The Trip Home

Thursday, July 14, 2011

As the bus pulls away from the Galaxy, the night is lit up by all of the casinos just like the Vegas strip.  In place of a lot neon are LEDs which provide a brighter, more defined glow to the night.  We cross the bridge into Macau proper.  I am amazed at how clean the streets are and excited that so many shops are still open at that hour of the night.  We get to Hotel L’Arc for the aforementioned after party.  The entourage is led up to a huge room with projection screen.  Several people start flipping through the electronic catalog of songs.  The rest of us sit and chat to make the last few moments with the stylists last as long as possible with the fondest of memories.  Champagne is provided to celebrate the end of a successful goodwill tour and toasts abound.  Food and brought in immediately after the drinks, and the songs begin to pour out.

Speeches and grand gestures are peppered throughout the night.  First, announcements and congratulations by the board members and founders.  Business in China is  done almost entirely outside of the office and entirely over cigarettes and alcohol.  Tonight is no exception.  Cigars and cigarettes abound, and the liquor flows freely among the senior members.  Everyone is a bit delirious from fatigue, but the singing and merriment continues.  The next gesture are medals awarded to the contestants and staff.  In their uniform velveteen track suits, the medals look like they have placed in some sort of sport at the Olympics.  Some of the girls play into the look by posing as if they just stuck it after dismounting the uneven bars.  Willis, whose role has been stylist assistant and body guard, begins to serenade Michael, the assistant videographer, with a birthday song.  The gesture is followed by sad goodbyes full of smiles and tears as we bid adieu to the stylists.  They will be spending the night at the hotel and the day touring Macau before they fly back to Guanzhou.

The bewitching hour is upon us, and we say our goodbyes to our hosts.  The bus leaves the twinkling lights of Macau behind as we roll up to the ferry terminal.  This begins our long trip home.  We manage to catch an earlier ferry to Hong Kong, but we have to go through immigration to leave Macau.  Tip: If taking a ferry in Asia, make sure you know what your seat number is and keep you ticket accessible to you.  We handed in our tickets altogether and ended up causing a lot of trouble with all of our luggage.  Eventually, it all works out, and we pass out during the hour long ride between the islands.  In Hong Kong, we end up having to fill out an additional form to enter the country.  Immigration starts asking a lot of questions, and eventually, a couple of the entourage get held back a bit for small issues.  We have plenty of time to get to the airport before the flight to Shanghai, so no one is worrying quite yet.

Nothing is open at the airport when we arrive,  None of the counters are staffed, and it is little more than a couple of hours before our flight.  We are a weary bunch of travelers already with two bouts with immigration already under our belts, and it’s not even 6AM, yet.  A few minutes after 6AM, the counter staff begins to trickle in.  I’m lucky to be in the beginning of the line and make my way through security and immigration with a few others.  Boarding time is 7:25AM.  There’s no telling if everyone is going to remember to look up from all of the great shopping in the Hong Kong airport.  We actually start boarding early.  Now, we start worrying that the rest of the group won’t make it in time.

After the last few stragglers make it through the cabin door, I shut my eyes.  When I open them, we’re just about to land in Shanghai.  Little did we know what the Chinese bureaucracy had in store for us as we deplaned.  I had asked the counter staff back in Hong Kong if we had to worry about going through immigration and picking up our luggage for customs in Shanghai to switch planes.  She was confident that we wouldn’t need to.  To my dismay, she was half wrong.  While we didn’t need to pick up the luggage, we had to go through another security screening (buh-bye nearly full bottle of water I just bought in Hong Kong) and immigration into China as well as immigration out of China.  Instead of letting us through the most direct route into security, we are made to circumnavigate the arrival hall to arrive at the start.  Immigration has but two employees and several planefuls of passengers waiting to make their connections.  Luckily, because of a gate change, our boarding is delayed a few minutes, and the girls run off to shop for gifts again.  The rest of the travel is uneventful, and I am thankful for that.  We will say our last goodbyes at the baggage carousel at JFK.  I have made some new friends and learned a great deal about the pageant world in China.

Stay tuned to see how the finals go in August.  Want to learn more or volunteer at the pageant, checkout the website at http://misschinesepageant.com.

Farewell, Macau, You Were Fabulous!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Today, I have a choice of following the girl around to their various photo and video shoots.  There is even a rumor that Stacy Wang will be bungee jumping for the cameras . . . and to relieve stress, but even that doesn’t entice me away from enjoying some personal time on my last day in Macau.  A gambling mecca of the East, Macau provides a Vegas-style glamour to East Asia housing only one of three Venetian hotel casinos in the world, a Wynn, and dozens of luxury hotel casinos.  Riding up and down the elevators all day, I realize that the Galaxy provides families, couples, and individuals an all inclusive getaway with several pools, a health club, dozens of restaurants to choose from a mall, bakeries, pharmacies, and even a food court for those who want a quick, international bite.

Breakfast at the Terrace Restaurant is an international buffet.  I stuff myself silly on congee, scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, and tiny pastries.  Some of the girls have already finished breakfast before I even get a chance to start.  The morning is scheduled for shooting photos and video around the complex.  I take the opportunity to send postcards on my very last full day of the trip because it has been about the only chance to do so.  Sitting in the elevator lobby on the 23^rd floor of Hotel Okura, my backdrop is the Galaxy Hotel and the big wave pool.  I sun a bit as I write my postcards.  This is the one hotel where free wireless is available anywhere, so I take advantage of it and Skype® in the elevator lobby while I write.  Finished with chatting and writing, I make my way down to the lobby to mail the finished products.  After a little back and forth about how to pay for the stamps, I spot Jasmine (Contestant #14) sitting down in the lobby.  The rest of the entourage can’t be far behind, and it is nearly lunchtime, so I go see what’s up.

Chatting with Kim, Peter, and Michael, they have already done a lot of shooting.  They just have a couple more places before lunch, so I follow them around.  Luckily, I’m useful extra security since they are shooting in wide open spaces with very persistent people trying to photograph them without the girls’  permission.  The fountain in one of the lobbies has a dancing fountain, and the show is starting as we roll up to it.  The girls’ reactions to the light and water show are captured on video.  They pose for pictures in front of a stylized peacock feather backdrop, and the entire entourage move into the casino.  There’s a stage show depicting China just before World War II.  A prosperous time with international influence, the actors and actresses provide a spectacular show of dancing to a constantly changing background.  Here, the girls are asked to react a little more flamboyantly than usual for the cameras to make it a good show.

With only a few minutes for lunch, we are herded into Park Liu Chow, an extremely well known brand name in Chiuzhou cuisine.  Duck and dim sum dishes appear in quick succession.  Discussion of the afternoon events revolve around skywalking and bungee jumping.  Kim challenges Stacy to the bungee jump, and for her, it is less of a challenge and more stress relief.  Logistics of filming the jump are discussed over a lovely orange and jasmine scented dessert soup.  A quick call out to the troops have the girls meeting in the lobby of our hotel at 3pm after rehearsal at 2:30pm for this evening’s events.  As exciting as the afternoon’s events sound, I choose to sty behind and experience the Galaxy.

The complex is huge and confusing for a lot of people.  In my wandering, I happen across several people from the trip who are lost.  Luckily, I inherited my father’s sense of direction, so I am able to at least get everyone back to our specific hotel lobby.  From there, they should be able to find the others.  On the East Promenade where Hotel Okura I located, there are only luxury stores like Van Cleef & Arpel – not my normal price range.  A quick look at the directory, the more affordable shops are on the West Promenade on the other side of the casino which takes up the middle third of the complex.  I admired the Tastes of Asia food court, but I’m still pretty full from lunch.  I do indulge in a crispy caramel ice cream sandwich during my walk.  Macau is known for its Portuguese custard tarts, and I thought I had lost my chance to savor one by not going with the girls this afternoon, but luckily, there are two famous bakeries in mall.  I shop for gifts for the family and stop at Mannings pharmacy to pick up a few of my favorite toiletries from Taiwan.  I feel so selfish for indulging today, but I figured it’s my last free afternoon, so I might as well take advantage.  With half a dozen fresh out of the oven Portuguese custard tarts in my bag, I get back to the hotel to get ready for the evenings festivities.

Tonight, the girls are doing pretty much the same as last night, having a turn on the catwalk in their cocktail dresses and impressing the crowd.  Those of us who are no important to the production are asked to go ahead and get ready and bring our bags down to the lobby so that we can all attend the after party.  I’m going to miss my five star hotel room and being able to actually watch music videos on television.  I pack my little bag and head down to the lobby ahead of everyone.  A lot of hugging and group photos are taken as start filling the bus.  Stay tuned for the final installment including the after party and a most adventurous route to get home.

Hello, Macau, We Have Arrived!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The morning is hectic with organizing luggage and two more stops in Zhongshan before we head off to Macau.  We have a stop at the Cultural Arts Research Center – I guess that’s why William was asking if any of the contestants knew Chinese calligraphy earlier in the week.  The Center is celebrating cultural heritage with a Chinese calligraphy exhibit.  I’m amazed with the old and middle Chinese calligraphy.  I have learned basic traditional Chinese calligraphy, and now, I am intrigued to learn early and middle Chinese calligraphy now as well.  Some of the girls can read traditional Chinese, but they don’t necessarily understand what each of the poems or sayings mean.  Sometimes they have specific meanings, and sometimes it can be up for interpretation.  The ceremony is a bit long winded, and the girls are getting a bit fatigued sitting up straight with their ankles crossed.  They finally get called up for pictures and are, unsurprisingly, the center of attention.

As we leave the space, our drivers have lined up the cars for a quick picture to advertise the cars.  They have the girls match up with their numbered cars and drivers.  Having beautiful girls posing with hot imports is a long standing tradition in the automobile advertising world.  Today is no exception.  As we head off to the last stop in Zhongshan, the traffic gets worse, and it is hard to maneuver the caravan.  We weave in and out of the heavy morning traffic trying to keep up with the rest, but the drivers in China will take any centimeter’s worth of space to wedge into traffic.  It is a bit frustrating as an onlooker to see how inconsiderate drivers are in China, more so than most countries I’ve visited.  That same mentality seems to spill over into general society as well.  For a culture based on saving face, familial honor, and so many rules of comportment, women are still considered either property or second class citizens, and men seem to be allowed to say and do whatever they want with little to no repercussion.

As we roll up to the elementary school, specially chosen children are lined up waiting for the entourage.  The children are all in their uniforms and are holding red plastic flowers.  As the girls file in, the children start welcoming them with a unified voice.  The principal has a few opening remarks, and then, we are led into the school for a little tour.  We see a wall of colorful hand prints which the children make their first year at the school.  Then, the hand prints are framed and hung on the walls until the children graduate after 6^th grade when the hand prints are planned to be presented to the children as gifts and souvenirs of the school.  There are approximately 1,300 children who attend this specific Zhongshan City public school.  That is nearly three times my high school’s graduating class.  Another wall has a photo mural of every child who has attended the school, and it seems like there is plenty of room to add photos.  We get to the gym, and a large group of children greet the girls with cheers and clapping.  The children have prepared a game where you transfer hearts over straws held only by mouth, no hands, ma’!  The more hearts, the more chances the girls will have to get puzzle pieces which turn out to be the map of China.  It is riotous fun, and everyone is having a ball.  Once the hearts are passed and the map is put together, the contestants happily take pictures with the children and their families and hand out gift bags to the children.  The bags were so cute, I was tempted to snatch one, but there was just enough for every child to have just one.

We have one last meal the Zhongshan International Hotel.  At lunch, there is a big round of applause and gratitude to Ken, our host and part owner of the hotel.  We rush through the meal to get everything on the bus to Macau.  The bus ride is short, and we arrive at the China Customs and Immigration stop.  Everyone and everything off the bus while we hand in our departure cards and have our pictures taken.  Back on the bus with the luggage, and after a very short five minute ride on a bridge, we get to Macau Customs and Immigration and have to take everyone and everything off the bus again to have it go through immigration again.  I have the stamps on my passport to prove it. 

We get to the Galaxy – it’s not just a hotel, but an entire complex with several hotels.  We pull up to Hotel Okura, and the girls are rushed off to rehearsal since we arrived late.  Dinner will be poolside at the rooftop deck pool, and the girls have a bathing suit and evening gown strut on the catwalk.

The evening is nothing but rush, rush, rush with hair, makeup, and costume changes. 

At one point, the girls are asked to pick the most charming gentlemen out of the crowd and bring them on stage.  When asked why they picked the gentlemen (and one lady), Ivy Hu replies that he reminds her of her father, so that’s why she chose him.  The MC heard her wrong and asked if he were her father, and such a loud outcry of laughter came from the crowd.  When Danni Wang replied, she said because he was the closest cute guy near her.  Stacy Wang managed to pick the the cousin of George H. W. Bush out of the crowd.  What a surprise!  When Ke Ke replied, she mentioned that she really loved his hairstyle – I guess sexy, bald men really do have a following in Asia.  The evening was over as quickly as it had started.  Now, off to sleep in my five star, US$622.81 (5000 Macau patacas) a night hotel room.  Oh, and is it luxurious!  Tomorrow, photos all over the island and the hotel and a farewell party.  Me?  I’m going to roam around this complex.

From the Mountains to the Sea

Monday, July 11, 2011

Another early morning with an unwelcomed morning call from the front desk – I roll out to breakfast and yawn through the bites of food.  The stir-fried noodles are a welcome surprise and super tasty.  There is a last minute change in events, and the girls have to go change into clothes they can ride bikes in.  Miriam Lau (contestant #6) is front an center on the morning newspaper.  The luxury import cars are back to take us out again.

I was under the impression that the girls would go for the bike ride first to beat the oppressive heat, but after a long ride up to the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park which encompasses the land on which he grew up, replicas of his home later in life, and a museum, it’s just another stop on the press junket.  My father is going to be so envious!  He has always wanted to see where Sun Yat Sen grew up.  The girls attract a lot of attention from the other visitors, and it’s a lot of commotion to handle all at once.  Just trying to get in to hear the tour guide and see the exhibits was a bit tough in the tight space and all of the gawkers.  Some of the girls did manage to ask some questions of our tour guide amidst all of the flashing light bulbs.

Back into the cars to make it to the next stop . . . a riverside bike ride.  The driver of our car is a local, so he has been filling in the gaps about the history of the Zhongshan, it’s most famous prodigal son, Sun Yat Sen, and the disappearing local culture. 

He points out buildings and structures.  We drive past large swathes of farmland still being tilled by hand.  The next generation is not going to know what a crop field looks like , and they won’t know where their food comes from . . . an effect of education, I suppose.  The sun is beating down on the concrete roads.  The Coast Guard posted at the gate is sweating bullets as we drive up to our destination.  When I stepped out of the car, the heat is so much more oppressive than I was expecting.  The weather forecast did predict thunderstorms for the region, and the heat and humidity were the build up to a big summer thunderstorm payoff.

All of the girls set out with a few of the drivers bringing along umbrellas to shield them from the sun.  The breeze off the of the river is actually very cooling, but the rays of the sun are overpowering, and a few people come back early. There was a nurse on standby, but luckily, none of the bike tour need her services.  My riding companions and I are so very thankful for our driver who already had the forethought to park the car in the shade and start the air conditioning a few minutes before we get there.  Off we go for a seafood lunch at a restaurant down the street.  The selection was amazing for a building that looks so old and rundown.  It’s a bamboo log building sitting on stilts out on the mud brown river.  It is actually one of many along the road, and judging by all of the construction along this tin concrete road, it won’t be the last one either.  A lot of the fishing culture will change in the area as the government takes over the land forcing the illegally built homes to be taken down, etc.

A long ride back to the hotel brings a welcomed afternoon nap.  The thunderstorms predicted earlier begin to settle into the region as we get ready for the poolside party.  At the last minute, I decide not to go because of the thunderstorm.  A few of us order in some Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and sit around and chat for a bit.  I highly recommend the peach topped custard tarts at the KFCs in China, if you ever get the chance to stop by.  There is a national toll free number to order delivery, or you can order online, but the website is a bit more confusing than it ought to be.

I can’t wait to see what Macau is like.  I’ve only ever seen it in the movies and on the travel shows, but sometimes, there isn’t any better view than in person.  A few people have already gone ahead to scope out photo backdrops.  The driver mentioned that it’s only about a 30 minute bus ride there, so should be nice.  I have to fill out separate forms in order to enter the country, so this is going to be interesting tomorrow.

Thanks, Zhongshan’s Corporate Sponsors!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

The Zhongshan International Hotel happens to be housing the atheletes and their families of the World Youth Badminton Championship.  Breakfast was a zoo.  People hovered over seats and pounced as quickly as possible to take your seat even if the table hadn’t been cleared, yet.  I welcomed the American hashbrowns which I hardly eat when I’m back in the States, but the added variety is nice.  The girls were expected at an outdoor event at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park.  Angela Gao (Contestant #8) was well enough to join in the events today; however, Melody Wu (#12) and Allison Ye (#10) will not be able to make it.  When we gathered in the lobby, we noticed there wasn’t a bus.  What waited for the girls was a caravan of luxury import cars to take them to the park.  After being bounced around from car to car, a couple of us press staff end up in the very last car.

After driving around for more than half an hour, the driver is a bit turned around.  We had driven by the park, and he hadn’t realized it.  We ended up taking a very roundabout way to catch the girls walking up the steps to the Sun Yat Sen statue.  In the half an hour spent outside in Zhongshan today, everyone had already sweat through their clothes.  I overheard that most people had sweat so much that the sweat had reached down to their underthings.  It was nice waiting in the hotel lobby for everyone to arrive because I had cooled off and almost dried out by then.  Everyone gets to rest a bit and then it’s lunch in the hotel.  I am starting to like this not having to travel to eat luxury.

Like last night, we are having lunch on the third floor of the hotel in the International Room.  The Cantonese dishes come at a leisurely pace and the service is wonderful.  Overall, the majority of the pageant contestants and staffers have well-preferred the cuisine of the Guangdong (formerly known as Canton) region to all of the others combined.  Today’s lunch, however, is exclusively Zhongshan delicacies.  Melody and Allison joined us for lunch, and both seem to be recovering.  It’s been a grueling pace of early morning makeups and styling, intense heat and humidity, and frequent changes in temperature, climate, and food.  Only the very resilient are dodging sore throats, allergies, and stomach ailments.  The girls meet the sponsors and owners of the hotel and restaurants where we are staying and eating.  My first impression was, “My!  What young dudes are running this hotel!”

The girls at my table did a great job clearing the table of dishes.  The girls must rush and unpack evening gowns for the dinner.  The girls will have the use of the luxury import cars again, but they are expected to stop at at least five of the corporate sponsors this afternoon before dinner.  One of the sponsors is one of the largest LED manufacturers in all of China and probably globally.  Melody and Allison are still not quite recovered, so I choose to stay behind in case they need a chaperone.  It gives me a chance to relax a bit and do more laundry before the crazy schedule that I won’t be able to opt out for our last few days in China are upon us.  I am thankful that we are across the street from a mall with a supermarket.  Melody and I end up going to get supplies and treats for some of the staffers.  I pick up a tiny room air freshener, some liquid detergent, and a few other things to take back home like mosquito repellent happy face stickers, fancy flavors of potato chips, and cheap packs of super cute tissues – things I always like to pick up from Asia that we can’t really get in America easily.

A grand gala style dinner is scheduled at the event hall next to the hotel – evening gowns, jewelry, and probably a lot of photos with sponsors will be required.  There is a rumor that some of us will be going out for some karaoke tonight.  This Taiwanese-American girl can’t escape the need to sing to a mismatched video and a midi beat!

On the Road to Zhongshan

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Right after breakfast, we meet at 11AM to meet the bus to take us to lunch.  Yes, food right after food.  The one funny thing that happened this morning was the fact that we now simply had too much luggage to fit under the bus.  The entire back row of seating had to be used as luggage storage, and we managed to fill it nearly up to the ceiling.  We end up at the same restaurant that we went to for lunch yesterday.  I wasn’t hungry in the least, so I eat some green veggies and go across the street to pick up iced coffees and custard tarts at Kentucky Fried Chicken for people.  The KFCs have far fuller menus than the ones back in the States.  You have rice bowls, bentos boxes, milk tea, and even iced lattes that some with soft serve ice cream, not whipped cream.  Everyone was elated to have some food that wasn’t exactly the same as the day before.  Banquets seem luxurious for the first few meals, but after a while, you want something different, yet simple.

Vegetarians are few and far between in China.  All of the banquet meals we have been extremely heavy on meat and seafood with no rice and few purely vegetable-based dishes.  I already had a preconception that vegetarians would find it extremely hard to stay properly nourished in the Mainland, and each banquet has proven the case to be true just a little bit more.  Perhaps there are actually more choices than meets the eye, but since we don’t get to wander on our own with the packed schedule of appearances most days, I will have to stick to my preconception until proven otherwise.  Vegetarianism is far more prevalent in Taiwan because freedom of religion is allowed, and Buddhism mixed with Taoism and Confucianism is the most popular religion deeply rooted in Taiwanese culture.  Many Buddhists practice vegetarianism based on the principle of not harming other living creatures and less so for the health benefits; though, in recent years, there has been a rise of vegetarianism based on its health benefits.  It has become so popular that New York’s Chinatown sports an all Taiwanese vegetarian market at Hester and Centre called May Hwa.  You can check out my interview with one of the managers in Spring/Summer 2011 edition of Asian Fusion Magazine.

As we board the plane to Guanzhou, there are free newspapers at the cabin door, but I don’t really pay attention to them.  As I am ambling towards my seat, one of the staffers is holding up one of the covers of the periodicals featuring Angela Gao (Contestant #8).  There isn’t an article in between the covers, but it’s still really great to see.  Another cover that William Yip is holding up features the whole group with a little paragraph, but again, nothing between the pages resembling an article.  The final article I see is a full one-page spread with Jasmine Hayter’s (#14) full length photo and a headshot of Angela’s (#8).  The other passengers start piecing the puzzle together and start trying to match the girls to their photos in the periodicals.  This is just the beginning of their flirtation at being celebrities.

The bus ride from the Guanzhou airport is about an hour and a half.  The thunderstorms in the area that had delayed our flight cooled the temps to 79ºF, but the evaporation has contributed greatly to the humidity.  Zhongshan, renamed in honor of the father of modern republican China Sun Yat Sen (hanyu pinyin: Sun Zhong Shan), is in the southeastern part of China in the Guangdong province where Cantonese is the prevalent dialect aside – more so than Mandarin.  We are getting that much closer to Macau and Hong Kong!  As we roll into town, the city is lit up like a Christmas tree. 

One of the girls mentioned that Zhongshan is known for its LED (light emitting diode) industry, and as we pull into town, she was completely right.  The Zhongshan International Hotel was built in 1988 – as I found out from the commemorative sculpture fountain in the lobby, so some of the “amenities” are outdated, but the internet seems well faster than any of the other hotels we’ve been staying in so far.  Oh, and there is a 7Eleven just across the street.  We’re actually in a city center!  Tomorrow, corporate appearances and a fancy welcome dinner!

Wipeout!

Friday, July 8, 2011

First thing this morning, I had to find out about how the two game shows went yesterday.  Exciting news, the girls dominate both shows.  You know what that means – Mr. Yip is matching the winnings yuan for yuan.  The promise has been extended to anymore winnings they may receive as a result of any other game shows on the trip.  In addition to doubling their earnings, Mr. Yip has requested that a fabulous room at the best KTV (karaoke) in Macau be reserved for the girls after their packed schedule.  You can tell that the board members sincerely care about the girls, and it’s not just all for show.

The morning has a delayed start of 10AM, which was a nice change of pace.  The reason for the delay wasn’t as nice.  Several of the girls’ have fallen ill, and the delayed start was due to trips to see doctors and hospitals.  The rest of us climb aboard the bus on our way to the first stop of the day which is Hefei’s version of “It’s a Small World”.  Each building houses a multitude of information about different East Asian nations with scaled down replicas of historical landmarks.  There are also interesting sculptures peppered throughout the park.  The crew from the television station is there to capture every second of the girls walking through the park.  Once they get to the amphitheater for the water show, the girls are split up to do different little ads for the station and probably the park.

We file back on the bus, and it’s time for lunch already.  After lunch, we head to the water park next to the Hefei Aquarium.  Five of the girls have volunteered to compete on “Boys vs. Girls”, an obstacle course game much like “Wipeout” in the States which we got from Japan, if I’m not mistaken.  Two groups of youth martials arts groups perform for the intro.  The first group is mostly older elementary school kids with nunchuks.  The second group are little kindergarteners showing off their kick and punches.  Too cute . . . and deadly!  Yi Yao (Contestant #1), Isabella Chan (Contestant #11), and Danni Wang (Contestant #7) all get a chance to perform before the competition begins.  Yi sings a classic Mandarin song.  Isabella raps which throws the hosts of the program completely for a loop.  Danni performs a sultry dance involving a chair, a hat, and some hip shakes in a bright red, fringe-filled outfit.  The five volunteers, however, are not the performers, but the brave Ivy Hu (#4), Yufei Liu (#5), Miriam Lau (#6), Allison Ye (#10), and Mei Shao (#11).  With all of the obstacles moving and sprayed with water, it’s not an easy course to navigate.  Unlike a typical ropes course, there isn’t hardly anything to grab a hold of when your foot gives way, so the girls have to get creative.  The hosts give the team members a lot of pointers like the faster you can make it through each obstacle, the safer you will be, and the longer you take the more fear will build up.

Allison volunteers herself to go first.  She makes it to the spinning bit before she hits the water which is about 1/3 of the way through the course.  The makeup was most definitely waterproof because she still looked great being hoisted out of the water.  Yufei is 100% sure that she will make it through the entire course when the hosts interview her.  She gets to the top of the moving staircase before she’s thrown into the water which is about ½ through the course and the farthest any of the five girls get.  When the hosts ask for the next volunteer, the three girls point to Pan Pan, who stands in for Contestant #8.  He tries his best, but the fourth “toadstool” gives him trouble. Miriam is next, and she takes the hosts advice about going through the obstacles at quickly as possible . . . perhaps a little too quickly because she overshoots the trampoline and takes a header into the water getting passed just the first obstacle.  Ivy is our last hope, but the fourth “toadstool” also proves to be her foe.  The game ends pretty early, so Pan Pan gives it another go and wrestles again with the final “toadstool”.  Though the game was short, I am thankful to get out of the sun and heat and head back to the hotel.  

A quick shower and costume change, and the whole gang is back in the lobby.  I am greeted with a big hug by Miriam, the W&M alumna, and then, we’re on the bus for our farewell dinner.  We pull up to this secluded spot in the hills.  The parking lot is packed, and people crowd the entire area.  The  entrance is like entering a grand Chinese home with a large door where you must take a big step to cross over the threshold.  You pass through a hallway where there are sample dishes on display as well as aquariums holding future meals.  Once you get passed the line of woks and cooks, the space opens into a great hall decked out much like the inns you see in Chinese period movies with a lofted second floor where you can see those down below.  The woodwork is intricate and reminiscent of times gone by, as if you were gazing into the inner chambers of a wealthy family.

Little did we know what we were in for, but all of a sudden a disembodied, male voice in the operatic style starts speak-singing to the customers.  The lights on stage are lit, and an actor in operatic costumer walks out and begins to sing followed by an actress also in period costume.  I wasn’t expecting dinner AND a show.  A few more actors come out and sing very classical songs; then, it’s time to dig in.  One of the most well-known, well-attended establishments in Hefei, dish after dish of local eats come out from the kitchen.  The waitresses end up stacking dishes on the lazy susan because of the large amounts of food going uneaten.  For this foodie, I was not impressed with the amount of oil and salt in the food, but thus is the style here in Hefei, Anhui.  The typical cuisine is also heavy on root vegetables and legumes like sweet potatoes, purple yams, peanuts, soy beans, and taro.

Tomorrow we leave for Zhongshan, Guangzhou.  I will need to brush up on my Cantonese if were going to be in the province where the language started.

Thank You, Mr. Yip, for the Day Off!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

These last few days have been non-stop. The four hours or less a night of sleep, the heat and humidity, and the hurried pace have been catching up to me lately on this trip. Thanks to Mr. Yip who ordered all of the photographers and reporters to take a day off, I am catching up on my articles and getting to enjoy my lux hotel room. I had breakfast with a few of the contestants this morning and asked them to tell me whether they win the two tapings from today. Otherwise, I have hardly left my room, catching up on some world news and enjoying music videos. Yes! Music video channels such as Channel [V] in Asia still show music videos.

The day off is welcome and necessary to recharge my reserves for the hectic shooting and appearance schedule for the next few days. Hanging out in my pajamas, I enjoy the view overlooking the lake as I work on picking and editing photos and catching up on a couple of entries. An afternoon nap seems good about now, and later, I think I might enjoy a little room service for dinner which is reasonably priced, surprisingly.

Miss NY Chinese vs. the Anhui Belles

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

What a luxurious morning!  We don’t have to meet until 9AM in the lobby, so I slowly enjoy my breakfast.  Today, the only thing on the agenda today is taping a couple of episodes of a game show against the local beauty contestants.  Back on the bus and on our way to the current site of the TV studio.    As you enter the building, it is dark and rundown.  The lobby and hallways wreak of cigarettes.  The   girls are led into their dressing room, and the contestants who aren’t getting styled practice their walking, stop, turn, walk entrance.  The Anhui Belles arrive quite a bit later and with food, soda, and cigarettes.  By the way, there are no smoking signs plastered all over the dressing room.  Can you imagine the fireball that would be produced should an open flame meet the amount of hairspray used in that dressing room?  If not, let’s just say it would be very large.

It’s lunchtime by the time rehearsals are over.  We eat at the cafeteria, but we have to circumnavigate the entire campus in order to get to lunch.  It seems like there should be a shorter route to lunch, but we haven’t time to find a shortcut.  A quick lunch brings us back to the studio in time for the girls to change and get backstage.  First up to compete are Isabella Chen (Contestant #9), Angela Gao (Contestant #8), and Mei Shao (Contestant #11).  Isabella raps for the talent portion of the competition.  There are three more parts to the show, making a sentence from a random name, verb, and adjective, then there is a game of telephone charades where you pass along a question through only acting out the motions, and finally a swimsuit competition.  Three judges make the decision to give the teams points based on their thoughts and feelings, purely subjectively.  Even though I think we had a stronger team and far more intelligent contestants, the Anhui Belles won this first round.

I observed that a lot of the Anhui belles probably had work done, and later, it was confirmed by the belles themselves that they had breast augmentation and other work done.  It seems a common practice for Chinese pageant contestants to have work done, so naturally, the Chinese beauty contestants would be spokespeople for the Hefei Gorgeous Reshaping Cosmetology Hospital whereas American beauty contestants  would catch a lot of flack.  Hopefully, the last few appearances won’t reflect poorly on the girls when they get back to the States because even though none of them have had any work done, just being photographed walking in or out of those hospitals can be taken completely out of context by the media.

Dinner was barely an instant before the next set of girls were up.  This time, we have Ivy Hu (Contestant #4), Yufei Liu (Contestant #5), Jike Sun (Contestant #13), and Jasmine Hayter (Contestant #14).  The talent portion was a stylized cha-cha for one by Jasmine who has been studying dance since the age of five.  She was a crowd favorite.  The Miss NY Chinese owned the second round against the Anhui Belles.  It was such a great relief to know that the judges were finally realizing that the NYC gals weren’t just pretty faces.  On the bus back to the hotel, Mr. Yip challenged the girls.  Should the girls win again, he would match the prize money one for one.

I am looking forward to spending my day off in my room editing and posting.  The other staffers are off to Jiu Hua Mountain for a hike and a little sightseeing.  Let’s hope the ladies win both of tomorrow’s tapings!

To Hefei from Nanjing, Thanks for Everything! Love, Miss NY Chinese XOXO

Monday, July 4, 2011

Waking up at 7AM this morning was such a luxury.  The girls had a few appearances to make around Nanjing before we headed the three hours to Hefei.  After breakfast at the hotel, we made our way to Softech, one of the pageant’s major supporters.  We took a few quick pictures and were then treated to an elaborate breakfast on the 47^th floor of the Intercontinental Hotel.  I overheard the chefs chatting while I was in line for breakfast.  One chef commented that the girls ate so little.  His colleague pointed out that they were in a beauty pageant which is akin to being a model and asked him if he had heard of any models who ate large amounts of food.  The light bulb went off in the chef’s head.  Little did he know is that most of the girls had actually just had breakfast at the hotel.  The food was amazing . . . a lot of dim sum inspired breakfast items.  I also learned in line that all of the chefs were from Guangzhou and Hong Kong, so dim sum seems to be a natural product of their backgrounds. Speeches of gratitude and the presentation of gifts representative of Nanjing and New York are exchanged.  Everywhere along the way, the red and gold banners welcoming the pageant contestants had been well-organized and hung before our arrival, so we always had a prepared photo opportunity no matter where we popped into along the road.

Next stop was the Nanjing Hospital where television crews were at the ready for this affair.  It was graduation day for a lot of the interns, which meant we had just that many more onlookers.  The flurry of media caught me by surprise because it had just been the four of us on the trip and maybe one or two additional reporters or cameramen.   The banner advertisement welcoming them was signed by each of the girls. Some of the questions the Chinese media asked were expected such as “do you like China” or “what do you think you will take away from this experience”.  Other questions were quite a bit more intrusive, but the girls bared the burden of these questions like true women.  The  mistress of ceremonies from the hospital did make a good point that being a beautiful woman and being intelligent in China is an extremely hard combination to maintain, so the school is proud of its female students and the contestants for staying true to developing both mind and body.  For all of the questions the contestants answered for the media, one theme was apparent, natural beauty comes from intelligence and those are the most important things in life.  A gift is presented to New York contingent, and we head off in the direction of Hefei.

We stop at a rest area and hurry as quickly as possible.  The expectation of the quality and state of a government maintained rest area differs greatly between the US and China.  In the States, we expect toilets that are maintained on an hourly basis with toilet paper, sometimes toilet seat covers, hand soap, sinks with working faucets, and some way to dry our clean hands, or perhaps a combination thereof.  In China, the most anyone expects is a door on your stall and a trashcan for the toilet paper that you can’t flush.  Today, that was all we got more or less.  We did get a side of flies with the facilities.  So, remember, when you travel outside of the US, keep a pack of tissues and some paper or liquid hand soap on you for those long roadtrips.

We checked into the hotel with a grand reception banner and lantern style balloons.  The hotel is called the Lakeside Hotel Hefei,  and its claim to fame is that Chinese President Hu Jintao stays at this very building in the hotel whenever he is in the Anhui Province.  We all got ready for the big reception dinner thrown by the Anhui Radio and Television studio in the main building of this expansive complex.  The welcome was more than I was expecting.  It was fully outfitted with mixed media elements on a very large LED screen.  Dish after dish came out in quick succession and were whisked away just as quickly.  Every few moments, there was a photo opportunity, but eventually, this writer gave up trying to capture all of the great moments on “film”.  There was just such a crush of people at any given time around the contestants that the large amounts of flash affected my shots, so I decided to just continue capturing the moments with the written word.

Our MCs for the evening were Pan Pan and our very own Stacy Wang, 2007 winner of the Miss NY Chinese title.  Each of the contestants introduced themselves and spoke a little about their interests and what this trip to China has meant to them.  Some of the contestants speak Cantonese, so Stacy did a wonderful job of interpreting for our only Mandarin speaking guests.  This is the first ever trip to China that the Miss NY Chinese Pageant has taken, and all of the guests were excited to have China’s prodigal daughters returned.  There are VIPs from Anhui Radio and Television, the Anhui Plastic Surgery Hospital, and even a government official or two at the head table with the co-founders of the pageant, William Yip and Eric Yuen.  The dinner follows tradition with the VIPs toasting with every table to welcome us to Hefei, and the banquet ends with announcements and the schedule for the next day.

Tomorrow, we have a tour and press event at the plastic surgery hospital as well as a visit to the TV studio where the girls will be every afternoon while we are in Hefei.  I have to say, it’s really nice to be able to stay in one place for a few days.