KTV

Karaoke, for KTV as it is know in East Asia, is wildly popular in China. When conversing with someone you have just met, after, “where you from?” and, “why you so tall?” the first question is usually, “do you like KTV?”

Unlike communal Western karaoke bars, patrons hire a private room where they and their friends sing and are delivered drinks and food as they desire. The establishments are ubiquitous, popping up on just about every street corner, and often hidden away inside other businesses. Last weekend at a club (which is a whole other report that I’ll be making when I’ve been back with a camera), we were ushered at closing time onto what I thought was the street, but ended up singing in a back room for what felt like an eternity, 

The past time is prevalent amongst the young and old, men and women. Whole families will go at the weekend, young men after work on a Friday night. Some will drink beer, most just smoke countless cigarettes and sing for hours.

It is also apparently socially acceptable for two men to sing “I Will Always Love You” to each other, alone, whilst holding hands, as my friend Peter and I did recently.

KTV bars are also notorious for often being front for prostitution. At many you can hire a “host,” a pretty young lady who will pour drinks for you and your party, and keep you company more privately if you are willing to pay extra. I’ve yet to encounter such place, but will be back with full chronicle once I do.

 

 

Bamboo Forest

The Bamboo Forest, where the movie House of Flying Daggers was filmed, is a popular destination for Chinese tourists, located just outside of Yongchuan where live. 

I joined my counterpart Frank’s family to take a closer look. As expected there were lots of Chinese tourists, steep hills and bamboo.

 

Mid Autumn and National Day Holidays

On October 1st 1949, Mao Zedong announced the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Tienanmen Square, Beijing, after a long and bitter civil war fought against the Kuomintang. National Day is held on its anniversary every year in China, with citizens granted a three day holiday in order to celebrate this occasion.

The Mid Autumn Festival has a longer history (research suggests the festival dates back over 3000 years), and is celebrated by the people of China and Vietnam on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, when the moon is at its fullest and brightest. Families traditionally will gather to eat moon cakes (a pastry containing a lotus seed or red bean paste), share food and gaze at the earth’s celestial body. There are many legends associated with the moon in China. The most popular tells how Chang’e became the Moon Goddess after overdosing on a pill of immortality and floating into the sky. The Communist Party decreed that the festival would become a three day public holiday in 2008.

The Moon Goddess Chang'e (source)

This year the festivities happened to occur on consecutive days, resulting in an eight day holiday (3 + 3 = ?). I spent the time in Chengdu with my friend Peter and his family. Naturally we ate vast quantities of delicious food, and got very, very, drunk.

I was the first foreigner to ever set foot in Peter's parent's house

My favorite moment took place when I happened upon this scene, the day after National Day. 

With the Chinese national anthem playing full blast behind him, Pan Zheng, a student from Chengdu, was vigorously flourishing the Chinese flag outside a mobile phone shop, in an attempt to entice people inside to buy an upgraded version of a consumer product that they probably already own (in a recorded population of 1.3 billion, over a billion cell phones are currently in use in China, despite estimates of approximately 254 million citizens living on under $1.25 per day in 2009). China Mobile is a state owned enterprise – despite embracing “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” (externally viewed as “Capitalism with an Authoritarian Government”), and a perception that private enterprise has wholly fueled the economic boom, state owned companies still account for a huge proportion of GDP and, according to the World Bank, control 44% of assets in industry – but I wonder if on that historic day in 1949, with fresh memories in their minds of the Long March, the years in Yan’an, guerrilla warfare, starvation, death and disease, this is what Mao and the rest of the PRC founders had hoped for.

"Buy more shit!"

Dance off - Malaysia / Indonesia

Fake Apple stores spreading like wild fire

I found this article today about the massive event of a fake Apple store being found in Chongqing.

http://www.china.org.cn/business/2011-07/28/content_23089204.htm

Down the road in the city of Yongchuan (with a population of somewhere between 500,000 and 700,000) I have counted no less than four thus far. I suspect Chongqing has a few more hidden away.

Spolit for choice and still wanting more

The food here is good. Really, really good. First class. Sichuanese cuisine is certainly living up to its reputation as one of the best amongst “The Eight Culinary Traditions of China” (The provincial capital Chengdu was the first municipality in Asia to be declared by UNESCO as a "City of Gastronomy"). The cravings have, however, stared.

Yesterday, in a slightly drunken haze, all I could think of was meat heavy with saturated fat, laced with dairy products, served in a way that does not require cutlery to consume. In this highly lactose intolerant nation with preference for white meat, these delicacies will not be easy to track down. Burgers, burritos, cheese, beer with an alcohol content higher than 3.3%, Guinness. All there things and more I desire, but currently they are out of reach. Self pity is not an option, as I knew exactly what I was signing up for when I opted to move to a small provincial city. The peculiar part of it is that these items (other than the booze) fairly rarely constitute a part of my daily diet.

The Chinese have a perception, gained form television and Hollywood I assume, that us Westerners survive on a diet of food that could have come straight from a McDonalds menu. I feel slightly guilty about lending some credence to this notion.

Other photos from my first week in Yongchuan

Yongchuan - First Impressions

My first night in Asia was spent in Hong Kong whilst in transit to the mainland. Not much to report from there, I was shattered so just had a little wander round and took the star ferry so I could take a look at the sky line.

Major amount of neon.

Hong Kong Island skyline.

The next day, after a short flight I arrived at Chongqing Airport. Foreign Expert Liaison Officer, Cathy Wang, who has been my contact at the university, was there to meet me in person – a nice touch. Another hours travel via a sleek saloon car driven by a man with better skills on the road than most Chinese, and I arrived in my new home, Yongchuan city.

I had expected to be taken to my apartment to unpack and unwind after the long journey, but no! It was banquet time.

At an up market restaurant I met various members of the faculty including the boss of the foreign language department and my “counterpart” Frank. Frank is here to help me if I have any questions or run into any difficulties, of which I hope there will be few. The banquet itself was good, with copious amounts of wine drank, but I was very glad to have the night in Hong Kong breaking up the twenty four hours travel before plunging straight into a slap up meal consisting mainly of chilies and offal.

After we were fed and watered Frank and Mr Gao (a member of the faculty administration), took me to view my new apartment. It is significantly nicer than my last abode.

My old digs.

I woke the next day to a phone call from Frank asking if I would like a tour of the local area with himself and his wife. We took in the various shopping malls and supermarkets that it has to offer. Despite having been to China before I was amazed at the amount of small restaurants and street food stalls. Baring the malls, I’d estimate that serving hot food is the raison d'etere of 80% of the commercial establishments in the local area. The Chinese seem to really love their food, and the social aspect of dining, and who can blame them?

Something a bit like rotisserie chicken on a Chinese street corner.

Steamed jiaozi (dumplings) for breakfast.

Street tables.

Roadside restaurant mainly serving varieties of noodle soup.

At this time I also became aware that Yongchuan is not the small town of around 20,000 people that I had been expecting, but much larger. I asked Frank how large, he replied, “500,000 to 700,000, no one really knows.”

Frank asked if he could buy me a foot massage. This is something he and his wife do on a weekly basis. Despite my reservations surrounding anything to do with feet I more or less happily took him up on his offer.

After settling in to the massage bed Frank informed that his was not a massage “for pleasure” and would be “very painful”. “Oh joy,” I thought. Frank proceeded to show me on a diagram posted on the wall how various pressure points on the feet are considered in Chinese medicine to connect to most parts of the body, and thus are extremely useful health wise. One of the other points appeared to be in the anus. I felt better about the foot massage.

First my feet were bathed in a gloopy liquid (which reminded me of aloe vera drink but not as tasty) for twenty minutes or so, before my masseuse arrived. “You very big,” she told me. “Yes,” I replied, unable to think of a more appropriate response. She proceeded with the massage, which was as painful as advertised, but thankfully with some nicer bits in between. Occasionally my masseuse would pipe up with a comment like, “You teach me English… come back here often, I take care of you.” “Ok,” I responded. I have yet to return.

Happy masseuse.

Hobbling back to the university I thought the morning’s entertainment was over, but Frank had another ace up his sleeve. Chongqing is famous for its hot pot throughout China, and reported to be the spiciest in the world, and that was what was happening next.

To my disappointment Frank would not allow us to go for the nuclear option, fearing the laowai could not handle the local cuisine. This is something that I have encountered a lot, with the locals surprised that I have eaten spicy food before. Many are unaware that Chinese food (albeit a westernized version of mainly Cantonese cooking) is available back home. They are usually very proud to hear of its popularity.

We were seated around a small table with a gas stove suspended underneath a hole in the middle. A large dish containing a broth with thankfully what looked like a decent amount of chilies (and a smaller dish sans chillies) was placed above it. Frank and his wife reeled off some choices from the menu and shortly after the food started to arrive.

The food comes in bite sized portions which are placed in the boiling broth to cook. Some things were rather interesting.

Pig brain has a texture similar to silken tofu.

The next few days were spent relaxing and ordering the same meal repeatedly as I couldn’t read any other characters on the restaurant menu. I’ve had my fill of noodle soup.

Friday evening I met Peter, James Bond and their mate whose name I keep forgetting. Peter’s English is excellent while the other two are a little shy about talking currently, I hope once our respective English and Chinese improves to communicate better. The next day they taught me a bit of Ma Jong, which is seemingly the national sport here and has rules similar to Rummy. With Peter’s help I kept winning, although I have little idea how.

From left - Peter, James Bond and friend.

Ma Jong table, I'll explain the rules when I work them out.

James Bond on the table.

The Chinese take this very, very seriously.

Peter invited me down to Chongqing Water Resources where he studies to talk to some of the students, as they have no foreign teachers and thus no chance to practice their English with a native speaker. I arrived at the class room to loud applauds and a few cries of, “We love you Thomas!”

I had planned to show a few photographs and then have Peter ask me questions about things he thought would be interesting for the students, however his teacher stepped in at the last moment and insisted he not do this. I currently have know idea what is of interest to Chinese teenagers fresh out the countryside, and most of my interesting stories involve things I probably shouldn’t be telling them about. I dragged the photos out for as long and managed around twenty stuttering and rather painful minutes of talking about myself. We opened the floor up to questions, most regarded David Beckham or what I found attractive in Chinese women.

My fan club.

On my way home Peter and I stumbled across one of his teachers and two of her students. A quick chat descended into a five hour drinking session. I felt almost at home.

Strong and Sharon enjoy a pleasant evening with good food and company.

Kent and I drink in the style of a couple at a wedding party.