Chinese Overload

[teerex51]

Earlier this month I spent 2 weeks in China, hopping from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, Zhongshan, Dongguan City, Guangzhou, Xiamen and Beijing. Having bought a cheap-o little videocam I started taking casual shots of my surroundings from whatever means of transportation I was on (be it a jetliner, a taxicab, a subway, an elevator, a bus or a ferry boat). I've now assembled all those random shots in a video that is actually designed to give the viewer an "optical overload", which is in actual fact what you get upon traveling through China.

Some aspects of that country are endearing and others rather sinister. I'm passing no judgment in this 9 min video, just randomly projecting views and situations as jumbled as I now remember them.

Stef

(For the video click



)

 

[phil]

Some really good shots, teerex. The flute music is as much an overload as the videos! Was that the nat'l anthem?

 

[teerex51]

[....] Was that the nat'l anthem?

Darned if I know... :blink: I bought the CD from a street player for $1 and the list of songs is all in Chinese.

Pretty good marching song at any rate. If it's not the national anthem it's probably called: "The 7th-Grade Pioneers Assemble to Celebrate a Successful 5-Year Plan while the Socialist Sun Shines Bright" :bad:

(I chose this song 'cause some imagery is pretty reminiscent of the late 'Thirties in Germany )

Stef

 

[trimmantom]

Stef,very nice cultural exchange there. I'm ready for some of that roast duck after eatin turkey for two days.

Did you see any motorcycles of note while there?was the food pretty good or were you longing to get back to milan for some pasta.

Are their goods reasonably priced?And lastly did you enjoy it there, was it pretty restrictive as to what you could do and where you could go?

Sorry for all the questions it's just of interest to me.Thanks for the vid.

 

[teerex51]

No sweat Trimmantom, I'll A your Qs one by one....

Stef

Did you see any motorcycles of note while there?

Nope. But I saw a zillion little 125cc Honda and Suzuki clones. Even LEO bikes are little more than mopeds...

...except in Hong Kong where the police rides "real" BMWs and Hondas.

was the food pretty good or were you longing to get back to milan for some pasta.

I actually love Chinese food and I had some amazing meals. I was traveling with a Chinese co-worker and she always did the ordering.. B)

Are their goods reasonably priced?

Chinese wares, hotels and meals are dirt-cheap. A pair of local jeans for $5, a meal for $4 and a 5-star hotel room for $60. The minute you go for "real" brand-name fashion, a meal or a room in an international hotel you want to multiply these prices by 10 to 15. It's amazing, though, how many people buy expensive lifestyle items and I've never seen so many Porsche Cayennes, S-class Benzes and Hummers (except maybe for LA)

And lastly did you enjoy it there, was it pretty restrictive as to what you could do and where you could go?

With a roll of cash and a credit card as a back-up you can go anywhere and have anything you want. :lol: It's amazing how "capitalistic" China has become for a country that still calls itself communist and flies a red flag with the hammer and sickle. (Obviously I only just skirted the "other" China, where people

live on a few bucks a month and are still the majority of its 1.3-billion inhabitants) Yep. I enjoyed it but it's scary how powerful that country is becoming

and how inherently aggressive the Chinese mentality is (it's probably very much like the USA a century ago... )

 

[trimmantom]

Thanks for taking time to answer all those questions.

I guess they'll try to bury us economically.

 

[Khunajawdge]

Earlier this month I spent 2 weeks in China, hopping from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, Zhongshan, Dongguan City, Guangzhou, Xiamen and Beijing. Having bought a cheap-o little videocam I started taking casual shots of my surroundings from whatever means of transportation I was on (be it a jetliner, a taxicab, a subway, an elevator, a bus or a ferry boat). I've now assembled all those random shots in a video that is actually designed to give the viewer an "optical overload", which is in actual fact what you get upon traveling through China. Some aspects of that country are endearing and others rather sinister. I'm passing no judgment in this 9 min video, just randomly projecting views and situations as jumbled as I now remember them.

Stef

(For the video click

Hey, nice job with the video. I enjoyed the musical accompanyment!

My friends in Bangkok tell me that "if" I ever travel to China, I should visit the 8 capitalistic cities (you have 7 of them listed above). This is due to the fact that there is some form of support for the foriengner in these cities. In the countryside and throughout the biggest part of China it is reportedly very somber and sometimes rather a struggle to travel through, unless one is quite fluent in the various dialects of Chinese languages.

I'm not sure "if" travel by motorcycle for tourists is advisable in China, yet?

 

[teerex51]

A couple of years ago I made a few forays into the "other" China where you don't have magnetic-levitation trains or skyscrapers.

A 3-4 hour drive from a major coastal city will land you there.

Sanitation, roadways, housing are a mess. Signage is random or non-existent. Some areas are downright dangerous, dialects are a mystery even to a professional interpreter. Paved roads end suddenly and my driver at that time was worried about armed robbers. In the photo, a cab driver in Zhongshan has surrounded himself with a stainless-steel cage (average fare is $2 to 3).

I would not ride a bike in China. In the safe areas, riding is boring (wide avenues and slab) and you share the road with millions of cowboy cagers and suicidal moped riders. Elsewhere you will get lost almost immediately with no signs you can read, no reliable maps, no GPS and nobody you can ask for directions.

If they, too, have a "Tail of the Dragon" (and by rights they should ) they ain't telling....

Stef

 

[Checkswrecks]

Thanks Teerex for the video. We get there for work now and then and you've got good descriptions.

The place totally changed in the early 90's after the Government decided to allow "limited" capitalism and the cat got out of the bag. They've called it the "New China" ever since. Never had a problem with crime, probably because there are usually so many people watching the dog-face American.

Oh - one of the world-beater deals in China is eyeglasses of all things because healthcare is nationalized. I'd just gotten a pair of glasses at Lenscrafters for a little under $400 with the twisty titanium frames and light-weight thin lenses. Our Chinese hosts took us to a mall where they used Japanese equipment, did a pretty good check-up, and the pair was something like $61. Changing from one pair to the other I couldn't tell the difference, so got some sunglasses and spares, too. One of the guys needed a more basic prescription and frame and walked out for about $30.

Can't wait to go back.

Bob

 

[Grumpy]

Before I retired I made several trips to China and met many engineers that were educated in the US, but were back in China helping it grow in so many ways. They were very proud of their "new" country and the rapid progress they were making. They always brought up the joke about the Chinaman who went to the the USA and stayed. They would say, what do you call a Chinaman who is yellow on the outside and white on the inside?????????? Answer: A Bananna.........followed by gales of laughter. They're building an awesome country that'll be a problem for us for years to come. Selfishly, past my lifetime!

Jim