It's mooncake time in China as the whole country is gearing up for the Mid-Autumn Festival which falls in the first week of October. Mooncakes are usually round or rectangular pastries, measuring about 10 cm in diameter and 4–5 cm thick, and come in variety of flavours (but mostly with one or two egg yolks from salted duck eggs. In accordance with Chinese National Holiday Policy, offices in Mainland China will be closed from Sept 19th (Thursday) to Sept 21st (Saturday), Sept 22nd (Sunday) will be treated as a normal working day.
Offices across Mainland China will also be closed from Oct 1st (Tuesday) to the Oct 7th (Monday) for the National Day’s Holiday, total 7 days, and will resume to work on Oct 8th (Tuesday). Sept 29th (Sunday) and Oct 12th (Saturday) will be treated as normal working days. That's probably a good time to avoid all parks, and major tourist attractions as 1.2 BILLION people go holiday together! The ice-cream mooncakes from Haagen-Dazs are just ridiculously scrumptious - a must have!. It's just difficult to keep composure when you have delicious ice-cream melting all over your hands and mouth (!) (note: mooncakes = multi-BILLION dollar industry in Greater China). On final approach into Hong Kong International Airport's runway 25 right, our brand new Boeing 747-8i had just passed Tin Liu Village (Ma Wan Park) and Tai Lung when we were challenged head on by a powerboat (as seen in the photo below). The giant whale's landing speed of around 160 knots (184mph) was just a bit too much for the poor soul (who must have been going at around 90 mph).
...shopping in Sainsbury's supermarket in Croydon...and he's emptied the shelves of ALL the cereal bars, crunchy nut corn flakes, and PG Tips teabags (oh, and Nutella jars as well...which costs at least RMB75/GBP£8 a jar in China...in the UK it costs around £2.30 a jar (about RMB20))! Shopping for groceries never felt so good (!)
Yes, in Hong Kong, Suzhou, Shanghai, and other Chinese cities with an expat population we can get such goods, but they are mostly imported (i.e. they've most probably have been on a container ship for at least 3 months), and cost at least 3 or 4 times the price we pay in the U.K. (Tesco in China is nothing like the Tesco in the U.K. - it's localized to the Chinese consumer). When you are living for 90% of the year in a country where not many local retailers understand why foreigners drink black tea with milk at 4pm with cakes and biscuits (I can't live without it!), and why we eat cereal with milk every morning, your homesick body craves for such stuff when living 6,000 miles away (my Chinese/Australian/American and other expat friends who live in the U.K. do the same when they go back home for THEIR holidays to their countries). While it is exciting and fun to live as an expat in China, the problem is that it is so far away from HOME (well...some may say it's only a 12-hour flight). My parents live in Dulwich, and like most expats who live thousands of miles away from their parents and other loved ones, it's always a difficult choice to make when deciding to live abroad. There are over 3 million of us Brits living outside of the U.K., the highest number of expats from any one country within the EU. People live in countries other than their own for various reasons (study, work etc.).
Flying in between the U.K. and China may be fun, BUT (and it's a BUT with capital letters), the older you get the more you start thinking if you want to keep living as an expat forever (!). I love the romance of living in a place such as Suzhou, and Guangzhou; but also miss home- so I am always suffering from culture shock (and REVERSE culture shock!)- can't have the whole world. I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine who is a Chinese expat living in London (from Chongqing) about this subject. He is experiencing the reverse (i.e. his parents are in China, and he lives in London working as a Doctor). The good thing of coming back to Blighty is that you get to get to spend time with your parents... Flying from China and onto the Arabian Sea (we came over from Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuhan, Chongqing, Kunming, Nepal, Karachi, and into the Arabian Sea), the Airbus A330 comes close to the end of it's journey into it's final destination Abu Dhabi. Sunrises are always spectacular. Oblivious of the significance for earthlings, the sun rises on just another day above the skies at 39,000 feet.
Costing around US$222.5 million (€215 million) each, the Airbus A330-300 is one hell of a sexy machine. Etihad Airways has six of these beauties in their fleet, mainly operating on long haul routes out of their base Abu Dhabi. I had the pleasure of reviewing this flight from Shanghai Pudong to Abu Dhabi on board aircraft registered A6-AFB. A big thank you to the Captain and the Etihad Airways team for making this photo shoot happen!
Etihad Airways is a relatively brand new airline (established in 2003), and has one of the best cabin crew in the world from over 120 nationalities...and they have a kick-ass in-flight experience product too with all luxury comfortable seats, 5-star meals...give them a try next time! Shanghai's Maglev train is a fascinating bit of technology (you wonder why Europeans cannot build something like this- and they will never be able to- except maybe the Germans). Balanced about 15mm above the tracks, it feels more like sitting in a plane rather than a train as it breezes the whole of the 30 kms between Longyang Road Station and Pudong International Airport in a remarkable 7 minutes 20 seconds (even the Japanese passengers on board today were impressed). It costs RMB 50 (approx.US$8) for a one-way journey. Now, compared with a taxi which may cost around RMB 250, and take around 40 minutes for the same trip- i'd say it's worth every single cent spent.
To get to the maximum commercial speed of 431 kph takes about three minutes (it’s done 501 kph in testing). Amazingly there are NO seat-belts - though I suppose that at this speed it’s not worth worrying about the consequences irrespective of whatever may happen. From the Flair bar atop the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Pudong, under July’s leaden skies; the futuristic skyline of Pudong contrasts with the elegant colonial style of The Bund on the Shanghai side. Shanghai is a city that has that magic romantic attraction blended in well with elegance, glamour, and sheer sense of global economic standing. The city used to be known as 'The Paris of the East'. While some old fashioned people may still refer the city with its nostalgic title, I however believe that this city has surpassed even the delights of New York and London (these two cities are not even close to where Shanghai is...in terms of everything...economically, culturally, and for beauty too). You realize this when you visit places such as the well renowned MINT club (you never know who you may bump into there). When you are in Shanghai, it feels like the center of the world (it really does). The changes to the city in the last three years have been enormous. I used to live in Shanghai and nearby Suzhou for a number of years, and miss it so much. Make a point of coming here for a holiday, have lunch at the Yi Cafe at the Shangri-La Pudong (read this); afternoon tea at the Peninsula Hotel (read this), dinner at Le Sheng (read this!), have a drink at Hyatt on the Bund (read this); and then bop it off all night if you wish at the MINT nightclub or at Bar Rouge with some good company. Then bask in the history of the city which is spearheading China’s incredible growth. Hop-on, Hop-off tourist buses have made good dollar from tourists around the world in every major city you can think of. Shanghai is no exception either, and the 24 hour tickets are cheaper here than most other places in the world. Notice that the top deck has covering to protect the passengers from the excruciating sun in the summers, the heavy monsoon rain, and the bone deepening humidity that throngs Shanghai.
Breakfast in Guangzhou (Shiqiao)No tea or coffee today...sometimes I can be VERY Chinese in my approach to lifestyle. A glassfull of fresh cold milk (taken from well fed local Chinese cows in Guangzhou!), and a couple of delicious Cantonese Egg Tarts did the trick. Lunch in the air (somewhere over Shaoguan, Guangdong)Afternoon Tea at the Shangri-La, Pudong (Shanghai)Shanghai is romantic, hectic, elegant, and nothing short of standing by it motto of being 'The Paris of the East'. From the Jade 36 bar atop the Shangri-La Pudong hotel, under July’s leaden skies; the futuristic skyline of Pudong contrasts with the elegant old-world style of The Bund on the Shanghai side. Go and see it as soon as you can...and enjoy the Afternoon-Tea at the Shangri-La, Pudong.
Always on time, air-conditioned, safe, inexpensive, and very efficient, the Airport Express coaches operate throughout Guangzhou to take passengers to/from the city's main airport. In fact, provided you know your way around the city (and can speak Mandarin Chinese like I do), then the coach is probably a better way to get to/from your destination than the Guangzhou taxi (which is equally good too). Just like Italy and Switzerland, China has buses, metro lines, and trains that run on time (but not their planes), and are air-conditioned, and I'll bet, near 100% ticket compliance. London: take note.
Zhujiang New Town Automated People Mover System (or APM system for short), runs for 3.49 km between Linhexi and Chigang Pagoda (where the Canton Tower is) with 9 stations in between. The APM system started operating on the 8th of November 2010, and was designed to make it easier for residents who live on Ersha Island near the Zhujiang New Town. The driverless train is clean, air-conditioned, modern, and fast. It really does make the London Underground look and feel like an ancient form of transportation.
The Canton Tower, also known as the Guangzhou TV Astronomical and Sightseeing Tower, is a 600 meter tall multi-purpose observation tower located on the banks of the Pearl River in the ultra-modern Zhujiang New Town (in Haizhu District). The tower houses a observation deck at the top, posh French and Chinese restaurants, and a scary drop down freefall experience ride (it's safe but no cameras are allowed on the ride). Provided the visibility is good, the views are priceless, and worth the RMB150 ticket to go up (not including food). The tower briefly held the title of tallest tower in the world, replacing the CN Tower in Toronto, before being surpassed by the Tokyo Skytree in 2011. At night the tower glows and emits light rather than being lit up. The Canton Tower has an architectural lighting that was designed by Rogier van der Heide. Around 7,000 LED light fixtures light the rings of the tower's structure each from underneath, to form a continuous glow in various colours. Below are some photos depicting the various colours that the tower emits. It really is a mesmerizing piece of architecture, technology and cultural symbol all blended in one. Life is so pleasant and peaceful here in this part of Guangzhou, and indeed it is away from all the hustle and bustle, and all the troubles that the rest of the world is experiencing that you wish you stayed in China forever. I spent the whole evening just relaxing on a bench opposite the tower and watching the world go by. Opening Hours: 9am - 10pm daily Ticket prices: 50 RMB - lower levels up to floor 32 100 RMB - medium levels up to floor 67 150 RMB - upper levels up to floor 84 Tickets for sale on location. The quickest way to get to the Canton Tower is to take line 3 Metro or the APM line to Chigang Pagoda, and then take Exit A which is right below the tower itself (Chigang Pagoda is one stop away from Zhujiang New Town on the other side of the river- from where I took the photos below). Guangzhou's new library has just moved to a new building in Zhujiang New Town, which opened on 23 June 2013. The old building at 4 Zhongshan Road closed down on the 1 April 2013 (no April Fool joke).
Located on the beautiful banks of the Pearl River and next to the ultra modern Guangdong Museum, Guangzhou's new library is bigger (3.82 million volumes with total GZ Library collection: 5.62 million items with 500 public use computers, and 4,000 internet connections), more spacious (covers over 100,000 square meters), modern (clean, neat, air conditioned and automated with book loans system), and has wireless ability throughout. The new library is characterized by its distinct combination of contemporary and traditional Lingnan design. It's worth a visit even if you want to come and admire at what the Guangzhou government has achieved. It's even more so beautiful at night because you can take a lovely walk next to the Pearl River. Poundland is a popular chain store in the U.K. which sells everything for under £1 Sterling. I came across this shop in Guangzhou that operates on a similar philosophy, but is not part of the UK company and has no connection with the UK brand. But the interesting thing about the Chinese version is that 10 Yuan is actually just over £1.07p because the Chinese Yuan is valued higher. Another reason to accept that China is economically better than the U.K. (Western Europe's cleanest 3rd world country).
Renting or purchasing accommodation in China can be a daunting experience for expats if one cannot speak the language (and understand the culture). The good news is that provided you know what you are looking for, and know how to bargain with the estate agents, then it can be just that little bit easier. Property agents, such as the ones pictured above, are available in abundance and normally you can just walk in to see a home at the last minute without appointment (except of course if you want to visit an affluent apartment). Some estate agents are even open until the late hours (11pm!!).
Panyu attracts a lot of 'Fortune Tellers' (you may read this). It remarkably seems to be a very competitive business for them. It's not uncommon to come across around 10 guys sitting next to each other waiting to tell stories! In my opinion, horoscopes are great when they say nice things about you:
"Leixinge (my Chinese name), you are caring and kind. Highly intelligent. Likes to be the center of attention. Very organized. High appeal to opposite sex. Likes to have the last word. Good to find, but hard to keep. Passionate, wonderful lover. Fun to be around. Thoughtful. Loves to joke, but lets some people down due to misunderstandings. Too trusting at times and gets hurt easily. You always try to do the right thing and sometimes get the short end of the stick. You sometimes get used by others and get hurt because of their trusting. Extremely weird but in a good way- sometimes talks too much. Good sense of humor!! Very popular. Silly, fun, and cute. Good friend to others but needs to be choosy on who they allow their friends to be." But, not to worry...they never mention any bad news or bad stuff...it's always good news. I wish I had taken a photo of Panyu back on that hot summer's day in August 2003. This is because if I had taken a photo of Panyu all those years ago then I would have been able to compare to what it looked like in those days to what it looks like today. In those days Panyu was nothing but a dusty industrial town with very poor infrastructure, and was heavy polluted. Since the opening of metro Line 3 in 2009, two of Panyu's sub districts - Panyu Square and Shiqiao - have become heavily popular residential areas for most of Guangzhou's population. Rent is still remarkably cheaper than what you would have to pay in downtown Tian He (a three bedroom modern apartment can cost anything in the region of RMB 3,000 in Panyu...the same apartment would cost around RMB 7,800 in downtown).
Shiqiao, an area covering only 11.35 square kms is becoming modern at a dizzying pace (I would refrain from saying that it's becoming more Americanized like the rest of the country). In the space of around 3 years this tiny town with a population of around 280,000 in the south-east of Panyu district, has become home to SIX McDonald's outlets, TWO KFC outlets, TWO Starbucks outlets (as if one was not enough), TWO Pizza Hut outlets, and an abundance of 7-Eleven stores. Shiqiao is the political, economic, cultural and commercial centre of Panyu District, and has direct jurisdiction over 28 communities and 8 villages. Oh, by the way, there used to be a Dunkin Donuts outlet in the main plaza next to Shiqiao Metro station. It opened in 2009 when I first started living in Shiqiao, and then it closed in February this year due to lack of demand because Chinese people love Starbucks (it's seen as a status symbol among the rising Middle-Class and elite to drink Starbucks coffee). I am a huge fan of Dunkin Donuts, and being British, I have always been highly impressed by the way they make their milk teas- now that's something rare for an American food outlet to achieve (!). I would be more than happy to speak to a few Starbucks executives about this, but in my opinion Starbucks are not marketing and selling the tea as it should be done (take note....Earl Grey is tea without flavour...and I'd like to meet the innovative person who thought about serving a cup of tea with milk FOAM poured on the top!!). I have bought Starbucks tea in mainland China, Dubai, Istanbul, Singapore, Bangkok, Detroit, Toronto, Paris, Hong Kong, and even in London (home of tea!), and I can tell you that it tastes nothing like the tea that we loyal tea drinkers are used to. I am not sure what native Indians in India think about the tea offered by Starbucks. Believe me, being a British man of Indian heritage I know what real tea and coffee tastes like (I am, of course, referring to black tea). Chai, the word for tea used in most Eurasian countries (including Russia), originated in India during the British Raj under King George, and the original tea derives from the romantic hills of Darjeeling and Shimla (PG Tips and Tetley have it right). Maybe Starbucks should stick to just selling the coffee - which by my definition is not real coffee either. In my opinion, Chinese people need to be brought up to revere real Italian coffee. Perhaps they should do what the Aussies did after the GFC, where 800 Starbucks stores were closed in Australia - mostly in Melbourne. Only poofs put vanilla in coffee, and milk foam on their tea...! As an Engineer by background, I always get fascinated by the impressive amount of work that goes into building large feats of architecture. Even more fascinating is the years of long term legacy that is left behind by these projects, and to think of it that most people just take them for granted after they have been built. I doubt a non-engineer would ever take a moment to marvel at the great amount of hard work that has been put to make their castle in the sky!
Hong Kong is going through an interesting phase at the moment where mega construction projects are in progress. Most of these are direct infrastructure investments made by mainland Chinese magnates. The Durian is commonly known as the 'King of the fruits', and is the only fruit that is banned on-board aircraft, and on the subway in Singapore (because it has a horrible odour). Its not as bad tasting as it looks and smells. Mostly found in South-East Asia. People in China love the Durian and use it as a vital ingredient for desserts.
Opened to the public around the latter part of 2006, Coastal City is a nice modern shopping area in Shenzhen's Nanshan District. But you would never know that before it was built this land was all part of Shenzhen Bay, and the surrounding seabed. There was nothing here except pebbles, sand and water. The roads, luxury shopping mall, and the Kempinski Hotel Shenzhen are all built on the former seabed. This is where Shenzhen's new Middle -Class come to while away their evenings to dine and wine at fine restaurants!
Herbal tea is very popular in Guangdong Province. It tastes bitter (can be sweetened), and looks like coca-cola. The ingredients of herbal teas are mainly fresh dried flowers, leaves, seeds or roots, and grains. There is one particular drink that is made from extracts taken from a version of grass. Like most other interesting types of food that you get in Guangdong Province (inc. meat products), herbal tea is meant to be very good for your health, and contains a remarkably high amount of antioxidant properties.
You'd be surprised how many people don't know that in some parts of China the cost of living is more expensive than in the West (they laugh when I say that sometimes), and you'd be equally surprised at how little knowledge most people have of China's global super power status in the world. I spend most my time myth busting because most people in the West (esp. Europe) still have the wrong stereotypical negative image of the country and its people in their minds. I recently came across a highly educated Romanian (Cambridge graduate) who for some reason kept on complaining about everything to do with China. She kept asking me questions such as: Do people ride bicycles in droves there?, Do Chinese eat weird food?, Do they have shopping malls like we do here? Do they have ATM machines in China? Whats the food like? I heard they eat all kinds of meat? and so on. She even mimicked the Chinese accent at one point. It didn't take someone to be Einstein to work out that she was totally unaware of the culture, and at some point came across as xenophobic.
Most people even compare China with India, which I think is wrong because there is no India-China competition. Though I have not been to India since 1998 (I am not an Indian citizen for those that don't know), but having spoken to many people (including native Indians) who have been to India, I can tell you that economically China is perhaps a few decades ahead of India. In my opinion, it would be an impossible task for a country like India to be as successful as China because of many factors including religion in India. Without being stereo-typically negative, the Indian culture comes across as being too conservative/closed compared to China, and that's something that cannot be changed (and should not be changed of course because every country has their own ways of living a life, and that's the beauty of life). Of course there is a gap between the filthy rich and the desperate poor in China, however the good thing is that everybody gets their bowl of rice. In fact, to think of it, I have come across more people that are homeless and begging on the streets in European cities than I have in China. In some ways London itself does feel like it is the Western version of a 3rd world country because of its poor over used infrastructure (try taking an overcrowded commuter tube/bus/train in London with no air-conditioning!). It's only when you live in China you realize that the West is lagging behind in terms of infrastructure, quality of life, and economic stability. If you happen to walk in a place such as Shanghai, you'll see that most of the middle class Chinese women are all carrying a Louis Vuitton bag (real not fake!), or wearing Prada glasses, and Gucci shoes. Shanghai really does feel like the Paris of the East. In some of the affluent parts of Shanghai or Beijing if you happen to walk into a Starbucks or a shopping mall, and you happen not to wear any designer clothes then you are not in (yes, it's that important of a status symbol). I am not a generalist, and not a fan of stereotyping...however it would be somewhat of an accurate observation to say that the typical Middle Class Chinese person probably drives a Maserati or a Mercedes, learns English at Wall Street English (where prices start from around RMB 40,000 for a one year English language learning course!), loves their Starbucks coffee every morning, loves treating themselves to a good Steak meal at a top 5-star hotel, owns an expensive DSLR camera/s, and loves spending money to shop for designer clothes. In my opinion Shanghai is more expensive than London to some extent (depending on where you live and what your cost of living is). For example, to rent a decent one bedroom accommodation in a nice part of Shanghai (Pudong or downtown Puxi) it costs around at least RMB 7,000 a month (that's about GBP 760, or around USD 1140 a month). Taking a taxi or public transport is still relatively cheaper in mainland China than in London or Hong Kong (taxi rates start at around RMB 14 for the first mile). However, the cost of weekly shopping and eating out at a restaurant might be almost the same as in Hong Kong (though Hong Kong food is more expensive than London sometimes). If, for example, you are going to eat in Xintiandi (trendy fashionable place), then for example the cost of a giant plate of food and a nice glass of wine costs the equivalent of about £15.00. But hey, if someone has lived in somewhere like Sweden, then China wouldn't give you any physical pain every time you come here!. China's growing abundance of modern infrastructure contains numerous 5-star hotels (some have amazing architecture), world-class international schools (Dulwich College Suzhou for example), large number of airports, and so many other impressive things that are modern and clean - it makes the United Kingdom look like a Western version of a 3rd world country (no wonder why the former PM Tony Blair pays monthly visits to meet the CEOs of Chinese banks!). In some parts of the country, life comes across as being so much better than anything I have come across in Europe that it would make any other global economy envious. The fact is that Europe and America had their time of growth after the World Wars, now its the turn of Asian economies to grow. This, flamboyancy, of course, does have its kickbacks and downsides. The biggest myth that derives from is that many Western business persons immediately think: 'If I go to China then I can become financially successful!'. While it always doesn't end up like this (read this), it is true that in the long run, China is the place to be in. That's where the future is, and that's where the money is (in my opinion). |
Get in Touch:LIFE MATTERSHere I share my thoughts
and experiences during my travels, and how some things have affected my life as an expat and world traveller. Travelling is about capturing that moment in life. Every word, view and opinion on this page is that of Navjot Singh - except where indicated. The most recent is at the top. Scroll down to read the archive. Or search using CTRL+F (COMMAND + F) and enter a keyword to search the page. Just some of the stories you never heard before. The NAVJOT-SINGH.COM web blog is separate to this web site....Click blog, which may not be visible in some countries due to local firewall restrictions, so in those cases this weblog may be read. The weblog also includes some of my press trip reports- most of which are not published on the official blog because of copyright issues. The weblog also contains articles that may be associated directly with a PR trip for a country, airline or a hotel. These are PR reviews done in relations with various companies. If you are an investor or a trend watcher then you may find this website useful as investing has a lot to do with personal observations and finding the ideal trend or next big thing. The average human on the street frequently knows far more about the state of the economy than politicians, university professors, subject matter experts, and financial analysts who seldom travel, or if they do so, only from one hotel to another hotel! The pulse and vibrancy of an economy is nowhere more visible than on a country's streets. All photos and words are © Navjot Singh unless stated. Photos taken by others or by agencies are appropriately copyrighted under the respective name. No photo or word/s may be taken without the prior written permission by the author (i.e. Navjot Singh). All Rights Reserved. Archives
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