City Trees by Jake Lau

In Shanghai and Beijing, city trees are planted in a similar fashion to trees in the US. That is to say that they choose a tree and plant it up and down every street. In Shanghai, the tree of choice is the Sycamore. You can tell how recently the street was built judging by the size and shape of the trees. The sycamores are pruned using the pollarding system. This allows the Chinese to control the form of the trees. The sycamore is a cool tree to be planted on the street. Even in the winter months, when the tree loses its leaves, the tree still looks pretty. Exfoliating bark is something that always catches my eye. So even though, sycamores might have been the only type of tree in Shanghai, I didn't get sick of seeing it.

In Beijing, there is more diversity of street plantings, but not by much. There are willows, Japanese Pagoda trees, and Gingko. I thought after seeing all the wonderful herbaceous plantings throughout the city that there wouldn't be this much of a monoculture of trees in the city. I am curious to what the Chinese are doing to prevent insects or diseases from wiping out these monocultures like what happened with the american elm and what will soon happen to Ash trees in the States. Good luck with that China, but I'd start planting some other trees soon.

turf! by Jake

Before going to China we had several people tell us that there is not a lot of turf grass in China and the grass that is there is off limits. When we arrived, I was expecting to see two blades of grass locked up behind a fence the whole trip. It turns out there is plenty of turf in China and most of it is heavily guarded. Usually by a sign that reads, "don't trample the grass" or "affection deserves greenness." Or, on instance at the People's Park in Shanghai, a security guard waits along the edges of this huge open space full of turf waiting until two foreigners try to take a step on the lush green grass. Within 3 steps on the grass he blows his whistle and signals us to get back on the path. What fun are paths anyway.

agriculture in China by Jason

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Fruit stands by Jake

Fruit stands are common place on large city streets. I like the idea of these stands because they provide fresh fruit to people working in the cities. These little stores are a nice way to stop for a snack or pick something up for later. The availablity of these stands is the key to their success. I wish there were stands like that in the US. I don't think there are enough people walking the streets for these stands to be successful here in the states. Nor are there enough people that would stop and eat fruit.

Bikes by Jake

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Ginseng by Jake Lau

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biking in China by Jake

Jason and I rented bikes during our time in Beijing and it was an experience. We were equipped with old cruisers that were too small for us, go figure, and sent on our way. We had seen how the bikes maneuvered through the streets so we thought we were ready to take our chances. We got out on the roads and realized that it was pretty easy to do. Once you go over the fact that the speeding car approaching the intersection was going to stop, everything went smoothly.

Beijing has many bike lanes, so bike travel is fairly easy. That, plus Beijing is relatively flat. The largest hill in Beijing might be an entrance to a highway. But, these bike lanes are not just for bikes as we soon found out. Cars will drive on these large bike lanes too. I mean why not, the car fits. Why shouldn't they get to drive there? The cars would weave through bikers, honking their horns as if the bikers were in the wrong place. How dare they bike in that lane? This was annoying and slowed down bike traffic. There were also pedestrians hanging out in parts of the bike lane. I know there is a sidewalk, but why would anyone walk on that when there is this large bike lane to walk in. Sometimes there were just too many people around so some overflow on the bike lane is expected.

We quickly learned that the best way to make it from point A to point B is to just bike. Even if there was a red light in front of us, just go. If there was a large gathering of people on the bike lane, just go through. They have special bike lights on the roads to help move traffic along, but if there is an opening, just go.

After a short stop to repair a loose chain, we made it back in one piece. I would say that biking is a great way to see a lot of the city.

Oh. And locking up your bike. This is different from the US. Rather than having bike racks to lock up your bike, all you do in china is lock your bike to your bike with a chain or clamp. I think this is because there are just so many bikes that it wouldn't make sense to put up bike racks. I mean there are just too many bikes for bike racks to hold. So if you want to lock your bike up, all you do is park it and lock it where ever you like. I don't think bike theft is much of an issue either. Everyone already has a bike to ride. Plus a lot of the bikes are about to fall apart, so it isn't a good investment.

spitting by Jake

tchwoa! Thats the noise, or something like it, that many people on the street in China make. It happens when you have phloem in the back of your throat and you don't want it there. I don't want to come off sounding that I thought China was disgusting because I didn't. This, however, was one thing that got to me. So, instead of hearing that noise and then someone spitting, you don't hear anything else. Maybe it was just me and I was lucky enough to hear that over and over again, but it seemed like people had a bunch of stuff in their throats that they wanted out, but not out of their mouth. Weird. There was also spitting. People spitting everywhere. For some reason I think that there might be a fine for public spitting in the United States. Either way, spitting grosses me out a little bit and is one thing I wasn't fond of in China.

beautiful streets by Jake

What a pleasant surprise it is to find potted plants and perfectly manicured bushes throughout the cities we traveled. That is after you work the knot out of your neck from looking up at all the monstrous buildings. It seems as if there are three uses for land in the urban areas. Roads and buildings are the first two and take up the majority of the space. But the plants have taken what they can get. If an area isn't being used for transportation or taken up by a skyscraper, the area is planted with Petunias, Salvia, Snaps, pansies, along with many others. These areas are usually corners or areas near sidewalks that are well maintained. And the number of these small patches of plants increases around every corner.

Even the roads have plants on them. Potted stands of flowers and bushes run along the edges of the major highways. These stands are connected by drip line which means water automatically flows to the plants. This is safer and easier than using a watering truck or watering crew on the highway.

The medians and strips of land along the highway are used as nursery space. The area on the way into Shanghai from the airport is spectacular. Mass plantings of trees are followed by rows of bushes and then flower beds stretch for what seems like forever. In the United States, we chose to leave the median empty of any plant diversity or attention. However, I seeem to remember the southern US highways being pretty.

Is it tea time?

It is hard to say what my favorite place we visited on the trip was but the tea plantation is one that comes to mind right now. This place was really beautiful. All of the hills and valleys were covered with plantings of Camellia sinensis. I think of this place once in a while when I am at my summer job at the Horticulture Research Center (HRC) here I work with apples in the apple orchards and sometimes day-dream about what it would be like working in a tea plantation. At the plantation tea is harvested, hand dried and packaged. It was a really great place to visit and now I have even more respect for tea after seeing how long the process is from harvest to the first cup of tea.

Did I eat that?

Going to China I expected a vast difference in food. I told myself before I went I would at least try an entrée if placed on the table.
So there I was sitting at our first meal. It was a decent meal consisting of rice, fish, potatoes noodles and mixed vegetables. The meal is usually ended with watermelon or other types of fruit.
All of our meals were set up by our tour company and over the next two days we were brought to “toury” restaurants where we would enter and no Chinese customers would be present. After eating at these restaurants we were walked through some type of gallery and expected to purchase an art piece. One night we were even served French fries at dinner – traditional? I don’t think so.
Most of us were a bit upset at this. Here we were in a different country looking to experience as much of it as we could. After these few disappointments we told the tour company we were disappointed and they rearranged all of the rest of our meals to feature more authentic cuisine.
The most authentic meal we were serves was at Zhejiang Forestry University. Here all nine of us students got to enjoy a dinner with two of the universities grad students. This was helpful because they showed us correct ways to eat our dinner. We were told that the plate was for discards and only if you needed a spot to rest your food to get a better grip on it.
This was the most interesting dinner we were served. Duck tongues were one of the first items to spin around our table and thank goodness I have friends like Jake to insist I take one by placing it on my plate. Needless to say I ate this and it is a delicacy in China. Sea cucumber was the next entrée this was very slimy and very fishy and some people almost weren’t able to swallow this. Also at this dinner were pigs ear, this however, I did not try. Other food throughout the trip consisted of squirrel fish, snails and carp.
I was a somewhat picky eater before this trip but now have a deal with my mother stating she is never allowed to call me a picky eater again or I will serve her a platter of duck tongues.
sea cucumber!
http://www.reefseekers.com/PIXPAGES/Yap-Palau%20'04/Grazing_sea_cucumber.jpg

Note to Self (Jason Skinner)

On our second day of the trip I purchased a blank journal at the Shanghai Art Museum. Each day I would bring it along to take notes, write down any Chinese that might come in handy, and reflect on the days’ events. By the time I was back in Saint Paul the blank journal had been filled front-to-back.

I couldn't resist... (Jason Skinner)

at the summer palace

Jazz and Yoga in the morning (Jason Skinner)

Among my favorite experiences in China, some of the most enjoyable were the early morning wake-ups when I unrolled the yoga mat. I brought my mat with knowing I would make good use of it; and although I didn’t limber-up every morning, I was certainly happy to have my mat with me for three weeks.
Adjusting to stiff hotel beds (which, as I discovered, I actually prefer), being on your feet for hours each day, and near constant travel to keep on top of our jam-packed itinerary made each yoga session (I was spending anywhere from five minutes to 30 minutes) so worth it. I’m not sure I would travel anywhere without my mat.
Along with morning yoga – before breakfast – I would sometimes listen to jazz on my computer or on Jake’s computer. Not once did I hear jazz in China; however, the Chinese seem to enjoy instrumental holiday music – this was a little surprising and actually became annoying. The music on my computer was limited and I was forced to give up a few albums as my hard drive filled up with pictures.
We were not without music, as Jake had a whole bunch on his computer. The most frequently played music (for me an Jake) included Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Thelonious Monk, and Miles Davis; I’m probably forgetting something also.

Look ALL ways before crossing the street!

Spending a lot of time on the bus traveling to and from our various destinations throughout the trip we became well immersed with the wonderful world of driving in China. We were warned before we left that it could be quite nauseating and even just downright dangerous. I noticed quite a few similarities between the way we drive in Minnesota and how people drive in China including...1.The only time a blinker is in use is when the cops are around...2.Yelling and swearing at the car in front of you would make a difference...assuming the person could actually hear you...and finally...3. A red light means stop, not just push right on through, or you will get a ticket. Now I say these things only in good humor because you really do see them here on a daily basis, but that doesn't necessarily make them ok. I did however notice 2 major differences...1. A Chinese driver loves the sound of their own horn. I do not think there was ever one ride on our bus or one hour out on the street that we did not hear the sound of a car horn. I find people here in the U.S. to be conservative when using their horn even if they have a strong desire to do so, but in China it is often used to let a fellow driver know that they are moving too slow or to express anger to someone merging into your lane...of course without a blinker...or even in special circumstances like when our bus driver was honking at the cars in front of us filling their gas tanks at the gas station. I guess he thought they should pump a little faster. The second major lesson I learned/witnessed is the pedestrian has no right of way. If you have a green light to cross the street and there is a car or scooter or even a bike that wants to turn right you better look out because they don't stop for anyone...and if you don't be prepared to hear the wonderful melody of car horns that are emitted from each car that you wrongfully prevent from turning the corner. The most interesting part of all of it though was even though we heard about how bad the driving was and witnessed some of these silly things I dont think I even saw 1 accident on the whole trip. Quite Impressive.

Always a friendly face

I felt so welcome in China. Ever since we arrived we were greeted with friendly faces. People on the streets would want to practice their English with us and we would always reply with a “Nihao” (hello) and “Zaijian” (goodbye). When we were walking on the streets we were taking as much pictures of the area as people were taking pictures of us.
One of the neatest experiences I had with communication was at Zhejiang Forestry University. Here we met with a small group of students and they took us around their campus. On the way we stopped at there library and looked through a plant book. The language barrier was interesting because in the “plant world” the Latin name of plants should be universal. We ran into some trouble here because Latin is a hard language for the students to learn. It surprised me though because with descriptions we could talk about the same plant but just call it by something else.
To be honest I had more culture shock entering back into the US. We were greeted in the Chicago airport with somber faces, and a flight cancelation. Just stopping for a second and looking around at the hurry, and frenzy people were in made me instantly miss the comforting and welcoming country we just left.

What I have missed.

Being in China for only two weeks had a huge impact on me. I loved being around all of the happy people. I felt very safe there and the food was always something interesting. The one thing I really miss is using chopsticks or "Kuai Zi." Since I have been home this is one thing I have been trying to implement during meals that are somewhat suitable for this. Tonight, for instance was a dinner of Mac-&-Cheese. This was a challenging feat since the Mac-&-Cheese is not as sticky as rice.

Mysterious White Peacock

Ok, the only peacocks that I have ever encountered in the United States are the normal blue and green peacocks at the zoo in Madison, Wisconsin. I have never in my life seen a white peacock. Well, I got my chance while at West Lake in Hangzhou. We were walking along the lake after our boat trip, and here was a white peacock. Some of us ran after it trying to get a good shot of it. The poor bird kept squawking at us and just seemed to want to be left alone. It was really really cool to see a white peacock. After doing some research on the internet, I found out that the white peacock is not an albino peacock but rather another version of the traditional peacock that we see in the zoos in the United States.

It's Ahazing!

The haze in China was unbelievable. Before we left we had a chance to see numerous photos from our various speakers all of whom had traveled to China and it was quite easy to tell how bad it was because all of the photos were so dull and you could not see very far into the distance. I however loved this. I had taken photography this spring and have really fallen in love with sunsets and clouds in the sky and in a place like China it just seems easier to catch a glimpse of these things since you could actually look directly at the sun. There were actually very few days that we had trouble with the rays because most often they would not be very strong once they had finally reached the ground...dont get me wrong...it was downright hot...but I was happy that I was able to catch these few photographs of the sun and sunset on our river ride. There were also a few days when we woke up and looked into downtown Shanghai and you couldn't even see the tops of the skyscrapers. It almost looked like the buildings were unfinished because they just disappeared at the top into the white cloudiness...but unfortunately I do not have a photo.

Jade – The Living Stone

Picture from http://www.alibaba.com/catalog/11872357/Gorgeous_Chinese_Old_Green_Jade_Bangle_Bracelet.html

The one souvenir I wanted from our trip to China was a piece of jewelry. I wanted something that whenever I looked at it I could forget everything that is happening and get lost in our wonderful trip once more. I wasn’t too sure on what I wanted until I noticed how popular jade was. Every shop we visited had jade in some form appearing as, earrings, bracelets, necklaces or Buddha’s. On one of the last days in Shanghai we visited Shanghai’s No. 1 Department store and there Chengyan helped me pick out a bracelet. Not knowing too much about jade at the time, I found one in my price range and fell in love with it right away. Chengyan mentioned to me that the Chinese call jade the living stone because it is constantly changing color. She said it can be used as a guide to how healthy a person is. If a person wearing the stone is healthy it becomes clear and bright while if the person becomes unhealthy the stone is duller in color. Hearing this sparked my curiosity in other myths and folklore about jade. Thus my research began to learn more about this fabulous stone.
Let’s start with the word in Chinese, "jade" (yu) refers to a fine, beautiful stone with a warm color and rich luster, that is skillfully and delicately carved. In Chinese culture, jade symbolizes nobility, perfection, constancy, and immortality. For millennia, jade has been an intimate part of the lives of Chinese of all ranks and classes. It is viewed as the most valuable of all precious stones.
The most valuable form of jade is known as imperial jade and comes from Myanmar, it is an emerald green color. Jades also appear in mottled green and white, and the rarer colors of yellow, pink, purple, and black. The range of greens are light to dark, creamy, grayish, and also white.
http://www.allmyanmar.com/new%20allmyanmar.com/myanmar%20jade.htm
The stone’s composition is comprised of 30 elements, all of which are needed by the human body. This is where the healing power of jade comes from. In older days jade powder was added to drinks
as a health supplement.
Jade Folklore and Healing Properties:
Jade is thought to protect the kidneys, liver, spleen, heart, larynx, thymus, and thyroid and strengthen the heart. It improves the immune system, helps cleanse blood and aids in eye disorders.
Ancient people thought that wearing jade would increase body strength and add longevity. Jade is an ancient symbol of love and virtue, clarity, modesty, courage, justice, wisdom, peaceful, nurturing and dispels negativity. It is also noted that jade is a powerful emotional balancer. The most interesting folklore is that jade protects the wearer and each crack in the stone represents one time that the stone saved the persons life.
I didn’t purchase my jade bracelet for any of these reasons but they all make my souvenir a little more interesting. Every time I am out and the sun catches it the right way I am distracted and taken back to the fantastic memories that were made on our trip to China

References:
http://www.bernardine.com/gemstones/jade.htm
http://www.jadeisus.com/aboutjade_main.htm

A Climb to the Top

While we were in Hangzhou, we went to the Six Harmonies Pagoda as Colin wrote about. The climb was a total of 13 stories but you could only walk out to the deck on the odd numbered stories. Some raced to the top while I took my time and stopped on each floor that I could. I found this pavilion and thought it would be cool to take a picture of the pavilion on each floor. I thought that it would give some perspective to just how massive this pagoda was. It took me a while to do this because I had a hard time trying to find the pavilion each time as it shrunk on each floor. Sometimes I had to walk around each floor two or three times to find. The view from the top was spectacular and worth every step. Here is the result.

Mahjong

One night in Suzhou, our bus driver went to go meet his friends to play mahjong. Chengyan told us more about the game and we found out that Chinese mahjong is nothing like the American style solitaire mahjong. Renee suggested that Chengyan teach us how to play mahjong. Well, we looked for a mahjong set and I had the fortune of finding a mahjong set that Chengyan got me for a very good price- about $11. Although it was a good price, the joke was on me because the mahjong set is very heavy and I of course insisted on carrying it on the plane with me back home but that is another story. Anyways, we never got to play mahjong but I did learn the rules and the necessary Chinese characters for the game. The game is composed of four main sets of tiles. The first set is composed of north, south, east, and west Chinese character tiles. The second is fa, middle, and the door. The third is pies and the forth sticks. This game is kind of like rummy and is played with four people. To start the game, A north, south, east, and west tiles are found and each person takes one of these tiles. The person with the east tile starts. All the tiles are laid out in rows two deep and 17 long. The person with the east tile rolls the dice and whatever number they get is where they start drawing tiles for the game. The next person draws and it continues until each person has 13 tiles. After this, the game starts. The goal of the game is to get four sets of three and a pair. The sets are composed of either all of the same tile or a run. A person may either draw a tile or "eat" a tile. A person may "eat" a tile if they wish to have the tile that the previous person discarded and this is played when going for a run. A person may also "hit" any players tile if going for a "set". With both of these, the complete set must be shown to all players. The first person that gets the four sets and the pair wins. This game is also a gambling game but Chengyan told me several times not to gamble! Maybe we will "gamble" with peanuts or cookies! It was really fun to learn how to play mahjong and it was also interesting to see the real mahjong instead of the online solitaire mahjong.

Botanical Garden

One of my favorite horticulture visits was to the Shanghai Botanical Garden.   That is mostly because I love flowers.  Throughout the garden, I saw many flowers that I had never seen before and also flowers that I recognized.  Although it was hot, it was fun to roam around the garden.  


We saw the "Peace and Harmony" garden that had a water lily and a crab type topiary.  The words for peace and harmony in Chinese are close to those for water lily and crab.  It was interesting to see all the different topiaries and to learn what they meant as well.  I wish that we had more time in the garden.  It was a peaceful walk and a nice refuge from the hustle and bustle of the city.  

I agree with Melissa

I would definately have to agree with Melissa's post on "Knowing A Little Chinese can go a Long Way". Learning Chinese was one of the favorite times of the trip for me, between learning it in class and everyone was so afraid to try, to then learning it on the bus where we were so into it, and finally trying it out wherever we went. However, the thing that I found to be most peculiar would be, even though they would smile or even clap for us as Melissa said, that the majority of the time they never responded in Chinese but in English instead. So not only were we enjoying our new cultural immersion, but the local people were excited that they could use that chance to use their English as well. I can not even count how many times we were on one of our tours and people saw our huge group and yelled "Hello" to us and laughed and kept trying to talk to us in English, it was really fun for us, almost as if we were celebrities...they especially enjoyed taking pictures of us...or at least Hannah...whenever they could.

Opps... It is not 6...

On our first morning in China, my roommate Hannah and I woke up before our wake up call.  We had left part of the curtains open.  we proceeded to get up and get ready.  The kicker here is that neither of us had the correct time and there was no clock in the room.  At the front desk in the hotel, there are clocks from all over the world.  Hannah ran down there to find out what time it was and it was only 5:30 AM!  We had already been up for quite awhile.  We figured that we got up between 3:30 and 4 AM.  So we patiently waited for our wake up call to come at 6:30 so that we could go down to breakfast.  We were one of the first at breakfast and we hung out.  We later asked Chengyan and we found out that all of China is under one time zone to make doing business easier.  Because we are out east it meant that the sun came up super early!  Here is just one of the main cultural differences that I noticed in China.  With all of our time zones in the United States, the sun rises at a normal time every morning.  So if ever going to China, remember to close your curtains, have the correct time, and not worry if you look outside at 4 in the morning and the sun is shining brightly!

Knowing a Little Chinese Can Go A Long Way

Throughout the semester, one of our professors Chengyan Yue, taught us some basic Chinese.  We learned hello, goodbye, thank you, your welcome, and bathroom.  Once we got to China, we tried to use the words that we learned right away.  At customs, I said thank you and goodbye in Chinese and the guard smiled at me.  That was the case everywhere we went.  Anytime that we tried to use Chinese, they would smile, laugh, or even clap!  As the trip continued, we would bombard Chengyan with how do we say this in Chinese or that.  By the end of the trip, we learned how to count, say how much is it, and even leave me alone!  Although I could not always say it exactly and received by a blank look, I would try again.  When the other person would finally understand what I was trying to say, it was a break through and we would both laugh.  By knowing even a few words in Chinese, we were able to connect with the people encountered and it was one of my favorite day to day experiences.  

To Squat or not to Squat: That is the Question

Picture by Megan Mathey, China 2008

As this will be my last post, I wanted to be humorous! Hope some can relate...:)

When nature calls, there is no obvious way to escape! During one of our garden expeditions, I was faced with reality...I had to go. After managing to "ask" in Chinese for the nearest restroom ( ce suo, 4th. and 3rd. tone, I think) and graciously tanking the little old Chinese lady, with my best smile (shie shie 4th. & none); I hurried up. As you know by now, having following us along the way; it was really hot and humid, I like to call it tropical. Therefore, the bathroom floors and walls were glistening with a film of water...aka very slippery, and a "mysterious' odor was floating in the thick air.

I was happy to see that there were at least 10 doors in the large room. I opened the first door...a hole!Let's try another one...a hole, one more....another hole! No toilet available here! I guess that was it. I entered the cramped stall, facing the wall in front of me, and I managed to lock the door without incident.Now I needed to face the door, so I could use the hole properly...after a successful 180 degree angle turn, I had achieved my goal. OK, I needed to hang my backpack which I carried throughout our trip with the "essentials" for the day. No hooks. "Great!!!!" I told myself. Anyway I made sure my trusty sunglasses were well positioned on my head; and I proceeded to unbutton my pants, pushing it down my knees. Then came my underwear, which was clinging to my skin because of the humidity, then my sunglasses fell back on my nose...at least they were not on the floor, or in the hole...yet! There, after a while both pants and underpants were on my knees. Now the challenging and perilous squatting to the ground level; I bent slowly making sure my feet were comfortably flat on the 2 "feet slabs" ( take a look at the picture!).Suddenly, a thought came to me, how on earth do I know if I can aim at the hole? I took no chances, I juggled with my sunglasses that kept slipping on my nose, and at the same I was holding with both hands, the legs of my pants tight to my skin...I there I had done it, aiming and staying dry! Now, I had to stand back on my 2 feet without any misstep. After great concentration, I had succeeded. Where is the toilet paper? I looked around the stall...NONE!!! It was going to be way to complicated to get a tissue from my backpack that was miraculously still on my back. So, I put my underwear and pants back up. Now , the last challenge...flushing the "hole" without being flooded over! I pulled the makeshift rope...a loud deep noise like a rumbling was heard... the water came rushing through... I held tight....it was over.

I got out of the stall, beaming with a large smile...having conquered the "Chinese Hole". I was proud as a toddler who had just managed to use the training potty chair! ( except I did not get any gummy bear for my exploit!!!) I then proceeded to the sink area and washed my hands fervently with soap as if all the microbes and bacteria of the world resided here. You need to know that I was still beaming. I was looking at myself in the mirror thinking : where is the paper towel dispenser? None to be seen. As I was rinsing my hands, I peaked one more time in the mirror and I could see ladies shaking their hands to remove the excess of water. I decided to do the same; then I turn around still very proud of myself smiling; little Chinese ladies were looking at me like I was from another planet then I realized that not only I was the only one beaming..I was the only white too!

So, for all the men and boys who always have to wait for us; now you understand that going to the w.c. is a challenging ordeal for us, ladies and girls.

• I hope everyone enjoy their trip to China, I certainly did. Thank you to all of you, and have a great summer!

Calcium...not in a Cup of Milk!

During our stay in China, we did not see a lot of dairy products. Milk was offered only at breakfast and mainly for cereals, and yogurts were also available during that meal too. The yogurts were different than the one in the U.S.; they actually were "drinkable", actually there were always little straws by the basket of yogurts. I never saw a piece of cheese either. So I was wondering how the Chinese people would get this important mineral, especially for us, growing up in a country were the food pyramid is an obsession, and were high school kid are taught about osteoporosis. ( disease of bones where the bone mineral density is reduced which may lead to an increased risk of fracture). I started to look into the food that we were actually eating everyday, and obviously found out that we were eating a ton of green leafy vegetables, and knew that they contained calcium but I thought that "they" could not be as good as good old dairy products...right? Well, I was wrong! Most Chinese do not consume dairy products but instead get all their calcium from vegetables, according to Dr. T. Colin Campbell nutritional biochemist from Cornell University. They also eat fish and usually eat the bones, we tried but were not successful...it must be an art...we almost choked! They have many different soups which are cooked for a long time, softening the little bones from meat which they also eat.

From the same article, I gathered that 40 to 60 % of the calcium in those leafy vegetable is absorbed by the body. Here is a list of calcium-rich vegetable, in no particular order; leaf and stem of daikon ( giant white radish),soy-bean, choy-sum ( little picure), watercress, spinach, kale, many lettuces, mustard & turnip green, and broccoli. Another source of calcium which is also available, are all the soy products like soy milk, tofu and Tempeh ( fermented soy bean). Now that we know that those beautiful veggies are a great source of calcium, I learned that "many green vegetable have calcium-absorption rates of over 50%, compared with about 32% for milk", I was very surprised, I did not know that. Everyone knows that cooking vegetable "to death" diminish the benefits of the minerals and vitamins. So, here is a quick way to cook any of the vegetables mentioned.

• Quick stir-fry: In a large pan add a little canola or olive oil, make sure it is hot bot not actually burning. Place the veggie in the pan, making sure to coat the vegetable entirely. This process take a maximum of 5 minutes. Then remove from pan, put in a plate and add few drops of soy sauce, or favorite herbs.
  
• Quick boiling: Boil water in a large pan, making big bubbles! Then place the whole veggie in the boiling water few minutes (3-5min.) depending on how crunchy you like your vegetables. Retrieve & drain from water. then cut up into sections that you can actually pick up with chop stick. Add soy or oyster sauce.

What an easy and fun way to add calcium in our diet! I hope you try!

from Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Choose Vegetable Calcium over Animal Calcium.

A Nation of Few Children

I "knew" about the One Child Policy established by the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979, to limit communist China's population growth. It had been designed to be a "temporary" measure...it is still in place today in 2008; it was obvious, the children were no where to be seen. Then I realized that we did not see them because school was still in session! So, when 4:30-5:00pm arrived, looking from my bus's window, I could observe few school age children walking in groups of 3 or 4 carrying their schoolbags, stopping for ice cream before going home. They looked happy and were very well dressed. I did not expect to see many kids but that was a shock to me; maybe because I have 3 of my own, and I am use to have their friends over; I am also amongst them ( I will concede a little older!) at the University. Whatever the reason, it felt strange to me.

However, along the way, I learned that the "One child policy" was not mandated for every Chinese couple. There were important differences and not everyone was equal. This policy is mainly restricted to ethnic Han Chinese living in urban areas. Citizens living in rural areas and minorities living in the country are not subject to the law.The Han Chinese are the largest ethnic group in China with 91.5% of the population, which is about 2.1 Billion people! China recognizes 55 other ethnic groups like the Zhuang (16.1 million), the Manchu (10.6 million), the Hui (9.8 million) and so on. These minority do not have to comply with the 1979 Policy.

Today, there is a new generation of young people which are in their child- bearing age, 29 years-old and younger. As a result, a special provision has been made, allowing for instance some couples to have more than one child. Couples who are themselves without siblings can have 2 children without being penalized, however there must be a five year gap between the children.

Couples who are college educated are also permitted to have 2 children, because it is economically feasible according to the Policy. However, I believe that in the near future, this Policy will be again changed or eliminated because of the pressure of global economics, human rights and so on. Another important reason is also the fact that the Chinese population is aging and problems in the long run will arise.

Numbers taken from The England Journal of Medicine, Sept.15, 2005

Explanations about policy given by Dr. Chengyan Yue

Picture from Jason Skinner, May 2008

Wedding Crashers

May and June are definitely the months to visit China if you are interested in crashing weddings. I can not even begin to count the number of times that we saw men and women dressed in suits and white gowns to take their wedding photos at West Lake and the numerous gardens...If there is one season in China there is definitely a wedding season. It seemed that no matter what day of the week it was we always ran into people taking pictures. This was on our boat ride out at West Lake...keep in mind it was like 85 and humid on this day. The best part was we even spotted some of the brides wearing jeans or other pants underneath their dresses. When we asked Chengyan about this we were actually surprised to find out that most often the couples do not take the pictures on their actual wedding day, but sometimes even a month afterward which is totally different from here when we take them most often the same day. Also usually the bride wears a different colored dress for the ceremony, the favorite being red if they are into custom, but more and more brides are turning to the western style with a white gown. We were even lucky enough to crash a wedding reception one night for dinner...we were the only ones in the restaurant who were not there for the reception, but we got to see the whole show. They had flares shooting from the floor and stage, they had a hired announcer to run the program, and of course a hired performer who sang just a little bit too loud.

YouTube Videos

Here's a link to my YouTube page that has videos from the China trip!
YouTube

These folks weren't on the itinerary (Jason Skinner)

Throughout our travels in China, I have met many individuals and shared interesting dialogue with each of them – the topics have varied, along with appropriateness, for such reason I will be ignoring what was discussed. These are the folks, in no particular order, whom I’ve befriended.
From the Reggae Bar in Hangzhou, the latest of my nights in China (returning to the hotel near 5:00 in the morning), I met many interesting characters. A bigger Chinese guy, with tattoos, who went by the name of Elephant, the bar-tenders Sean and Jake (at the end of the night Sean ended up waiving my extensive bar tab, so I gave him a nice tip), a fellow named Rod and later his uncle, Kana; Elias from Ethiopa, who was studying Chinese, a friend of Elias’ - Emmanuel, Dave from Ontario, and lastly a beauty by the name of Wang Meng. She is my age and is currently studying in Beijing. These guys were all older than me, but no more than a few years – except Kana.
After we visited the YuYuan Garden in Shanghai, two young women, art students, approached Jake and I and led us to a gallery where their work and their professors’ work was on display. Being an artist, and taken in by their friendliness, I couldn’t help but purchase a watercolor from one of them (I can’t remember either of their names, nor did I write them down, silly me; however, the watercolor I have is stamped, so Chengyan can translate for me).
When the class visited Zhejiang Forestry University, we were all greeted by students and had about an hour and a half to spend with them. Four ladies accompanied me and we walked around the small lake on campus. They were graduate students, studying landscape architecture, and they were very nice; I enjoyed my afternoon. Their names were Wu Tian jing, Wang Xiao Ru, Yu Hui yun, and Shi jie Qiong.
During our latter stay in Shanghai, I met three young women and this one dude – also a late night.
While in Suzhou, I met a few different people: a young lady at an art gallery (she was working) who’s English name was snow and at that same gallery I met a man who actually received a master’s degree in electrical engineering at the University of Minnesota – this was indeed a surprise – his name is Jian Ding. Earlier that evening I met a guy named Thomas, from Ohio, at a bar. Thomas is in the middle of a two-year contract, fabricating and powder-coating car parts. He was kind enough to inform me what happens on the second floor of the bar – when asked he responded, “Whatever you want, my friend” as he pointed at all the pretty young women serving drinks and told me I could take my pick (Don’t worry, Mom, I finished my drink and left, I was only out to take pictures that night). Two women from Canada who are teaching English in Suzhou asked me if I was doing a documentary (apparently walking around with a camera and a tripod is a great way to meet people), we chatted and walked for a bit before they went on their way. Also when I was setting up to snap a few, a bartender wanted to look at my pictures; within a couple minutes I had her friend in the bar make me another drink. It was and “English” pub, with lots of Brits and soccer on the telly.
While at the Shanghai Botanical Garden, I ended up talking to someone from a wedding party – he was taking a break from the photo shoot. I talked with him and he translated for me so I could talk with the photographer too. Turns out, this guy, Hua gong Heng, went by the English name Jason, also. The photographer’s name is Lin jiang xiang. They liked soccer; these guys were cool.
After half the class returned home, Jake and I met a couple from Finland – we had lunch and shared a very cramped van-ride with them to and from the Great Wall.
At the Administrator’s Garden, in Suzhou, I met a woman by the name of Claudia; we were looking at the same painting in the gift shop. Claudia was on a “business” trip from Germany. She gave me her card in case I ever end up in Germany. And speaking of Germany, at the hostel in Beijing, I had a nice conversation with Jens, the journalist, also from Germany. He lives in Kiel and is visiting his sister, who is living in China and teaching German (her husband works for Audi). Jens’ birthday is July 8, one day after mine, and after expressing my thoughts about President Bush, Jens shook my hand; later he told me he was also a “greenish-hippie”. Jens is actually 20 years older than I am and he studied archeology; he works in the T.V. and radio field writing essays, articles, and commentating.
Our first day in Shanghai we ran into two older woman at the Pearl Tower. With the help of Chengyan, we found out one of them has a son – a student – in the U.S. She thought I looked a pretty girl because of my hair; and on that note I’ll mention the security guard at the Shanghai Art Museum who, upon first glance from behind, thought I was walking into the wrong bathroom. At the museum, I also talked to an older gentleman on vacation from Australia; he wasn’t impressed with his “civil-servant” tour guide and suggested that, with my interest in Asia, a trip to Vietnam is well worth it. Apparently the latest generations are over the whole ‘war thing’ and very understandable when it comes to younger Americans and other westerners.
Also at the Hostel, we spoke with three fellows from Denmark – Simon, Michael, and some other guy (I forget his name). They are finishing up their trip around the world during their gap-year. Another younger woman, Ilaria, from Italy, I saw last night and talked to this morning. She is also staying at the hostel and use to live in China; she’s back to visit friends and have a good time.
When the class was driving back to Shanghai we stopped at rest stop to fill up on gas; we were playing Frisbee and a couple Chinese workers (they might have been security, I’m not sure) were spectating. So I decided to introduce them to the wondrous Frisbee and within five minutes we were tossing across the parking lot – that was a lot of fun. We also played Frisbee with a bunch of engineering students while waiting outside a craft museum in the French Concession of Shanghai; that was cool too.
Miscellaneous persons: at night there were numerous security guards and Chinese residents or tourists who wanted to see the pictures I was taking at night – few spoke English, they were all nice and they were all happy for me to share my photos with them. I interrupted a couple on West Lake, in Hangzhou, as I took pictures of the lake at night. Jake and I encountered a nice man who helped us figure out where we were in the middle of Shanghai. There is also the guy and the girls who sold me my cheap-ass watch that stopped working; and, of course, the tour guides: Adam, Lili, and Leo. (Adam and Leo in the picture) I love meeting new people – it’s a good thing I know English, other wise I’d be lost.

Reflection

Now that everyone made it back to Minnesota safe and sound, something comes up to mind. As it was my first trip to Asia, I am absolutely delighted to see China and its wonderful, smiling and welcoming people. Throughout my visit, I could feel that the Chinese citizens that I encountered made a lot of effort to be helpful and pleasant. It is challenging to be in a country where, I felt illiterate most of the time. I don't have to remind anyone how many people are everywhere at all time, but I always felt safe, even when I was the last one that entered the metro and a "metro attendant", physically pushed me in to make sure I would not stay on the platform. Few things still amaze me, even when one reads it in the newspaper or see it in a documentary of some sort, I could not get over 2 facts : 1. It is very crowded! and 2. People need a job... I saw numerous times people "working", however their job was already filled with 2,3, 4, or more. Here are a couple of examples, to cross a street by foot ( a "life threatening situation!") there was always 3 to 5 policemen; and half of them were smoking and having conversation with each other, not paying attention to the pedestrians! The second is, when we went to No.1 Department Store in the Nanking shopping district in Shanghai, I was stunned to see at least 10 women shop assistants, well dressed and smiling in the jewelry department, standing behind the glass counters filled with mostly jade ....as if they will have 10 potential clients at one time...amazing! However the system, it seems to work for now. It will probably change in the future as the economic system is transforming itself slowly. A beautiful and charming country.

Bye-Bye to Beijing

After a brief ride to the airport by taxi, Collin, Alli, and Hannah began their departure from China at the Beijing International Airport.
After being stuck in line behind the Purdue Marching Band for a few hours, everything seemed to be going well as we boarded the plane. Alli and I made it on the plane, but lost Collin after a last minute bag check as we entered the plane.
As Alli and I took our seats and waited patiently for Collin, a Chinese couple came up to us and showed proof that we were sitting in their seats. It turns out that the airline had made duplicate tickets for our seats. We began getting impatient about Collins whereabouts and worried about our seats on the plane. However, everything turned out better than expected as we were upgraded to business class and found Collin comfortably sitting on the upper level waiting for us.
Complete with reclining seats, socks, and toothbrushes, the flight in business class was great and the twelve hours flight seemed to fly by even though we departed nearly an hour late.
However when we left the plane and began making our way to our connecting flight, we ran into lines and were some of the last few to collect our luggage. It turns out that we missed our connecting flight to Minneapolis.
Nevertheless, United Airlines was very accommodating and booked us on a later flight that evening and after an eventful day we made it home.

June 3, 2008; a late wake up at the Hostel in Beijing (Jason Skinner)

Here’s the deal with espresso: make sure, when ordering, you are paying for yourself and not yourself and your friend in the corner. Second, rainy days always call for a double shot. Here’s the deal with the double – the first shot is to wake up and the second shot is for the nap later in the day. Beware, because every third cup of coffee is a guarantee to make you sleepy. And finally, room temp espresso is always – always – stronger than the hot stuff; don’t ask me why.

I don’t know if it’s the rain or my beat-by-Beijing-to-a-pulp-body, but I have absolutely nothing on my mind. It’s kind of nice, except that on days such as these, especially when in Beijing, with plenty of time to kill, I would be expecting more motivation, and a more active imagination. That espresso should kick in soon; or maybe I need to order that toast.
The two-dollar pair of flip-flops I picked up in Alabama has served me well in China. The foam has completely depressed to the weight of my feet and is less than one centimeter thick in a few places; I’m keen in wearing these sandals until holes appear – then I’ll know I need to acquire a new pair. It is easy for me to purchase new footwear, wearing the soles thin, rendering them useless is the best part of knowing you got your money’s worth. When one pair bites the dust it is obviously time to get a new pair. I like to acquire my footwear on an as-needed basis; this way selection is easier because my options are always limited by what’s available.
The espresso is working its way into my blood now; still, I see a trip to Starbucks happening later today – and I do hope the rain continues to fall. While in China I’ve felt one rainstorm, seen lightening once, heard rain again and felt a drizzle twice. The storm at the Zhejiang Forestry University was nice, but as I have experienced, rain in China is not quite the same as rain in Minnesota or Wisconsin. The atmosphere, I predict, has the most to do with this phenomenon.
Anther reason I would like to find a coffee shop is this: the music this morning at the café in the hostel seriously sucks, and is too loud considering – in my opinion – the poor selection. I feel that extra shot kicking in, as the yawns are creeping up on me.

Hobbies and happiness (Jason Skinner)

The pitfall of being a photographer is the countless hours one spends organizing, editing, categorizing and presenting his work. The fun happens throughout his travels and encounters. Reward comes with sharing his work; joy is how he describes the entire process.

My Respect for a Country that Truly Respects It's People

Upon our arrival to Shanghai we had to pass through the customs gate at the airport. As we were patiently waiting in line to do so the gate was all of a sudden closed before everyone one in our group was able to pass through. Being one of the people who had not passed through I was a little concerned until they attached their little sign to the gate that read something along the lines of, "There will be three minutes of silence for the vicitms of the earthquake." At approximately 2:28pm May 19-May 21 there was a designated three minutes of silence to mourn the loss of so many people to the earthquake. I was actually honored to be a part of this and to know that the country cares for it's people. But later I had an even deeper respect for this country...after we met Lily she actually informed us that we would have to alter our itinerary because they actually cancelled all entertainment for these three days out of respect for their people as well. This means that the Acrobatic Show that we were supposed to see the following night was cancelled and would be rescheduled for when we returned to Shanghai for the second time. When we turned on the tv at the hotel every single channel was news about the earthquake and even the radio cancelled its shows and was talking about the earthquake. Im not saying that tragic events such as this do not matter here in America, but I don't think that we would go as far as to cancel all of our entertainment so for this I have a deeper respect for China.

What time is it? (Jason Skinner)

Today at roughly 6:30 pm, Beijing-time, my cheap, knock-off watch finally stopped working. We were watching the flag being lowered at Tiananmen Square; traffic and the sidewalks were blocked off. Stupid watch, what a joke.

Day One (Jason Skinner)

Day one
May 20, 2008
Shanghai, China

Day one, as scheduled on our itinerary, began with a 6:30 am wake up call – enough time to fit in yoga. Breakfast was served at the hotel; a full buffet of fruit, breads, eggs, sausage, bacon, dumplings, rice “soup” (sort of a runny oatmeal), orange and mango juice, coffee, tea, and an omelet bar was available. It was a diverse offering of Western and Chinese foods. Our guided tour began at 8:00 am; we left about five minutes late.
We visited the Jade Buddha Temple; monks were praying and so were tourists and, I’m sure, many local residents were present. Bundles of incense, about a foot and a half in length, were being burned to communicate with Buddha.
The temple is home to a giant Buddha carved from Jade. The Buddha (unfortunately I don’t have a decent picture of it) is much larger than life. He is sitting, meditating, and must be over eight feet tall and almost as wide.
Next, we walked on the Bund - a pedestrian concourse along the Huangpu River. There were many tourists taking pictures and annoying locals trying to sell us roller-blade-wheel-attachments for our shoes, as if walking just wasn’t efficient enough. Flags and toys were also being sold; within a few minutes we learned how to refuse this junk by indicating we had no need for it: Bu yao (Boo yow).
There were vendors selling treats and food; I bought caramelized sugar-glazed hawthorn berries on a stick and they were delicious! We shared the sweetened fruits and headed for Nanjing Road, a well-known and very popular shopping area in Shanghai.
Perusing the street and the shops, we were warned about “salesman” who would lead us off the street to sell us more crap: watches, sunglasses, shoes, DVD’s, and bags were what they offered, “What you need?” they would ask us. These losers would follow you and bug you for a whole block, despite numerous refusals and attempts to ignore them. So, some guy overheard me talking to Jake, I was wanting to buy a watch because I did not bring one; and, yes, we followed this guy - he was polite, not annoying – up a flight of stairs and behind a closed door to a wonderful display of cheap, knock-off, “high quality”, brand name watches, handbags, shoes, and accessories. I looked at a couple watches and asked for prices. The girls in the store spoke minimal English, but we communicated; she told me how to say ‘black’ and ‘brown’ in Chinese and I her in English. Moving on to a “lesser quality” watch, one that wasn’t such a pricey rip-off, I tried to negotiate a price for a fake Longines watch; eventually I still paid too high a price of $35 – I’m really not the best barterer, I prefer sticker prices and sales; I don’t want to offend anyone, but whatever. (Later during our trip, one of the band straps broke off and the buckle also popped off – but this may also have been due to my 5:00 am return to the hotel from the bar across the street, it’s hard to tell. The watch is still wearable, and continues to serve me well) I had much fun shopping and the rest of the group was quite aware of it.
There are a couple things I would like to make note of; for lunch we had a “Mongolian BBQ” style meal – it was very good. An all-you-can-eat buffet of thinly sliced meats (lamb, pork, beef), veggies, and sauces were available; after piling the goods into your bowl, the contents were sautéed on a hot skillet the size of a card table. Three cooks were busy at each station; your bowl of food was rotated amongst each of them and then given back to you. The beer, Snow, wasn’t that good; it’s what I call keg-beer, or piss-beer – something you drink and then proceed to urinate. It wasn’t that flavorful or filling.
My second note is about the local newspaper; it’s posted behind a glass display case along the main shopping street, so news is available for free to the public – pretty cool. Lastly, there is fresh fruit being sold out of baskets on all the busy streets. About every block or two we could have picked up a bag of fresh cherries, loquats (like a small peach), bea-bearries (similar to a strawberry-sized raspberry), and liche fruit (I don’t know how to explain these, nor can I verify the spelling – they’re very watery, sweet, have a pit, and are translucent white in color; I guess they are comparable to a grape).
After lunch we went upstairs to a rug store. We saw silk rugs being woven by hand and there was brilliant display of rugs, large and small, for sale. Silk is colored with natural dyes; there are 650 knots in every square inch and some rugs take over 14 months to weave! No one in our group made any purchases; the smallest “rug” – more like a carpet square – cost $500. Sorry, grandma, maybe next time.
We visited the YuYuan garden; it is a “scholars garden”. We liked it; I don’t have much to say because most of the Chinese gardens we looked at are similar. Water, rocks, bonsai, leeched views, buildings, fancy floors, cranes, dragons, phoenix’s, high walls, easy to lose your sense of place, many small spaces, moon gates (the circular doorways), and lots of tradition, meaning, and significance for the way the garden was built and arranged.
Jake and I met a couple art students outside the garden after we finished our visit; they showed us their work and their professor’s work on display in a mall just outside the garden – I bought a painting, unfortunately I don’t remember the name of the student I bought it from, nor did I get her email – whoops.
Earlier in the day we walked around the Bund; as evening approached we enjoyed a short cruise on the Huangpu River – the river that the Bund overlooks. It was a very relaxing way to begin our evening; much of what we saw we had already seen, but the water was nice and the sunset was pretty.
Our dinner was “hot-pot” style; plates of food were brought out to us and then we cooked what we wanted in a pot of boiling broth in the center of our table. End of day; I forget what I did for the rest of the evening. I think we all went to bed early because we were so tired and had a long day.