A Baby Care Observation

So, I've finally finished my latest travelogue about my November trip to China. In my travelogues, as you might expect, most of the text documented the sights and scenes of my travels themselves. However, aside from seeing sights, I also had ample opportunities to observe daily life and even have some conversations about daily life. One particular conversation occurred when I was at a restaurant treating my customers to yet another lavish lunch. Somehow, the customer always picks nice places when I'm treating! But that discussion is for another day...

Ye Olde Station Restaurant in Shanghai

Named largely because of the train car that sits in the back of the restaurant

It was during this lunch that I started talking about my dear daughter Fifi, who at the time had just turned one year old about a month prior. Cherry had told me over the last few days that she and Fifi took a walk around the neighborhood each day, and that Fifi was able to walk most of the approximately 1 km route all by herself! Proud papa that I am, I relayed this story to my lunchmates, a few of which have young children of their own. One of my guests, a young lady, expressed shock that my wife and I "had the heart" to subject my poor 13-month old baby to walk a whole kilometer on her own!

This experience to me exemplifies the state of baby care in China that I have observed for the past couple of years. When Fifi's grandmother was with us, Fifi almost never left her arms. Babies are treated with such, for a lack of a better term, babying, especially by their grandparents. Walking down the street, I often saw young children on walks with their mother, but inevitably being held by the grandmother.

Holding babies and never letting them roam around on their own seems to be the norm. My in-laws' neighbors also just had a new baby born into their family, shortly after Fifi was born. When we saw her at age 8 months (in our summer trip to China), the child was extremely overweight from eating mostly congee (boiled soupy rice - a common staple of infant diet in China which I find to be one of the causes of overweight babies and diabetic adults in China) and could not even turn herself over, much less crawl. She also frequently got ill because she was being fed chunks of shrimp (which is typically taboo in the U.S. due to the high rate of allergic reactions to seafood) that her grandparents chewed up for her to make it easier to swallow! My mother-in-law even told us that she had no hair because the doctors shave her head in order so that the hair wouldn't interfere with the IV they connect to her head when she went to the hospital!

Cherry and I go through great lengths to keep Fifi from getting sick, make sure she eats enough of a diverse diet and gets plenty of exercise each day. You might even say we go a little overboard sometimes, making sure everything is sterilized and disinfected, and making fresh organic steamed baby purees consisting of vegetables, fruit, and meat every week. However, all of our hard work seems to have paid off, as Fifi is a very healthy, active, smart, and obedient (though she has started throwing little tantrums from time to time) child.

Maybe it's just a superficial difference, but it seems to me that if baby caretakers spent less time keeping the babies off of the ground, getting exercise, and more time keeping them hygienic and eating right, the babies would get sick less often...

November in Shanghai, Part V: Finale

This travelogue was about a trip in November, and seeing as it's now nearly February, it's time we wrap things up!

My trip to Shanghai only allotted me two weekends in Shanghai, but my trip wasn't quite over just yet. One day, after work, I hustled east to get a glimpse of nearby Longhua Temple before it got dark. I didn't make it before closing time, so I didn't get to get a chance to see inside of the temple, but I did manage to get a few shots of it. Longhua Temple is one of Shanghai's oldest temples, with a history dating back to before 200 A.D. As with many ancient temples, it has been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times, but many of its structures that still can be seen today, including the signature Longhua Pagoda, are over 1000 years old.

Some monks exiting the temple complex that I didn't get to go into

The 1000+ year old Longhua Pagoda, which has the distinction of being the only pre-modern pagoda in Shanghai today.

I also couldn't leave Shanghai without visiting the famous Bubba's Barbecue restaurant! Where else can you find real Texas-style BBQ in a place that has real American football team pennants scattered around as decor?

No tripod + poor lighting = FAIL. But that is a Gators pennant, situated on top of some Ohio State memorabilia, as appropriate

Before long, I was on my way out of Shanghai and on towards... Taiwan? Yep. Interestingly, by routing my flight through Taiwan, my airfare turned out to be less than that of a round trip to Shanghai, so I took advantage of this win-win situation to take a short trip to Taiwan to see some relatives. I hadn't been back to Taiwan since about 2004, after all!

My return trip to Taiwan started with quite a rush. My whole trip would only be two nights, so I had to move quickly to see the relatives I needed to see. I had originally planned on visiting my paternal grandparents (Ah Gong and Ah Ma) first, since they lived near the airport, and then on the second day, travel to Hsinchu to visit my maternal grandmother (Waipo). However, Waipo had some things to do the next day, so since I wouldn't get another chance to see her, I decided to reverse the order of my visits and headed straight away to Waipo's house, courtesy of my uncle Yicao, who is a "black cab" driver specializing in airport trips.

Rabbit that lives at Waipo's house

Cousin Bojun and the big meal Waipo made for us!

At Waipo's house, I got to talk to my cousins, Bojun and Boting, and my aunt Xingji came over to drop off some pineapple cakes that my mom wanted me to bring home. Unfortunately, things were so hustle and bustle that I didn't get a chance to get any photos with Aunt, Boting, and Waipo...

Early the next morning, Uncle Yicao drove me up to Ah Gong's house in time for their weekly hike with my aunt and her family. While aunt, cousin Tingjia, and my grandparents took a more leisurely route, uncle, cousin Tingen, and I took a slightly less leisurely route up the mountains, stopping at a coffee hut along the way.

There are quite a few hikers in this area, including this dog wearing a diaper!

Karaoke set up in the coffee hut

The view from the mountain

After the hike, we went into the city for lunch

Before heading back to my grandparents' house, cousin Tingen took me shopping for some last minute Taiwanese sweets and gifts to bring home.

A big shopping center

After I got everything I needed, I went back in for the night.

The next morning, I accompanied my aunt and grandparents to the hospital where my grandmother is being treated for cancer. My grandfather calls the hospital a "market hospital", alluding to its huge size and patronage. I personally think it kind of looks like a train station on the inside!

While Grandma was getting her checkup, Grandpa and I took a walk around the pond just outside the hospital.

It wouldn't be a Chinese park without some interesting exercise equipment!

Some interesting fixtures

Bronze water buffalo statues

View of the pond

Grandpa

Some ducks

Waist-twisting machine

An all-mechanical treadmill!

After lunch in the giant basement food court of the hospital, we made our way back to Grandpa's house where they rested and I spent much of the afternoon flipping through Grandpa's hundreds of photos that he'd taken since the late 60s. I made a note to myself that someday, we should scan all of those great photos!

Finally, it was time for me to go to the airport. Before leaving, I did not forget to get a photo with Grandma and Grandpa this time:

Finally, I headed to the airport, and off I went back to the USA!

Some nice umbrellas on the ceiling

The entrance to the airport lounge. Those are not real airline attendants, alas...

And that concluded my November in Shanghai/Taiwan!

Happy Year of the Dragon!

Happy Year of the Dragon! To celebrate this year's Chinese New Year, the clan went out once again to see the Wah Lum Lion Dance and Kung Fu Show! It takes me back to the old days, when I performed with the Meihua Student Association of Martial Arts at UF that I co-founded with my Shi Di, Kir-Wei, for most of the major Chinese holidays!

Though I haven't trained with the Wah Lum school in Melbourne, I have a number of connections there these days. For one, the lead systems engineer in my group, Jeff, has been with the Melbourne school since before it began, as he was part of the college club (similar to MSAMA at UF) that eventually became the Wah Lum school years later!

Jeff is the guy with the sunglasses at the left

I've also worked with Yoel before - he's pretty good!

I never did a Lion Dance, but I hear nowadays MSAMA does them with regularity. It's definitely a very unique piece of Chinese martial arts culture.

Fifi meets the lion

Getting ready to feed it

OMNOMNOM

No more money...

Yay!

Firecrackers!

As usual, after the Lion Dance, the school put on a number of demonstrations.

This guy is one of the best performers

This guy is the new Sifu of the school

The two best performers going at it. The guy on the left is Hedison, who is technically my Sisuk, or kung fu uncle, since he trained under my Sifu's sifu many years ago. The kung fu world is a small one sometimes!

And here's a video of Fifi with her staff, filmed in stunning HD!



In this video, not only does Fifi demonstrate her staff skills, but she's also demonstrating responses to a number of commands. She nods her head, claps her hands (though she pauses to figure out how to do it with staff in hand) points out her ears and eyes, dances, and says a few words. She still refuses to say "Mommy" however, instead insisting on saying "Daddy" whenever asked to say Mommy!

新年快乐！恭喜发财！

November in Shanghai, Part IV: The French Concession

My second weekend in Shanghai started off with a bang at the Wushu Museum and the Urban Development Exhibition Hall, but it was far from over yet!

Shanghai, at least by Chinese standards, is a relatively young city. Though people had settled in the area since the 6th century A.D, it was somewhat insignificant up until it became an "official" city in the 20th century. In contrast, cities such as Xi'an and Chengdu were historically significant as early as the 3rd century B.C, often serving as seats of power for various Chinese dynasties.

Unlike Shanghai, Xi'an has thousands of years of historical significance

However, Shanghai's history got a kick-start in the early 20th century, as this sea-side city was hotly contested between a number of foreign powers as well as the two modern domestic powers of the era, the Kuomingtang, which founded the Republic of China in 1911, and the Chinese Communist Party, which of course founded the People's Republic of China in 1949 and is the current governing body in China today.

For the modern tourist, one of Shanghai's draws (aside from world-class shopping) is the unique architecture that blossomed from late 19th and early 20th century Shanghai. The most famous exhibitions of Shanghai's signature architecture from this era are on the Bund, but I'd made several trips to the bund in the past. More inland, and less touristy, than the Bund is the French Concession, a district in Shanghai that was once populated mostly by French expatriates and is today the stomping grounds of many Western expatriates due in part to the trendy bar and dining scene as well as, you guessed it, its unique architecture.

My trip largely followed the walking tour itinerary outlined in Frommer's website here. In fact, I downloaded this handy map to my iPod Touch to help me from getting lost, though it still happened numerous time.

However, this trip was mostly an architecture photography session for me. I didn't have my Canon 450D on me (I left it at home so Cherry could take pictures of Fifi), but my Canon SD1200IS filled in nicely!

Walking under an overpass, yet over a street

Many of the early 20th century buildings have this brick motif

A whole set of Mario Karters on the dash of a Lexus!

My first actual stop was Fuxing Park near Xintiandi. This nice park features a number of interesting statues of famous Communist figures, such as Karl Marx. Not being a Communism historian, I can't tell you that I recognize the statues, but then, in reality I don't know that I can recognize statues of most any historical figures to begin with!

According to Frommers, these are Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel

Fuxing Park isn't really that big, and there were these maps dotted throughout, but it took me a really long time to figure out how to get to the entrance that I wanted to emerge from!

I'm told camping isn't very popular in China - however, you do often see people setting up tents in park meadows like this

Girls blowing up balloons

Those rolling tubes that you run around in to no avail

Cool caterpillar suspended in the air

After circling the park a number of times, I managed to get out of Fuxing Park and move on to the next stop on my walking tour, the St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church. This building featured some pretty stunning architecture amidst a backdrop of the typical dark grey Shanghai shikumen buildings, but alas, that was all there was to this building, because it is no longer open to the public.

It looks nice, but you can't go inside any more

My next stop was the primary destination of my tour, the former residence of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. Dr. Sun Yat Sen is the most prominent figure from early 20th century China. Most interestingly, both the Republican and Communist parties of China consider Dr. Sun to be the founder of modern China, although officially, he was the founder of the Republic of China that overthrew the last emperor of the Qing dynasty. He also owned a relatively modest mansion in the French concession, which his wife, Soong Ching-Ling eventually donated to the state.

The neighbor's house has been converted into a museum with exhibits about Dr. Sun and his adventures in early  modern China

This one is Dr. Sun's house

Not too far from Sun Yat-Sen's former residence is yet another former residence - this one of the first Premier of the Communist Party of China, Zhou Enlai. This residence was actually a little more interesting to me because of its role - although it was registered as Premier Zhou's mansion, it was actually used primarily as a local base of sorts for the Communist Party (although Premier Zhou did actually live in a small room in this mansion. It's interesting that prominent figures from rival sides both had residences in Shanghai - at various locations in the houses, the guide placards pointed out various spots along the street where the rival parties often stationed plainsclothes agents to keep an eye on each other!

Premier Zhou must have liked vines

The premier's modest bed in this rather large mansion. Many of the other rooms served as dormitories or temporary quarters for visiting Communist party officials and staff.

This particular segment of the French Concession is still occupied by many mansions, some of which have been converted to high-end hotels, such as the Sinan Mansions:

Some of the mansions are storefronts serving one of the largest Expat populations in Shanghai

The remainder of my walking tour consisted primarily of visiting some historically famous hotels, such as the Ruijin, the Jinjiang, and the Okura Garden hotels that are located along the main roads, which, unfortunately, have been renamed from their very French "La Rue ____" to more standard Chinese names today that really don't have much historical value. Still, the architecture is pretty spectacular:

The grounds of the Ruijin are a popular Wedding Photoshoot spot

An old movie theater that still operates today!

Lobby of Okura Garden

This is the old British-run Lyceum Theater, which, sadly, did not seem to be operating...

I snapped this shot because I read about these buses in the paper. They are supposed to be "super green" due to their use of super capacitors for their power plants.

Another Russian Orthodox Church

This former mansion is now a popular restaurant

And that concluded my walking tour of the French Concession, which has eluded me during all of my previous trips to Shanghai over the last decade!

Stay tuned for the conclusion of my November travels!