HongShan Zoo

The animals, sadly, were not the highlight of this visit. The beautiful mountain (more like a hill) setting was. The zoo is built into the side of a hill on the far end of the city, but is conveniently reached by the subway. Trees cover the hillside and there are a few nice lakes that provide a relaxing atmosphere. Despite being surrounded by natural scenery, the animals are kept in small cages with concrete floors, in most cases, rather than grass or dirt.

The layout was a bit similar to the Wildlife Sanctuary in Colorado, but the Sanctuary actually provides much more comfortable cages for the animals and room to roam. The wolf area had a walk-over bridge for guests to look down at the animals and their cage was one of the few with a more or less dirt/grass floor and some trees and bushes. But the tigers, leopards, and lions were all kept in dreary prison cells. The giraffes, at least, did have a larger grassy area.

The Chinese operate by a very different culture and this shows in their treatment/respect of animals. I had to bear in mind that cultural differences should not be judged because we really do grow up and live worlds apart. Their view of animal husbandry is different from mine and most Americans and I will leave it at that. There were small fences designed to keep the visitors back away from the cages, with signs posted in English and Chinese to stay behind those fences. Well, some of the locals didn't think twice about jumping over the fence to go right along the cage for a closer picture. What's worse, many felt that it was OK to throw small things like sticks or paper into the cage to get the animal's attention. I even saw one guy throw his cigarette butt into a tiger cage. They were also very noisy and made calling or barking noises sometimes to try and get the animal to look at them.

I was reminded of the tiger in CA who escaped, tracked down, and attacked the specific tourist who was harassing it at his compound. 1 point tiger, 0 points humans, and a major rallying call sounded to caged animals everywhere!

These looked like fun: parents get to lock their kid up in a clear orb, then float them out on a small pool of water. When the kid starts to stand up, the parents can jerk on a rope connected to the ball to unsettle the contents!

Hong Kong part 2

One of my favorite professors, Darrin Duber-Smith, informed me that he would be giving a presentation in Hong Kong, on April 22nd. Being close to HK (relative to the flight he had to take) I decided to make an appearance at the conference.

The conference was for Global Sources and Darrin was asked to speak about his area of expertise: Green Marketing. Altogether, he spoke for an hour. The presentation was very interesting and informative. The bulk of the attendees were English speakers (some foreigners, others from Hong Kong where English is one of their main languages anyhow) but the powerpoint slideshow had Chinese translations added for clarity.

For dinner we had exquisite food at a very nice restaurant. The pasta was better than anything I've had back home, and the desserts were great! Darrin's wife made the trip as well. They both liked what they had seen of the city in the previous day when they arrived. I was expecting to have to play tour guide (my 2nd time to HK) but these two are professional travelers and they actually did most of the leading!

Also got to see my real good friend here, Panda, who was in HK for his visa. He is my former roommate who recently moved closer to Beijing to run an upscale foreign restaurant. He is very happy now! I got out of the subway after dinner, called his phone, got in a taxi, only to drive around the block. He told the driver my location in Cantonese (the main language in HK that he speaks) but the driver didn't say I was so close! I walked into the restaurant and there was Panda doing his thing: ordering too much food and instructing the wait staff about their business. It didn't matter that I had already ate great food for dinner, he always has to see to it that the people he cares about are taken care of and well-fed!

The next day was full of sight-seeing with the professor and his wife, but the weather was not cooperating. The fog was so thick! We went up to a temple and giant Buddha statue but could hardly see. Darrin is in the red/black shirt.

The trip to this temple was exciting: a cable car over the hills and across the channel!

The hilly nature of HK, surrounded by ocean water, makes it a scenic place. But there are lots of crowded skyscrapers that you have to ignore!

Special treat in HK: two servings of Ben and Jerry's ice cream! I can't get that on the mainland but its quiet popular on the island!

I stayed one more day after my professor's flight left. That day was fairly casual: good local food with Panda and a workout in the park!

Then back to Nanjing the next morning.

胜利 Victory!

Since arriving in China, I have been very fortunate to have made great friends and training partners with the coach, Fred Greenall, and athletes at Frontier Asia http://kunaifightwear.com/frontierasiabjj/
I've been having a lot of fun with it, but I know it makes my mother worry :-(

So when I learned that the 2012 BJJ China Open was to be held in Shanghai on May 19, of course I signed up!

I competed in the blue belt 65kg division. Three matches and done: winner! I won each match by submission (my opponent's gave up) rather than points.

I also competed in the blue belt open weight category, in which I won two matches. The first was by a technicality because my opponent did an illegal technique. The referee disqualified him, but I didn't want to win that way. So I teamed up with my opponent and we both argued with the ref to let the match continue for the remaining minute to determine the winner. But the ref did not capitulate.
I won the next match by a submission, but I lost my next match by points to a man who outweighed me by maybe 15kg. I hate losing by points, but I wasn't able to submit him.

I was really proud of the Frontier Asia BJJ team. Some were competing for the first time, like Sarah, who fought admirably! Overall, we won the team prize for the most individual first-place finishes and medals. Fred has done a great job training us and helping to develop these champions!

The majority of competitors were Chinese people, which is great to see as this sport is still growing in the country. And with such a large population, there is huge potential for the sport to do big things here! I know Frontier Asia BJJ will be at the forefront of any such movement!

Also gotta give respect and thanks to Michael Sullivan and the coaches at FusBoxe where I received the bulk of my training. http://www.fusboxe.com/

Suzhou

The Chinese have a saying: “above us, there is paradise. On earth, there is Suzhou and Hangzhou.” With the celebration of Labor Day on May 1^st here, I decided to put that saying to the test and made a trip to Suzhou with my roommate, Paul. You may be wondering: “what did Sean do to end up behind bars in paradise?” Don’t worry- that’s just me in a taxi!

Suzhou is about an hour away from Nanjing on the bullet train. The two cities are similar in many ways: big, Chinese city with big buildings, and a development focus on including trees and a nature mix within the city. 

Because of the big city feel, I never felt like I was really, “getting away from it all” to explore a wonderful, natural, and secluded paradise. Granted, I’m a bit spoiled coming from Colorado and having just visited home but three weeks prior to this trip.

Despite the Colorado-nature-snob in me, Suzhou did prove to be quite pleasant. We took a tour bus to four different spots and enjoyed a variety of different sights. The first stop was something of a palace or estate of old with nice flowers.

Another stop was a large rock garden, and I mean large. The paths were made of rocks and you climbed up some of the big ones to walk along rock bridges to other parts of the garden. In the center was a nice lake surrounded by some traditional pagodas. Some of the rocks formed together to make small caves that were big enough to walk inside.

We took a river boat along the canals of Suzhou and saw some traditional houses and traditional lifestyle living. Another stop took us up a twelve story (or taller) temple for a 360 view of the city, as well as a large Buddha statue.

After lunch consisting of some yummy Suzhou local food (every region in China has its own variety of Chinese food), we were taken to a silk store and pitched by many different sales agents to buy the silk.

The last stop featured another, larger part of the canal and some more pagodas. The canal was spanned by a large bridge where many of the tourists went to take pictures. By this time, I was pretty burned out from standing in front of canals, bridges, or pagodas, and didn’t really take any more photos.

The trip was fun and well-worth the time and money. Even though the city was similar to my big city, Nanjing, it was nice to go somewhere different and the various tour stops were a small relief from city life. Next stop: Hangzhou!

China Part Two

Arrived back in Nanjing earlier this month, after a wonderful three week vacation back home in sunny Colorado. I never really understood Colorado’s high-altitude until returning after living near sea level for the past year; I did some light working out and was sweating much more than usual and breathing much harder!

Back in China required some adjusting. For example: I sat on my trusty, old (very old), bike and thought it was broken. It’s fine, but I was so used to my better quality bike at home and the smooth ride thereupon that my Chinese antique bike seemed so strange! My Canadian roommate accepted a head chef job in another Chinese city, so he moved out while I was gone and will be missed. I can still email/call him when I need cooking trouble-shooting!

This trip home was so much fun, so worthwhile, and so needed! I really loved spending time with family. Some of the highlights:

+ Dinner with mom at Texas Roadhouse

+Working out with brother Ryan

+ Talking wrestling with my dad on the drive to Montrose

+ Camping with the men and doing MAN things in Moab

+ Shopping and lunch with Grandma

+ Road trip to Colorado Springs with sister Shannon, and rescue trip with sister Mel

+ Teaming up with my good friend Tim

+ Walking my dog, Ozzy

+ Easter with mom’s relatives (silliest group of people I know and love!)

+ Talking with dad’s relatives on Skype

+ Hunger Games movie with the family

+ Cooking Thai curry for the family

I’m excited to be back in China again, though I will miss my family. The weeks back were not long enough or full enough of family time, but I will be warmed with the memories until I can return again for more! And I hope that day comes soon!

Spring is in the Air

I snapped this picture to share as an image that, to me, conjures up the feeling of Nanjing today. In the background we see the tall, modern skyscrapers and interesting architecture. In the front, we see sets of bedding hanging to dry. And in between this, notice the neatly stacked piles or orange-ish bricks and an orange Caterpillar machine on site for a brand new building under construction.

It seems Nanjing is constantly undergoing facelifts and never-ending construction. The city is galloping into the future at a quick pace, but there are still elements that are lagging behind what Westerners consider modern: clothes dryers, etc.

Today was markedly sunny, which is why the swarm of blankets showed up on the outdoor exercise equipment. The exercise equipment is also quite commonplace in Nanjing neighborhoods and parks.

Lastly, notice the tree along the right edge of this picture: Nanjing has a healthy respect for nature and has many trees (contrary to this picture) and those trees usually have pretty leaves (when it's not winter!).

Bumping Around the City

A funny thing happened mid-bike ride yesterday. After riding at a quick pace, I paused at the entrance to a subway station to meet a friend. While waiting, I caught sight of a Chinese girl staring at me as she rode up on her bike. She dismounted and walked her bike towards the subway entrance, straight up to me. This was our conversation, mixed Chinese and English:

Her (Chinese): Where are you going?

Me (Chinese): I’m going to exercise.

Her (English): Why are you here?

Me (Chinese): I am a teacher.

Her (Chinese) Where do you live?

Me (Chinese): I live over there (pointing) near Nanjing University.

Her (English): Oh…you ride so fast!

This random happening inspired me to write a bit more about China bikes, something of a trademark of this country.

Most Chinese two-wheel drivers ride along at a leisurely pace, but I move to burn those calories and make the heart pump! But the locals don’t seem to be in a hurry and I think they don’t want to get sweaty before they arrive where they are destined. Even mopeds don’t usually go along at a fast pace, even though they easily could with the motor power. I often pass moped and scooter drivers just pedaling on my bike!

Number-wise, I think I see more mopeds that good ol’ human powered bicycles. This is, of course, in a wealthier part of the city in a wealthier city to begin with. I’m sure mopeds aren’t as popular further away from the big city centers.

Something else here that I did not see in Thailand or Vietnam: adult tricycles. These are quite popular here, not as a mode of transport of people, but of materials and supplies. Many workers cart around on tricycles with a storage cart built in, and they load those carts up heavy!

I have an excellent, theft-proof bike. It is red, fast, has a basket for carrying small items, and was the most popular bike in China (10 or 15 years ago!). Since it is so old and rusted, and fairly ugly, no one will ever steal my bike! That’s important, because I know several people who have had their bikes disappear from the street-side parking, even though the bikes were locked.

I really enjoy the convenience and freedom of whipping around town on my bike, and I like the different viewpoint it gives me other than what I see just riding along in buses or taxis. But that’s a further conversation or blog-post for another day!