The Tank Man

With the anniversary approaching, I thought it would be educational to learn more about "the tank man". The following link is a video documentary that describes the tragic incidents that unravelled during 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square and how China has transformed itself since. Enjoy.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3219548376600109729&q=&hl=en

In addition, here is a montage I found that will give you goosebumps:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGJoaHr2QdM


If you have any comments, please don't be shy.

Bird's Nest

Nicknamed the Bird's Nest for its elaborate network of steel girders, Beijing's Olympic Stadium has already become a symbol of the 2008 games. Around 41,000 tons of steel were used to build the outer nest, which measures 320 meters by 297 meters. And up to 7,000 migrant workers at a time have been on site for years to build the stadium, which is the creation of Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron working with Arup, a British design company.

Although this mammoth structure along the Fourth Ring Road has been erect and visible for quite some time, only recently has the stadium been completed and open to the public. On Sunday night, my girlfriend and I attended the Good Luck Beijing China Athletics Open, our last chance to look around inside (the only Olympics tickets I've been able to scrounge up include preliminaries in Handball and Weightlifting held at other venues). Although most of the 90,000 or so seats were empty, I was still very much impressed by the scores of Chinese spectators that came to this weekend event. Clearly, many of them also felt the need to use this opportunity to experience the magic of China's showcase Olympic venue and one of the word’s newest and most impressive engineering feats. In a city known for its dowdy image, the Bird's Nest along with other avant-garde structures popping up around Beijing have undoubtedly made a big splash – with many branding these lavish stokes as both bold and brazen.

I certainly welcome these radical designs and hope Beijing's municipal government continues to ride this wave of architectural experimentation into a new dawn of spatial conceptualization with Chinese characteristics. To illuminate their engineering prowess and their newly found adoration for aesthetics, Beijing's newer additions to their cityscape are or more or less on par with American city's brand of flamboyant self-expression. China and America are both driven to reach for the stars, to erect skyscrapers, to build enormous stadiums and shopping malls, construct the most magnificent and grandiose of all man-made structures, and to flaunt our might and power to the world. Unlike the Europeans, Americans and Chinese share a rags-to-riches story and with our commanding territories, populations, and massive economies (China’s obviously being more recent), our societies have both developed a yuppie mentality focused on superlatives – in other words, the Chinese are beginning to also show their “bling”.

The Bird's Nest (bling bling) can be certainly labeled as one of China's newest marvels. When I first walked inside, I was surprised that despite the obvious elaborate network of steel beams that permeated thunderous strength, the structure managed to retain both grace and beauty. Perhaps I'm being a little too dramatic with my verbiage, but it was definitely “dope”. The only failing point worth divulging has to do with amenities. If you plan on running a successful sporting event do not make fans stand in line at the concession stand for 30 minutes, and never ever run out of hot dogs!

The event itself, although trivial to me, ended up being fairly entertaining. I saw a few exciting track events such as the men's and women's 200 meter, 800 meter, and relay. Most of the athletes were Chinese and were at this open representing their provinces. When the men’s relay team from Sichuan won the gold, the crowd went absolutely wild and when the athlete’s tears of joy were shown up on the big screen I (and everybody else) felt extremely moved. Although this was a Chinese Open, I would have liked to see more foreigners only because I was kind of tired of standing up every 30 minutes for the victory ceremonies and listen to the Chinese National Anthem. Throughout the whole night the only other anthems played were those of Great Britain and Sudan – I don't think their were any American athletes even competing. On a side note, I was told that many Chinese spectators refused to stand for the Japanese national anthem the previous night – behavior that will certainly not be ignored by Western media during the Olympics.

Off the track, there was javelin which was only cool because the spears were returned to athletes by remote controlled cars. There was also long jump which was boring to say the least. Without a doubt, the most entertaining event that night was the men's high jump. High jump is fun because there is a level of suspense unparalleled in the other events. And because every athlete gets three tries to clear a certain height, the process is long, and personalities are exposed. This one guy from Tianjin was a real crowd pleaser. Each time he was up, he would wave his hands to get everybody to clap in rhythm, and when he made it over the bar, we would perform a touchdown dance of sorts (and if he failed, we would slap his body against the mat in disappointment). He also wore pink. Although he was unable to clear 2.40 meters, he was awarded the silver medal and thanked everyone in the crowd for their boisterous support – certainly not one of your typical robotic Chinese athletes.

With the Olympics approaching, all the pieces have started to come together. The venues are finished and major infrastructural improvements are almost online. Although traffic and pollution are still looming challenges, what worries me most would be far more devastating to China's image and to global stability following the games. For more on that subject, tune in next week…

Restlessness

After rereading my last post, I find myself cringing. Where ever I am and what ever I’m doing, it is in my nature to be overly critical (the irony is that I am now critical of myself being critical). Living around the world, I constantly find myself torn between different cultures, different peoples, and different ways of thinking. To my American friends at home, I am regularly defending China, but to my Chinese friends here, I am persistently illuminating China’s faults. It’s not my wish to be the devil’s advocate, but rather a mediator that wishes to facilitate empathy and promote mutual understanding. Concerning the Sichuan earthquake, for example, I have endured a wide range of emotions: teary-eyed by the carnage, surprised by the openness of the central government, touched by the local support, critical of Chinese reporters, annoyed by Chinese nationalism (maybe because I'm not Chinese), frustrated by the legitimacy given to the Party, confused by competing schools of thought and value systems, and mostly anxious concerning China's future, America's future, the world's future… a restless existence indeed. Actually, for 90% of my day I live a pretty stable life surrounding myself with work, good people, and the ephemeral pleasures of my liking. A few unfortunate individuals and especially this blog allows me to cathartically tame this restlessness that rattles inside me, and for that I thank you.

On a side note, here is another young man from China who wants to say thank you. Please take a moment to watch this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS3DWZ8h9RI

Anyway…today I am too tired to write anything of any substance (because it’s Friday!) but I thought it would at least be fun to show you what I read in the “China Daily’ newspaper every day on my way to work. Here are a few stories from today:


“The United States is known for "melting-pot" culture, and the dangling "American dream" which have inspired people of different colors to emigrate to it. However, the like of Jack Cafferty, sitting before TV screens watched by tens of thousands of audiences in America and elsewhere, and attacking Chinese people, is nothing but showing its rudeness, arrogance, ignorance and hostility towards China. After years of efforts by some Western media to demonize China has failed, the ink of Cafferty have come to the forefront to directly assault China, which reflects the utter frustration and despair of some wicked men and women.”

“Against the backdrop of economic globalization, China has also been going through a social transformation. To resolve the problems and conflicts arising during the transformation, the country needs to develop its legal system to strengthen the regulation of State power and to safeguard citizens' rights. China's social transformation means transformation from a planned economy to a market economy, from a single-sector system of public ownership to a system under which public ownership plays the dominant role and diverse forms of ownership coexist, from the rule of men to the rule of law, and from absolute, managerial government to limited, service-oriented government, from being closed or semi-closed to complete opening-up, and from a highly centralized structure of state and society to a dual structure. China does not try to achieve social transformation overnight but seeks a gradual progress. A consultative mechanism with Chinese characteristics and a mixed governance model that combines soft with hard laws has been created.”

“NANNING - A man was detained for spreading on-line rumors about earthquakes in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local police confirmed on Thursday. A post saying that quakes of at least magnitude 7 would hit northwestern Shaanxi and Gansu provinces within two weeks caught the eyes of police in Beihai City of Guangxi early on Tuesday. As of Wednesday, police across China had reported 55 similar cases and detained 13 people. Under Chinese law, information on earthquakes should be issued by the authorities of provinces, municipalities or autonomous regions. One who spreads rumors about dangers or diseases can be sentenced to up to five days in custody or fined up to 500 yuan (US$71).”

“President Hu Jintao and Putin met five times last year and laid out a blueprint for the development of the strategic partnership of cooperation in the second decade after its birth. Hu and Medvedev are expected to expand and clarify their thoughts on making the blueprint a reality. They will discuss issues concerning the strengthening of mutual trust, trade, energy, people-to-people exchanges and international affairs.”

“CANBERRA -- An Australian sex researcher has found that about 55 percent of Australian women are not satisfied with their sexual life or have difficulty in having orgasm.”

“ATHENS- A 9-year-old girl who went to hospital in central Greece suffering from stomach pains was found to be carrying her embryonic twin, doctors said Thursday.”

“Words of Wisdom: ‘All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.’ – Mark Twain”

By the time I get to work my legs are stiff from standing for over an hour on the subway and my brain has overheated and shut down. After 15 minutes of reading Obama news on Drudge Report and perusing on Facebook, I'm usually back to normal.

TGIF

3 Days of Mourning

A week after a colossal earthquake (recently upgraded to an 8.0) devastated parts of Sichuan Province, the government has launched a 3 day mourning period across China as the chances of pulling out any further survivors from the rubble begins to look rather grim. Over 50,000 lives are feared to have perished from this natural catastrophe while 10 million Chinese (exceeding the populations of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas combined) have been left without homes. In the face of such tragedy, the Chinese flag has been lowered to half mass (a first for many of my younger Chinese colleagues). And at 2:28 pm today, exactly one week after the earth violently shook instantly reducing cities to piles of concrete and destroying millions of lives, the nation held a moment of silence. In downtown Beijing, tens of thousands of Chinese poured out of office buildings, shopping centers, and restaurants, traffic on all roads and highways came to a standstill, and even hard-hat migrant workers stood in single file along steel frames of unfinished buildings. When the clock struck 2:28 pm, the country’s automobiles and emergency response vehicles honked their horns and sounded their sirens unremitting for 3 minutes – an unforgettable howl demonstrating the immense collective sorrow of the mighty Chinese Dragon. It was simply surreal but also quite touching.

During the next 3 days, all forms of entertainment are to be suspended - no music, no KTV, no movies, no cheerful activities of any kind. I am not exactly sure how well this will be applied to some of Beijing’s and Shanghai’s more lively food & beverage venues, but in a purely economic sense, the next few days will be tough for many small businesses. I consider myself a compassionate human being, but three days of stagnation in China’s entertainment industry and similar growth markets may heed a noticeable negative impact. Being non-Chinese, I am certainly farther removed from this calamity than those around me, but I don’t think that I am the only one that has reservations. In a country where “to get rich is glorious” while political dogma has diminished during the past 30 years, money trumps everything. When it comes to money, many Chinese still draw a circle around themselves and their families and are often unphased by events happening elsewhere. However, I must admit that in light of this recent disaster, public support, especially in the form of donations, has been unprecedented in its selflessness….even though I hear stories of bosses mandating contributions from their employees.

In China’s dog-eats-dog environment, a healthy level of patriotism and shared respect is sustainable especially in regards to honoring the dead, but when one’s business and livelihood is threatened, Chinese are quick to throw these principles out the window. Therefore, I doubt we will see these businesses fully scale back their entertainment services. I, for one, plan on going to a Happy Hour get together tomorrow evening – I mourn differently, I guess.

Tragedy Shakes China

Yesterday afternoon whilst drafting a report about a Singaporean real estate developer and their connections to Wal-Mart, a Chinese colleague of mine ran into my corner of the office frantically asking people “you ganjue ma?” or “did you feel it?”. I thought maybe this was a Chinese inside joke so I returned to my Excel file. When everybody got up and went to the window to look at the newly erected CCTV Tower, which I thought was abnormal, I zoned in my Mandarin skills in an attempt to understand what all of the commotion was about. When the word “dizhen” meaning “earthquake” popped up more than once, I sprung up out of my seat and joined in on the hysteria (it seems that my colleagues were worried that the leaning CCTV tower would fall over from the quake – it didn’t.)

Being on a lower floor, I did not feel my office building sway. Apparently, most people working downtown did however. Looking out the window we could watch the mad exodus of office buildings as crowds filled the plazas and sidewalks. Although a few individuals were genuinely terrified, evacuations were mainly precautionary measures while most workers were just happy to get a little fresh air. My office did not evacuate, for example, but I did accompany some of my colleagues who smoke cigarettes in the stairwell – from movies I have learnt that the stairwells and elevator shafts are the strongest parts of a building. After an hour or so, Beijing was back to normal.

The news said that the epicenter was located in Sichuan Province near Chendgu, a city of 2 million, but could be felt as far as Beijing, Shanghai, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and even Taiwan. The initial reports coming out of Sichuan province did not look so bad – 5 children dead from a collapsed school was all I heard before I left work. I was a little surprised that an earthquake of 7.8 on the Richter scale occurring in one of the most densely populated regions in the world had not produced more gruesome results. Clearly (and unfortunately), I was wrong. Today I learned that Sichuan’s telecommunication systems had been crippled by the earthquake, cutting off all infromation, and that in fact, thousands had perished under rubble in counties around the city of Chengdu. As of now, over 10,000 are reported dead, whole counties have been left in ruins, and the numbers are feared to drastically rise in the coming days as China’s 50,000 PLA soldiers begin to reach areas that are still cut-off from the rescue efforts.

This is a tragedy of huge proportions and is reminiscent of the 1976 earthquake that struck the city of Tangshan just northeast of Beijing killing over a quarter of a million Chinese – a natural disaster largely covered-up my Mao and the Party. Current leaders however, learning from the mistakes of the past, have publicly rushed to ground zero and are genuinely trying to assist with the rescue efforts by uniting the support of the regional leaders and agencies. The world is watching the scaale of this disaster unfold on their tv screen and "our prayers are with the families of the victims."

Natural disasters are indeed natural. But it is clear that just like in New Orleans, infrastructure needs to be better suited to withstand such natural calamities. Also, better instruments and more efficient earthquake monitoring agencies should be in place. A few days before the quake, thousands of toads in Chengdu had resurfaced from sewer drains noticeably indicating something was awry. A local official was quoted saying it was because of changing weather patterns – he is probably wishing he had never said that.

Although it seems the government has been quite responsive as rescue efforts become a “top priority”, disgruntled Chinese bloggers are already attacking the local governments. One blogger complained about his tax dollars were being wasted funding a useless earthquake monitoring agency which failed to warn residents when early micro-seismic tremors began to occur – instead, he insisted that the country was better off investing in toad farms,

Seoul - Part 4

Saturday

I certainly did not want to spend my last full day in Seoul wasting away in bed even though my body was telling me otherwise. After calling the other two guys that had gone out with us the first night, we rendezvoused on the street and then trekked 30 minutes until finally reaching a sanctuary that was assured to pacify our ravenous appetites – Burger King. Living in the Orient where fast food is monopolized by McDonalds, KFCs, and Pizza Huts, it was nice to throw down a Whooper at a Korean BK. Seoul’s diverse fast-food market includes chains like Quizznos, Dunkin Donuts, and Wendy’s. Unfortunately, my acidic stomach was unpleased by the intrusion of greasy American food, thus forcing me to only eat half of my burger – Seoul had already drained the life out of me, transforming me into a scruffy vampire that can’t even finish a whole Whopper.

To reboot, my friend and I decided to take a stroll in “Seoul’s Forest” – basically a park with trees. This park was very much to my liking in that it reminded me of the open spaces in New York’s Central Park. Families were picnicking, teenagers were tossing a Frisbee, and children ran around in a huge playground which included a monstrous jungle-gym in the shape of a person, man-made streams and tunnels, and the longest old-school metal slide I had ever seen. Until then, I had completely forgotten how much I love parks. In Beijing the parks charge a small entrance free, are mainly populated by senior citizens practicing taiqi or playing Chinese Chess, and by no means are you allowed to walk on the grass. What is the point of the park if you can not walk, sit, or play in the grass!

The highlight of our leisurely walk came when we happened upon a traditional Korean dance performance given on a stage in front of dozens of Korean families sitting on blankets. As we sat down (on the grass) to rest and take in the seemingly Asian melodies, I became increasingly nostalgic. Responsibilities, girls, and alcohol had taken away my youth and landed me in my twenties – before all that, I recall going to see Shakespeare in the Park with my parents and jumping into streams barefoot looking for salamanders. I missed having wholesome fun. Engulfed in nostalgia, sober as a bird, and trapped in a state of bliss, I relaxed in the grass for the first time in months and watched a beautiful performance – there’s something about the combination of nature, music, and warm summer nights that puts me totally at peace.

After watching men shake there heads to maneuver their long twirling hats while dancing for over 45 minutes (a workout I thought), we decided it was time to meet up with my girlfriend and have one more night out on the town. We met my girlfriend in a coffee shop up in Insadong where we soaked in the calm with an ice coffee and a rooftop view of the neighborhood. Before heading to our final destination we decided to stop by Sinchon, another bar area, to get some food. This area seemed more compact than others (if that's possible) and possessed a back-street aura. It was great. We settled on an outdoor Korean barbeque joint and destroyed three large slabs of pork (after it is cooked you must cut the meat into smaller pieces using scissors).

During our meal, I noticed a child running amuck – I definitely feel bad for any poor soul who has to grow up in any one of these mini sin cities. Before leaving Sichon, we took a stab at a random bar called “music bar” …and we missed. The bar had terrible music, was located in an underground crave (similar to a bar they would have on The Flintstones) and the waiter accidentally served us the largest jug of beer they had – it was rough going down. The best thing the bar had to offer was a free basket of “air puffs” similar to cheese puffs minus the taste and minus the crunch.

We eventually made our way to the bar area next to Hongdae University which was naturally filled with young students. The area was quite expansive (it took us 15 minutes to walk to our first bar) and many of the Koreans that I saw walking around in this area seemed more atypical and expressive in their forms of style. It was nice to be in a place less vain and mainstream filled with young open-minded individuals hanging out and having fun …at least before society sucks away their ideals. After much exploration, I was really impressed by some of the amazing venues I saw in Hongdae. During the rest of the night, we visited a hookah bar, a bar and night club that catered to foreigners, and a place with bars attached to the ceiling for those who enjoyed dancing on tables. The night was long but enlightening. At 5 am, although the subways had started running again, we took a cab home.

2 hours of sleep, a bus ride, a short flight, a taxi ride and I was back in my Beijing bed. I was exhausted, my holiday was over, and my life in Beijing would continue once again.

First of all, I have to thank my friend Ray (I don’t know why I’ve been concealing his name this whole time, Chinese police can’t get to him) and my girlfriend (no name) for showing me an absolutely amazing time – I wouldn’t have expected anything less - Kamahamnida. As you may know, I find passion in exploring foreign lands and learning new cultures, and I love being with friends and sharing my experiences with them – all in all, Seoul was a great success and I look forward to my next adventure to wherever the winds may take me.

Seoul - Part 3

Before I go on, I would like to make note of a recent realization concerning a tendency of mine to generalize and oversimplify the Korean people and society – so please take my comments with a grain of salt. It is far easier to generalize a nationality than lets say a race or a religious group (less controversial I suppose) but either way, such views should only come to fruition through self exploration and observation and should always remain malleable. My experiences tell me that, in general, black people are good at basketball, white people are relatively terrible dancers, Russians can drink me under the table, Chinese are frugal, and Icelandic folk are jovial. The problem with stereotypes is that one, words can influence others perceptions (even if they have never met someone from Iceland), two, you can’t classify individuals when everyone is a unique being, and three, stereotyping people often is a derivative of hate and misunderstanding which can result in fear, conflict, and calamity. I don’t discriminate. I am open to “all of gods children”, but at the same time you won’t find me walking through West Philadelphia after hours, taking drinking bets with an Irishman, or trying to talk about sex with a Chinese colleague (not again that is). So like I said, my perceptions of groups and individuals have more to do with me than them – and I’m always changing.

Friday

For lunch we took the subway to Apugujeong where we found an underground restaurant serving stir-fry squid with rice – squid is a staple Korean food. Apgujeong is a very trendy area just south of the river and is often referred to as the Beverly Hills of Seoul. Luxury retail stores are omnipresent, everything is valet, beautiful girls with large sunglasses and designer bags meander the streets and shopping malls, and one hip neighborhood even has a huge “Rodeo” sign hanging over the entrance.

Although this area is known for housing the rich and fabulous, I found that many Koreans throughout Seoul love luxury brands eg. Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, what-have-you. And although there are many with a unique sense of fashion, most Koreans are slaves to the current trend. In such a homogenous society, a new type of cell phone or a new look or a new method of dieting can become a sensation over night. This need to conform in fear of being judged poorly by your peers is something every high school kid goes through, but when a whole society condones this mindset, there are extreme repercussions. For example, Korea has more cosmetic surgeons per capita than any other country in the world. This obsession with image, although present in the US, is socially embraced by the Korean community. I don’t think I have ever gone to dinner with a group of Koreans without receiving a comment about my weight (gain or loss) or my skin (good or bad). If you have a beard, like my friend, girls will not come up to you, not just because they don’t like the look and feel of beards (soft Korean skin is easy to rash) but because they don’t understand why a guy would have a beard knowing that most Korean girls dislike them – your personality is clearly flawed for not trying to be normal. In a city where wealth and beauty are so highly valued (more so than in most parts of the world), I assume many people have a rough time (just like in high school). Personally, I despise shallow people that are quick to judge and although this superficial vib is very much part of our culture (especially in LA), I find it exceptionally rooted in Korean society. That being said, Korean people are very attractive and the girls are remarkably refined – it is absurd how many drop-dead gorgeous women are in Seoul.

Anyway…after people watching for an hour while drinking my 6 dollar coffee, my girlfriend brought me to her old neighborhood near Sadong. Like any other area surrounding a metro station, there was plenty to see and plenty to do. The street food vendors are a favorite of mine. Although they could easily pack up and leave, many of these small booths of steaming Korean smells seemed to be permanently in place – in Beijing, police drive-bys keep vendors on the run in the busier sections of the city. Another interesting observation to point out was how there were copious amount of “Love Motels” throughout Seoul’s commercial areas. These “Love Motels” are fundamentally hotels for lovers that only want to stay for a few hours. This may sound dirty to us, but it is very natural (and clean) in Seoul to use there accommodations from time to time. University students mostly live at home while many don’t move out until they get married. Once married, many parents move back in with their children as a trade off for taking care of them for 30 something years. In Seoul, there is essentially a major lack of privacy.

Korean culture unquestionably is centered around the family, particularly the father. His word is often final and his financial support is what keeps many Koreans afloat during their twenties. This Confucian sense of obligation to fully respect your father, known as filial piety, reverberates into all aspects of society. Elders are highly revered and to disagree with them would be a sign of disrespect. In every situation you should be aware of those senior to you because this will not only drastically change the way you speak and address them (to be safe you can always say “yo” at the end of your Korean phrases) but also it changes who’s hand to shake first, who’s glass to pour first, how often you need to bow, etc. For example, many young Koreans are afraid to smoke cigarettes on the streets because they are afraid of upsetting the “elders”. Clearly, this social dynamic has its pros – honor, respect, obedience and naturally a strong sense of responsibility and self-worth in the context of family and community. However, I also think this type of hierarchy limits progressive thought and creates an alienating environment for outsiders who apparently don’t have Korean parents, and therefore “can never fully understand Korean society”. And there is nothing scarier than a proud Korean defending his family’s honor or an infuriated elder who doesn’t think you’ve shown him enough respect – so by all means, when you go to Korea, ask your Korean friends some cultural (safety) tips.

For dinner, my girlfriend and I met up with an old friend who had studied in Beijing and was now working in a computer graphics company. I was craving Korean BBQ and so we picked one of the many places that covered the infamous neighborhood of Gangnam. In the views of my girlfriend and all of her friends, this area was the nexus of Seoul nightlife. We are talking about an endless network of bars and restaurants and clubs in all directions being fed on by mobs of fashionable Koreans. Gangnam and other nightlife venues are obviously popular during the weekends but because of the ritual of getting hammered after work, many businessmen can be seen out Mon-Thurs while weekends are reserved for “family time.” At dinner, as we cooked and ate strips of roasted beef that melted in my mouth, we discussed the impact of a trade agreement that the newly appointed president Lee MB had just signed with the Americans – a free trade agreement permitting US beef imports. While the president knew that this would lower the price thus making beef more affordable for lower income families, I don’t think he was prepared for the current outcry. Koreans, not just disgruntled farmers, are fervently protesting against US beef imports, accusing the meat of still having Mad Cow disease and therefore a major threat to the health and stability of Korea. Online blogs and text messages (very similar to the methods used in China to boycott Carrefour) have spearheaded a xenophobic campaign that has incited scores of nationalistic university students demanding a ban on US beef and expressing hatred for the “American devils.” Lee MB’s approval rating has dropped below 30% and further unrest seems inevitable.

What fascinates me most about Korea concerning trade is its ability to be protectionist of its industries even when the invisible hand of Adam Smith is at work. For much of Korea’s development, the government did a great job of protecting its automobile and electronic industries from powerhouses in America, Japan, and Europe. Only recently has the international community and the WTO been able to make some headway on the free trade front. However, nationalistic pride in home grown companies and products (like those of Hyundai, Daewoo, Samsung, LG, SK) have helped propel these companies in becoming international brands. Ask yourself – why do so many Americans use LG phones and drive a Hyundai these days? Despite the fact that the CEOs of all of these Korean conglomerates have seen the inside of a jail cell on corruption charges, these companies are doing remarkably well and that says a lot about Korea’s strong product nationalism – which is the current trend for now.

After dinner, we relocated to a relaxing bar situated on the top floor of a nearby office building – the views of Gangnam were spectacular. To my delight, after meeting up with another Beijing pengyou (friend), we made our way to a traditional Korean hop (bar). The place reeked of kimchi and soju and that was exactly what I wanted. Korean bars are very anti-social compared to their Western counterparts. Everybody sits at tables and there is no intermingling outside the party you arrived with - so much for pick up lines. After brushing up on my Korean drinking etiquette, we continued the bar crawl to a place called Andersons where a group of native English speakers (teachers) awaited us – we had met a few of these characters during a visit to Beijing a few months ago. This American bar had good music, good darts, and cheap beer (Hite and Cass are the staple Korean brews). As 3 pm approached we decided it was time to hit up a club called MB right next a club called Harlem. It was raucous, it was sweaty, it was chaotic, it was a club - I’ll leave it at that.

Generally speaking, the rising sun is a sign that you’ve been out to late and that you should go straight to bed. After returning to my friend’s apartment, the two of us decided it would be fun to walk to the river and watch Seoul awaken. In the state I was in, this walk seemed like an expedition but it was well worth to see the mist rising from the river water. And although I was intoxicated and high on life, at that moment, lying in the grass watching the sun appear from behind the mighty Han River, I decided that despite the inherent challenges and cultural clashes one may experience while living in Seoul, this city had an allure very different than that in New York, Hong Kong, or Beijing but very profound and captivating nonetheless. Perhaps it’s something they put in the water…it’s probably soju.

Seoul - Part 2

Thursday

It wasn’t easy getting up this morning but with a whole day of urban trekking ahead of me, I dragged myself from my mattress (on the floor) and into the bathroom which can be used as a shower thanks to a large drain in the floor – Korean living quarters can be quite compact. It wouldn’t be until lunch, when I felt like I had somewhat recovered from the debauchery of the previous night. Hot Korean soup is excellent for hangovers. I would also like to note that at traditional Korean restaurants, it is customary to take off your shoes before entering the dining area. Because of my inability to sit Indian-style and even untie my shoes without sitting down, I have always been hesitant of such places – but when in Rome...

After my friend went to work, my girlfriend and I went site seeing (English teachers at academies must wait for students to get out of regular school thus their workday often starts around 4pm). Before reaching our first destination, I was already taking pictures. Seoul’s subway system is like nothing I had every seen. The subway cars are wide enough to drive a minivan through, long enough to make most Amtrak trains blush, and clean and high-tech enough that you thought you were in the future. Efficient…there are hundreds of stations scattered throughout city each with multiple (sometimes a dozen) exits, English signs are placed everywhere, and people use their cell phones as metro cards. I would soon learn that Seoul’s public transportation and infrastructure is simply flawless. In a city of 20 million, this is imperative and if I was a Beijing urban planner, I would be taking scrupulous notes – Beijing subways are narrow enough that when standing in the same place I can touch the windows on both sides of the car, and I often hit my head on the bars!

I firstly visited Seoul’s largest palace called Gyeongbukgong. Although it is minuscule compared to Beijing’s Forbidden City, I found it more enjoyable and it to be more in harmony with nature, mainly because of its large pond and the surrounding mountains – the Forbidden City is so vast and cold, certainly not a place to go picnicking.

From the palace, we made our way to a very cultural and artsy area called Insadong. Along the main pedestrian street you will find scores of art galleries, cafes, quaint restaurants, and many small shops and antique parlors. However, the secrets of Insadong are all hidden in the many alleyways that sprout out from the main drag. Also, a handful of men dressed in traditional Korean garment march up and down the street periodically – a nice touch.

From Insadong we walked south through the heart of downtown – actually just one of Seoul’s many downtowns – passing City Hall, Myeongdong (a popular shopping street), and numerous aesthetically pleasing skyscrapers. Eventually we arrived at Namdaenum, a traditional Korean street market that reminded me of markets along the slopping streets on Hong Kong Island. The Namdaenum Gate, one of Korea’s most valued cultural monuments, was recently burnt down by a drunken discontent arsonist – a loss the Korean people are extremely upset about.

From the market, we began the long climb up Namsam Mountain, and every step I took I could feel soju seeping out of my pores. I was in poor shape and after living in Beijing for nearly two years, my lungs weren’t exactly working properly. After an hour or so, we reached the peak, bought a ticket up the Seoul Tower, and took in the splendor of a 360 panorama view of the city as the sun set in the horizon. Pollution in Seoul is nothing compared to the levels we experience here in Beijing and so with my forehead pressed against the glass I could gaze out at Seoul’s endless marks of humanity. I truly love cities, the balance between chaos and harmony, the height of civilization from a birds eye – standing at Griffith Observatory, on top of the Empire State Building, looking down from Victoria Peak, from the observation desk of the Jinmao Tower – I could always look for hours. But after spending ample time relaxing our beaten bodies and admiring the city as it begun to light-up, we made our descent to find some food.

We decided to take a bus to Itaewon, a neighborhood just south of the mountain and north of the river and best known for being the home of tens of thousands of US soldiers. This “America in Seoul” was very unique in the sense that many of the businesses here, unlike the rest of Seoul, catered to foreigners. Waitresses spoke English, Western bars and restaurants covered the area, and men with shaved heads roamed the streets. Although many Koreans look down on Itaewon, I find the dynamics at play here extremely fascinating. In Beijing most foreigners are either students or professionals who either were sent over because they have studied Chinese before or are high managers in multi-national corporations. In Itaewon, foreigners and the majority of them being Americans, are not exactly intellectuals or Korean-speakers but just Average Joes. The juxtaposition of small town America superimposed on an Asian megatropolis is anything but natural. In Itaewon, you see many soldiers who have businesses on the streets, their own clubs, their own meat vending trucks, their own prostitution rings. My girlfriend hates the alleys of Itaewon because sometimes you cross a joint with a group of Russians that reek of vodka or a party of large African-Americans hanging out on the steps and in Korea, that's not commonplace – if I forgot to mention, Korea has no minorities, so anyone that looks different will be looked at as different.

In other words, Seoul seems to have all the modern characteristics of an international city, but in fact looks can be deceiving. Besides being located next to North Korea and having an army of children who want to learn English, there is very little reason why foreigners would live here. The real estate market, the retail market, the food and entertainment markets are coincidentally very Western in ways, but that is because the Koreans are very Western in ways. Nobody in the general population really speaks English because they don’t need too. Unlike most Beijingers, people in Seoul have fat paychecks, they embrace a lavish drinking, eating, and shopping culture, they have fashion and follow a thriving pop culture - they are collectively a consuming nation. In Beijing, expats are prime patrons of most high-end establishments and we can live like kings for very little. In Seoul, I am nobody. In New York, I am also nobody, but at least I can use my social linguistic graces and boyishly good looks and charm to move up in the ranks of society. In Seoul, if you don’t drive a BMW, drink bottles of Jack Daniels ($125 a bottle), look like Rain, or most importantly speak Korean, you are a phantom. A sad truth.

Anyway, to wrap up, I spent the rest of my night in Itaewon eating Italian food and drinking wine at a wine bar (a new fad in Seoul). I took the subway home before they stopped running at midnight and called it an early night – I knew a weekend of havoc was ahead of me.

Seoul - Part 1

Last week, starting on May 1st, the Chinese Labor Day holiday commenced. Usually this holiday celebrating the workers of the nation spans a full week, but because of alterations in the federal holiday scheduling, the break was cut to a meager three days. Despite a natural drop off in domestic tourism during this year’s Labor Day holiday, I and many others decided to escape the crowds and jump ship(countries) for the long weekend. Thus, I was fortunate enough to embark on my first trip to the soul of Asia… Seoul. The following is a personal account of my experiences and reflections throughout my stay.

Wednesday:

After spending a little over an hour in Beijing traffic and a little less than two hours in flight, I finally reached the Incheon International Airport around 11 pm. Incheon is more than 100 km to the west of Seoul which is annoying, however, their mammoth state-of-the-art transportation hub has been awarded “best international airport” for the past three years and looks more futuristic than anything I have ever seen not on TV – “impressive” would be an understatement.

After meeting my good friend who would be putting me up for the next four nights (and rocking hard with me), we quickly got on a bus heading to Seoul. As the excitement of seeing my buddy and being in a new place started to kick in, I gazed out the window to see a city that seemed to have an infinite number of white-colored high-rises, rolling hills, and expansive bridges – a far contrast from my first trip into Beijing.

To elaborate, Seoul is populated by 20 million people and is considered the 2nd largest metropolitan in the world, following Tokyo. Nearly half of all South Koreans inhabit this land stretching along the Han River and wrapping around numerous mountains and into every enclave imaginable – and for some reason the color of this human infestation is primarily off-white (take a look for yourself on Google Earth). Land not taken over by this sprawling metropolis is either covered by mountainous terrain (naturally becoming parks) or covered by water flowing down the massive 1 km wide Han River that splits the city into halves, connected by a dozen or so (sometimes 12 lane) bridges.

It was late when we arrived in front of the COEX Shopping center, an enormous underground mall that stretches blocks in all directions (including down), so we immediately hopped into a black cab. These cabs are not be confused with the “black taxis” in Beijing which are basically guys in regular cars trying to make an extra buck. On the contrary, these cabs are fully pimped out with GPS navigational systems, high-quality stereos and transceivers, mobile phone holders, and other gadgets that are too advanced for those of us living outside of Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Of course, these cabs are not cheap, and through the rest of my trip we used silver cabs which seemed to be just as cool and just as expansive.

My friend’s neighborhood lies in a district called Gwangjing-gu in the eastern part of the city just north of the river. According to my girlfriend (clearly a member of Seoul’s intelligentsia), this area doesn’t really possess anything special and is only known for its small garment factories. Also, the elevated rail that runs down the main avenue surely doesn’t help the value of real estate nearby. However, I find this neighborhood very charming the same way I feel about an old Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn. Instantly I felt quite comfortable here - 3-story buildings crammed together separated mainly by long alleyways, the 24 hour convenient stores, the fruit markets, the older waitress who never stops serving food at the bbq place on the corner, underground internet cafes, the hundreds of secret doorways and pathways that lead to the underbelly of the city.



Above: Gwangjing-gu


On the other hand, I was taken back by the pungent smells of fish, the erratic streams of electric and telephone wire hanging above my head, the ancient men dragging large carts of cardboard – reminding me that I was still in Asia.

Above: Looking out at wires from the apartment

At this point, I was under the impression that my friend, two other guys (also English teachers living nearby) and I were going to hit the town at 1 am and it was going to be dead – I was dead wrong. When we arrived outside of Kundae (dae means university) a few blocks away, I received my first glimpses of Korean nightlife. What I saw before me was not a few bars, not a bar street, but literally a bar town. The streets were lit up by hundreds of neon signs that hung from every standing structure, students filled the streets heading to their favorite bars, clubs, or hops (Korean establishments where eating and drinking are both required), and street vendors were out in full force. During the ten minutes it took to walk to our first bar (called Woodstock because of its wide selection of Americana tunes) I couldn’t help but feel like I was in a mystical world that I had created... like a Japanese Vegas. After living in Beijing and living by “That’s Beijing”, an English magazine that lists the few new bars and restaurants that open every month, a happen upon one insignificant neighborhood in Seoul (a place none of my Korean friends have ever been too) and encounter easily a few hundred bars/restaurants and a street crowd larger than anything I have ever seen after midnight, in Beijing and New York. The most significant factors attributing to this phenomenon are simply population and drinking/eating habits (I will elaborate later).

The rest of the night was spent drinking soju (purchased at the 7/11 for 1300 won or $1.30), eating delicious but spicy street food, playing numerous crane games strategically placed outside of bars, shooting bb guns, getting kicked out of a hop for refusing to order food, and eventually eating some chow at the corner restaurant (the one with the semi-attractive older waitress that never sleeps). It was a great start to a fabulous vacation and it certainly would not be the last night I would see the sun rise in the city of Seoul.

to be continued...