John and Fayne's "Sabbatical": China Part III: Shanghaied in Ghangzhou

The Bund by day

Shanghai- "Eddie" (Tau Ee)
The story of Shanghai parallels the story of China and our guide “Eddie”. A generation ago, they were in the 18th Century, and in the last generation have been catapulted into the 21st Century. Shanghai was one of the ports forced open by European powers, even carving out autonomous neighborhoods, or “concessions”. The Bund is the name given to the string of colonial buildings on the west bank of the Huangpu River.

The Bund by night

The east side, Pudong, was literally rice paddies two decades ago, and now has a skyline to rival Manhattan with some of the tallest buildings on the planet. On our first evening we took a brief cruise along the Huangpu River to take in the stunning show of lights.

468 m. high Oriental Pearl Tower

Shanghai is the financial center of the new China, rivaling Hong Kong, and evidence of this new wealth is everywhere, from the skyscrapers to the state-of-the-art shopping malls.

Skyline view from our hotel room

We even found the local Hooters, whose motto is “Hooters makes you Happys”

“Eddie “is around 30, married to an accountant with a new infant daughter.

He did not know indoor plumbing until his late teens, and grew up in a “Stone Door House”, a large colonial house now shared by up to 10 or more families. His grandfather was a victim of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960’s and 70’s. As an accountant, he was considered too intellectual, elitist, and counter-revolutionary, and was sentenced to years of farm labor and prison. Through education, “Eddie” became a tour guide and has been able to travel overseas much more than most. Shanghai, as a port city, has a much more cosmopolitan attitude than inland cities. The people are more tolerant and accustomed to foreigners. There was even a significant Jewish population in the 19th and 20th centuries (only a handful now, but a synagogue has been turned into a museum). “Eddie” reflected this openness, even extending to the Japanese, still resented in much of the country for atrocities during the 20th century wars. He was not as sympathetic to ex-patriot Tibetans, repeating an argument we heard ad nauseum (“Tibet has always been part of China, look at all we have invested to improve their lot, yada yada yada”). State-run TV repeated endlessly “Today marks the 60th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet by the Red Army”. It was liberated from Tibetans, I guess.
“Eddie” also shared an “only in China” story about his wife’s sister. She was the second child born to her mother despite the strict “One Child” policy. When the “family planning” agency found out, they tried to force her to have an abortion. The woman fled to the country, was found, escaped again, until the pregnancy was too advanced for a safe abortion. After the birth, she couldn’t pay the hefty fine, so the child was unrecognized by the government. That meant no health care, immunizations, or school. Fortunately the girl was healthy, survived to the age of five, when she was finally documented with papers.We tried to impress upon “Eddie” how mind-blowing all that was on so many levels from an American point of view.
But I digress (as usual). There were still sights to see in Shanghai. These included the Jade Buddha Temple, so-named for the two exquisite white jade Buddhas (no photos please).

Buddha, not jade

Another popular spot is the Yuyuan Garden, a peaceful 550 year-old classical garden in the center of the city.

We also saw Nanjing Road, a major shopping district.

We did not have time to ride the Maglev train, a super-fast magnetic levitation train from the city to the new international airport. Designed by German engineers made to go up to 311 mph, it seems like science fiction. Instead we flew out of the domestic airport to our next stop....

Haibao, Unemployed Mascot of Shanghai Expo 2010

Guilin- "Lizzie" (Mo Wei Li)

"Lizzie" showing us the spot on the Li River pictured on the 20 Yuan bill

"East or West, Guilin scenery is the best."- Wang Zhenggong, 12th Century poet

"Guilin is like a pretty girl in old worn clothes."- Bill Clinton

The two quotations above explain a lot about present day Guilin. The first is from a famous poem and a very early example of PR which helped to establish the area’s reputation as a scenic wonderland 900 years ago, although it must sound more elegant in Chinese. The second comment was made during a Presidential visit in the 1990’s (imagine it said with Bill’s smoky Arkansas drawl). More than once we were told this comment is credited with spurring the government to commit its resources to upgrading the province into a popular tourist destination. New hotels, bridges, roads, and airports have been constructed, and heavy industry has been moved out to improve the environmental quality.
Pictures of the area will be familiar to some from classical Chinese landscape paintings.

“Lizzie”, our guide said Guilin is famous for four things: mountains, caves, clean water, and rocks. It is the dramatic and improbably steep hills of limestone karst which leaves the lasting impression.

First stop on the agenda was Elephant Trunk Hill, a rock formation dipping into the Li River, which does somewhat resemble a pachyderm.

Then it was off to Reed Flute Cave. Much like a cave experience from the US in the 60’s, it featured garish lighting, piped in music, and a dogged determination to make sure we “saw” the named formations: “Look, a mother lion!”; “See, two old men playing chess”, etc. Fayne could only see Buddhas, and I saw mainly stalagmites and stalactites, and little concern for what is a delicate ecosystem.

"Crystal Palace of the Dragon King", or something like that

The town of Guilin itself was a pleasant break for us. It was cooler, with plenty of trees and water around, and more bicycles and electric scooters than cars.

Pagoda of the Sun and Moon, Day

And Night

There were plenty of outdoor cafes with good international cuisine, and “only” about a million people. We also had more time on our own, so it was more relaxing, and I had time explore some on my own, including climbing up to hilltop pagodas and shopping for souvenirs.
The highlight was a cruise on the River Li winding through the unique landscape.

That afternoon I continued my wandering mostly with Chinese to the old city center, now Princes City Park and home to a university.

Guilin means the Forest of Sweet Osmanthus. We found a local pastry stuffed with a paste from the osmanthus fruit, and washed it down with some 106 proof local rice wine.

“Lizzie” is a local young lady, less experienced and well-traveled than out other guides, very cheery, and truly astounded when we answered any of her questions correctly (“How did you know that?!?!”) She was working on her English, and we tutored her on the proper pronunciation of “zoo”, “Chanel”, and “Rolex” (many are for sale on the streets).

Rules posted at Princes City- I hope you can read them

Riverside cormorants used for fishing

Guangzhou- "Phillip" Huang
On leaving Guilin, we were routed to fly to Guangzhou, have a whirlwind 4 hour drive-by of that city, to then catch the train to Hong Kong. I have no idea why they didn’t just fly us directly to Hong Kong. It felt almost as if we were “Shanghaied” to Guangzhou. I suspect it has something to do with the fact HK, despite being part of China, is still treated as a different country. You have to go through customs from the mainland to there, and mainland Chinese need a special visa to visit. Or it may have been they wanted to be sure we were "educated" by "Phillip".
This guide “Phillip” was closer to our age, so I asked him what his experience was like during the Cultural Revolution. He proudly admitted he was in the Red Guard, and while perhaps there were some excesses and it wasn’t such a good time for some academics, overall it was a good thing. He is still a proud Party Member, and reminded us that Mao did not use his power to amass great personal wealth. He did not really want to discuss the temptations brought on by the current flow of riches, and repeated how this was “Chinese-style socialism”.
Guangzhou was known to the West as Canton, the first international trading port, and has a rich history, but the current city is very large and busy, but largely undistinguished. It seems to have an inferiority complex in comparison with its two shinier sister cities Hong Kong and Shanghai.

"Phillip", Sun, & Me

The Sun Yet-Sen Memorial is a beautiful modern edifice with a large auditorium, dedicated to the Father of the Chinese Republic. Both the Nationals and the Reds want to claim him, so we got to hear the mainland side of the story. His widow did become a high-ranking Communist official, while her sister was Mrs. Chiang Kai-Shek. Interesting family, the Soong sisters.
The next stop was at the Chen Family Temple, originally built with funds from this giant family line in China, to host gatherings and ceremonies for ancestors. As I understand it, that kind of activity is no longer allowed, so the building has been converted into Guangdong Folk Art Museum. You could spend a very long time going through the intricate embroidery,

Embroidery

Wood, brick, and stone carvings, engraving, pottery, and on and on.
Our guide insisted on driving us by the latest really tall buildings and TV towers erected, as they see-saw back and forth with Shanghai for the honor of having Asia’s tallest.

During our mad dash on the way to the train station, we had a very surreal exchange, as I looked out the window and asked, ”Is that a giant peanut?” It was (sorry for the poor photo), with no explanation.

Perhaps it was an homage to the farmers paid off and displaced to high-rises to make room for the skyscrapers.
Hong Kong- Finally
We made it to Hong Kong, where most people do speak English. We stayed at a luxurious waterside Harbour Grand Hong Kong with a tremendous view of the lights. It was worth it to upgrade to the Club level, as that gave us free access to the penthouse lounge, buffet breakfast, internet, and other numerous amenities.

The concierge was the best, and gave us solid-gold tips on transportation, and the best Dim Sum ever (I learned “dim sum” is a noun referring to the dishes and “yum cha” is a verb used to indicate the activity, as in “Let’s go to yum cha”.)
As you might guess, Hong Kong is All About SHOPPING! In the streets, Chinese Emporiums, ultra-high end malls: it has them all, in spades. You really can’t believe it.

The #1 tourist attraction is to take the tram to the Peak overlooking Hong Kong Island. With a one-hour wait in line and air so thick it was hard to see the harbor it was a big disappointment.

The books all recommend taking the Star Ferry for an old-fashioned trip across the harbor to Kowloon. I liked it, Fayne not so much.

Accidentally Impressionistic Photo of the Star Ferry

Hong Kong is the name of the main island in the group, and across Victoria Harbor is Kowloon, the peninsula at the end of the mainland.

Kowloon Skyline

Clock Tower

Another attraction is the Big Buddha, the “World’s Largest Outdoor Seated Bronze Buddha”.

It is fairly new, and several islands away from the city center (on the backside of the island with the airport and Hong Kong Disneyland), but worth the trip.