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Taishan!

My trip to China has been evaded!

FUN: no 13 hour flights in the immediate future
FUNK: It would have been cool to see ShangHai
FUN: I can help out at work here at home base (highly needed) and ease the burden of my boss
FUNK: I did enjoy my last trip to the far east and I’m sure the same would have been true about this one
FUN: I can return to my regularly scheduled kung fu classes and rock climbing adventures

hmm. this upcoming China trip might be as extensive as the last one.

we may be looking at another two full weeks of Asian adventures

So while in China I got the chance to hike up Tai Shan. It was extemely wild.

Tai Shan is a mountain in the Shandong province, just south of the capital city Ji’nan. It’s famous because many many emperor’s and notables climbed it. Each one was so impressed with the mountain’s spiritual beauty that they built tons of temples, gates, and plaques along the way.

I was excited.

The night before the customer was bringing me to the mountain, I prepared my bag, lunch, and gear so I’d be ready first thing in the morning. As I lay down to sleep I felt a little nauseus. A few hours later I was curled over the toilet seat wretching out the contents of my fragile stomach. By 6 AM I had had one hour of sleep and my alarm was blaring.

I picked up the phone and called a Chinese associate with mediocre English skills.

“I can’t do it. I can’t climb Tai Shan. I am very sick.”
“okay, I’ll call customer.”

a few minutes later there was a knock on my door, it was my associate.

“it’s okay mike, they probably won’t run pipe today. Your ride will be here in 30 minutes.”
“what?! no no, I’m SICK. vomiting. throwing up.”
“I don’t understand.”
“very ill!” I made the international sign for vomitting.
“oh bad health!”
“yes!”
“well, it’s too late to cancel, they will arrive at 7.”

So I nervously packed up my stuff and went down to meet the customer at 7am. We drove to Tai Shan and didn’t start the hike up this 5000 footer until 2pm. (this seemed late to me… I’m not sure what they were thinking)

The mountain was extremely strange. The entire path up the mountain was paved with huge stone blocks. The path was either very level or very steep stairs. It wasn’t long before my calves were screaming for mercy.

But they got no mercy. Especially in the last 1000 feet or so which was pretty much non-stop staircases. Thankfully my stomach had mostly settled so there was no vomitting on the mountain.

There were many highlights to the trip, including this next photo which shows me with a few trees that were promoted to General.

I kid you not. Apparently an emperor was climbing Tai Shan when a storm hit. He took shelter under these trees and then as an act of thanks promoted them to general.

Strange.

The whole mountain was commercialized to the extreme. Restuarants and rest stops were along each side of the path the whole way up. And at the top of the mountain there was a whole community of shops and temples. It was gorgeous and well worth the four hour hike and the burning calves.

The hike down was arduous. The steep steps were pretty dangerous and we didn’t reach the bottom until well after 9pm. We had to hike with the light of a cell phone.

Even in the dark people were starting up the mountain. Apparently the mountain is famous for its sunrise and many people hike up at night and stay in the lodging along the way so that they can be at the sunrise rock first thing in the morning.

If you ever get a chance to go to the Shandong province, I would definitely recommend spending a day at Tai Shan.

I’m back from China!

It really was a fantastic trip. Two weeks of new cultures and wild times. The work itself, despite a few equipment failures, went pretty smoothly. I’m really just beginning to get back into the swing of things, and I’m not sure exactly how to organize all my pictures and memories.

The last week of my trip was amazing. I ended up climbing Tai Shan last Wednesday. It was the strangest mountain I’ve ever climbed. With sore calves I left Dongying Friday and I got to a few last precious hours in Beijing. Those hours were exhausting, but I fit in some of the most exciting cultural experiences of my whole trip including an authentic tea house experience - rich with tradition and delicious teas.

I got home safely on Saturday after an annoying 24 hours of travel and was immediately hit with all sorts of daily life annoyances that I was able to so happily avoid while overseas (Bills, cleaning, lawn care, and the like).

Stay tuned for more pictures and tales of adventure!

The Temple of Heaven is located in Beijing just over a mile south of Tian’anmen Square. It is appreciated for its amazing architectural beauty. Constructed in the mid 1400’s, the temple was meant as a link between Heaven and Earth. Heaven round, earth square. Aparently all of the round alters and tables inside the park sit on square bases.

The ‘temple’ is actually a whole complex of many buildings of religious importance. The main building is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest. Highly ornamental, this building is made entirely of wood without the use of any metal nails. Lightning struck the temple in 1889, and the legend is that the lightning was “divine punishment meted out on a sacrilegious caterpillar, which was on the point of reaching the golden ball on the hall’s apex.*” Over thirty dignitaries were executed for letting this happen.

I hope that Tom and I have the opportunity to stop by this temple. It is described simply as a wonder.

*The Rough Guide to China, Leffman, Lewis, Atiyah; Rough Guides

Provided all the work went well in China I will likely be returning home tonight. My flight leaves Dongying tonight (9:30pm China time, 9:30am EST) and brings me to Beijing. I’ll spend the night there and then head to the airport for a 1pm direct flight to JFK. The flight (Flight 4451: United Airlines operated by Air China) will be 13.5 hours and I’ll get back to New York at 2:30 local time.

I am least looking forward to the drive from JFK back to Meriden. That should be extremely interesting.

The 2008 Summer Olympics will be held in Beijing, China.

The Dragon is often associated with China, yet this is more true for western cultures than in China itself. The Chinese dragon is often connected to water. In fact, there are four Dragon kings that represent each of the four “seas.” The East China Sea, South China Sea, Lake Baikal, and the Indian Ocean.

Many Chinese associate the dragon with an aggressive relentless beast. This is not always the best impression to give in a business or trade environment, so China prefers to use the Giant Panda as its animal of choice.

Pandas, because of their rarity and peaceful nature, are considered a Chinese natural treasure. Recently they have been only given away as gifts of friendship. It became illegal to kill or capture a Panda after western cultures discovered them and hunted them all hardcore like.

The other big Chinese animal is the Tiger. The tiger is seen as the foe of the Dragon and more of a brute force animal than the strategic graceful Dragon. These characteristics are carried over into martial arts styles. I haven’t personally seen any dragon forms or stances yet, but when I do, I will confirm or deny this fact.

Neat huh?

The Chinese Flag is a red with five stars. Red is the color of the revolution and was mirrored in the “little red book” that was passed out all over the place during Chairman Mao’s reign (The book was a collection of quotations from the Chairman.)

The large star represents the Communist Party. The four smaller stars represent the Chinese people. Apparently their yellow color indicates the bright future of the country.

For more information, check out the website where I got that graphic. It is located HERE and talks more about the symbolism of the flag.

The other night as I was eating some hot pot, I struggled with my chopsticks momentarily as I de-skinned a shrimp.

Immediately, one of the highly attentive, highly attractive, table assistants zipped over and placed a knife and fork at my placemat.

I sighed a sigh of relief. YES! REAL UTENSILES! Get a clue China! Chopsticks are of the past!

So I gleefully picked up my sharp shiny tools and immediately became enlightened…

Knifes and forks are completely static tools. Nothing more than stabby sticks with which we pitchfork our food and stuff our faces. Chopsticks are not a utensile of the past. nay. Chopsticks are dynamic forceps, graceful and alive. With chopsticks, I can manipulate and grip my food.

I put down the fork with disgust and returned to the chopsticks. Chopsticks are my new utensile of choice.

The yellow river is really the life of northern China. Its name comes from the yellow silt that it carries and distributes along the coast. It is commonly compared to a dragon because of it’s curvy path and rough temper. It also has the nickname “China’s Sorrow” because it has caused much destruction and flooding in the past and has helped stifle the economies of the yellow river provinces. Some of the devestating flooding have been caused by huge influxes of water after dams of glacial ice burst in inner mongolia. These days, aircraft drop bombs on the ice to prevent a buildup of structure that could pose a risk to the low lying yellow river towns.

The yellow river is about 3300 miles long and starts in the Kunlun Mountains in the Qinghai province. It flows from east to west down the “steps” of china. China’s far western area has the greatest elevation and that drops in a series of steps down to the eastern coasts. From highest to lowest elevation the steps are:

The Tibetan Plateau (13000 ft)
The Mountains of Sichuan (5000 ft)
The Fertile Lowlands (<5000 ft)

With this in mind, it’s easy to understand the force with which China’s rivers reach the Eastern coast.

The drivers here use the horn like it’s their job. My hotel window is outside a busy street, and you can’t count to 8 without hearing more horns. It’s remarkable.

On the way to work in the morning, the bus that drives us usually uses the horn within 10 seconds of leaving the driveway. It’s not out of anger, just general “LOOKOUT! I’m here!”

So here’s a monster pictoral update to my China trip thus far.

In Beijing, they know how to rock.

The Great Wall!

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It was steep at times. Here’s Tom on the Hero’s slope

This is our standard lunch here in China. Clockwise from the outer circle inward, starting at 6pm the food is as follows:

soup #1, rice, raw garlic cloves, pork, squid legs, razor clams, tomato egg drop soup, hot peppers and unknown meat, sliced sauteed cucumber, bean sprouts, thousand year old eggs,
(inner circle)
steamed bread, dumpling like things filled with veggies, soup #3, sliced potato

The girl shown here is ALL about mike d.

I’ll spare you the contest, this is the skyline of Dongying, China

Me, like a dragon, in the Forbidden City.

Tom shocked at the size of the Forbidden City!

Team China takes on the Temple of Heaven.
That’s Tom, Theresa, and Florence

Me crushing the head of a dragon

And finally, the hacky sack series. That’s me in the forbidden city, Flo in the forbidden city, and me at the great wall.

The sign behind me on the great wall says “Do not climb the battlements!”

That’s all for now! Rock on!

Food update:

Cow Bone Marrow
Cow Ligament and Tendon
Chicken Hearts

San is leaving tomorrow for Taiwan, and with him he will be taking one of the last few computers with internet access. So I fear that it is very unlikely that I will be able to post any more Real Posts. I have added a few more auto posts for next week, but next week won’t be quite as full of posts as this past week.

San is also the only other American here. so from now on… it’s me and the Chinese.

On this date, Tom Ig should be leaving China. It will be a bummer to lose my travel companion, but I still have San. Unfortunately, Tom does not have a direct flight back so I’m sure he’s not thrilled either to get to spend another 20 hours in a plane.

Ideally, by this date we will have finished all the tough work here at the mill. That would be fantastic, though it’s not completely likely.

Tai Shan means peaceful mountain and is located just southeast of Ji’nan in the Shandong province. This is a hot tourist spot, and from the descriptions, I can understand why. Tai Shan is spotted with many temples, hundreds of ruins and tablets, and over a thousand stone inscriptions. The picture below shows a natural rockfall known as the immortal bridge.

This beautiful mountain also has historical significance in that many emperors and notable Chinese climbed the mountain in order to gain “assurance that their heavenly mandate would be maintained*” Included in this crowd were Qin Shi Huang (first emperor of China), Confucious, and Mao Zedong.

If I have any free days whatsoever, I’m going to do my best to go here. Chinese mythology claims it to be “the most significant mountain under heaven**” I think this would be an ideal way to see and feel China’s natural side.

* China, Eyewitness Travel Guides cw 2005 Dorling Kindersley Limited
** Chinavista.com

Probably about a good 8 or 9 hour drive from where I’m staying is Song Shan and the Shaolin Temple. Kung fu loosely translates to “skill” and can mean anything from martial arts to musical strengths. Shaolin translates to “young forest” and the monks that practice there are known for the incredible feats of will and strength.

Unfortunately, I’ve read that this area has, to a certain degree, sucumb to blatant commercialism.

I’m told that the Kung Fu that I’m learning is a Shaolin style. but I’ve also been told that it’s a southern style… and the temples that I’m referring to in this post are most definitely in the north.

I’ll try and figure all this out and get back to you with more information.

Who is Chairman Mao?

Mao Zedong is a famous historical figure in China who had a huge political and cultural influence on the country. Born in 1893, Mao’s young life lead him to politics and ultimately Marxism.

By 1949, after many military victories, Mao had reached great political status . He had successfully overtaken his US Supported adversary Chiang Kai-shek and established “The People’s Republic of China.” He took over the media and boosted the public support of the Party. At first he was open to suggestions on ways to run the government, but this soon changed and those that showed opposition were persecuted.

In 1958, Chairman Mao took over the private farms and food providers and moved much of the farm labor into industrial work in an effort to boost the country’s industrial standing. Unfortunately, this “great leap forward” did not work out and millions of Chinese peasants died in a massive famine.

In 1966 Mao began the Cultural Revolution which sought to secure the rule of Mao by giving more power to the army and pull the country out of the past and into the future. The army went about and destroyed all sorts of cultural heritage while severely punishing anyone who spoke against the Party. This included intellectuals, many of whom were imprisoned. The Cultural Revolution was ended in 1969.

Chairman Mao died in 1976.

His rule is controversial. While many say that he improved the social and economic strength of China, it is clear that many mistakes were made and tens of millions of Chinese died because of his actions. Even still, his body is buried in a mausoleum in the center of the Great Square. It is shown every day at dawn and dusk and many Chinese still idolize him as the founder of modern China.

So China continues to be quite the experience.

Work is difficult because a large precentage of the equipment we shipped was damaged or not tested properly back at home. This = bummer. BUT, all of the equipment that I designed seems to be working great and I have no doubts that my stuff will rock China harder than communism.

We are brought by bus to the mill each day, our working time is strictly 8am to 8pm. This is good because we’re guaranteed to be out by 8pm. It’s bad because sometimes we stay late and don’t end up leaving by 8pm.

FOOD UPDATE
things I’ve eaten:

unknown vegetables
pork intestine
cow’s stomach
octupus legs
snail (different than escargo)
quail egg
the hotpot (yes!)
duck face
rice maggots (no!)
fish head

Other things that are really really strange:

Tonight we were taken to a Karaoke place. But wait, this was no normal Karaoke place. The five of us were dropped off by the vice president of our customer. We walked up stairs and were taken to a small room with large couches, two coffee tables, and a large Karaoke TV. San immediately picked up the mic and started singing. We passed around the mic a bit and then the door opened. Suddenly about 15 girls filed in. We were told to choose one (awkward?). Then that girl came over and cuddled against us as we sang.

wait? cuddling? huh?

They also refilled our tea and gave us slices of watermelon on napkins.

It was really weird. BUT, I assure you, the weirdness did not prevent me from ROCKING unchained melody as it has never been rocked before. I sang it to my little Asian. She laughed, but inside, I think she swooned.

I sat down with the President and Vice President of my company before my departure and my trip to China happened to come up.

Immediately, the horror stories started coming up. Here are some bits of the conversation.

President: “and they strung the live cat up by its neck and threw it screaming into the boiling water for about 30 seconds”
Vice President: “like a lobster.”
President: “just like a lobster. And then they pulled it out and pulled off all the fur.”

Vice President: “DO NOT EAT ANYTHING NOT SOLD AT A RESTAURANT. You’ll go home, and die before dawn.”
President: “well, that might be an exaggeration.”
Vice President: “Barely! When I got sick I was out of comission for four days. Couldn’t move.”

Vice President: “If the meat isn’t labeled, don’t ask what it is.”
President: “Duck tongue is pretty good though.”
Vice President: “oh yeah. Eat the duck tongue. The dog is rough.”
President: “yeah, I don’t know about the dog.”
Vice President: “cat is decent. ”
President: It’s the giant raw squid that’s bad.
Vice President: you might get to try scorpion.

President: “feel free to use the cell phone to call if you need anything.”
Vice President: “yeah, if you go to jail or something.”
President: “ha ha! he’s not going to jail.”
Vice President: “you never know.”

Qingdao, in addition to being one of the few destinations that Andy recommended, is a unique port city in the Shandong province. It was taken over by the Germans in 1897. The German’s started laying down the groundwork for an impressive city and the resulting architecture is odd. The German’s occupied Qingdao until 1914 when it was taken from them by the Japanese who hoped to expand into mainland China. This didn’t last however as there was a huge uprising on May fourth 1919 where students demanded that the government rid the country of foreign controllers. The uprising was so substantial that all of shanghai went on strike.

Despite this, Japan held onto Qingdao for three more years until 1922.

Qingdao is most famous for brewing Tsingtao beer. Made with mineral water from a local mountain, the beer was originally created by homesick Germans in dire need for boos.

This city is rapidly expanding and is compared to Shanghai in its growth and ambition. I will do my best to get here for a weekend. Though I think it’s probably a solid 4 or 5 hour drive from my workplace.

China / US

Total Area: 9.59 million sq km / 9.63 million sq km
Population: 1.3billion / 298 million
Life Expectency: 72.5 yrs/ 77.85 yrs
Literacy: 90.9% / 99%
Public debt: 28.8% / 64.7%
Oil consumption: 6.4 million bbl per day / 20.03 million bbl per day
# cell phones: 335 mil / 194 mil
Great Walls: 1 / 0
Military Expenditures: $81.5 bil / $518.1 billion

I think I’m just as shocked by some of those US numbers as I am with the Chinese stats!

First, I had no idea that china was almost the exact same size (area wise) as the US. I also had no idea that the US literacy rate was so high. Three cheers for education.

The oil consumption statistics are disgusting. As is the fact that China has totally one upped us on “great walls.” Let’s get our act together America!! If the democrats want a surefire way to the presidency in 2008, they should probably start campaigning right now for the construction of The American Greater Wall… nay… Greatest Wall.

My final destination in China is DongYing in the Shandong Province. This province has three very noteworthy locations. Ji’nan, Qingdao, and Taishan. The first, is the capital Ji’nan. Originally we were going to fly into Ji’nan and take the two-four hour drive from there to Dongying, but apparently flights have started passing directly between Beijing and Dongying, so this is no longer necessary.

Ji’nan apparently acts more as a crossover location than anything else. The city lies within the monsoon climate zone so the summers are reportedly very hot and humid. The city takes pride in its many natural springs and modern skyline.

Perhaps the most interesting site in the Ji’nan area is the 1000 Buddha Mountain. Buddhism was very popular in the Shandong province during the Sui Dynasty (581-618AD). It was during this time that many temples were built on this small but vibrant mountain.

Apparently many buddha statues have been carved and placed all along the mountain’s paths.

I think it is unlikely that I will end up making it to Ji’nan. If the customer requires that we work over the weekend it is especially unlikely. However, it is the closest large city and tourist attraction to Dongying. So I won’t completely cast aside the possibility.