The day before heading back to Seattle, I took the train from LuoHu to the Shangri-La hotel. The Chinese border is so confusing here. I actually got lost, ended up in a maze of shops in LuoHu. I wandered back and found a sign that read “Chinese Immigration”. That confused me – “How did I end up here?”, I thought. I guess my academic nature confused me: I expected the word “emmigration”, because I was leaving China, not entering. Well, I decided I’d at least get in the line and someone would at least be able to help me (assuming someone spoke English). Well, it turned out, of course, I was in the right place. No big deal.

An hour later, I emerged in downtown Kowloon at the entrance of the Shangri-La (I like the train because it leaves you within a half a block of the hotel) and was greeted by the familiar sight of the carport filled with Mercedes, Porsches, Ferraris, and a Maserati this time.

The flight to the US was a piece of cake; going through Tokyo breaks up the trip nicely and I was able to adjust nicely with no jet lag. OK, I’m not going to describe the details of the activities in the US, that’s just the usual work – not blogworthy. Basically, I was ridiculously busy from very early to very late and ended up getting sick just in time for the lousy return flight home. I definitely don’t like flying from San Francisco directly to Hong Kong. 14 hours is too much for one leg. Anyway, here are some pics:

Some shots of Japan from the air (they’re big fans of golf courses):

I had dinner with someone every night, except for Friday, when I had to go to bed early ’cause I was getting sick. (l-r) dinner w/ Tiffany, feigning jet lag w/ Robert (check out the Fu Manchu ‘stache), “Rush Chow” with Kevin (I forgot to take pictures with others…sorry, fellas):

Got to have a pic of Georgia:

I had to take pictures of my work environs because the differences with China are shocking. This is a pastorale paradise compared to the loud, smelly madness of China. In fact, I couldn’t believe how silent Seattle sounded to me; the birds work me up a couple of times. Of course, being the northwest, the greens are refreshingly overpowering and the air is so fresh. Fewer people, but more cars (arr).

Pictures of work:

Here’s a silly picture in the bathroom of the San Francisco airport. You think they would have realized that it would have been better to conserve natural resources by not printing such inane signs and plastering them at every sink and at every paper towel dispenser:

The 14-hour flight from San Francisco to Seattle was lousy. My throat was painfully sore. It made speaking difficult. I watched “Casino Royale” again (an edited version which really messed up the movie) and “Happy Feet”, which was flat out terrible. I wanted to make it all the way back to Shenzhen this evening, but was unable to cancel my hotel (because of the guarantee). So, I spent a night in the nice hotel (had a sweet view this time, but the day was misty and rainy) and crashed early.

Getting back to China felt nice. I feel like I’m becoming a pro of getting around up here. As we rode into LuoHu, I could make out the skyscrapers of Shenzhen through the mist in the far distance, most notable was the tall Di Wang building. Much closer was an inhospitable fence complete with razor wire; no doubt this was the border. Before I could shoot a picture (was hoping for some armed guards too), we arrived at the station. I breezed through customs and exited into the madness of the commercial center. Ah, the smell. Not bad, not good, but distinctly China.

Cupla views from the train. (l-r) I took the first class compartment for the first time, random construction as we approach the border of China:

Here’s a very common sight in China, at least in Shenzhen: Friends, mostly girls, walking arm-in-arm. You see this every now and then in South America, but it’s quite common here. I think it’s pretty cool – it shows a close connection between friends. Most connections are arm-in-arm, but you often see girls holding hands too. What’s really different is that every once in a while you’ll see *guys* holding hands, can you believe how this would be perceived in the US? But, as a colleague of mine said, “…and no one will think they are gay.”

I’m slowly starting to learn Chinese characters. I wonder if this is actually worth it. Well, I’m enjoying it, so I’m forging ahead. Check out the receipt for my “Yi ping mian” (my noodle dish that I frequently eat for lunch):

See the lower left corner? You see the numeral “1″ (not sure why Roman numerals are favored over the Chinese versions) followed by two characters. I’ve learned the first; it’s quite common. I describe it as a “J” with two little slashes on either side. This is the word “xiao” which means “small”. The other character is therefore “wan” which means “bowl”. ‘Cause I always order “Yi ping mian xiao wan”. I haven’t memorized “wan” yet ’cause it’s more complicated. “Xiao” is quite common…as you’ll soon see.

Oh yes, also look at the character in the upper left followed by the “3″. It looks like a wishbone, sorta. This is the character for “ren” or “person”. We had 3 people at our table this day. I think “ren” is the very first character that everyone learns; it was for me too.

OK, check this out:

These two characters together mean “center”, as in a “shopping center”. The first character, “zhong”, looks like a rectangle with a vertical line through it. It means “middle”. The second, “xin”, looks like a backwards “J” with three slashes. It means “heart”. So, the word for “center” is a combination of “middle heart”. Go figure. I remember learning “xin” and asking, “How does that look like a heart?” “Doesn’t it look like a heart? See the valves and the major veins?” Well, after looking for a long time, I guess I see it. Reminds me of the computer-generated 3D artwork where it takes a long time to “see” the image. Anyway, this is a very common combination that you see everywhere.

Now, finally, look at this one:

I showed this in a previous post. Note the first two characters: “xiao” followed by “xin” (granted, “xin” looks much different in this picture). Those two together mean “be careful”. So, “small heart” means “be careful”. I have no idea if Chinese folks think about small hearts when someone tells them to be careful, I’ll have to followup with that one. Anyway, it’s interesting how a combination of these very simple words mean new things. Another word that uses “xin” is “happy”. Put the word for “open”, or “kai”, in front of “heart” and you have “happy”, or “open heart”. That’s Chinese for you.

I’ve permanently turned off comments.   Never figured out how to create a comment.   But, someone figured it out!   I’ve been getting lots of spam comments on various posts soliciting Cialis!   How did they figure it out?   Wish they’d share that with me.   Oh well, the struggle is over.

This may have been the best day yet in Shenzhen. The night before we had a huge ominous black cloud sitting over the city. Around 7:30 pm, the cloudburst came. The winds picked up and a torrent of rain fell in less than 15 minutes. The following morning, I was expecting heat and humidity, but instead the weather was cool and suprisingly clear. These days just don’t exist in China, at least in Shenzhen. It was very much like a late June morning in Seattle. As I’m writing this blog entry, I’m sitting in the outdoor Italian eatery enjoying one of their pizzas (only Peluso’s in Columbus, Georgia can rival it) and it could not be more pleasant. Check out these pictures of the area around where I work taken on this clear day.

This is a view of construction going on near my building. When walking to lunch, it’s frequent to hear loud explosions. I’m not sure if it’s blasting or giant metal beams pounding the ground, but it shakes everything:

In this picture (which is the same picture as above but looking at the horizon instead of the ground), if you look far in the distance you’ll see two white towers that slightly lean. This is a new bridge under construction that leads to Hong Kong:

Here are some views out of the office window. In the zoom shot, you can see the area where I live. It’s just left of the lone, yellowish apartment tower just right of center (that tower also happens to be where Greg, my Polish friend, lives):

Here’s a dense cluster of small buildings. No doubt these will be bulldozed and replaced with much taller ones:

Here’s a pretty cool language story.  Have you ever heard the term “Long time, no see.”?  Obviously, it’s a saying that almost every English speaker is aware of.  However, I’m pretty sure that it originated in China and is a direct translation of the Chinese saying, “Hao jiu bu jian”.  I thought it was odd when someone taught me this same saying in Chinese, but they also spoke decent English so I figured they were just translating a common English saying, that they happened to like, into Chinese.  Well, over time, I noticed other people, who didn’t speak English, saying it as well.  So, of course, I thought, “Why are they saying this literal translation of an English saying?”  Then I realized that English most likely borrowed it from Chinese.  The supporting argument is that the saying follows typical Chinese grammar which is way simpler than English.  Instead of, “It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other” they just say, “Long time, no see”.  Chinese grammar is like this:  simple, straightforward, almost to the point of appearing half-witted on the surface.

I lost my wallet today. Dang. This day, I happened to take the subway to work and then a taxi. The driver drove like mad, easily the most aggressive driver I’ve had yet. Trying to read my book was futile as I slid from one side of the backseat to the other while taking the curves. Well, good. I was in a hurry today. I had my 12.50 RMB ready but as I pulled up to the building, I noticed the meter went to 13.70. So, I reached into my back pocket, pulled out my wallet (“qian bao”) got an extra yuan, *placed my wallet on the seat next to me*, got a few coins out, handed them to the driver, thanked him, and rushed out the door in a hurry. Within two steps, I realized what had happened. Bad luck that I had the aggressive driver. He sped off. I bounded after him, running for maybe 3 blocks. I started looking in parked taxis like a crazed lunatic, some drivers shrugging their shoulders as if I was a cop and they were saying, “What’d I do?!?!” Well, of course, I didn’t find the taxi. I knew in a place like Shenzhen there was no way the wallet was ever coming back. So, I went to my office and cancelled my cards. I lost about 40-50 bucks. Ah well; I hadn’t lost a wallet in I don’t know how long. Guess I was due.