and I had expected, it was nonetheless an enjoyable experience. We were expecting to meet a friend of the family from the United States in Shanghai but she was unavoidably detained in another city about three hours away on personal business, so we had the pleasure of spending the weekend with her sister's family. We arrived in Shanghai at night to find the city aglow with neon lights; Shanghai is one of China's most popular shopping areas and is regarded as the commercial center of China. It is also China's most populous city, yet the crowds and the traffic problems so prevalent in Beijing were noticeably absent. I found the Mandarin spoken in Shanghai softer and more acoustically pleasing than the Beijing dialect, which leaves me to wonder why the Beijing dialect is regarded as "ideal Chinese." Unfortunately, Shanghai also has its own local dialect, Shanghaiese, which meant anything not spoken in Mandarin was incomprehensible.
Our hosts were gracious enough to allow us to stay in their elegant apartment, reminiscent of Shanghai at its peak in the 1930's. Mr. Yuan is a former air force pilot enjoying his current post with the municipal government, and Mrs. Yuan is a company vice-president. Their son John I had met on a previous occasion in California; he was home from his current position at the New York division of the Shanghai Maoyuan Garments Co., Ltd. John speaks fluent English but was often at work and thus unable to translate for his parents, but between my Mandarin, my electronic dictionary, and the English they remembered from school we were able to communicate quite well.
The morning after we arrived the Yuans took us to the Oriental Pearl, the highest tower in Asia. An elevator took us to the top, which offered a 360 degree view of Shanghai and the surrounding areas. Signs printed on the windows indicated the cardinal directions as well as the locations and distances to several major cities in China, including Beijing. The view was stunning although the weather was hazy, and I got some great photographs.
The afternoon brought more pleasant surprises. Paul and I were able to spend some time at the Shanghai Museum, possibly the finest musuem in China. There is a collection of art and artifacts here dating from the earliest dynasties and even a cursory tour offers a visual history of the development of art in China. After visiting the museum we were treated to a home-cooked meal by Mrs. Yuan and then taken on a night cruise of the Huangpu River to admire the Western-style architecture along the Bund, formerly the expatriate district. The buildings were well-illuminated and the weather was cool, which made for a pleasant evening.
The following morning we had the opportunity to visit one of Shanghai's markets, which was busy, crowded and full of the sounds of fierce negotiating - the real Chinese experience. Our guide and negotiator was Mr. An, a friend of our host, who owned a couple of stalls in the market and thus knew the location of anything we wanted to buy. He also proved capable at bargaining on our behalf and, best of all, when our shopping was done he knew the location of the nearest Starbucks.
In the late morning we visited the site of a former temple and housing complex from the early 1900's. Although it is now a major commercial center, most of the architectural integrity has been preserved and it offers a glimpse of how Shanghai must have appeared in the past. The white walls and dark brown pagoda-style roofs were one of the few elements of traditional Chinese architecture we saw in Shanghai.
After lunch we boarded the plane to return to Beijing and begin yet another week. This is my last full week of classes in Beijing; my final class is next Wednesday, after which I hope to visit Mongolia before returning to the United States. I also have one more trip planned, a solo trek to Xi'an to see the terra-cotta warriors, the results of which will hopefully be covered in the next posting.

Photos from Shanghai: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/Shanghai/

Beijing - new friends and the Great Wall

Tue, 02 Aug 2005 10:06:12 GMT

This last week I had the opportunity to socialize with many of my classmates outside of class, which is a rare chance because I live an hour away from campus by the subway. Oddly enough, it also became an ideal opportunity to practice speaking Chinese. Fourteen other students and myself went to the Beijing Hyundai-Manchester United soccer match last Tuesday, and since I was the lone American, everyone had to communicate in Chinese because that was the only language we had in common. The other students were Italian, Korean, Japanese and Chinese. It was exciting to watch Manchester United play although I'm afraid the Beijing team was a little out of their league. They held off Manchester United for almost the entire first half before the first goal was scored, but two more goals followed in the second half before the game ended at 3-0 Manchester. The Chinese audience members were very enthusiastic in their support for the Beijing team. However, their cheers were drowned out by the screams from our Korean contingent for Manchester United since one of their players is Korean. One of my Korean classmates confided to me that she found it difficult to decide who to cheer for since she loves the Korean player for Manchester United but also feels some allegiance for the Korean company Hyundai.
I finally made it to the Great Wall! Last Saturday, after some searching, I found the bus to the Great Wall outside of Deshengmen station. There was a very long line of people waiting to board the bus and when it finally arrived, the scene resembled one from a war movie of the last train leaving the station before enemy troops arrive in the city. People were pulling each other away from the door just to get on the bus. When I had fought my way onto the bus, I realized the bus was designed to carry between 60-70 people but in fact there were probably twice that many on board. As a result, I stood for an hour as the bus headed out of Beijing and into the mountains to Badaling.
When we arrived at Badaling, the bus dropped us off outside the city so we had to hike about two miles into town and up to the main gate of the Great Wall. I didn't mind, though - it was nice to stretch my legs after being on the crowded bus, and the scenery in the mountains is really stunning. The growth here is much thicker than in the mountains in California; when I was looking out towards Mongolia from the Great Wall, I had to wonder how Chinese troops could see Mongolian invaders coming since the undergrowth is so thick. There were heavy clouds overhead but it was still quiet warm and humid, though the light breeze was certainly a relief. When I climbed to the Wall, I turned right first for the less strenuous stretch. I took some good pictures but couldn't get very far on this side, as it was like moving through a subway station at rush hour. Many Chinese people feel it is their duty as Chinese citizens to see the Great Wall; Mao Zedong had a famous phrase that is cited in many locations around the Wall: "He who fails to climb the Great Wall is no brave hero." While on the Wall, I saw one young boy running along the wall waving a certificate purchased from a vendor and shouting, "Mama! Mama! Wo shi haohan!" (I'm a brave hero!). The Badaling section is the most famous of the four sections of the Great Wall around Beijing and, consequently, the most tourist-oriented. Peddlers are lined along the Wall hawking "I climbed the Great Wall!" T-shirts and medallions, and in a couple of locations tourists can have their pictures taken dressed as traditional Chinese rulers. In one location tourists could even have a dramatic photo taken of themselves on a rearing white horse.
The stretch of the Great Wall left of the entrance is a steeper climb and much less crowded. It was easier to walk along this section and picture it as it must have looked around 200 B.C., when the first emperor to unify China joined sections of existing city walls into the Great Wall. The full name of the Great Wall in Chinese is Wanli Chang Cheng - 10,000 Li Long Wall, and it serves as a symbol of Shi Huangdi's unification of China. Despite its impressive length, however, the Great Wall is not visible from space.
I stayed at Badaling for around three hours before returning to Beijing (thankfully, I was able to sit for the bus ride back). I was exhausted but relieved to know that after spending so much effort to get to the Great Wall, I too can say that I am "haohan."

Photos from the Great Wall: http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/chinaadventure/New%20friends%20and%20the%20Great%20Wall/