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!