Top of the street in our neighborhood which is close to many tourist
attractions.

View of the rooftops from the hotel. I would also like to suggest
that you can see the heat.

Inside Lion Grove Garden which is a world heritage site.

These three men symbolize wealth, longevity, and happiness (or prosperity).

A pond in the garden.

This is a stone boat in the garden which is actually a bit
like being in a real boat.

A bridge going across the pond.

The Rock Garden/Maze, that despite being
rather compact, is easy to get lost in.

Signs attached to the tree.

View from the top of the rock garden.

A canal street.

A Water Lily in the Garden of Cultivation.

Ducks kept by the lake.

Another view of the garden.

Woman collecting and selling lily flower bulbs, the seeds of which
can be eaten.

A view of all the lilies.

Another canal view.

A pagoda in a different park.

The park.

A canal runs through it.

Just another great sign translation.

A very pretty wood engraved board which had to be hidden
during the cultural revolution or it would have been destroyed.

Grapes hanging from the vine.

View inside the garden.

The tower.

Steps to climb up.

Looking down from the top.

A dragon made out of hedges.

An authentic Gondola from Venice, Italy, given to Suzhou
in recognition of the cities canals, and also because Suzhou is a sister
city to Venice.

Garden view inside the tower.

View from a castle in the garden. The first gate could
be broken leading the enemy into a deep area. Another gate could then
be lowered behind trapping them.

A view from the lake across the garden.

That is all for Suzhou, an interesting and historical city in mainland China.
All cities in mainland China seem to have a distinct charm in a way
that cities can in developing countries where hegemony is not so
universal or easy. Next is Hangzhou, nearby Suzhou and the last
stop in mainland China.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport (Bright and Clean for the World Expo)

Tescos is in China!

A street view of Shanghai.

Another view of Shanghai with its clear blue skies.

Lily flower seeds are on sale now, these are the remains of the big lilies you see on the lake.

View of the Bund, a big shopping street in Shanghai with European Architecture.

Another example of European Architecture

The Bund again.

Walking down the the Harbor view. 很多人。

Toward the Shanghai skyline with its (sometimes tragic) art deco style.

The Shanghai coast.

The Shanghai skyline again.

There are many European style buildings on this side of the harbor.

People on an escalator to the sky in Shanghai.

Within a garden temple in Shanghai.

The dragon wall.

Another view.

The God of Wealth.

A temple employee productively passing the time.

At the Shanghai expo, every country has their own design, which is often extravagant, sleek, or both.

Solar car at the Dutch Pavilion.

The Zimbabwe Pavilion, my childhood nation, an information display on the inside stated that pottery fragments from China dating back to 1000 years ago were found at Great Zimbabwe and this finding suggests Chinese-Zimbabwe relations started long ago.

Each pavilion had a token stamp (or visa) that could be placed into a Expo Passport. Chinese people lined up in droves to get these visas, perhaps after generations of difficulties with being able to obtain them otherwise.

Brunei Darussalam, my favorite country of the expo and one of the richest in East Asia after discovering oil in Borneo.

The China Pavilion which requires waiting in line at 5 a.m. to get a pass to wait in line for hours to even enter. As a result, I did not go.

The Lebanon Pavilion which focused on Lebanon's Phoenecian origins and presented the many sleek and beautiful things that are Lebanese.

Don't forget about Tajikistan!

The seed garden exhibit at the British Pavilion which housed thousands of seeds.

The Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower

View from the top with a glass floor.

Cathedral in Shanghai.

Waiting area for China's new fast rail service, which still sells standing tickets.

After Shanghai we traveled to Suzhou a town home to many UNESCO world heritage sites and the subject of the next post.

Dried fish products of all type and variety (including Shark fin) are available
in this city...

Like all vacation towns, you can find novel crafts and memoirs, I was
particularly taken by this penguin made entirely out of seashells.

View of Qindao Harbor

Second view of Qindao Harbor

Chinese beach. There is a lot of this kind of green seaweed. Also, Coca cola
predominates in China.

Here is piles of the seaweed collected, which seems to be a daily
task in Qingdao. Armies of labor hauling away seaweed, garbage,
or other things on wagons and carts is still a common occurrence in China.

A view of the common side of Qingdao.

Seaside view leading off to a lighthouse island cultivated by the German's
during their occupation.

Submarine at the Chinese navel history museum.

Statue placed by the Germans on aforementioned lighthouse island.

China...

View inside Laoshan (Old Mountain) Park.

The Ying and Yang symbol predominates in this park, and symbolizes the
Dao Jiao religion. A religion created on the teaching of Lao Tsu and his great
work the Tao Te Jing

Huge Buddhist statue in the Indian style...

Indian style gates...

Another large stone statue.

Inside the temple.

Big Chinese characters carved everywhere. The Chinese like that...

Church left by the Germans, where many many wedding couples now take
their photo. In fact you see quite a few Chinese wearing crosses in Qingdao,
but how regulated their religion is by the government is unknown. The Chinese
like to face that they are open about religion...Indeed there are churches in
Beijing where Chinese can go, but the messages they deliver are pre-approved. ;)

Chinese style: Do not cut the tree, just build the wall around it.

View of the beach from a point of vantage.

Frankly quite cool and weird graphics for China...

German style great house, where Mao himself vacationed one summer. Pay a few
and enter to see his bed and writing desk.

A last view of Qingdao beach before boarding a plane to Shanghai. This photo
makes Qingdao look sleek and modern, but it is not. At the heart of it, it is
another tourist beach town, charming, picturesque, full of distractions and curiosities.
If it came to it, I would come back for another vacation.

Sunset at Tiananmen

The performing arts center which is really nice on the inside and where a saw a really great performance of La Traviata.

Fragrant Hills - A mountain park on the outskirts of Beijing

The plush surroundings of a Tsinghua University Conference Room

Classmates sing at the Karaoke competition for foreign students learning Chinese. Each performer gives a vague sense of recognition as people formerly known in the hallway, or around campus...

Experimental school for foreign languages!! But more often than not "foreign language" = English

Classmates performing a skit for our speaking class test. They look comfortable and relaxed here and for the most part they are. What they exude is freedom. I remember one Chinese asking me once if I thought the Chinese were free. At that time I did think they were free, at least in a political sense, but the true limit to the Chinese's freedom and that of anyone in a
developing country, is economic freedom. Economic freedom which grants a person not only greater
opportunities, but the imagination and confidence to pursue them.

The World Cup is mine at last!

This photo only proves that Beijing CAN have clear blue skies.

Dreamland park. A rural part of Beijing farmland which created this kind of flower park, marketed it on RenRen (The Chinese Facebook) and then drew out crowds of college kids.

English Majors at Tsinghua University act out Shakespeare. Camp gourmet.

At the Temple of  Heaven

The Summer Palace

People fishing (I think) with an umbrella at the Summer Palace

It has been a while since I have seen a river like this completely covered with vegetation. Hen Cool.

The Birds Nest at the Olympic Park. Named "Olympic Green" for some reason, and with no note of irony.

More of the Olympic Park

What I would call a typical Chinese summer lake at Tsinghua University. With big water lilies and weeping willows.

Me with my dormitory reception staff, who always asked where we were going, met our friends in the lobby, and were effectively, kind of surrogate parents...

And now for the person who has drunk everything, Jews Ear Juice! (Really a kind of Chinese Fungus)

And finally a last look at the Tsinghua grounds outside my dorm in Summer. The grass is unkept and rarely mowed, compared with U.S. Universities which keep things quite pristine everywhere. Let me suggest that it matters...still, I will miss this place.

The book is a compelling read in entrepreneurship as Facebook espouses the new business culture of giving value first and seeking money later, if at all. It is difficult not to admire facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for his idealism to try create something great, and to only think about money as an afterthought. Reading the book it is easy to get the impression that success in business come from action and doing what excites you, not worry about the bottom line or getting things "perfect and right" for the customer. Doing the former tends to take care of the latter anyway.

The book also engages in a lot of theories and predictions on the future of the internet, to the potential dominance and ubiquity of social networks like facebook, vs. an internet still largely driven by search. I do not know how to look at these theories, or what to think about them. Certainly, facebook is as much a social phenomenon as a company, and like most business, it comes down to trying to manage the  natural impulses of people while creating value. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens in the future...

The city center with the obligatory statue of a man on a horse.

A river runs through it.

On the way to a temple....

At the temple...

A Buddha

A bell.

Old style roofs.

More temples...

Michelle turning prayer wheels.

A statue that is a hippo I think...

The temple is large and impressive.

In the distance is "Sledgehammer Rock" something of an attraction to the area.

A very large wooden Buddha with 1000 arms.

I really like these bright coloured flags.

Even more.

Temples.

The um...sledgehammer rock.

View from the top of the mountain.

Go down by cable car and see goats on the way down.

Around the train station.

The river is dammed and people play in the subsequent space.

I think Chinese like neon lights.

Peacock at the hotel which Michelle tries to feed.

Inside Putuo Zongcheng Temple, built to resemble the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet.

More of the same temple.

Flags!

After leaving the temple there is random rubble, which to be honest, you see quite often in China. Not a lot, but enough...

A different temple on the way to sledgehammer rock which has Dragons on the roof.

Chinese going to the summer resort.

Coy and water Lilies are popular even in Beijing. There is sun for at least 14 hours of the day now, and vegetation is thriving.

Imperial summer resort, breath taking lake, better add some pedal boats!

And that is all for the Chengde trip. All in all, it was a good place to visit with a small town charm and a lot of history.

Do I think China will be the leading economic power?
No,  At least not right now. China has to go through major government, legal, and cultural changes before they can become even a major economic power, much more or less the driving force in the world economy. Breathe a sigh of relief everyone, China is not that strong and will probably not make it to the top.

1. On the legal front China is still full of friction that prevents proper innovation and entrepreneurship. Accounting laws which tax gross revenue as opposed to profit means a company can still get taxed even if it makes a loss. Further, the accounting system requires that all receipts given to customers are approved by the government. This accounting system effectively limits supply. Yesterday I went to a lake to rent a boat with my girlfriend only to find that I could not rent one because they boat company was out of official receipts.  As a result boats stayed floating by the dock, empty and unused, the company lost out on profit, and we lost out on a boat ride. These relics of communism create barriers to the growth of great businesses and leaves success to those with the right government connections, or those willing to risk going around the system. An estimated 60% of all business in China is on the black market.

2. Chinese culture encourages replication and perfection, as opposed to innovation and efficiency. In his book Midler shares a story of a Chinese Emperor who when presented a fake reproduction of a work of art, so admired how close it was to the original he actually praised the creator as a genius in copying as opposed to a cheat. The culture praises someone who has taken the time to study, learn, and mimic to a point of perfection. The language itself which has 3000-5000 basic characters starts every child off with great skills in memorizing and recreating characters. This initial task in education sets the stage that learning involves brute force memorization and re-creation that seems to stick with every Chinese through life. Midler makes the point that any economy which only copies and does not innovate will always be one step behind and therefore can surely never lead, or be a driving force, in the world.

3. Chinese are savers and not spenders. People seem to feel that it is the accumulation of wealth, assiduous saving, which leads to power. However, the true economic driver of an economy is spending, and lots of it. Why do so many people want to come to America to start business? It is because Americans spend money. This kind of spending will not exist in a country of skin-flints, and in the long term, will actually stifle the creation of new businesses. I have met people in America who are actually afraid that China owns to much U.S. government bonds, and that one day, somehow, we will be so in debt to China as to be at their mercy. This view is not only irrational, but simply not true. A quick look at the government treasury bulletin will show you that the majority of debt is held by our own government and people, and of the 25% that is held by foreign countries, China only represents a fraction.

4. Chinese cannot accept foreigners as one of their own. Perhaps one of the greatest glories and advantages of America is its ability to welcome any kind of person and make them instantly American. There is little, if any, cultural pride in a America that can cause us to refuse a person. This unique feature lets America attract seriously talented people from all over the world to a a very big market and let them set up shop and add value to the economy without fear of an "old boys network" or "government xenophobia" to prevent assimilation. I was shocked in China when I was not allowed to stay at a certain hotel just because I was a foreigner. Try to make Chinese food, or call China your "home" and see how many of the Chinese let you. Yet, this one trait will certainly keep other smart foreigners from moving to China to set up shop in China.

5. Chinese are concerned with face, with looking like the real thing without really having it.
Anyone who has eaten a Chinese version of "Cake" knows this. It looks just like Western Cake
on the outside, but take a bite and what you get is the taste of wet cardboard. The face is there, but the soul, the part that really counts is not. This works in China for everything. Take for example the people, in his book Midler stresses that the Chinese dress modern, but the truth is that they are people in any other developing country like Central America or South East Asia. Everyone looks and acts like a graduate student, but they are not. Understanding this concept of face is the ultimate way to understand the world's current perception of China. Everything looks like China is growing fast, that China is improving rapidly, but taste the cake, look at the real China, and the true soul of it is simply missing and has a long way to go.

Do I think Chinese (Mandarin) will become a world language? The leading language of business?
No. Too many Chinese are already learning English, and further, as stated above, China still does not have it to lead the world economy, much more or less world entertainment. Even the Japanese which created, and still create, a wide array of popular cartoons and shows did not manage to supersede English, and it seems seriously unlikely that China will also. At Tsinghua University, where I currently take Mandarin classes, all the students speak English and several classes are taught in English. The majority of lectures are given in English, even by Chinese speakers. Speak to the students and most want to go to America or abroad to study. Nowhere is there a real feeling of confidence to stay in China due to its perceived power and growth in the world.

What about the Chinese people? Are they not more hard working?
Perhaps, but I think the truth of it is, that the Chinese are really just like us, and without the proper incentives, would not work any harder. In truth, I find harder working people who are more focused on personal development in America. So this fear of greater competition abroad seems unfounded. Factory workers have fewer days off and work longer hours, but as they earn more and more money this will definitely change. Currently the Chinese still look to America and Western countries for their opportunities, though they do not want to admit this. I recently went to an Amway conference. Amway is an American Company which sells health and cosmetic products through a multi-level marketing scheme. Basically friends selling to friends. The conference was full of votes of confidence, of achieving dreams, of creating pride for your family. At the end of the presentation every sales group took the stage to be recognized and shout their goals. Often people were crying. These were perhaps people who had really bad low paying jobs that selling products for Amway allowed them to escape. These people, the Chinese people, are just like any other. Looking for way to escape the bonds of their life, be independent, and bring pride to their family. They are not people looking to steal your job, or "take over" somehow. They are looking for meaning in their life.
Beyond it all, that has been the main theme in China. Despite all the development, despite all the smart students at the top University in China where I attend, you find people searching to do something truly meaningful. Many students here are following majors their parents chose for them, or majors that test grades allowed them to have. Once you choose a major, you cannot change. This leaves people with distraught lives looking for distraction or change, looking for new opportunities and choice, and often times this is translated to looking abroad.

Cappuccino at Charlie Brown Cafe, bought at Western Prices. A bottle of water is 20 cents USD, but the coffee is still 5 USD.

Peacock at the Old Summer Palace

A really really really really long Dragon Kite. 很长吧！

This is the train we took to Datong and WutaiShan. 6 hours, standing room only. But really not all that bad.

Dining car and view out at the desert landscape.

The caves at Datong. There are Buddha statues inside.

Another photo.

Ornate and I forget how old.　At least 1000 years.

Some of the paint still has not faded.

Some of the Buddhas were really really really big.

Road to WuTaiShan in the mountains. Shan is the Chinese word for mountain.

It is the first of May, but there is still snow on the mountains. Despite this, the weather is really not all that cold. Just beautiful spring weather.

The town of WuTaiShan. Home of many religions and many many many Buddhist temples. We spend the night in one, which is a bit like spending a night in a hostel, but is still a temple.

Bronze temple.

I get a fair amount of people staring at me, because to be honest, most of the time I am the only non-Chinese person around. Some ask me to take a photos with their child.

View after climbing over 1000 steps in 27 minutes. In the far distance is a white Pagoda built by the Hindus over 1000 years ago.

Another Pagoda. Around it are fliers written in the Tibetan language.

There are a lot of steps here. And gates too.

Back in Beijing and hanging out with my classmates and friends. There is Willian who is half-Taiwanese half-Japanese but is really Brazilian. Yannick from Gabon who will study international business at Tsinghua for 4 years. Then there is WeiWei who is Chinese  from Henan province and came to Beijing for 2 months to work for a while and experience the life here. She studies law and hopes to go to York in England next year. It is interesting to meet Chinese who have been in Beijing less time that we have, and how we know the city more. Weiwei talks about coming to Beijing and how she wanted to make a life for herself and be somebody and how this is true for so many Chinese...

Army soldiers near Tienanmen as we go to see Mao's body, still preserved and resting.

View of the forbidden city in Beijing from a park.

Temple at the top of the park.

This is a view of Tsinghua campus where I study from the 4th floor of the canteen where I hang out with my roommate and we chat on a lazy Monday evening.

A hutong street in Beijing that has really turned into an Urban revitalization project with trendy bars, restaurants, and office spaces.

It still has history though, and a 75 year old lady stops us to chat for a while.

People dancing in a square at night near Zhongwancun.

Weiwei will leave tomorrow and spend less time in Beijing than we will. We have a going away party and sing Karaoke till 1 a.m.

Inside Carefoure, a big mega-mart like Walmart. Always packed with people.

Rice for sale. Lots and lots of it.

Around Zhongwancun, a big shopping neighborhood, but there are a lot of shopping neighborhoods in Beijing.

Yeah, feed the birds, tuppence a bag.

Michelle, 我的迷人女朋友。

Flowers in a park, because it is spring. Etc...

That is mostly it. I am a month behind and have another month to catch up that includes a conference, seminars, mosques, and more. Will try to post again soon. Otherwise life in Beijing keeps moving on at a pace as I learn how to build stable websites, study Chinese, and plan trips to Japan and Korea this summer. Then I will travel in China in August, return home, see family, and then go to San Francisco.

Starting off we go 3-4 weeks in the past to a day trip out to a Hutong (small allyway village) in my home neighborhood of Wudaokou (五道口）. There is a girl playing with a real sword in this picture!

Here is the close up.

Me with my Chinese friend Emily who is a Tsinghua Electrical Engineering student and so smart it hurts. We study GRE English questions and have genuine debates over the answers. Despite my advantage, sometimes she is right. Haruka, my classmate, is also in this photo. She is a Japanese-Cantonese mix who grew up in Hong Kong but went to Japanese middle school and Australian Highschool. A true international in every sense of the word.

Me with Tsinghua business Proffessor Cheung. He is part of a holding company which owns 26 businesses, and he buys dinner for everyone after class.

At the semi-expat neighborhood of Sanlitun at night on the way to a club.

Inside Vix Dance Club. Almost all foreigners. Maybe 3 out of 10 are Chinese.

Scorpions for sale to eat at Wanfuqing street. They get deep fried and taste like nothing at all, except crunchy oil.

Other food on a stick at Wanfuqing.

Even more.

A view of Wanfuqing street.

The Candy Store at Wanfuqing.

Me with one of my Chinese teachers, Du XiaoJie. We call her Du Laoshi, translate: "Teacher Du"

Going to a tea house around Andingmen.

Tea ceremony things. Very touristical.

Outside a concert hall are my roommate and his friend. Inside we listen to modern classical music by a musician from Iceland.

Around the 798 art district.

More in the art district.

Me with the big bumble bee!

In around Caochungdi near the 769 art district. Caochungdi is a far out neighborhood, but laid back and more like home. I liked it right away, and still do.

Posters outside the Chinese dorm. My friend told me what they mean, but now I forget. Something like "take care of each other and work together".

Students' day at Tsinghua University. Students do student things and sing songs. They pull me up there to sing in English, which goes pretty bad to be honest, but that is what it is. :)

The Zijing Canteen where we usually have lunch every day.

Outing to a park at the military museum to see Cherry Tree Blossoms. We are too early for the blossoms, but the decorations are still nice.

Parasols at the park.

Lake at the park.

We go to HoHai at night after seeing the Cherry blossoms. Walk through the alleyways and find a restaurant.

Dr. Watson, the Nobel Prize winner, speaks about therapies to cure cancer, and his frustration at there still being no cure 40 years after the "War on Cancer" was declared by Nixon. I wrote an article for the school newspaper about it here.

Me with Danqi. Together we organize the English corner on Wednesday nights as a place for Chinese to come practice English.

English corner in action. I am constantly impressed by how well people speak English, and how much they all want to improve. Not just the Chinese, but even other foreign students in my class!

Special effects at the Neil Halstead concert.

Neil Halstead playing gutar. The venue name translates to "Many people can move mountains".

This is the outside of the music venue which used to be a political headquarters. Who would guess this lion marks the place of a rock concert?

Pandas welcome you to the Beijing Zoo.

We get to feed Giraffes at the zoo.

Statue at the zoo.

Free Sunday night concert out at the CaoChungDi art district. The weather was warm and the concert was very cool.

View of Wudaokou from a cafe were I sometimes study with my classmates.

This is some land mark, oh yes...the Great Wall!

Chinese students chill at the great wall and we exchange eye contact. Eventually they start talking amongst themselves. Then one of them comes up to me. "Hello, please may I have a hug". I smile and give her a hug, and everyone cheers.

Me at the Great Wall. Yeah, I was there. I wear a pin to celebrate the 99th anniversary of Tsinghua. Given to me courtesy of the News Center.

Me with some classmates who went on the trip also. Everyone is congenial, international, and cool. :)

That is all for now. I am studying for mid term exams and can't believe things have gone so fast. I am also planning a trip with some friends to Datong to see a palace in the caves and some Buddah statues. Will report back.

On the surface, this expo might appear as something underwhelming and mediocre. However, given the hot topic of Global Warming, or "Climate Destruction", an expo on energy innovations in heating and cooling systems quickly becomes interesting.

I don't know if it is because I arrived on the second day, or close to closing, but I found the expo to be rather calm and quiet compared to other expos I have attended. When I found my roomates's booth he burst into laughter, as he often does. Then, with a high degree of excitement, he took time to show me the various displays and innovations in Korean household heating systems. It was very interesting.

Afterward I wondered around the neighborhood of the expo, which contains a nice square. People play pingpong on outside tables and kids run around closely attended by their parents. It is a sunny day. I buy some almond milk and a pack of sandwhiches and enjoy this small family neighborhood. I like Beijing.

I take the 731 bus back to Wudaokou and run into a friend on the way. We chat pleasantly till the bus arrives. Afterward, I meet some friends and we go to an expat bar where everyone is celebrating Saint Patrick's Day. When I return to the dorm an American is chatting with the receptionist. I start talking to him also, and quickly realize he is drunk. This is a pity. He lives on my floor not far away. I keep talking to him off and on. Or more it is that he is talking to anyone who happens on his way. He is from New Jersey, has been in Beijing for many years, even started an English language school here.

"I hate Wudaokou bars" he says "all you have there are young 19 year old college kids who are going to solve cancer, and AIDS, and tell you how to run your life. They have never done any real work. I hate Wudaokou man!"

His conversation strikes me. This unabashed antagonism to idealism, to dreams. Why? It strikes home. I admit, hubris is annoying, but what is the alternative? Pragmatism? Giving up on dreams? Perhaps it is just to be silent and let your actions speak.

My roommate returns while I am talking to the drunk American in the hall. The American is now on some kind of strange rant and cursing. My roommate does not understand much English and stands regarding him with some curiosity and amusement. Like someone observing a strange creature at a zoo. In the end I tell the American I have to go shower and chat about the day with my roommate. Neither one of us mention him.