Chongqing

Up until 6 months ago Chongqing had not existed on my radar of places to visit. That was until I recently found out that it was famous for Hot Pot. Well, famous for other things, including being a major Sichuan hub, and the previous wartime capital of China. but Hot Pot is what stood out in the description.

From Chengdu we caught the high speed train to Chongqing covering approximately 300 kms in just under 2 hours. My brief interaction with the Mainland train system left me quite impressed, everything was clean, on time and efficient. Interestingly the trains will allow patrons to purchase tickets for seats, or just tickets to be on the train. So through the train, there's punters sitting in unoccupied seats, moving around to the next available upon actually owner returning. At the few stops, passengers would stream out and smoke cigarettes before rushing back onto the train. They love the cigarettes out here. The train stations too were also impressive, carrying all sorts of snacks, shops and restaurants.

So what is there to see in Chongqing. Well, this city is HUGE! I don't use that description lightly. Of all the cities that I've visited, I would say Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai are probably the biggest I've visited. But something about Chongqing was seriously mind blowing. This city is really huge. Boasting one of the largest populations in the world and the largest metropolitan cities by land mass it really is an impressively looking city. The downside, is that it's so busy and that it was quite heavily polluted during our stay. 

Ok so back to the main attractions. Hongya Cave, the cityscape with lights:

Train that goes through a building:

Cablecar:

Eat spicy things:

Three Gorges National Park:

Eat more spicy things:

World's largest hot pot restaurant (seats 5,800 people):

BCP

Last Sunday, while nursing a pretty epic hangover, Hong Kong citizens rallied from Causeway Bay in a peaceful protest to the Hong Kong Government Buildings in Admiralty. Depending on who you ask, up to 1 million people gathered voicing concerns about the proposed extradition bill. Fast forward three days, respective officials were scheduled to come together to move forward with the bill. Hong Kong locals had a different idea; to frustrate access to the Government buildings. Rain falling, the crowds slowly gathered. Endless streams of people dressed in black walking past Queensway throughout the day.

By 4 pm, offices around Admiralty were instructed to go home to avoid crowds. Our office exercised BCP and encouraged employees to go home. TV footage shows images of some protestors moving barricades and exhuming bricks. The rain continues to fall, the umbrella, the symbol of Hong Kong resolve is littered through the crowds. In flashes, the police press the crowds and there's a melee. Tear Gas. Rubber bullets. Bricks. The protesters, have the numbers but are out muscled, but this is only the beginning.

As offices close, the crowds mobilise. All main arteries around the city are congested. Taxis. Buses. Trams. Stand still. The busiest roads are reduced to pedestrian only thoroughfare. Nearby malls are closed. I walk home. There's a familiar feeling of the occupy movement, but this time there's numbers, the crowd continues to grow.

Occasionally, my eyes will become irritated and itchy. It stings, I have to blink. My throat will tighten up and become scratchy. The police warned all groups that tear gas will be used. The tear gas innocuously moves through the air, occasionally hitting groups of people without warning. I see why this is the most effective way to disperse riots and groups.

My commute home is eerie. The protestors come from of all walks of life. Majority are students, some are foreigners, some are the elderly, some have come straight form work. All are from Hong Kong. It's a strange feeling. People are yelling, people are washing their eyes with water, others are giving out water to strangers. There's a sense of fever and camaraderie and despite the obstructions, everybody knows in which direction to head.

Pander Panda

We've come to that age where a casual dinner is no longer enough to mark a birthday or farewell. Given the accessibility and access to more disposable income it's not uncommon for milestones to be used an excuse to travel and explore. Traveling forges new memories and reinforces friendships through new adventures and experiences. Chengdu, the Sichuan capital, famous for the apothegm, "Chengdu, can do" and the home of the giant Panda would be the next destination.

Chengdu is a destination that is not high on people's traveling lists with the question of "Why are you going to Chengdu?" being the most common question. The natural answer was of course "Chengdu? For Pandas and hotpot of course!" which meant we had to see pandas and have hotpot.

Due to the last minute nature of the trip and the unintentional coincidence with Mid-Autumn Festival this turned out to be quite a costly trip. We secured flights from Hong Kong to Chengdu for 4200 HKD, corporate rates at the Ritz Carlton for 1200 HKD and a half day tour at the Wolong Panda Club for 3000 HKD.

The first evening was spent carousing Chengdu's own Lan Kwai Fong. Unfortunately the rain and the national holiday meant that the scene was a little weak, none the less, we found late night dumplings, headed to Jellyfish and found ourselves in the psuedo-projects of the Poly Centre which still kept us out until 4 am.

Saturday morning 8:35 am we were greeted by our friendly driver/host who was assigned to give us a tour of the Wolong Panda Club. The astronomical prices (400 USD) for the panda club included entry into the reserve as well as the rare chance to dress up as a surgeon and take a photo with a panda cub. Upon arrival (we were late), we were immediately whisked to an aluminium bench where were we given protective gear and asked to line up 6 others.

The panda was brought out from his enclosure and propped up against the bench. Not the most natural environment but I assume pandas find human furniture just as comfortable. We were issued the following instructions "You can touch him, just don't touch his face" and then the procession started, the cub was busying himself with carrot sticks as the attendant screamed out "next person", each person shuffled in next to the camera took a photo before the attendant screamed "next person" with a sense of urgency that was not reflected on the cub. It lasted 20 seconds. The cutest panda. Over. What a quick but fun experience! The highlight!

The rest of the trip was spent exploring Jinli Street and devouring Sichuan food. So. Spicy. So. Good.

Currently reading "Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman!"

Chinese Visa for Australian Passport

Having recently renewed my passport it was time to apply for a new visa into China. I had always used my local travel agent CTS for China Visas and had read somewhere that it you had the time and patience it would be significantly cheaper to apply for a Chinese Visa in person. The process is straight forward enough, go to the China Visa office in Wanchai (see here for details). Bring the following:

1). An up to date passport
2). A photocopy of the passport page
3). A copy of your airline tickets/schedule into China
4). A copy of your accommodation/hotel itinerary
5). A photocopy of your Hong Kong ID
6). A pen
7). A photograph of yourself

Fill out the latest form and prepare to wait. The process for regular Visa applications takes four working days (you submit your application form on Monday and it's ready for pickup by Thursday). The upside for Australian passports is that it only costs 800 HKD for a multi-entry Visa that lasts a year.

Silk Road

China Trip from Shenzhen, to Xi'an, Dunhaung, Turpan and Urumqi. It's been too long to recall everything. Off the top of my head: Three hour bus ride to Turpan, Sand mosquitoes, stranded in Dunhaung after a sandstorm canceled all flights.

T8 in Shanghai

It turns out touch football has quite the following in Asia. The migration of antipodean expats has expanded throughout the region with a large percentage of the major cities running domestic leagues. As a result, the governing bodies have put together and Asian Touch Rugby circuit, where teams fly to different destinations in attempt to win the country title and claim bragging rights for the year. These annual tournaments are held in Tokyo, Seoul, Bangkok and even Hong Kong.

As a new joiner to the T8 Touch Team I was both flattered and thrilled to be invited to play in the upcoming Shanghai International Touch Tournament. The reality was, they were short players and it was an excuse to tell people the reason for traveling was to participate in an "international touch rugby tournament".

By the time we had landed in Shanghai, cleared Chinese Customs and checked into the hotel it was already time for bed. It's an odd feeling to be taking a Friday after work flight and going straight to bed. Most weekend trips have a set routine, after work flight, check into hotel, and head out to experience the local nightlife. It was one weekend, where we were trying to be athletes. No alcohol through out the week, calculated carbohydrate loading and going to sleep early.

The hotel we stayed in was less than desirable. Many team mates complained of cigarette infused bed sheets and the incredibly thin walls. The 6 am wake up call and strange "Continental Breakfast" interpretation solidified the fact that we would forfeit our second night's stay and look for a more appropriate abode. After a rushed breakfast we jumped into a minibus and were soon on our way to the rugby club for the tournament. The sun was out and the weather was amazing, a perfect day for sport.

For a lot of us, it was the first time playing together and the lack of cohesion was obvious. We were pooled in group A, and came out with 1-3-1 record. Despite feeling a little disappointed with our performance, we had adrenaline surging through the body which delayed the soreness and stiffness that would eventually arrive. We sat down in the cafeteria after the group stages and treated ourselves to a feed. Pizzas, pies, hamburgers, fries and beer. It was then when somebody ran in screaming "T8! We're in the shield semi-finals! All the teams are waiting for us to field a team!". We booted up and ran onto the field in a semi-dazed state only to lose in the semi-final by one point.

The rest of the trip was spent exploring the city, changing hotels and consuming a lot of dumplings. So. Many. Dumplings. Excellent trip with a nice balance of activity and debauchery.

Shanghai New Years

It had been decided that New Years would not be spent in Hong Kong. This decision was on the back of last year's somewhat lacklustre end to 2011. Our eyes heavy and bloodshot around the outdoor coffee table on the patio of Caine Building as the sun rose for the first time in 2012. It was a tired and yet familiar sight, however we decided that we would make an effort to be somewhere else in 365 days.

That somewhere else would be Shanghai. It had been over 6 years since I had last been to Shanghai and I remember it being a city that I had loved. I was excited to be going back to see how the city had changed. Not surprisingly, the city has changed over the course of 6 years. One thing for sure, I would love to live here for a stint, if only language weren't such a barrier.

Interesting incident with the taxi driver re-emphasising how the lack of communication can get you into trouble. This ended up in commotion and fisty cuffs with the driver. I should really brush up the Mandarin.

Boxing Day

The night before we had planned to utilise the amazing rooftop and wake up early for sunrise. At 6:30 the alarm went off, it was still pitch black. Jon rolled over and muttered something, still half asleep, we unanimously agreed that we would skip sunrise and steal a couple extra minutes of sleep. We finally rose at 7:20. Sze Ji needed to be at school by 8 am and seeing that we were just around the corner we left . The house was abuzz, the mother and uncle left for their respective jobs and we said goodbye to the family and headed to school.

The kids had their routine morning exercises which we playfully partcipated in with them. After breakfast we wandered around the corner and must have walked no more than 500 metres before arriving at the Farm. This particular farm specialised in two harvests, sweet potatoes in the Winter and Dragon Fruit in the summer. Lily and gave a quick tutorial in the art of sweet potato harvesting. Hoe and mounds, dig. I can't help but feel we butchered a lot of this season's produce destroying a fair percentage of the crop. Still it was fun way to experience more local life it was nice to be in the sun. It was interesting, a lot of the group had lost interest in digging potatoes and had moved on to the photo taking and modelling. Lily continued to dig.

We arrived back covered in dirt and had another sharing session. It was interesting to hear about the different volunteer's experiences. The level of Cantonese was beyond me so Vincent was able to translate. It was a very moving experience, tears, laughter and prominent moments of silence were shared. We talked about the various distances kids had to travel to school, some leaving the house before sunrise. The different living conditions and varying levels of poverty. One thing that remained constant was the hospitality and generosity of the house holds. It spoke volumes about the simple lives that these people led and despite not having a lot to offer gave up more than was required.

Lunch was in the classroom and afterwards we joined the children during their lunch break. After 2 days interacting with the kids it was clear that they were more comfortable with us around. Punching, hitting, grabbing, hugging, jumping all over you. It was also the first time I interacted with some of the other kids outside of my group. It was obvious that there were varying levels of English, some kids getting stumped at "hello" others able to elicit my name and my age. The day was spent in the warm sun running around with the children - They would pinch and poke and run off, steal my beanie, steal my glasses.During this time, I forgot about all the troubles back home and almost lost track of where I was in my own life. It was just nice seeing the kids run around having fun.

The kids headed back to class and the School Principal addressed us and thanked us for our time and effort. He explained the kids situation and how much this simple 3 day trip would affect them. Our afternoon was spent in the classroom observing their interaction with the teachers. The final school bell sounded for the day and the kids exploded from their classrooms, most of them bee-lining for their bikes, the exit or the waiting relatives at the gates. There were a few who made straight for the bus and the group of volunteers. A small group of the volunteers headed off to one of the hospitals in Guangzhou to visit one of the students with cancer. We said our final goodbyes, photos, high fives, hugs before we finally made our way back onto the bus. The lights were turned off and almost instantly all members drifted off into sleep, it had been an exhausting trip and we started our 5 hour journey back to Hong Kong, a world with public transport, hot water and a sheltered  view of the world around us.

Christmas Eve

My previous, albeit brief flirtations as a volunteer had kindled an interest to dedicate some time to philanthropy in Asia. In particular, volunteer work within China. Admittedly, I was resigned to the fact that this experience would probably take place a little later in my life. This was more because I lacked the critical tools to embark on such a program. Namely, a basic grasp of the language and more importantly time to facilitate a stint overseas. This all changed one week ago when I stumbled across House of Learning, a non-profit organisation whose energy is directed at helping the less fortunate in Hong Kong and China. Anita, the Project Organiser graciously invited me along for the trip.

The lead up to my adventure into Qingyuan, China was riddled with problems. I had enlisted three days before the start of the trip and had missed the relevant training sessions leaving me completely in the dark. Worse still, on the night before I was scheduled to depart I discovered at 10 pm that I had accidentally left my passport in the office. The next hour was spent convincing the security guard to let me into the building and trying to figure out the after-hours office door code. It was a great relief to finally have my passport back in my possession.

My six o'clock alarm does not agree with me. I immediately regret going to Lan Kwai Fong the night earlier for those 'Quiet Pre-Christmas Drinks'. Struggling on four hours of sleep, I find my house mate still awake from the night earlier. He still looks drunk, and immediately all inhibitions about forfeiting my Christmas in Hong Kong dissipate. After all, that would have probably would have been me all weekend. I dump a protein shake and make for Lo Wu.

At 7:40 I finally arrive at Lo Wu, I was supposed to meet the rest of the party at 7:30. It should have come as no surprise that I was running late, typical. I had throughout the train ride received multiple calls from the team leaders who were trying to solicit my whereabouts. "I've just arrived. I'll meet you there shortly" I pant as I dart through the early morning platform crowd. 8:00 I'm still lining up at immigration, another phone call."Whereabouts are you?" I hear. "Sorry, I'm almost there, I'm caught up at immigration" I reply. "Immigration? Wait, you've gone to far, you were supposed to meet on the Hong Kong Side of Lo Wu". This was not panning out as I had expected, and I questioned what I was doing at the Chinese border going into a country with complete strangers and zero language skills. I was almost tempted to abort this adventure and just return to Hong Kong with all the other expats and enjoy Christmas eating a truck load of food and getting drunk; then again, that's really just every other weekend in Hong Kong.

It was almost 9 am by the time I finally met the House of Learning group outside the Shangri la Hotel, Shenzhen . I was horribly late and despite not having met a single member of the party I was already infamously known as "Derek, the guy who was late". The first thing that strikes me is the sheer number of volunteers willing to help. Professionals of all ages, students, young families, the odd straggler had all voluntarily decided to forfeit their Christmas in Hong Kong.

I was immediately introduced to my team and for this weekend, Michelle, Mandy, Rachel, Kenny, Manic and myself would be known as 'Group Six'. We boarded the coach that would be our primary mode of transport for the next few days and settled in for the drive from Shenzhen to Quingyuan. Anita introduced the  group leaders and talked us through the upcoming itinerary, this was of course all in Cantonese and I managed to understand the odd sentence here and there but the reality of the language barrier dawned on me. I spent the journey seated next to Pauline, although I wasn't much company as asleep for majority of the four hour commute, occasionally waking up to the sound of chatter and the sound of myself snoring.

I was absolutely starving by the time we arrived at our first stop, Ching Hing Hotel. After we emptied our bladders and then crammed into the dining area of the hotel where lunch was served. The warm food was welcomed by the group and almost immediately we were back on the road. I was well fed and well rested and my attention was drawn to the rural backdrop we were motoring through. Passed through areas of fairly dense vegetation and the simple local abodes we continued along the dusty road for another 10 minutes until the concrete walls of Ya Wen Primary school eventually crept up on us. The children gathered together as the bus slowly pulled through the gates of the school. There were looks of anxiety, curiosity and excitement, from both the children and the volunteers.

The kids were divided into groups and our group, Group Six had their first session with Anita in the Brain Enhancement session up on level four. Up until now, I still wasn't entirely sure what role I would be playing here, I knew there would be English involved but the interaction and contribution that I would be able to bring was still unknown. Anita pulled me aside and asked if I would be able to help with the Christmas Carols, in this case "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". There were no hesitations and I immediately agreed although I would have been lying if I had said I wasn't nervous. I was handed the microphone, the music started and  soon enough I was singing solo in front of 30-40 students in a foreign language that they didn't understand. The only time I sing is when I'm blind drunk - I was completely sober and couldn't help but feel that this performance would end up on the outtake of an American Idol bloopers segment. The next 20 minutes we spent going through the lyrics and dance moves to the song. I would read out a few lines as I paced among the students while Anita explained the story in Cantonese.

After the open mic session I was a little more relaxed and we were given time to go through some activities with the children. The first task was to get the kids to write their name tags in both Chinese and English. The next activity was to help the kids create English sentences with the following prompts: Who, What, When, and What if. To wrap up the day's activities the kids created a Group Six team banner using arts and crafts.

The most challenging thing I found was the inability to communicate with the children. Each time I opened my mouth the children looked at me dumbfounded. The other volunteers were able to interact with Cantonese I found myself constantly muted and having to use basic body language as a form of communication. It was actually quite frustrating as I felt a sense of helplessness trying to find out what the kids were doing and thinking. One of the things that grabbed my attention was the amount of energy they possessed and how fleeting their attention span was at times. They were constantly doing something, one minute working hard, the next minute being distracted by something seemingly insignificant. By the end of the day I was completely exhausted and had a new found respect for primary school teachers.

Our day ended with a candid sharing session about our first day's experiences: the children, the work, their attitudes and the various difficulties and surprises. A delicious dinner was served downstairs and the volunteers again heartily wolfed down the food; famished by a combination of hyperactive children and the cooler than expected climate. Proceeding dinner we prepared the Christmas Bonfire for the ceremonial cooking of the potatoes and the exchange of our gifts. We checked into Ching Hing Hotel and a group of us wandered around town looking for provisions and the odd snack. We stumbled across a restaurant that served dog meat and unanimously continued our search. Buggered, I retired early and practically fell asleep the instant my head hit the pillow.