Sunday, June 26, 2005

Shanghai

I wrote this in Shanghai on June 26th, but I'm only posting it now because blogspot is blocked from China.

The most legendary city in the Far East! For me that name conjures images of pirates, exotic buildings, and long-forgotten colonial wars. More recently Shanghai was known for containing one-fifth of the world’s cranes. This is the place in China for high-tech outsourcing and financial business. The drive from the airport to our hotel didn't leave me with a favorable impression.

I didn't see a single park, and the smog hung low over an endless sea of buildings. This was a raised highway, and in most cities from that vantage point you can sense where the high rises begin to diminish and give way to suburbs. Not here. It was oppressive. The heat was worse than the Southern cities which didn't help either.

The next day we began our travels and I saw a park every time I turned my head. We entered older European areas and saw tree-lined streets, and fashionable shopping areas that would look at home in Scottsdale. On Saturday night we hit a dance club for a taste of the Shanghai night life. People were dancing and drinking like anywhere in the States, but accented singers belting out YMCA is a special treat.

Saturday, June 25, 2005

The Incident Among the Rice Patties

I wrote this in Xiamen on June 25th, but I'm only posting it now because blogspot is blocked from China.

The agenda for the day was to take a six-hour trip into rural China to see a small factory. Our guide was Kurt, a long time aid worker who now works with businesses to provide sustainable help to the poor. This factory is a model example of how to use business to benefit a community. We were excited to see it first hand.

We were in a two-car caravan consisting of Kurt's van and his assistant Peter driving a small SUV. The Chinese countryside was gorgeous despite the overcast sky and a steady drizzle. A low fog drifted over lush green hillsides with small villages nestled between them. The highway was new and ambitious. A third of its length is either tunnel or bridge. The tunnel approaches would be richly landscaped with small trees, carefully trimmed bushes and flowers in many colors. At one point we emerged from a tunnel to find ourselves far above the ground. The highway was split and the other bridge seemed to be floating as it slipped in and out of the fog.

We stopped at a small restaurant half way through the trip. The rain poured down while we filled ourselves with yet more rice and tofu. Signs on the wall advertised the many attractions of the region including the dish "Delicious Dog Meat".

The latter part of the journey took us off the main highway and onto a more modest country road. It seemed new--no potholes and lined with young trees. Kurt told us stories about driving in China. As with most things the road is the People's road. He said the guiding rules are "lend and share". It's not your lane, it's the People's lane, and vehicles will slip freely in and out of it. Like a good tour guide Kurt pointed out each spot where he'd seen cars tumble down to the rain-swelled rivers below.

Our progress slowed down as we passed through villages. At one point a busy farmer's market pressed against the road. Twice we weaved through colorful crowds of umbrella-carrying children walking home for lunch. Houses lined the streets in town. Often these were without doors and simply had a wall open to the street. Many were two stories. Each one had three red banners with yellow characters framing the entryway. These contained proverbs blessing the house. The two on either side were long, but the top one would always be short with four characters. These are the most ancient and revered proverbs. When there weren't houses there were rice patties--short,green, and wet. The hills were also lined with these rising in tiered levels. Farmers walked among them wearing the traditional wide, pointed hats.

The road wandered into a steeper area where it was cut into the mountainside. The bare earth rose above on our left side, red with clay. On our right, many stories below, was a river. It was brown with run off and churning violently.

We went down through another village, as we were ascending out of it Kurt brought the van to a stop. Two trucks were stopped in front of us, and we could see other cars ahead. He said that there had been a landslide and the road might be blocked. We piled out into the rain to snap pictures and stretch our legs while he considered the situation.

The mud had slid two-thirds of the way out into the road, and a truck had tried to get through anyway. Its rear wheel was off the road and deep in the mud. Half it's cargo was strewn out behind it. The high edge and the mud made getting it out a huge operation. A front loader had driven up to help out, but people were standing around, arguing, and looking perplexed.

Ena and I walked up to the landslide to satisfy our curiosity and get some good photographs. We worked our way through the mud to get in-between the bulldozer and the truck and have a closer look. The second slide gave us no time to react. We leaped to opposite sides of the bulldozer as dirt piled into the space between the vehicles.

Fortunately, we only received a light dusting around our feet. I wanted to get pictures of the second slide, but my hands were shaking severely from the adrenaline. Kurt decided there was no hope of getting through to the factory anytime soon, and that the situation was getting too dangerous as it was. Walking back to the van Ena and I lamented that we didn't capture the moment on video. We would get our opportunity.

We climbed back into our vehicles and headed back through town. We left the way we came and drove back up the steep, riverside road. The hillside in front of us collapsed. The road was blocked with mud. Kurt put the van in reverse as a smaller slide added to the mess. He was only able to back up a short distance, because the SUV behind us was partially blocked by another small slide consisting mostly of rocks. Small clods of dirt tumbled down continuously. It was few long minutes while Peter worked the SUV into a position where it could safely back up, and then we were through.

Hours into rural China, far from any major city, we were trapped. The guys were in hurry to get out and get their hands dirty. Now we were having an adventure. Unfortunately, we didn't have any way to move the mud.

Within a short time cars, trucks, and motorcycles piled up on either side of the mud and villagers walked up to examine the situation. Kurt took the van back down into the village to buy shovels. While he was gone farm women came up with tools better suited for breaking ground than clearing a road, but that was what they had. They set to work. We offered help, but they insistently refused. More tools arrived (including the essential shovels) and members of our group were able to join in.

The women worked better and longer than anyone on our team. While we stopped to catch our breath they just kept on swinging. There was an amazing spirit of camaraderie. One Chinese woman, the first to arrive at the scene and the hardest working, began to gesture with the "thumbs up" sign as the situation improved. It was a surprisingly short time before enough of a lane was cleared for vehicles to get through.

A village man who stood by watching expressed his amazement to Ena that these foreigners would throw themselves into this work. She was able to explain to him why we would be so willing to serve. After we were done he invited us down to his house to wash off. There were chickens at the front of the lane and two families of ducks in his yard. We walked barefoot along a path covered in puddles and feathers. We rinsed off our shoes and clothes in a muddy little canal coming off a stream behind his house. It was all completely unsanitary. He brought us inside where he had an open-air water trap that at least looked cleaner. He insisted on rinsing off our arms and washing our feet. He was very honored to have us there (it's unlikely that he ever had contact with a foreigner before, much less in his house), but the work was something we were glad to do anyway. It made for a deeply humbling experience. His wife offered us lukewarm tea, which we each had to creatively dump to avoid offending them and avoid getting sick.

We got back into the van, drenched and muddy, and began our long, uncomfortable journey back Xiamen. As we passed the landslide Kurt yelled out that it was coming down again. After a startled moment we laughed at his unforgiving sense of humor.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Xiamen

I wrote this in Xiamen on June 21st, but I'm only posting it now because blogspot is blocked from China.

Hello from Xiamen!

It's pronounced "Sha-men", so make sure you read it correctly. Xiamen is on an island just off of the coast and across from Taiwan. Our guide Scott believes it is one of the best candidates for an office. It's hot (though not as bad as Hong Kong), but the humidity is absurdly high. In all the time I've been in China I've only seen a few hours of sunlight. Apparently the East Pacific is in its rainy season.

I'm writing on a laptop in a hotel room, so you know the accomodations aren't too bad. Unlike Hong Kong the signs around the city aren't in English. Menus are only in Chinese. At this point we're completely dependent on our Chinese speakers. We handle cabs by giving them a business card or piece of paper with the name of our destination. As long you have the card for the hotel you can't get in too much trouble.

In theory I'm on a high-speed connection, and getting to gmail and my work mail is relatively quick. I did however make the mistake of trying to access Google News and CNN. Good luck. The government practices some serious monitoring of certain sites. When that happens you might as well be sucking mud through a straw. I gave up long before the sites ever loaded. Apparently intra-national connectionsare not as bad, but that doesn't help.

Today we met with an American who has been operating a business over here for many years. His vision like ours is concerned with being a blessing to the employees and the community in which the company is present. It was extraordinary listening to him, because he is on the same path but three steps ahead. I can't realistically go into the details here, but I look forward to talking about them when I return. Whether we locate in China or not his example and advice will be very precious. I know my coworker Hui was deeply impacted by his servant attitude in her home country.

There is one story from his company that I'd like to share. If any of you have seen the Japanese movie Princess Mononoke you know there is a scene where the ruler of Iron Town invites the young man at the center of the story to come see her deepest secret. In a small building separated from the rest of the town she has craftsmen working on newrifle prototypes. These craftsmen are lepers, outcasts that she has rescued and given dignity and an important role. If you can appreciate an animated movie it is the best example of what I saw today without being here yourself. This business owner has accomplished the same thing. He isn't willing to give money to beggars, "false help", as he calls it, but he will try to give them time and if he can jobs. Obviously efficiency is a big part of his business. He realized that these physically disabled people, complete outcasts in Chinese society, couldn't work fast, but they may be able to produce quality. As an experiment he has decided to try to produce a version of his product for a very high end market where production time is not a significant factor but workmanship is. These former beggars are now creating amazing handiwork, and are giving back to their community, reproducing the generosity of this business owner or steward as he prefers to be called. Don't be mistaken, he's a geek about his business. He knows and loves his product and works for profit (essential for any of this to work), but his purpose goes far beyond that.

Friday, June 17, 2005

Good Morning Hong Kong

Good morning from Hong Kong! I've made a real flip from Phoenix. Besides being on the other side of the world it's continuously rainy, 90% humidity, and most of the signs are in Cantonese. I feel wet all day long, which is appropriate since most of the day I'm actually wet.

The center of the city is on a small island. The skyscrapers crowd close around a central mountain. It's urban and rainforest merged together. Our hotel is on the mainland and just off of Nathan street, a major road that leads right through the busiest, flashiest shopping district and down to the waterfront where there's an amazing view of the skyline including one of the tallest buildings in the world. It's a great looking building but misses our own Sears Tower by 100ft. Too bad for them.

Many people speak English and there are plenty of English signs (since it was controlled by England until recently), so we're not in as tight a spot as we'll be in China proper. A few of us wandered around the city last night and were able to get around thanks to the good signage (and some inspired guessing). The dominant language here is Cantonese, which is apparently impossible for me to learn. Mandarin has four tones. Cantonese has nine with variations that can push it toward twelve. If you're not sure what that means, neither am I, but it sounds intimidating.

That's all the time I have for now, but I'll check in again later.

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Outbound

Tomorrow morning I'm off to China. I have no idea what it's actually going to be like. Tonight I'm in Grand Rapids with the rest of team that will be going. It's so green here that it almost drives me to break down sobbing with unspeakable joy. I never realize how much I miss it until I see it again. Nothing makes me want to leave Arizona but the lush green of the Midwest. I could die fullfilled just lying in the soft grass looking up at the tall, leaf trees.

Thursday, June 09, 2005

How unique is that cool new name you're giving your kid?

Type a name in this wizard, and it will tell you how frequently it was given to babies over the years. Throw a rock and you'll hit a Jason my age which isn't surprising when you see that Jason was the third most common name given in the seventies. My favorite activity is to enter names I've heard given to children recently that I thought were quite unique. Watch the recent spike in those names.