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.

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!