Hong Kong Lunar New Year Parade 2010

Sunday night the Lunar New Year was celebrated in Hong Kong with a really cool parade. That is quite a statement coming from a guy who was born on a holiday and thought for many years that everyone was given a parade on their birthdays – but this was something special!

Unfortunately some of my pictures from the coolest part of the parade came out blurry. I guess I was caught up in the moment and the camera was bouncing around in excitement as much as I was. There was a really cool drum band from Korea that had characters – much like those in the stage play of the Lion King – dancing around to their music. The music was generated by xylophone kinds of instruments welded into funky designs that the musicians peddled as they played. There were also booming drums and dancing and and and… it was cool!

I really came to see the dragon dance… and I saw it more than once. So mission was accomplished. Awesome thing to experience.

Hong Kong Island: Wan Chai and Causeway Bay

On Saturday (February 13, 2010) I set off on a walk around Hong Kong Island. This was my second stay on Hong Kong Island. The first was when I first arrived and stayed at the Park Lane Hotel @ Causeway Bay. This time I am staying in Wan Chai. Last weekend I stayed across Victoria Bay in Kowloon. I found out – quite by accident – Wan Chai and Causeway Bay are a very decent walk from one another. And that Kowloon and Wan Chai are literally one subway stop away from one another.

With my trusty, crumply, and scribbled upon map in hand, I headed out to the markets listed on the map. From Wan Chai, I ended up at a HUGE holiday market at Victoria Park @ Causeway Bay. Human bodies were literally packed against one another as one mass of humanity circulated among the flower and holiday “stuff”. An interesting bush with small oranges is used extensively to welcome the new Lunar Year. And there was an ocean of them for sale at the New Year Fair. Huge orchids were being sold. I knew from my last stay by Causeway Bay many immigrants from the Philippines spend their weekends together at Causeway Park. A colleague told me that many immigrants use the parks around Causeway Bay to stay connected with their respective communities.

On the walk back to my hotel, I ran into three ancient temples. These are awesome. And families were there commemorating their ancestors and preparing for the coming year. Hong Kong is amazing.

Nanjing

I spent most of the week working in Nanjing, China. Nanjing is a beautiful walled ancient city. I was only there for a few days, which is long enough to know there is a great deal more to see. It was very cold, and we woke up to snow and a difficult commute to the office. The office was not well heated, and everyone worked all day with their coats on. The work hours are 8:30 until 6 PM, with a customary nap between lunch and returning to work at 2 PM.

Our hotel was directly next to the Confucius Temple. This was ironic, since I saw the movie “Confucius” last week while on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. I am also reading a western history book on the history of China which includes a discussion of the evolution of Confuciusizm, from a Western perspective. The contrasts between local perspectives on Confucius and the West is one of the lessons learned I will take home with me.

I am back in Hong Kong for the next 10 days – to celebrate the “Spring Festival” or Chinese New Year. I am looking forward to the parade here, which is considered to be among the best in the world.



Happy New Year!

Always late and dress funny

How is it they know on the streets of Hong Kong - if it weren't from my wife - I would always late and dress badly? I must have heard "copy watch, sir" and "custom suit, sir, tailor, sir..." 200 times today! ;-)

To the Saturday morning breakfast crowd: I have discovered "Bacon" as the universal language.

End of Week 2

This is the end of my second week in China. I made the mistake of not updating my blog when I got to Hong Kong, not realizing that Facebook and most blogging platforms are blocked from the internet in Mainland China. Interestingly, I can access the Facebook application on my Blackberry while in China.

China and Hong Kong are still quite separate. My experience has been that language, culture, attitudes, and currency are different between the two. Because of its history, English is spoken much more broadly in Hong Kong and the street signs are also in English. Few local Mainland Chinese people speak English. My colleagues from Hong Kong sometimes have trouble understanding people from Mainland China. While most of the Chinese people I have worked with are eager to practice their English (they learn to write English in school), the people in Hong Kong are more bilingual English/Cantonese than their Mainland Chinese neighbors. It is easier for most in Hong Kong to speak English/Cantonese than Cantonese/Mandarin.

These observations may be tainted by the fact I have spent my non-working weekends in Hong Kong in 5 star hotels. The hotel the team stayed in Shenzhen, China was nice, but didn’t come across as “shinny” as those in Hong Kong (Park Lane and Holiday Inn Golden Mile ). The construction activity in Shenzhen is significant, and there are large construction projects next door to the Pavillion Hotel. The street in front of the Pavilion is lined with electronics stores. While there are brands there we don’t get in the states, unless I am doing my conversion wrong, prices are not so different here than in the US discount electronics places. However, the locals get better pricing than I, so I’ve been told to look but not buy until one of my local colleagues are with me. (I appreciate their being so Paternal/Maternal!)

Last weekend, one of the client’s project leaders working with our team took me on a tour of Shenzhen. She is very proud of China and enjoys practicing her English – which is quite good. We went to the Shenzhen Museum and “Lotus Park”. The park was wonderful and it is very common for Chinese families to spend Sunday together flying kites, picnicking, and hiking. There were a number of singers performing traditional Chinese music that seemed to compliment the beautiful environment.

Yesterday I acquired an “Octopus” card and conquered the MTR – the subway system in Hong Kong. It is awesome. The US is SO far behind in public transportation. It was clean, efficient, and safe. The line I was on run’s past Disney, so the train was full of generations of families. I went on to Lantau Island and took a cable car to the peak of the island where there is a Buddhist Monastery and HUGE Buda.

I also saw the movie called “Confucius”. You may have heard that the Chinese government had the 2D version of “Avatar” removed from theaters. I heard from a colleague that was done in order to make room in theaters for the screening of Confucius. It is a beautiful film, but I am very aware I missed much of the significance due to my western upbringing. As we become more homogenous globally, we will eventually need to come to terms with Western and Eastern Philosophy, and where they come together to impact our current world-views. The movie concludes that Confucius is the basis of our philosophical values. The ancient Greeks didn’t make it even into the top 10!

Its rainy today, so I will spend the day resting and doing a bit of exploring. I’m going to go figure out how to get to Chai Wan. Visiting Chai Wan is a recommendation via Facebook from a Clear Lake Area friend who grew up in our community. He is based in the Middle East and I’m in China – talk about hanging together community. Thanks for the suggestion Michael!

Our first cloudy Sunday morning in January

The non-existance of evidence is not evidence of non-existance.

Modified sails

You can not run from the wind. You face the music. You trim your sails and you keep going.