Field trip weekend, part III

Say "Shenzhen!"
Miten ois suomeksi välillä? Kokeillaan onnistuuko se multa enää ollenkaan.

Palasin tänään Shanghaista Hongkongiin, viikko vierähti niin nopeasti etten edes tajua. Viime maanantaina lähdin Leisure Management & Facilities Operationsin tunnilta puolessavälissä kohti lentokenttää, ja tänään marssin rinkka selässä suoraan lentokenttäbussista koululle samaiselle oppitunnille. Nyt oon siis käyttänyt mun Kiinan double entry -viisumin molemmat kerrat, joten luultavasti en palaa enää manner-Kiinaan tän vaihdon aikana. Saas nähdä. Mutta nyt takaisin edelliseen Kiina-keissiin Shenzheniin.

Vietettiin siis sunnuntai OCT-nimisessä huvipuistossa, joka oli kyllä ihan liian tylsä mun makuun. Huvittaa miten tämäkin pikku retki oli puoliksi koulun sponsoroima opintomatka, ja en usko että kukaan ajatteli hetkeäkään tulevaisuudessa häämottävää ryhmätyötä, keskityttiin vähän muihin asioihin. Siellä me jonotettiin vuoristorataan ja juotiin Starbucksissa cappuccinoa, ja samalla suoritettiin Attractions Managementin kurssia, mikäs siinä. Rehellisesti sanottuna, välillä tuntuu siltä että kävisin täällä lukiota enkä yliopistoa. Jotkut opettajat jakaa kaiken maailman tarroja ja papukaijamerkkejä oikeista vastauksista, osa puhuu opiskelijoille kuin 13-vuotiaille antaen elämänohjeita ("älkää koskaan juoko shampanjaa tyhjään vatsaan! Parempi ettette juo alkoholia ollenkaan."), muistuttaa itsestäänselvyyksistä ja harjoittaa pelejä ja leikkejä oppitunneilla / luennoilla... Mun hongkongilaistuttujen mielestä 20-vuotias on vielä teini-ikäinen, ja monet asuu vanhempiensa luona koko yliopistoajan ja sen jälkeenkin. Samalla taas vaikuttaa siltä, ettei itsenäisyyttä arvosteta täällä läheskään samalla tavalla kuin Suomessa, joten mihinkäs sitä tarvitsisikaan.

Hongkongilaisten mielesä hongkongilaiset ja mannerkiinalaiset on hyvin erilaisia keskenään. Kerran erehdyin kysymään, että "Mikä se ero sitten on?", ja sain melkeinpä raivokkaan vastauksen. "EVERYTHING!! We speak different, act different, dress different..." ja mun oli vaikea käsittää sitä. Peking-muistot kolmen vuoden takaa alkaa jo olla hämäriä, ja toisaalta en ole koulussa koskaan varma, että kuka on Hongkongista ja kuka taasen manner-Kiinasta (eli toisin sanoen "mainlander"). Nyt kahden Kiina-visiitin jälkeen voin yhtyä siihen mielipiteeseen, että kiinalaiset ja hongkongilaiset on hyvin, hyvin erilaisia. Tässä muutama eroavaisuus.

  • Hongkongissa yskiminen, niistäminen ja aivastaminen on tylyä. On aika tavallista että opiskelija lähtee luokasta kesken oppitunnin yskiäkseen ulkopuolella ja palatakseen sitten takaisin. Mantereella taas yskitään raivokkaasti ja avoimesti päin toisten naamaa eikä kukaan ole moksiskaan.
  • Kiinalaiset syljeskelee, hongkongilaiset ei tosiaankaan. Kiinalaiset sylkee ulkona, sisällä, bussissa, kaupassa, missä vaan. Hongkongissa se on röyhkeää.
  • Shanghain metrossa on jengillä käytöstavat hukassa. Ovien avautuessa ihmismassa vyöryy sisään ennen kuin kukaan on päässyt metrosta ulos. Ihmiset juoksevat saadakseen istumapaikan, ja näin muun muassa yhden nuoren miehen ryntäävän istumapaikalle kiilaten vanhan naisen. Muikkeli sai jäädä seisomaan eikä kukaan antanut paikkaansa. Hongkongin metrossa ihmiset päästetään ensin ulos, ja vanhuksille ja muille istumapaikkaa tarvitseville sitä aina myos tarjotaan.
  • Manner-Kiinassa vessat on saastaisia. Todella saastaisia. Julkisten vessojen virtsankatku kantaa kymmenien metrien päähän, lattiat, roskikset ja seinät on täynnä erilaisia eritteitä. Yleensä vessanpönttöä ei ole, vaan maassa on reikä.
  • ...ja koska ihmiset on tottuneet hoitamaan hommansa siihen reikään, niin vaikka kopissa olisi vessanpönttö, jotkut nousevat siihen istuimelle kyykkyyn. Jos Hongkongissa menee vessaan, ja istuinrenkaalla näkyy kengänjäljet, se on varma merkki että mannerkiinalainen kävi siellä ennen sua.
  • Kiinassa länsimaalaisia tuijotetaan. Hongkongissa saadaan olla hyvin rauhassa tollottamiselta, mutta Kiinan puolella tyypit tulee ihan lähelle tuijottamaan, osoittelee ja ottaa kuvia.
  • Kiinassa melkein kukaan ei puhu englantia, kun taas Honkkareissa todella monet puhuu, ainakin oleellisimmat ilmaukset on hallussa lähes jokaisella.
  • Hongkongissa puhutaan kanttooninkiinaa, ja joillain alueilla manner-Kiinassa myoskin, mutta suurimmaksi osaksi siellä puhutaan mandariinikiinaa.
  • Mantereella tupakka on halpaa ja sitä poltetaan paljon. Hongkongilaisista hyvin harva polttaa, ja tupakoitsijoita katsotaan usein jopa paheksuen. Honkkareissa tupakointi on sallittu vaan rajatuilla alueilla, ja tumpin heittämisestä maahan rapsahtaa rapsakka sakko. Kiinassa kaikkialla sauhuaa.
  • Hongkongilaiset on tunnollisia jonottajia. Kukaan ei uskalla tai halua ohitella ettei saa yleistä halveksuntaa niskaansa. Mannerkiinalaiset todellakin ohittaa jonossa jos siihen on mahdollisuus, tai mieluummin jonoa ei muodosteta ollenkaan, vaan ihmiset muodostaa epämääräisen röykkiön, josta jokainen sitten pyrkii ensimmäiseksi.
Opintomatkan uuvuttamat.

Mun raaka tuomio: hongkongilaiset on huomattavasti kivempaa porukkaa kuin mannerkiinalaiset. Anteeksi karkea yleistys.

Field trip weekend, part II

The whole weekend in China was very busy, it was pretty much a package trip when everything is planned beforehand and the time schedule is tight, the restaurants already booked, and we couldn't really walk in the city at all, since we were in a hurry the whole time. But to be honest, I don't really mind, because I don't find Guangzhou and Shenzhen too fascinating. I've never really heard any especially good things about these places, just about them being boring, cheap, and dangerous.

But if you need a reason to visit Guangzhou, here's one: the Chimelong International Circus.


First of all, I wouldn't call it a circus at all. I'd call it an ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC, MIND-BLOWING, CAPTIVATING, EXCITING, ECSTATIC ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME EXPERIENCE. Those of you who have been to circus sometime, it might have been one of these tents that change location twice a week, the only animal they have there is an old pony, and the acrobatics they do are semi-entertaining, but your head didn't really explode. The Chimelong is everything but that.

The show is on an arena built especially for the circus. There is for example many dimensions of the stage and they can move the parts up and down, which makes changing the setting a lot faster. Around the stage you can see a pool, which was a part in some crazy acts, for example someone jumped to the pool from the ceiling (which you can see is very high - probably around 15 meters, and the pool is so narrow!!).

The seats are slowly getting filled, in the end almost the whole arena was full.
Verline & Connie
Look at the dude hanging from the ceiling! Just another day at the office...
Dumbos dancing
First there was 3 motorbikes, and I was impressed.
Then there were 6 and nothing would surprise me anymore.
Fireworks, wheel of death, motorbikes, 7 elephants on the stage at the same time, bears, swans, most amazing acrobatics I've ever seen. Colorful costumes, super witty and fascinating visual tricks with the digital screen. I'm still most amazed by the people and how much they must have been training. I never knew human bodies could do such things?? The cast / staff was very international, many Russians, but also a Columbian guy, Chinese women, Americans... And they were all so professional and superb. Useless to even write about it, because there are no words to describe how cool those two hours were. So if you ever get a chance to see this circus, take the chance and be amazed (with less than 30 euros)!! But actually our local classmates were not too excited about it, because they had seen something similar before. It is not easy to impress Hongkongers... It's funny how I'm so impressed and amazed and overwhelmed about everything, my classmates laugh at me for being such a tourist. :D

When the circus was over we went to check in at our hotel and around 10PM went for some Chinese BBQ food with some classmates. Before my exchange in Hong Kong I didn't even know how big thing barbecue is in Hong Kong and China, but there are so many BBQ places everywhere that I'm slowly starting to realize it. When thinking of Chinese food, I used to think of sweet & sour things, noodles, rice, Beijing duck, spring rolls... But nowadays barbecue as well! And the BBQ food is so good and they use a lot of garlic. My favorite dishes are grilled mushrooms, lamb chops, oysters, and eggplant with garlic. We ate a LOT and had some beer as well, and it cost about 5 euros each. China, BBQ heaven!

Better than McDonald's by far.
5 liters of beer, next to my tea cup.
We tried frogs for the first time. A bit of a disappointment, to be honest. Tasted a bit like chicken, but more like NOTHING.
And there's not much to eat - I wouldn't recommend spending your money on these!

Field trip weekend, part I

The first panda I've ever seen!
Good morning from Shanghai! Both Facebook and Blogger are blocked in the mainland China, but yesterday evening I was nerd enough to be able to access them both. For Facebook I used a 15-minute long trial version of Securitales and to Blogger I just clicked myself through Gmail - too easy! 

Later today I'll do some sightseeing, but now I'll tell a little about my previous excursion to the mainland; the field trip weekend to Guangzhou & Shenzhen. I'm taking a class called Attractions Management, and as a part of the course we have to make a group work in which we create a new product for one attraction in the Southern mainland. We visited a Safari Park and an International Circus in Guangzhou, and an amusement park in Shenzhen.



We left on a Saturday morning at 8:15 from PolyU with a private bus towards the North. We had a tour guide who only spoke Cantonese, since "it would've been so expensive to hire an English-speaking tour guide." So what often happened is that the tour guide spoke for like half an hour to the microphone, and when me and Kathi asked from the others what did she just say, they translated it somewhat like "Bring your valuables with you" and nothing else. I guess rest of the half an hour long talk wasn't that important then...

As soon as we crossed the border between Hong Kong and the mainland, the scenery changed completely. Felt like during our 3-hour ride to Guangzhou we didn't see anything else but white / grey apartment buildings through a thick smog. The air in Hong Kong can be very bad to breathe, but it was amazing how big the difference was on the mainland and how much worse the air was because of all the pollution. Shenzhen and its surroundings are very industrial and it is easy to see the consequences.

Oh yeah, the chicken in the picture was a part of our first meal in China. It is a traditional way to eat an animal: first they cook it as a whole, then bring it to the table for the people to see, and after everyone has taken enough pictures, they take it to the backstage again and cut it into smaller pieces, and then bring the plate to the table (and leave the head of the animal on the plate for everyone to see). At least people in China have much more natural relationship with their food, seems like in Western countries people don't even think that the meat they're eating is actually originated from a living animal :P







The first attraction we visited was a Zoo / Safari in Guangzhou. It was by far the best zoo I've been to, we saw pandas and koalas and giraffes and elephants and zebras and all, and many of the animals were running relatively free in a wide area, which was nice to see. But just before we left the park, we went to see a White Tiger Show, and it was not nice at all. The tigers seemed to be drugged and apathetic; they got whipped for nothing and some of them were bleeding since they had been hit so many times. Probably in Europe this kind of show would've been banned since day 1, but in here the audience seemed to really like it...

I have to give some credit to China for the amusement park / theme park scene. Seriously, nobody else does it like China. You think you've seen it all, but there's always more weird and enormous stuff coming up... The word I've been searching for to describe all this craziness is: megalomania.



Still here!

Attractions management class. I'm blending in like a blender
Just a quick update because I haven't been blogging for a week! I'm going to Shanghai tomorrow evening, since there's again some lovely public holiday on Tuesday and my Thursday tutorial is cancelled, so I only have school on Monday and the rest of the week is free. Otherwise it's getting quite busy here, I've got 3 group works coming up and mid-term tests and all these wonderful things that might keep me distracted from the most important thing, which is enjoying my time here. I'm so excited to go to Shanghai but I'll just have to try to wipe all the school thoughts from my head - I'm planning on having a real holiday in China now, swimming in hot springs and trying all the possible weird foods, and hopefully meeting a lot of interesting new people.

I'm flying there alone and Sandra will come and join me two days later. And a great coincidence: Riina's friend Eevi is right now in Shanghai as well, so I'll meet up with her! I asked her to bring me some salmiakki from Finland and I hope she didn't forget :)

Haha such a lousy post. I'll try to tell something interesting the next time!

At Mr. Wong's


Now I have to recommend something for everyone visiting or staying in Hong Kong: a restaurant called Mr. Wong's. Or actually I don't even know if that is the real official name, since all the signs are in Chinese, but people always call the place just simply Mr. Wong's, so I'll stick to that name as well.

We've eaten there twice and will definitely go back again. First time we went was a bit strange, since Mr. Wong is one of the weirdest yet funniest people I've met in Hong Kong so far and it took a while to get used to his unique sense of humor. He's very interested in talking to westerners in English and asking a lot of questions. His laughter is loud and a bit crazy and he seems to be enjoying his job amazingly much. We've felt so welcome both times, and the atmosphere is very warm. It's easy to feel yourself special, which is always nice :D

Nick, Katia and Wilson 
There he is! The legendary Mr. Wong!
Good thing you don't need to order anything from the menu.
So what's so good about this place? First of all, Mr. Wong is such a character that it's worth the visit just to see him walk and talk. Second, it is one of the cheapest places I've seen in Hong Kong: all-you-can-eat-food and all-you-can-drink-beer for HKD50! That's a bit more than 5 euros. The beer is Tsingtao, imported from mainland, and the food is pretty good, so the price-quality ratio is very, very good.

It's such a nice place to hang out and eat and spend an evening. It's not a normal buffet since you don't pick your own food, Mr. Wong comes and asks if you prefer shrimps or fish or pork or all of them, and then just brings so many dishes on the table it's impossible to finish it all. And then he brings you beer as much as you feel like drinking and in the end of the evening you pay HKD50... Amazing place and amazing Mr. Wong! There's no toilet, but when you need one, you get a key to a bookstore nearby and you can use the toilet there - only in Asia.

The place is on Kwong Wa Street near Yau Ma Tei MTR station.

Go there, you'll love it!

Dumplings, noodles, sweet and sour fish, broccoli...
Another awkward food pose :)

Macau part II: Las turistas

Strolling around Taipa
A couple of days before the trip we tried to find some cheap accommodation from Macau; sadly that turned out to be a mission impossible. All there is to offer is fancy expensive hotels, so we ended up booking a room in one (around 55 euros / a night / per person). First when we checked the price level, we planned on staying up all night and just taking the first morning ferry back to HK, but then we thought that what the hell. You only live once and probably you also go to Macau only once, so we lived it up for 2 nights in a 4-star hotel in a good location. A bit pricey on the exchange student standards but totally worth every Hong Kong dollar we paid, since the hotel beds were just like heaven, so wide and perfectly soft (but not too soft) and the blanket was like the most comfortable thing I've ever touched... The bed at Hung Hom halls is alright, but after sleeping in a really good bed again you realize how big the difference is.

Anyway. Friday night was pretty crazy, Nick had his birthday and there were about 10 of us from PolyU to celebrate it in Macau. We went to a karaoke once again and around 5:30 in the morning I called the hotel reception saying "Hello, can we get a wake-up call at 7:00, please" so that we could make it for breakfast :D

"What should I order from the room service..."

On Saturday we did all the tourist stuff. We had Portuguese food for lunch, went to see some buildings from the colonial times, enjoyed our hotel room with Kathi and Sandra (hanging out wearing a white and nice-smelling bathrobe and slippers - that's life!), walked a bit more and in the evening went to a casino again and met up with some other PolyU students. We tried to find some nice little bar for a drink or two, but that was quite difficult as well, since every place we checked had extremely loud Cantonese karaoke going on. Then we found one place which was not crowded and the music was alright, so we decided to try it out and sat down. After a couple of minutes of waiting, a security guy came to us and said "I am sorry, but the waiter cannot serve you since he doesn't speak any English, so maybe you should leave." That was strange and rude and at least for me the first time that somebody refuses to serve us because of a language barrier. It shouldn't be that hard for us to show a picture of a beer and say "BEER."... So in the end we just went back to the hotel to enjoy our beds again, while the others who had booked no accommodation stayed up until the morning ferry.

Wall art in Taipa
Older part of Macau
That holy Portuguese dude who brought Christianity to Macau
Scene from the hill
Walking to the fortress
Macau museum
Grand Lisboa - one of the most famous casinos in Macau
Two tired tourists

Ruins of the church of St. Paul
Spot K & S

On Sunday we slept late and then went to eat at a lunch buffet at our hotel. The food was alright, and the best part of it was absolutely the possibility to mix your own fresh and crispy SALAD. Seriously, the Chinese / Hong Kong food is always fried or boiled or baked or whatever. Even lettuce is usually boiled and eaten with brown sauce. Fruits and vegetables in grocery shops are even more expensive than in Finland, and in general cooking by yourself is not very economic, since eating out is so cheap. Where do the locals get their vitamins from?

All in all Macau is interesting and weird. The combination of old European architecture, busy streets, small 24/7 shops selling crazy expensive watches (in case someone wins a lot of money at 3AM and feels like spending it right away), casinos full of gamblers and artificial sights, high-class lifestyle, and cheap local food. There's only half a million people living in Macau so it's a relatively small city and spending a weekend there is quite enough for me.

Macau part I: Gamblin'

Kathi, Nick & Sands casino on the background
A one-hour ferry trip away from Hong Kong there is a place called Macau. It's a part of China in the same way as Hong Kong is ("One country, two systems"), so we needed no visa during our short visit - and got plenty of new stamps on our passports. It's very easy to go from Hong Kong to Macau, and it costs only around HKD150. The ferries leave from Tsim Sha Tsui twice an hour and from Hong Kong Island there's a new ferry in every 15 minutes. If you're in a hurry and you've got too much money in your pockets, you can also book a private helicopter to get you there.

Macau is a weird place. The main attraction are its casinos which all together make more money than the casinos in Las Vegas. Gambling is illegal in both China and Hong Kong, so there's a huge flow of Chinese tourists coming to Macau, it being the closest place where it's possible to gamble. Since Macau used to be a colonial state of Portugal until 1999, there's plenty of Portuguese architecture and influence left, and all the traffic signs are in both Cantonese and Portuguese. Cafes sell Portuguese pastries and streets have such names as "Rua de Malaga" and "Avenida do Dr. Rodrigo Roriguez". But still Macau is totally Asian, we only had some brief moments when somebody said "Just like in Europe!", and then again the next street already was as Chinese as can be.

On Friday we went to a casino called Sands. Before going to Macau the only proper casino I had ever been to was the one in Helsinki, and well, now I wouldn't call it a proper casino anymore... After seeing Sands and Venetian, I don't think there's any casino in the world that could amaze me as much. Sands had several floors and I guess there were thousands of people playing. There I won HKD890 playing Megastar Roulette (:D) and felt like the richest person on earth. Then on Saturday I lost it all and HKD110 more at Venetian - so all in all, I ended up losing about 11 euros. Seeing the casinos was so worth it. We also played some Black Jack at our hotel casino and it was a lot of fun, even though the dealer seemed to be super bored and not enjoying our amazingly witty jokes at all.

About Venetian... Probably the best words to describe that place are: sick & insane. So it's this huge casino / shopping mall / resort / hotel, with more than 800 tables for gambling. It's open 24 hours a day, all year. From outside it looks a bit like an old Italian building, and when you take the escalators upstairs from the casino, you'll find an indoor-version of Venice!! One room has a lighted ceiling which looks like a sky in the daylight, and another room has a dark night sky built on the ceiling. There's musicians playing violins and a canal with gondolas. There are dozens of shops and you can stroll around, have a coffee or eat a pizza, then go shopping to H&M or Bershka or Gucci or wherever, then sing some 'O Sole Mio' and go back to gambling. All this located INDOORS. Everything is shiny and new and in the lobby you'll see a gigantic fresco when you look up... Fountains, statues, golden paint. It's all so artificial but yet so stunning. Worth a visit for sure, but I would've enjoyed it even more if I had won a Jackpot :P

The Venetian food court around 9PM

Nadine from Italy ordered a pizza :P
These guys played some romantic live music
Sick, insane, crazy.

Pretending to be classy
Michelangelo
Some more casinos

That is just too much for my Finnish brain.