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!