The Christmas Holiday in Putian, China

It seems to me that every winter there are more signs of the Christmas holiday in China. Most of it appears to be commercially oriented, and for many Chinese, it has as much religious meaning as Halloween does in the U.S. In fact, I often hear people refer to it as an American holiday. For me, it is simply another example of Western culture's impact in China.

The holiday is not only found in well-known Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. This year, I even saw signs of it in Putian, Fujian province. For example, there are places selling Christmas supplies.

At Walmart

And several Christmas-themed dioramas can be found in the central shopping district.

At a shopping mall

At a larger and more upscale shopping mall

The most common sight, though, is employees wearing Santa hats.

At a department store

At a shoe shoe and athletic wear store

At a mobile phone store

At another mobile phone store

However, I think it is safe to say that in most places in Putian, you wouldn't be aware it was Christmas. So some employees still wear their usual hats.

At a pharmacy

And some businesses still use their giant inflatable panda.

Outside a furniture store

For more, see last year's post here. I shared some personal experiences, a video report by The Christian Broadcasting Network, and some scenes from Wuhan, Hubei province--no giant inflatable pandas, though.

Historic Xiaoshan Street in Shaoxing, China

Xiaoshan Street runs alongside a canal in a central district of Shaoxing, Zhejiang province. Although it has a distinctive style and is at the southern edge of a historic area frequented by tourists, the bustling activity amidst the old buildings there reminded me of some busy-but-not-so-touristy "old streets" elsewhere in China. I will say and share more about the nearby historic area later. But first, here are some scenes from Xiaoshan Street.

Outdoor Cards in Old Shaoxing

It's been one of those unexpectedly "interesting" weeks, and I've had to pull back on posting. But I plan to ramp things back up soon. For now, here is another photo taken in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province:

Later I will share other scenes from this old neighborhood. They can make it seem all the more striking that this city of over 4 million people just a couple of hours away from Shanghai was once claimed by Symantec to be the malware capital of the world.

Two Speedy Rides in Shaoxing, China

Around 7 this morning I waited for a taxi. I had plenty of time to make it to my destination.

But I waited.

And I waited.

And I saw no available taxis. I realized if I didn't figure something out soon, I would have to make significant changes to my plans.

But then, over the horizon, or actually the hill of a bridge, a possible solution appeared. It wasn't what I had been looking for, but... it might do. So when the driver approached I asked him how long the trip would take.

If he was right, I had a chance. I had no other options, so off we went. After telling him to please hurry, I felt a pang of guilt. But then I considered he probably found this to be a good deal since I had quickly agreed to pay him more than US $1.50--much more than the usual price for this ride.

As he promised, we made it to the station in time. And he didn't even seem out of breath.

So thank you, sir. Your opportune appearance and speedy service ensured I could make it onto another vehicle of speed.

Fortunately, I was in a place where you could take a cycle rickshaw to catch a high-speed train.

A Rural City Scene in Shaoxing

After taking a peak through an open door in a park's back wall yesterday, I saw the above in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province. The park and this scene both felt like another world from the denser parts of the city nearby.

More on Shaoxing and other topics soon. I have some catching up to do, especially since I will be on yet another high-speed train tomorrow. Fortunately, the ride should provide an opportunity to get some more work done when I'm not gazing out the window.

Weapons Matter When Children are Attacked

Students returning to school after lunch on a peaceful day in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, China

As you may already know, there has been a terrible attack on children at a school:

A man with a knife has wounded 22 children - at least two of them seriously - and an adult at a primary school in central China.

The attack happened at the gate of a school in Chenpeng village in Henan province.

Police arrested a 36-year-old local man at the scene.

It is not the first knife attack at a school in China. And there are worries it won't be the last. As noted on NPR:

"People are saying that this demonstrates their real lack of mental health provisions in China," [Louisa Lim in April 2010] said on All Things Considered. "And also the fact that the social security net has broken down because people are moving around a lot as well. There is a real lack of social and psychological support."

Despite the problems, there is a silver lining. The attackers did not possess guns. Otherwise, China would be even more similar to the U.S. and probably doing more of this and this.

On the Bus Again in China

Due to some sleep deprivation, yesterday morning I enjoyed some coffee with my tasty xiaolongbao, a style of steamed bun/dumpling* famous in Shanghai.

My way of doing "fusion"

Later in the day, I departed Shanghai not by high-speed rail, but by bus, because I hoped I would get to cross the Hangzhou Bay Bridge. However, the bus took another route, and the scenery often included the high-speed rail tracks. Oh well, at least I got to ride shotgun.

The bus driver was a fan of "proactive honking", a practice I have noticed more often in other regions of China.

One obvious difference from riding the train was stopping at the Xiasha (下沙) travel service center. Unlike the service center I visited on the way to Wuzhou, it did not have a restaurant "inspired" by McDonald's.

I don't think this experience justifies putting Xiasha on my list of visited places.

After arriving at my hotel in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, I asked the manager to recommend a place for dinner. He provided one and said I should take a taxi there. But I later discovered that available taxis were not plentiful at the time. So I improvised, and based on an earlier glance at a map I figured heading east would be my best bet to find a worthy restaurant. After walking for 10-15 minutes, I was surprised to see the street mentioned by the hotel manager. And about 5 minutes later I found the recommended restaurant. Sometimes it all works out in the end.

A good recommendation -- Zhuangyuan Lou Restaurant

In addition to my meal, I enjoyed a bottle of Shaoxing's famous huangjiu or "yellow wine". If you like Manischewitz wine, you might love this stuff.

A good way to celebrate arriving in Shaoxing

As I walked back to my hotel, I watched a bit of night dancing at a public square.

Earlier I saw a large group of older women dancing to American hip hop music.
Unfortunately, it was too dark to record a video.

And that's all for this light travel-bloggish post. I'm still sleep deprived but I hope to resolve that issue now. More later...


*Whether it should be described as a bun or a dumpling can be a deeply religious issue for some people. Perhaps I will touch on this debate of taxonomy and translation another day.

Ketchup and Oatmeal in the Shanghai Metro

The H. J. Heinz Company and the Quaker Oats Company are both based in the U.S. Not only do they have roots in neighboring states, Pennsylvania and Ohio respectively, but advertisements for their products are currently neighbors at a Shanghai metro station.

Just something to ponder...

If this is not fascinating enough for you, more later. It's been a jam-packed few days in Shanghai, and soon I will be off to another part of China.

Another Day of Great Firewall Fun

Since I last commented here on the challenges of using a VPN to "break through" China's Great Firewall, I would say the situation has generally improved (from my perspective) but occasional problems persist. One question I had was whether any of the problems I was experiencing were specific to my location. On that note, after arriving in Shanghai I noticed a nearly identical pattern of problems to those that had creeped up during my last few days in Changsha.

However, the situation was very different today when I went online at a cafe in Shanghai. I could not use my VPN at all. Otherwise, everything seemed "normal" (for China's censored Internet). Since my experience the past 2 days had been especially unproblematic, I wondered if this new VPN problem was somehow specific to the cafe.

Hours later and now at another location in Shanghai, I am not having any problems. But it does not appear I should place the cafe on any sort of blacklist, which is good because I like their food. A quick look at Twitter makes it clear that others in China experienced VPN difficulties during the same time as me.

So what accounts for today's changes? I've seen some speculation, but I'm not going to even try to make a guess right now. I simply share this to provide a taste of some of the challenges and uncertainty one can face when using (and relying on) a personal VPN in China.

Back in Shanghai

Jing'an Park in Shanghai

My recent trip on high-speed rail brought me to Shanghai. Since arriving, it's been a whirlwind of catching up with friends, meeting new people, and enjoying some of my favorite restaurants--if they're still there. I don't plan to stick around Shanghai for long, so I doubt I will be able to continue my earlier photographic look at Shanghai's diverse areas including Dachang Town (old, less old, and a sidewalk market), southern Hongkou district, northern Jing'an district, and northern Xuhui district. But I have plenty of other posts planned, including more about Changsha--where spending more time than I had planned led to a variety of experiences, discoveries, and insights.

So as always, more is on the way.

On the Rails Again in China

When two months ago I traveled from Shenzhen to Guangzhou, I rode on the fastest class of high-speed rail in China--identified with the letter "G" for long-distance lines or with the letter "C" for lines between nearby cities. When I traveled from Guangzhou to Zhuhai I rode on the slower class of high-speed rail in China--identified with the letter "D". I have also taken many other trips on high-speed rail, such as Beijing to Tianjin, Luoyang to Zhengzhou, and Wuhan to Yueyang on G/C lines and Shenyang to Haerbin, Shangqiu to Xuzhou, and Wenzhou to Xiapu on D lines.

I first revealed my affinity for high-speed rail last year in a guest blog post for James Fallows--"Ride Like You Want to in China". Since then, I have grown to better appreciate the debates over whether it represents a wise investment by the Chinese government and, even if it is, how to resolve problems of safety and corruption. For two related in-depth articles, see "Boss Rail" by Evan Osnos in The New Yorker and "China Advances High-Speed Rail Amid Safety, Corruption Concerns" by Ian Johnson in National Geographic. But regardless of these issues, I have undoubtedly benefitted from high-speed rail. Not only has it enabled me to more quickly and comfortably reach a variety of destinations, but it has encouraged me to see parts of China I may have never visited otherwise.

Yesterday, I continued my high-speed travels and departed Changsha on a D train. As with some other trips, I spotted nearby construction of new high-speed rail lines. In this case, I believe most of what I saw represents what will be the G class Shanghai-Kunming High-Speed Railway. I'll share a few of the photos from yesterday's train ride. Based on the times, they were all taken in the provinces of Jiangxi and Zhejiang. Despite the train window and the train's speed, the photos provide a clear sign of high-speed rail's continued expansion in China, even where "slow" high-speed rail already exists.

Raising the Arm Mario Style

Like here and here, what appears to be Mario from Mario Bros. can be found--this time on a boy's pants. I noticed that the boy's arm is raised in a manner similar to Mario's. I have no idea whether it is a coincidence or not.

And I leave you with that great mystery to ponder.