Epilogue
OK…believe it or not, I had genuinely intended to end my blog at this point. However, upon reflection, once home, I felt that I would be remiss if I did not add this epilogue in good conscience for two very important reasons (important to me and, if I may be so bold, I think, what should be important to all Americans). Those reasons are basically borne of a desire to hopefully bring home (literally) these last (I promise!) two points:
First, it is also hope that, if you have ever have an opportunity to visit China but have any misgivings or preconceived negative ideas about the Country, please dissolve those thoughts from your perspective and widen your horizons; for, if you do not, you will miss out on an amazing experience should you opt not to visit this marvelous country.
You see, I have always considered myself a minor “world traveler” of sorts- if I may use that term- because I have been blessed with the opportunity of visiting more than a few foreign countries and had a multitude of experiences in many geographies in this fabulous world which we humans populate. As I have half-jokingly teased many of my friends who love to travel as I do, “if you have never been scuba diving or, at a minimum been snorkeling, you cannot consider yourself a world traveler because 70% of our magnificent planet is underwater!” A similar argument could well be advanced about visiting China. It is not only a huge land mass in relation to the rest of the world but it is also such an important economic power and social influence on almost every aspect of our society- even here in the US. So, if you consider yourself to be, although first and foremost, a citizen of the USA, but also a citizen of the world and/or a world traveler, China should be right at the top of any thinking person’s list of “places to visit before I pass on!”- a major entry on your bucket list.
Please note that I also wanted to address this point because I have discerned from a lot of the comments I have received from friends who have “inquiring minds that want to know” that many of you have concerns about your personal freedom while in China. If that is the case with you, you should not be concerned about this issue in the least. In fact, were it not for restrictions on worship opportunities, national police “check points,” and a few restrictions on some forms of social and political sites on the internet, the US visitor would never know they were in a Communist state. For the most part, China is as open and free in terms of the experiences of average daily life as any of the many countries I have had the blessed pleasure to have ever visited.
Not once did I feel any limitation on my activities or my daily experience the whole 2 months that I was there. To the contrary, there were many instances when I felt that the fact that my appearance as an obviously non-Asian American worked to my advantage in China not only because of the points I made in my comments above in relation to the Chinese wanting to know so much about western life and basically “anything U.S.” but also because the Chinese government has clearly made it known to it’s law enforcement authorities and the local, provincial and central government “powers that be” that they want their western visitors to feel welcome. Of course, one cannot escape the fact that there is an underlying political motive to the directives of the Chinese leadership here: they know that U.S. visitors are there for two reasons: 1) to spend dollars and 2) to invest dollars and they go to great lengths to do anything possible to not only accept us but to make us welcome. But, no matter their motives. They make westerners so very welcome. And, more importantly, the hospitality of the average Chinese person far removed from the leadership and their motives, love western people and learning more about us- and not just for our money.
As to the second and final point, you can believe this for sure: the people of China are an amazing and wonderful people who, as I said in my last entry above, are, at their core, they are a loving, kind and generous people who have little say in their government and should not be accountable for any of the negative aspects of the communist state in which they happen to live. They “do the best they can” and, in doing so, are a fantastically inventive, creative and entrupanierial people especially given their circumstances.
Most importantly, there are hundreds of thousands of Christians in this country, a fact which has opened my eyes and made me disavow any notion of them being our enemy as a people as a whole. Many times, I have heard people say of such totalitarian or other “evil axis” countries (and, most recently, of countries such as Afghanistan and Iran and Iraq) that we should simply “bomb ‘em all and let God sort them out.” I must confess to having ignorantly made similar statements as well. However, I recently learned there are approximately 700,000 Christians in Iran. I considered the consequences of a mass nuclear “solution” to the problems we have with that country and others similarly situated. The consequences would be devastating to not only our brothers and sisters in The Church in those countries who have no control over where they were born but would obviously also result in a permanent and immediate end to any opportunity to convert those in those countries who are not believers- a position that is antithetical to any genuine evangelical beliefs a Christian should have. Well, there are many, many more Christians in China than Iran. And my newfound enlightenment in this regard is now solidified in a whole new way.
Please know this: the Chinese people go about their daily lives much as we do. As pointed out heretofore, they have similar beliefs. They give love. They receive love. They have beautiful families. They love their children. They love their families. Those of them who are able bodied all either have jobs or some vocational position in their society and they work hard. Just like us, they love television, sports, karaoke, music, and walks in a park (such as the beautiful one beside my Huaqiao apartment) on a sunny day. They love talking about the weather, griping about the traffic and politics and, without a doubt, fireworks on holidays! In other words, they are more like us than we would ever imagine. They speak differently. They have different beliefs. They sometimes eat peculiar and exotic foods. They have different habits and customs. But, for the most part, the people of China are just like us in more ways than not.
And, in point of fact, the Chinese people have a great love for the U.S. and American citizens. They have a love for most all things American and most all things western. I personally think that this attraction is more than the results of a shallow desire to satisfy their creature comfort and hedonistic entertainment needs listed on Abraham Maslow’s list (“Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”). I truly believe this affection for and magnetism to U.S. customs and the attraction to almost everything in our society is derived from a greater desire. I believe this attraction comes from seeking the ultimate goal that we all seek: the goal of finding the very freedom and liberty that these things are a product of and which they represent. And the more we can perpetuate, advocate and represent this goal for them, the further along we, as a people and a democratic republic, will find ourselves in the basic human endeavor of peacefully assisting the Chinese to accomplish those goals.
Yes, of course I would be more than a bit naïve if I didn’t realize that there are many of my countrymen and women here in the US that have a genuine and serious distaste, if not hate, for China. But, it is my hope that- in some small way- my scratchings here have dispelled that for you as my travel did for me.
Finally, I would like to thank my business partners for this opportunity and the blessings of being able to make a minor contribution to the further success of our company. I thank my family for not only giving me their blessings to go on this trip but for encouraging me to do so. I thank all my friends for their prayers and words of well-wishing before, during and after my trip. And, most of all I thank God for this marvelous voyage, for the strength and good health He gave me to make it, for the fabulous friends He brought into my path during the trip, for the beautiful world He has made and allowing me to see this vast portion of our planet and for the fantastic experience that it has been.
And, thank YOU for reading my China travel blog. Perhaps, the next time we cross paths, should you so desire, we can “talk China!” God bless you all!
Reese
DAY 45- March 5- MY LAST FULL DAY IN CHINA
Well it’s been an incredible ride! I have SO enjoyed being here in China. I was trying to think of what I should blog here but I couldn’t come up with anything better than the contents of the email I sent to all the Premier employees that work for us over here. I think it says it best. Here is that email:
As you know, tomorrow is my last day here and I just wanted to express my most heartfelt and sincere thanks for the wonderful hospitality you have extended to me while I have been here in Huaqiao.
This was my first trip to mainland China and it has been nothing short of a fabulous experience that is directly attributable to all of your expressions of consideration and kindness while I have been here. You have been excellent working compatriots. You have been fantastic guides and teachers of all things Chinese. You have been great social and meal companions. And, most importantly to me, you have become great friends. In short, all of you- each in your own way- have gone out of your way to make me feel as comfortable and welcomed as possible and, for all of this, I thank you so very much!
I hope that my stay here and my meager efforts have contributed in some small way to the continued and future success of Premier BPO Co. Kunshan Ltd. You have a great team here and I know that I speak for the entire leadership team of Premier BPO, Inc. when I say that we are very confident of great things continuing to come from your organization here in Huaqiao.
In parting, I want to wish you all the best and I hope that all of you know that, even though I will be back in the US, I will only be a phone call or email away if I can ever be of assistance or just to say “hello.”
Thanks again!
Reese
That pretty much says it all. Tomorrow I will travel to Pu Dong airport in Shanghai where I first started my visit on China soil. It is with mixed emotions that I leave here. As you can see from my letter, I have forged some lifelong and cherished friendships here. I will miss them and on that account it is with a bit of sadness that I depart China. However, I feel very satisfied that I have done my best to improve our operations substantially. We have implemented multiple new improvements and I believe that with this excellent team of employees here, Premier BPO Co. Kunshan Ltd. will continue to thrive in success. And I am excited and so ready to get back to family, friends and the good ole USA!
My flight departs from Shanghai at 10:00 a.m. and I will arrive at 1:00 p.m. the same day in Detroit. I will lose the 14 hours I gained when I came over. Back to the past so to speak. But I truly believe that one day I will come “back to the future” and return to China whether for business or pleasure. Either way, I look forward to seeing my working companions and my new lifelong friends here again.
Thanks for taking the time to read my somewhat “cheesy” blog. I hope that it will bring you some symblence of what China is like and that you will see that China is not our enemy but an ally in waiting. The people here are, in many ways, just like us. They work and play as we do. Their habits and culture is different in many ways; but, I can assure you that, at their core, they are a loving, kind and generous people.
I look forward to seeing you all soon. God bless and please keep me in your prayers for my journey home!
Reese
Shanghai….One Last Trip
Before I post any pictures of my own of the other two trips to Shanghai over the last couple of weeks, allow me to share some professional photography from a site that describes Shanghai’s phenomenal skyline much more professionally than I ever could. In short, this site gives you a great perspective of the massiveness of this marvelous city. It is the Shanghai Skyline Link and is a perspective piece done by the Shanghai Skyscraper Museum I visited. Shanghai has the most explosive growth in urban creativity, growth and development since the Skyscraper Age in New York City in the ‘30’s. There is no way to describe in words or even in these pictures what a complex and intriguing city Shanghai is but I hope this will give you a good perspective into their architecture. First read the article and then view the slide show. It is very cool! Here’s the link:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704842604574642650896812382.html?mod=djemLifeStyleh#articleTabs%3Dslideshow
And now for some far less professional pictures presented by yours truly!
Both of my trips to Shanghai were strictly trips of touring and shopping. I had a great time on both occasions. I made one trip by myself via bus and another with Rebekah, one of the English Instructors/Trainers in our office. These shots are from downtown Shanghai. The first couple of pictures are the first images that really grabbed my attention when first coming into Shanghai. There are thousands and thousands of apartment buildings just like these. About 95% of China’s population in urban areas live in apartments. They can “buy” them but, like all land in China, one can only own it for 66.6 years (approximately 1 generation) and then it reverts back to the government. Notice how huge these buildings are. Also notice the laundry hanging out on the balconies. There are very few dryers in China. Almost everyone who can subscribes to Satellite dish TV service because that’s the only way you can get western TV channels.
The next series of shots are of a shopping mall I shopped in. It is only one of dozens of HUGE malls very similar to it. This mall had 12 stories. Every story had as many shops in it as Opry Mills in Nashville. Imagine stacking 12 Opry Mills’ one on top of the other and there you have it. Notice all the escalators and the shots looking upwards and down. It’s just mind-boggling. And this is one of at least a dozen malls like it in Shanghai. It has many of the designer stores we have here and even Starbucks, Haagen Daas and Coldstone Creamery as well as dozens of restaurants including Mickey D’s, KFC and many, many Chinese restaurants.
We went out on the Shanghai Pedestrian Street. It has beautiful architecture as you can see. And the shops are much more interesting here than in the mall. I bought some gifts at the ornate and traditional “Shanghai Fashion Store” depicted in two shots here. Great shops there. Great bargains as well. You will also see pictures of the pedestrian meeting place with the stage and huge screen video monitors. The people are swarming everywhere here. It’s amazing.
From the quaint and intriguing markets of Shanghai Pedestrian Road I made some nice purchases of gifts for my mom, my two daughters and my lovely daughter-in-law (Noel’s wife), Devon: Silk scarfs and matching necklaces of Chinese pearls. I hope they enjoy them.
Before we left, Rebekah and I met a guy who took us to his classes art collection. They were at an art institute show here and he wanted us to see the items in their collection. We followed him about 4 blocks to the hotel pictured there (The Shanghai Grand, I think) and went up to the 7th floor and saw his collection. Beautiful original works on silk and rice canvass’. I bought my son one of his works. I thought it appropriate for him as he is working his way through law school at Cumberland where both his grandfather and I obtained our law degrees. It is a beautiful work of Chinese caligraphy which says: “No Pain- No Gain! Work hard, Study hard. You will succeed!”Very moving work. I’ve included a picture of him as he was selling a piece to Rebekah.
Finally, I couldn’t resist this shot of this gorgeous little Chinese girl kissing the mascot for the Shanghai World Expo 2010. That should be wild. The people over here are crazy about that mascot! Like I said earlier in the blog, looks like Spongebob Square Pants holding his breath too long!
Shanghai is fantastic. If you ever come to China, you got to see it. Fabulous!
Business in Suzhou
Our business on the latter two trips to Suzhou was to discuss and finalize our agreement with ISS, a quasi-governmental but really private enterprise that assists us in recruiting our workers for the Kunshan operation of our business. Pictured below is their very modern, very attractive offices and campus. They recruit from a number of universities throughout China and select the “best of the best” of the English speaking students who, in turn, we hire to man our Premier BPO Kunshan operations here in Huaqiao. On my last trip I interviewed almost 40 of them and found them to be very proficient in English and very capable candidates. We look forward to bringing them on board.
Last Trip to Souzhou
SOUZHOU
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere herein, Suzhou is a very modern city but it has a very charming “old city” district that has these beautiful trees. As you enter the city you see this large pagoda like structure that I got a shot of below. On the outer perimeter of the city there are many very modern business parks and developments, the most prestigious of which are on the lake. It was not a very pretty day when we went on any of the three occasions I went to Suzhou but I have some fairly decent shots of the lake as well as some shots of the tree-lined “old city” section of the metropolis, one of which shows the ingenuity of a man delivering bread on a motorcycle. Among the shots of the lake and the developments on the lake is on where you can see a huge Farris wheel structure that is among the largest in the world. Charming! Enticing! A business and educational mecca! Simply Amazing!
Chinese Lantern Festival Dinner
Another pleasant surprise is the invitation I received and mentioned above to a Chinese Lantern Festival Celebration hosted by the local Huaqiao Government honoring foreign businesses who do business here in Huaqiao. It was at the beautiful downtown Hilton/Doubletree hotel (see interior lobby pic with the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival Tree). The affair was catered by the hotel chefs (pictured) and our host was Bettye (the lovely lady with the microphone mentioned elsewhere in this blog) and she put together quite the fantastic celebration. I was shocked to learn that it was also privately billed as a going away party for me. I was really quite embarrassed but I also felt honored.
When I first arrived, Sam grabbed my camera and said, “Watch this…they’re going to put you on TV.” I said, “NO….surely not!?” But, sho nuff, forward came the TV news reporters and they interviewed me for about 10 minutes asking about our business and how we were enjoying the festival celebration.
Then, after all the other festivities and we took a group picture (see below), Bettye asked me to come forward. You can see pictures of the PR guy presenting me with a gift. In China the tradition is to give something old and something new and the gift was a handsomely boxed “lucky” stone (the old) and an engraved bronze thumb drive (the new). The box was beautifully engraved with the words, “One bridge-One City” in Chinese. It was a wonderful night, a great celebration and a great going away gesture for me.
Paradise By My Apartment
One of my most pleasant surprises of many, many pleasant surprises while in Huaqiao, was the discovery of an amazing park contiguous to my apartment community. It is absolutely enchanting and as beautiful a park as I’ve ever seen. I have taken a walk in the park every day I was in Huaqiao since I discovered it. As you can see, the entry to the park is quite dramatic with manicured trees lining an intricately stoned walkway decorated appropriately, adorned with the New Years and Chinese Lantern Festival Lights.
There is a sign dedicating the park to someone but I couldn’t read it’s Chinese content but whoever they are should be proud! There are pebbled brooks and streams, fantastic landscaping, including blooming flowers, bamboo trees, rock sculptures, and stream after stream that the visitor traverses either via arched bridges or stepping stones. I met a very nice young lady on one of the bridges who was anxious to practice her English on me as most Chinese people who are learning English are. She took my picture which shamelessly depicts my newly shaved bald head (see story above)!
There are also at least 3 temples and 2 pagodas. The park’s creators also put a circular testament to the Chinese year symbols. I took two shots that together show all of the sculptures representing the Chinese year symbols. I also took a few shots of my individual favorites: the tiger (because this is the year of the tiger), the dragon (because it’s just plain cool) and the pig (for my daughter, Holly, who loves porkies!) They are beautiful and creative Asian structures.
On the latter pictures you can see my apartment complex in the background and the shots end- as my first day in the park did- with a lovely Chinese sunset as the sun peered it’s last minutes of the day through the trees.
New Years in Huaqaio
I mentioned my dining experience on Chinese New Years night. Here are some shots of a 4 generation family having dinner and celebrating…and CELEBRATING they were (notice the shot of the empty bottles on the floor. Chinese love to drink at dinner. They really do not appear to know how to sip or simply enjoy “a drink” with dinner. They toast…and they toast…and they toast. Drink after drink. Shot after shot. By the time I left my dinner, there were 14 bottles like this scattered about their table on the floor. And all 4 generations (including the little boy-no drinking age in China) appeared to be in various levels of inebriation. But they were all Happy! Happy! Happy!
Downtown Huaqiao
Huaqiao has a beautiful little downtown that is not so different from “Anytown America”. Here are some shots I took on the way to the post office and bank one day in late February:
Transportation from hefty loads on three-wheelers to simple motor bikes (note the trees…every city has heavily tree-lined streets)
Canal Shots- note the contrast. I shot both of these pictures from the same bridge in different directions. If you’ll notice, one shot in one direction shows basically shanties hugging the canal bank and a woman washing clothes in the canal and in the other direction, very nice villa style apartments and modern construction in the far background.
Boys playing basketball- the Chinese have a relatively new but profound love for US basketball. Every young boy wants to be the next Yow Ming.
Beautiful Canalside Park With Memorial- There is an abundance of parks in every city- small and large-most having some sort of memorial.
My Adopted Home of Huaqiao
Wow! It’s been a while since I have blogged about my trip. I have been very busy and have just not gotten around to the blog. Since I last blogged I have been back to Shanghai twice and to Suzhou twice. Shanghai for shopping and touring pleasure and Suzhou for business. They are both amazing cities that I have described thoroughly above in this blog. I thought I would post some pictures in three different groupings: (1) shots from my adopted home, Huaqiao; (2) pictures from Suzhou and, finally, (3) some photos from my trips to Shanghai. I hope you find them as interesting as I did seeing the sights when I shot them.
HUAQIAO
I have truly come to love my adopted city of Huaqiao. It is a very charming city with very kind and giving people. What follows is several pictures I have taken while here. First I have some pictures taken from my apartment. These are just a few general shots from my balcony window…
Chinese policemen (you’re never far from them!
Chinese children playing (including two little boys are playing cowboy and Indian with toy pistols)
A gentleman relieving himself (unfortunately a not so uncommon site-right there in front of everyone in broad daylight!)
A man carrying a “small” load on his motorcycle (I’ve seen them carry loads 10 times that big and once saw a family of 4 on one motorcycle…at night…with no lights on!)
