Belated Happy New Year and welcome back to another exciting year on my sperlingdownunder-blogs whose names are not matching my actual location anymore…but this might change during the year!

Let’s résumé 2013: How many of my last New Year’s resolution were successful and which events had the biggest impact on me?

Here is the “what I like to do in 2013” list from last year  (http://sperlingdownunder.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/welcome-to-2013/

I. Develop my skills as photographer     CHECK!

II. Deepen my knowledge about Australian architecture     CHECK!  

III. Restart to meditate     FAIL!

IV. Get a certificate in Thai massage     CHECK!

V. Visit New Zealand     CHECK!

VI. Learn a new language at least on a very basic level (roundabout 600 words and fundamental grammar)   FAIL! (although I started learning Mandarin in December 2013)

VII. Keep this blog alive until my 3 GB limit is exceeded. Maybe I will continue then on a second blog, or pay some dollars for more data space or finish my existence as a regular blogger in favour of other time-consuming stuff.     CHECK!

I am more than satisfied with the final score 5 out of 7! My hopes/goals for 2014 are (in no particular order):

1. Finding a fulfilling, well-paid job

2. Getting my Australian visa granted

3. Continue my development as hobby photographer

4. Learning to speak Mandarin on a level which allows basic communication for every day life

5. Starting to work out again (mainly running)

6. Improving and deepen the relationship with my  girlfriend and travel side-kick Sakeenah

7. Staying healthy and happy, even in the most difficult situations by advancing my patience and inner balance.

8. Keeping this blog (respectively most likely http://www.sperlingdownunder3.wordpress.com) active and more up-to-date than in the last months.

6-Weeks-in-China Quick-Summary: My plan is to release in the upcoming weeks several chapters of my recent traveling in China. I will go more into detail and post lots of referring pictures. For now, you I will give you a general idea of my China adventures so far and how I “evaluate” the quality of life here – especially compared to other countries I traveled to.

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Ji De Wen (my Chinese name) defending the Great Wall of China against dark hordes of tourists.

At first I was shocked – especially because I thought that staying in Thailand had already prepared me for Eastern culture, cuisine, architecture, etc… . Basically I was fooled by my misconception that China is simply much bigger than Thailand and colder in winter time.

Traffic: TERRIBLE! Reckless driving no matter where you go. The most important part for a Chinese car or truck driver is the horn. They honk the horn at excessively at every occasion. Pedestrians are “pushed” away by honking aggressively or as a warning when rushing over big crossroads since nearly nobody cares about the traffic signs – as far as existing. Especially in smaller cities like Jinhua, it is not uncommon to drive on the wrong lane for a while and instead of giving way, people simply enter intersections and forcing orthogonal approaching vehicles to stop. But there is one positive thing I have to point out: Electro bikes, trikes and bicycles with additional battery support are not only available but much more popular than fuel-driven bikes. This helps, not to increase the air pollution which is already bad enough and also reduces the noise level on the streets. Interestingly I have never seen so many German cars in foreign countries than in China: VW, Mercedes, BMW, AUDI, Porsche… German engineering seems to be held in high esteem.

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View from Sakeenah’s former place of work at the New World Center (Beijing)

Architecture: The Thai-principle applies: if it works, it is enough – efficient design is superfluous. If something looks nice – you better don’t look closely to avoid disappointment. The constructions behind the facade and in everything watched in “macro-mode” is of mostly of crappy quality and stunning simplicity. In the North of China, houses have central heating. Your only choice regarding temperature “heater on” and “heater off”. If you need something between “too cold” and “furnace” – you have to open the window. This is most of the time unnecessary because the insulation of walls, ceiling and windows is so abysmal, that 90% of the induced energy is diffusing to the outside within five minutes. According to the Chinese government, central heating is nonessential in the warmer south of the country. Still, the temperature may sink below zero °C at night-time. Instead of using the expensive air-conditioning systems to warm the room up, people wear winter jackets inside. North or south of China, it does not make any difference…mouldiness affects nearly every house – due to inappropriate maintenance, poor architectural planning and hideous constructional execution. As an example, the walls of my room under the roof in Jinhua had to cope with such a high humidity, that the wallpaper came off.

There are four categories of buildings in China: local houses, which look like a period of war has just ended, new residential complexes which appear decent on first sight but suffer of problems like bad insulation and sloppy workmanship; ancient traditional buildings made of wood or bricks which are maintained well as long as they have a value as tourist attraction and finally luxurious commercial structures, showing off with futuristic architecture, often designed by star-architects of high international reputation. As a result, I feel like a time traveller now and then… visiting old-world palaces in the morning,  shopping in space ship-like malls in the afternoon and sleeping in contemporary hotels which remind me of Eastern Germany architecture from the 1970s.

Agriculture: Vegetables and fruits are cheap. One reason is that Chinese cultivate crops EVERYWHERE – even on the small green strips at motorway accesses. Maybe this kind of guerilla gardening does not use as many chemicals and pesticides as usual in conventional farming but therefore the plants are “fed” with a high level of air pollution, rubbish dump and motor oil oozing away in the vicinity of the crops. I am torn between liking the initiative of the local people to supply themselves by cultivating land where ever possible and being disgusted by the lack of hygienic care they apply.

Environmentalism: Solar cells on house roofs for water heating and electro-bikes …these are the most obvious positive accomplishments. Occasionally I see rubbish bins with separate holes for regular and recyclable waste. On the downside, people still have no feeling for the value of nature. Chemicals are dumped into lakes and rivers, huge areas are flattened and sealed with concrete, the abundant use of wrapping, plastic and alcaline batteries for toys and electronic devices is omnipresent, the exploitation and treatment of animals is plain hell (not asserting that highly developed industrial nations like Germany do a better job)… – it really hurts to watch all that and to realize: making money and keeping up a maximum level of convenience has a much higher priority than sustainability and ecologic thinking.

Culture & People: I have experienced a high-level of hospitality by lots of Chinese, most of them Sakeenah’s relatives. There are a lot of welcome social habits based on tradition. However, there are innumerous things I absolutely dislike:

I. Smoking – Non-smoker protection is pretty bad in China. Even if signs tell you not to smoke, not many people care about it. Hotel rooms and lobbies, lifts, restaurants, bus and subway stations, public toilets, banks and hospitals… you are forced to inhale poisonous air everywhere. Expensive cigarettes are considered to be a worthy present. At the wedding of Sakeenah’s sister Michelle, every guest accessing the restaurant, was supplied with a cigarette at the entrance. Being a person who refrains 100% from all kinds of drugs (excerpt chocolate! 😉 ), this behaviour is a big issue for me and decreases my level of comfort massively.

II. Noisy expectoration of phlegm – This is simply disgusting, but practised regularly all around, indoors as well as outdoors. While this habit is judged as disrespectful and inappropriate in western cultures, in China you will hear the sound of pulling up mucus secretion way more often than you wish and nobody feels offended.

III. Eating – Burping, smacking, farting, leaving food debris unwrapped on the bare dining table…not a problem in China – this is common throughout all social classes, at home but also in restaurants.

Like in Thailand, Chinese eat everything which is catchable. And yes…this includes also dogs – to approve this widespread myth.

After several weeks I am a bit tired of white rice and noodles as side dish for my daily vegetables with or without tofu. There is a huge variety of fruits and vegetables available, and the ways how to prepare them are multifarious – anyway, I miss western food. Veganism is still in its infancy, and not speaking any Mandarin makes it very difficult to live on a balanced diet while traveling. Sakeenah is a vital support for me as translator, asking and double confirming that our dishes contain no eggs, that the frying oil is of plantal origin, that the soymilk has no added cow milk powder and so on. In spite of these tedious investigation and interrogation, when ever we are hunting for food outside, it works somehow.

Summed up, I struggle a lot in China and find it hard to feel comfortable. I try to see it as a challenge and will hopefully adapt in a way which allows me to uphold my ethical and hygienic standards. To be able to stay with Sakeenah (my main reason to give this country a shot) and to bridge the gap until my Australian visa will be granted, I decided to reach out to grasp a job in China. Up to date, things look very good in this respect, although the time frame is rather uncertain. I might end up as English teacher in Beijing, but more details about this endeavour will be revealed in one of my upcoming blog posts.

My travel itinerary so far:

19th Dec 2013- 21th Dec 2013 : Shenzhen

21th Dec 2013- 07th Jan 2014 : Beijing

08th Jan 2014 – 20th Jan 2014: Jinhua

20th Jan 2014 – 22th Jan 2014: Shanghai

22th Jan 2014 – 23th Jan 2014: Zhujiajiao

23th Jan 2014 – 27th Jan 2014: Beijing

27th Jan 2014 – 2nd Feb 2014: Jinhua

2nd Feb 2014 – present : Xiamen

My personal highlights in China were a trip to the Summer Palace in Beijing and the Great Wall of China in the vicinity of the capital city and the visit of the ancient water city Zhujiajiao.  Architecture-wise, the SOHO Galaxy building and the Olympic City (especially the “bird net” stadium and the Aquatic Centre) in Beijing, but also the airport of Shenzhen were quite impressive. Biggest downer of the last weeks was without question the loss of my camera on the backseat of a taxi (a truly black Friday, 24th Jan 2014). The circumstances were extremely unfortunate and it was very tough to get over it since I loved this camera. Currently I couldn’t replace it yet, albeit I hope to get hands on the successor, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200, soon.

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Me in front of a shop in Shenzhen

Stay tuned…I won’t let you wait another 6 weeks until my next stories from Middle Kingdom go online!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Chris