Hong Kong: Protests (go democracy!) boat rides and iPhones

From Guangzhou, I took a 1 hour fast rail to Shenzhen, where I crossed through customs into Hong Kong. 

Helllllllo Hong Kong! Hong Kong is like England but hot and humid with palm trees and occasionally more sunshine. It was pretty humid and overcast the day I was there (not to be mistaken for pollution). 

The first thing I did was check out Victoria Harbor--GORGEOUS. 

Next line of order--a new Macbook charger.           I headed to IFC--one of the biggest apple stores and upscale malls right in Central on HK Island. Apple was PACKED. (Mainlanders starting vacation a day early?)                                          In China there are Apple stores in big cities, but all Apple products cost 20% more so many people head to HK--also the iPhone 6 has not been released in the mainland. 

I was astonished to see people selling iPhone 6s right in the mall outside of the Apple store--you can see a manager of the mall was standing by to keep order--but still I think in America it's illegal to solicit things in a mall. 

 

Right outside the mall there were people everywhere selling iPhone 6's--they are real but were selling for a little cheaper. I wonder where they came from?



After purchasing my charger (totally didn't realize it would have a Hong Kong outlet--grrr), I took the ferry back across Victoria Harbor to check into my hotel and meet up with my friends. If you are ever in HK this is a 10 minute trip and is a must see.

Check it out: Hong Kong is adding a ferris wheel to its harbor. I may have to come back when its finished...

On the ferry this chinese guy took about 150 selfies. (Check out the half lifted shirt--all men in China do this to deal with the heat) by the end of the trip he had made a new friend

On the way to my hotel I saw many people who were part of the occupy central (democracy) movement and protesting the new leader for HK who was selected by Beijing

The newspapers they were handing out were pretty shocking

Shortly after the protests started, mainland China started blocking Instagram. While the protests are the front page news of the rest of the world, there is very little coverage in mainland China. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here and if the mainland uses its army force 

(if so things can/will quickly escalate--according to HK law they should not use the PLA  (People's Liberation Army) unless the country is in danger) 

I was amazed that mainlanders were just walking past with no interest at all--they really don't have any interest in politics and are just in HK to shop. 

After that I met up with friends and we got ready for our harbor boat cruise 

The science of making cheap beverages...

So many selfies!

HK watch tower

The lights show on Victoria Harbor...a little underwhelming

As the night went on, a few protesters gathered, but most are stationed at a different location (in Causeway Bay) 

The boat/harbor tour

The next day we went to a traditional Hong Kong restaurant, went to see the protests and then saw a Daoist temple. (I thought it was a Buddhist temple---I need to study the differences in the Asian religions) 

Many articles have commented on the protests and their affect on the economy--I think that's what "preserve our rice bowls" refers to. 

Most Cantonese restaurants have an open kitchen

The protests--they were relatively calm during the day, but pick up at night when people are off work and it is cooler out.

--their symbol is an umbrella so many people were painting umbrellas

It was SO HOT out so many people were providing water and there were first aid tents everywhere. 

Spreading the word! 

It was pretty neat to see signs everywhere because they were all in different languages. There was a lot of media coverage and thousands of people taking photos. While the protestors are being very strategic, the way that China handles this needs to be very strategic as well because the whole world is watching (as opposed to the event 25 years ago...)

Here are pics from the temple....

Anddddd back to Shenzhen!

National Holiday (AMEN!) My first airport sleepover...

So in China even though the National Holiday is from October 1st to the 7th, each province declares what days people will have off/what days people will work. Of course this is done at the last minute. I waited patiently to hear from my company, but when I noticed that plane tickets continued to go up in price or sell out, I booked a ticket and hoped it would work out. 

OMG--planning something a week in advance--can you believe it? ;) 

Luckily the school planned a sports day on Tuesday (the 30th) so I didn't have to find a sub for my classes. We worked Sunday and Monday and then right after school I took off. 

All of the public places are decorated for National Day--to commemorate the start of the People's Republic of China in 1949

Many people avoid traveling or leaving their home during national holidays in China because there are so many people. Traffic was CRAZY--it took two times as long as usual to get to the airport.

But still--if you have ever traveled with me you know that I am the type of person who likes to get to the airport/train station early. So I had time to grab a decaf coffee and relax! Perfect way to start the vaca :D

Airport chaos. Chinese people never learned in kindergarten how to form a single file line. It drives me nuts--they just stand where they please and cut everyone else. As a result I just wait until everyone is boarded to get up. 

No booty bumping? 

Super international Jinan. 

YAY! We only waited on the runway for 20 minutes for two passengers to arrive 

The pilot was yelling HELLO! to me (have you never seen an American before?)

The flight was 3 hours long so I arrived around 1 in the morning. My pre-booked hotel was about 2 kilometers away and was supposed to pick me up in a shuttle. Didn't arrive. No taxi driver knew where my hotel was (but to save face they pretended they did, drove around for 20 minutes and then brought me back to the airport) SO FRUSTRATING. Even with my picture on the map they were CLUELESS. I should know better than to book hotels in advance in a city I am unfamiliar with. 

The result: At around 2:30 AM I gave up. I needed to be up by 7AM to take the metro to the fast train and the airport connected right to the metro. I decided to join about 20 other people and slept on the chairs in the airport (so uncomfortable). 

Great start to my vacation! Next stop: Shenzhen to Hong Kong

In China there are road barriers between the two lanes as seen above--I think this is to prevent jaywalkers. I always think it is hilarious when people can't walk 20 meters to the crosswalk. Especially with 3 things of luggage. Haha

Rape

Good morning America! Go Bears!

This is another steamed stuffed bun that I really like.

It is a vegetable and meat stuffed bun and the vegetable in it translates into "rape"

While on the topic of rape, in recent weeks there have been a few instances of university girls who have become victims of rape. This is pretty uncommon in China...one happened in the city I live in a week or so ago. As a result the police have issued some advice to young women.

Check out the list here--it is unbelievable...cartoons included.

The last one says the best way to avoid rape is to just be ugly. The insensitivity towards the issue is apparent in the comments "haha the last one is the best one!"

These are more practical tips issued from the Security Council of a different province.  They are a little elementary (I think we were educated on this when we were in 6th grade)

Number 5 is my favorite:

5. Never get inebriated in a place outside of your home. This is an iron rule for women because you will risk losing your morals, your etiquette, your indiscretion, your heart and even your virginity (!)

Ridiculous. Yes women should be cautious when they drink and people do make more bad choices when they are drunk, but being drunk does not make it ok to victimize someone, to take advantage of someone or to rape them.

This is the story of the girl who was raped in Jinan.

It is pretty eye opening to see the difference between the two cultures and how they address the issue of rape.

Cornered at the Morning Market

So yesterday (Sunday) I was out grabbing breakfast and some fruits/vegetables from the street market right out the back gate of our school (I'll post pictures of the market soon)

I was in my gym shoes and clothes, planning to grab a few things and go workout. As I was walking down the street a few women came up to me and asked me (in Chinese) if I could speak chinese
"你说中文吗？” --do you speak chinese?
“对，我知道一点点。” yes, i know a little
“你住在耐力？” where do you live (whoa all ready getting personal)
“我是老师” “握住在实验中学” (I am a teacher, I live at the school I teach at"

Then a woman who spoke English came up. They convinced me I needed to buy this fruit from Thailand (it took me about 20 minutes to figure out what the eff it was on google later), and then they forced me to write down all their numbers. The one who speaks English is going to give me Chinese lessons (not sure when I'll have time for that) and the other ones want me to tutor their children (not sure if I want to do that either---I'd rather enjoy my weekend) but anyways one made me get on the back of her scooter and showed me where she lived. Just a typical Sunday.

Result: I have 6 people in my wechat named "market lady" who are all overly enthusiastic to speak to me

Here is the fruit that I bought--the first time they weighted it it was $30. I ended up telling the dude to give me half--lol $15 later and fruit that I don't really like...it kind of tastes like a fig

After researching it is called tamarind and is native to India (or Africa according to another source) it is not a fruit it is actually a legume. 

Chinese Breakfast

You can find street food everywhere in China, which most people take advantage of on their way to work in the morning or on their lunch break. 

                      

One of my favorite foods to eat for either breakfast or lunch is a steamed stuffed bun (bao zi). There are many different options of stuffed buns--egg, tofu, meat--and of course vegetables (everything in China generally comes with vegetables). 

My favorite is mushroom and meat (I think it is pork), cabbage and meat, or another vegetable with meat called "you cai"--which translates to "rape". I didn't realize rape was a vegetable ;) 

Breakfast complete with instant coffee! (I think I'm becoming addicted to the sugar in these packets) 

My entire meal total cost...50 cents. 

(Since I don't get paid until next month, I have been trying to live on about $5 per day---eek!) 

First Week of Classes and Mid-Autumn Festival

My teaching schedule...luckily another teacher is coming next week to take one of my preps. 

Two of my classes have 40+ students. :( I gave them a pre-assessment test and it has taken me far too long to grade. 

Last week was teachers day so each of the classes got us a gift

And we had monday off for mid-autumn festival, a tradition where families get together and admire the full moon and eat mooncakes.

One of the local bars had a mooncake tasting party (theyre kind of like the fruitcake of holiday food)

The inside is usually red bean or lotus paste. sometimes there is fruit paste and nuts inside....but the one above is a chocolate pastry with beef inside.