Monday, August 27, 2007
Knowing to treasure what I have
During this period of overseas internship, I missed my family, my gf and my friends.. At first it is still manageable because I was trying to adapt well to new environment... But after that, I get to miss them more... As the saying goes, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"... It is only when they are not around me then I realize how precious they are. Many people said that I should have gone to Hong Kong directly from Shanghai... But I did not make a wrong decision in coming back first. I get to meet up with my family, my gf and my friends.. I have longed to see them when I was in Shanghai... This is the happiest moment in my life and I know that I will treasure them more after I get back from Hong Kong.
Fostering friendships in China
Having stayed in Shanghai for 3 months, I have fostered good friendships with my roommates, friends and colleagues. I always felt very good whenever I see any Singaporeans on the street. It somehow brings us closer because we are Singaporeans.
I have good room-mates staying with me... include Weifa, Jiayan, Joey and I-Shan. In particular, Weifa for looking after us like a caring father while Jiayan for bringing joys and happiness to the house. I really missed those day staying in Shanghai with them... Filling water, cooking food, clubbing, "sleeping", singing, eating, massaging, running, planning (especially jia yan), arcading, eating dumplings (小笼包，种子), "bitching", acting quiet, exploring, ironing, washing clothes... Haha, these bring back good memories.
I also felt very excited when someone visits us from Singapore, or Singaporeans working in Shanghai. These people include Gilbert, Lin xu, My mother and aunties, Uncle Robert and wife, Jiayan's mother, Jiayan's uncle, Jiayan's sister and friends, Kenneth, Marcus, Bing Kai, Li Na, Phuong, Evangeline, Ester.. And also those already in Shanghai, including Hanwen, Vivenne, Nicole, Robin, Justin, Lawrence... How I wish more friends can join me in Shanghai as well....
I have good room-mates staying with me... include Weifa, Jiayan, Joey and I-Shan. In particular, Weifa for looking after us like a caring father while Jiayan for bringing joys and happiness to the house. I really missed those day staying in Shanghai with them... Filling water, cooking food, clubbing, "sleeping", singing, eating, massaging, running, planning (especially jia yan), arcading, eating dumplings (小笼包，种子), "bitching", acting quiet, exploring, ironing, washing clothes... Haha, these bring back good memories.
I also felt very excited when someone visits us from Singapore, or Singaporeans working in Shanghai. These people include Gilbert, Lin xu, My mother and aunties, Uncle Robert and wife, Jiayan's mother, Jiayan's uncle, Jiayan's sister and friends, Kenneth, Marcus, Bing Kai, Li Na, Phuong, Evangeline, Ester.. And also those already in Shanghai, including Hanwen, Vivenne, Nicole, Robin, Justin, Lawrence... How I wish more friends can join me in Shanghai as well....
Experiencing working and living in China
Working and living in China... My experience may be different from the others. But basically these are the things to look out for: Accommodation, Transportation and Company.
I had many problems with the landlord, like 发票issue (Apparently, it is a common practice among renting not to issue 发票... a way to evade tax?) and number of people staying in the house. But anyway, it is the past. Usually, I aim to spend less than 50RMB a day and spend more during the weekend. In addition, I signed up with pfingo and skype to call back home free as long as I have internet connection... but trust me, internet connection in China is quite unreliable. I had difficulties trying to check emails to go on msn. My friends on msn were all asking me, "How come you always go online and offline"...
If you want to travel around in Shanghai, try http://www.ddmap.com. They give good guide on the bus transportation system. But, unlike Singapore, if you can go from A to B with bus C, you might not be able to return with bus C anymore. So do plan carefully before you travel! It is relatively cheap to travel in bus.. but it is very packed. If you want, you can travel by cabs but you need to know how to "snatch". MRT is good also but there was once when it broke down because someone kicked the door due to frustration of being packed. It is convenient if you buy the 交通卡 from the MRT station. But you can only refund it at 衡山路 (at least near my place).
Company... different company has different policy. It is important to get on good terms with them so that you can ask favor from them easier next time. But in general, it is very important to know how to speak and write Chinese. I was usually tasked to do translation from English to Chinese and vice versa. Your Chinese will definitely improve by working in Shanghai. You might want to use 金山词霸 or http://www.iciba.com as your favorite tool.
Most people in Shanghai speak Shanghainese.. but it is ok to speak English or Chinese (Putonghua). Shanghainese, to me, sounds like Japanese. So far I only know how to say
"Thank you" - Shayah nong
"Eat Rice" - Che' ve le
"End of Work" - Ho Be le
"Good Bye" - Zhai Hui
The tone is quite difficult to pick up though. Anyway, half of the people in Shanghai are foreigners, speaking Putonghua is sufficient.
I had many problems with the landlord, like 发票issue (Apparently, it is a common practice among renting not to issue 发票... a way to evade tax?) and number of people staying in the house. But anyway, it is the past. Usually, I aim to spend less than 50RMB a day and spend more during the weekend. In addition, I signed up with pfingo and skype to call back home free as long as I have internet connection... but trust me, internet connection in China is quite unreliable. I had difficulties trying to check emails to go on msn. My friends on msn were all asking me, "How come you always go online and offline"...
If you want to travel around in Shanghai, try http://www.ddmap.com. They give good guide on the bus transportation system. But, unlike Singapore, if you can go from A to B with bus C, you might not be able to return with bus C anymore. So do plan carefully before you travel! It is relatively cheap to travel in bus.. but it is very packed. If you want, you can travel by cabs but you need to know how to "snatch". MRT is good also but there was once when it broke down because someone kicked the door due to frustration of being packed. It is convenient if you buy the 交通卡 from the MRT station. But you can only refund it at 衡山路 (at least near my place).
Company... different company has different policy. It is important to get on good terms with them so that you can ask favor from them easier next time. But in general, it is very important to know how to speak and write Chinese. I was usually tasked to do translation from English to Chinese and vice versa. Your Chinese will definitely improve by working in Shanghai. You might want to use 金山词霸 or http://www.iciba.com as your favorite tool.
Most people in Shanghai speak Shanghainese.. but it is ok to speak English or Chinese (Putonghua). Shanghainese, to me, sounds like Japanese. So far I only know how to say
"Thank you" - Shayah nong
"Eat Rice" - Che' ve le
"End of Work" - Ho Be le
"Good Bye" - Zhai Hui
The tone is quite difficult to pick up though. Anyway, half of the people in Shanghai are foreigners, speaking Putonghua is sufficient.
Glancing at the Shanghai Town
Ok.. enough of serious stuffs.. Going to introduce some famous places in Shanghai. I am not an authorized tour guide but at least I know where are the places that you can go to if you are heading to Shanghai.
人民广场
I will compare this to the City Hall of Shanghai. It is the heart of the town as many people change their train if they are traveling between 浦东 and 浦西. You can observe how developed Shanghai is from here... and I am proud to see Capital Land's Raffles City right at 人民广场. Although it is very accessible, there are many people and cars in this area. 所谓 "上海数人头", you can really see how packed Shanghai is. But since there are many places that you can travel from there, you should go there at least once.
南京步行街
This is a very well-known street in Shanghai, starting from 人民广场. There are many shopping centers along this street and they are usually very "class". I will recommend walking down this at night because you can see how beautiful lit the place is. If I remember correctly, it will take roughly 1/2-1 hour to walk down the street. Move down from 人民广场to 南京东路 because you will get to see the beautiful bund at night.
外滩 (The Bund)
This place is usually very crowded and many couples like to go there. It has a beautiful night scenery along the river 黄浦江 and you can see colonial building lit up in yellow lighting behind you. Usually people come here to take photos with the famous Oriental Pearl Tower 东方明珠塔. You can also see the developed scenery of 浦东from this place but I feel that it is more scenic from the 浦东side. This is because you can see the old scenery of Shanghai.
东方明珠塔
In my personal opinion, I do not find the building attractive. But I was told that after this tower was built, 浦东starts to develop very fast. It is worthy to come and take a look. In other words, if you don't see the tower, you can't say that you have come to Shanghai. Anyway, you need to pay to go up the tower and I didn't go up there. Stop at the 陆家嘴MRT station if you want to go there. You can also get to see the Bund from the other side of the river. There are also many shopping centers that you can take a look, like 金茂大厦.
城隍庙
The temple worships 孔子but so far I didn't go in before. I do respect him but just that I could not have the chance to go in and pray. There are many stalls over here, selling chinese handicrafts and jewellery. There are also two buildings with stalls that look like 七浦路. Anyway, don't forget to try the famous 小笼包here. Well, it is another famous tourist attraction that you shouldn't miss.
七浦路
This is a very large market, selling apparels. If you like shopping and like to bargain, this is the place to go. Remember, you have to bargain!
七宝古镇
This place is a small version of 水乡. I went there at night and didn't really see much thing there because all stalls are closed. But the scenery is still very beautiful. The only thing is that it is quite far from the central.
徐家汇
I am very familiar with this place because I stayed near here. There are four big shopping centers here, opened by Singaporean (美罗城), Japanese (Sogo), Hong Kong (港汇) and Chinese (上海百货). I usually go 美罗城 because there are arcade, bookshop and foodcourt (大食代). Behind it, there is 百脑汇, a famous IT center (similar to our Sim Lim Square). This place is also very crowded.
新天地/Bon Bon/Baby Face/Windows
Well.. These are famous clubbing places. I like the atmosphere in 新天地 but it is quite a costly entertainment place. But you should at least go there to see the place once because a lot of foreigners are there. You can go clubbing at the other affordable places. But do be careful of your belongings... my friend lost his handphone there. All these clubbing places are in 衡山路，淮海路，黄皮南路, 静安寺...
静安寺
This is another place that is very centrally located with the famous 玖光百货.. You can go into the temple to take a look.
Other interesting places include 古北家乐福，田林，虹桥路, 上海体育场(Foxtown). If you want to eat Singapore Food, look for Frankie's place... I can't remember the place but I know who to get it from =) You can also try 和记.. it is kinda staple food for me and my friends. The food in Shanghai is famous for salty and oily. So be prepared.
人民广场
I will compare this to the City Hall of Shanghai. It is the heart of the town as many people change their train if they are traveling between 浦东 and 浦西. You can observe how developed Shanghai is from here... and I am proud to see Capital Land's Raffles City right at 人民广场. Although it is very accessible, there are many people and cars in this area. 所谓 "上海数人头", you can really see how packed Shanghai is. But since there are many places that you can travel from there, you should go there at least once.
南京步行街
This is a very well-known street in Shanghai, starting from 人民广场. There are many shopping centers along this street and they are usually very "class". I will recommend walking down this at night because you can see how beautiful lit the place is. If I remember correctly, it will take roughly 1/2-1 hour to walk down the street. Move down from 人民广场to 南京东路 because you will get to see the beautiful bund at night.
外滩 (The Bund)
This place is usually very crowded and many couples like to go there. It has a beautiful night scenery along the river 黄浦江 and you can see colonial building lit up in yellow lighting behind you. Usually people come here to take photos with the famous Oriental Pearl Tower 东方明珠塔. You can also see the developed scenery of 浦东from this place but I feel that it is more scenic from the 浦东side. This is because you can see the old scenery of Shanghai.
东方明珠塔
In my personal opinion, I do not find the building attractive. But I was told that after this tower was built, 浦东starts to develop very fast. It is worthy to come and take a look. In other words, if you don't see the tower, you can't say that you have come to Shanghai. Anyway, you need to pay to go up the tower and I didn't go up there. Stop at the 陆家嘴MRT station if you want to go there. You can also get to see the Bund from the other side of the river. There are also many shopping centers that you can take a look, like 金茂大厦.
城隍庙
The temple worships 孔子but so far I didn't go in before. I do respect him but just that I could not have the chance to go in and pray. There are many stalls over here, selling chinese handicrafts and jewellery. There are also two buildings with stalls that look like 七浦路. Anyway, don't forget to try the famous 小笼包here. Well, it is another famous tourist attraction that you shouldn't miss.
七浦路
This is a very large market, selling apparels. If you like shopping and like to bargain, this is the place to go. Remember, you have to bargain!
七宝古镇
This place is a small version of 水乡. I went there at night and didn't really see much thing there because all stalls are closed. But the scenery is still very beautiful. The only thing is that it is quite far from the central.
徐家汇
I am very familiar with this place because I stayed near here. There are four big shopping centers here, opened by Singaporean (美罗城), Japanese (Sogo), Hong Kong (港汇) and Chinese (上海百货). I usually go 美罗城 because there are arcade, bookshop and foodcourt (大食代). Behind it, there is 百脑汇, a famous IT center (similar to our Sim Lim Square). This place is also very crowded.
新天地/Bon Bon/Baby Face/Windows
Well.. These are famous clubbing places. I like the atmosphere in 新天地 but it is quite a costly entertainment place. But you should at least go there to see the place once because a lot of foreigners are there. You can go clubbing at the other affordable places. But do be careful of your belongings... my friend lost his handphone there. All these clubbing places are in 衡山路，淮海路，黄皮南路, 静安寺...
静安寺
This is another place that is very centrally located with the famous 玖光百货.. You can go into the temple to take a look.
Other interesting places include 古北家乐福，田林，虹桥路, 上海体育场(Foxtown). If you want to eat Singapore Food, look for Frankie's place... I can't remember the place but I know who to get it from =) You can also try 和记.. it is kinda staple food for me and my friends. The food in Shanghai is famous for salty and oily. So be prepared.
Learning the Chinese Ways, Culture and History
Let me put it this way.. I do not understand the Chinese very well.. What I am going to write comes from my personal observation and from what I hear from my friends. In addition, different provinces in China work differently. Shanghai is the fastest developing city in China and it is heavily influenced by foreign investments. Hence, it is unfair to compare Shanghai with the other provinces. Indeed I was warned that I should never use Shanghai as a gauge for China.
Strong viewpoints
Whenever there are any discussions or debates among my Chinese colleagues, I felt that they held strongly to their viewpoint. It is not that they do not consider other viewpoints... I find that they will do their best to support their arguments. Most of the time, I realize that we usually discuss and debate in the most "political" way. "This can... but the other one also can...". Well, more often than not, we find our arguments siting on the fence. I respect them for putting their stand clearly and support it with substantial reasoning. I was told that this could be because the people (in the city) travels frequently in China and they establish their thoughts from what they observe. Unlike in Singapore, they are not told "what is right" and "what is wrong"; what they say is what they see. Probably that is why it is not an uncommon sight to see Chinese quarreling along the street.
Patriotic
Every time when I talk to the Chinese people, they will discuss about history, politics, literature, business and education. Most of these topics revolve around China and they are very concern of the current affairs of China. They will openly discuss the politics of China, whether it is working or not, and put in their inputs. For instance, I am convinced by them that communism may be a good political system in governing China, which is large and developing. What I admire most is that most of them know their history at their fingertips. This could be the result of the education system focusing on history and literature. Well... it may not seem to be as useful as science and mathematics, but it gives China its unique identity.
Strong Desire to Learn
Chinese are famous of being hardworking and I can feel their strong desire to excel and learn. Every now and then, my colleagues will ask me about English, IT skills and other things that I have learned in school. I also heard of many people taking night classes in China. With the opening of the Chinese market and the Internet, I believe they will catch up with the rest of the world very fast.. I am indeed motivated by them to continue learning fast. When every Chinese knows how to write and speak English, we would no longer have this competitive advantage of English anymore. No wonder it is very important to take another language. Well, I will keep up this learning spirit with them.
Friendship and Guanxi
I have many friends who told me that the Chinese were unfriendly to them in the public. And I would usually say that this would not be the case if they get to know you better. I make a lot of Chinese friends in China and they have treated me very well during my stay. Probably this is the reason why many people say it is very important to establish good 关系with the locals. But I believe this will apply to other parts of the world. Overall, they will look after their friends very well.
Creativity
Well... Creativity can come in both good and bad ways.. It is not uncommon to find counterfeit goods in the market such as pirated DVDs (5RMB a disc!). There are also creative products produced but they will be copied immediately. I believe there are still rooms for improvements to educate the public on Intellectual Property Rights... But if such rules are enforced, how is China going to feed so many poor and hungry people?
There are other interesting observations as well. For example, they said that people in northern China are more 豪爽 and people in the southern China are more 精算. Why 江苏area can develop faster than the rest of China is because scholars were usually produced in this region from history. These are just some interesting stories that I have heard. Like what I have said earlier on, these are just my personal observations.
Strong viewpoints
Whenever there are any discussions or debates among my Chinese colleagues, I felt that they held strongly to their viewpoint. It is not that they do not consider other viewpoints... I find that they will do their best to support their arguments. Most of the time, I realize that we usually discuss and debate in the most "political" way. "This can... but the other one also can...". Well, more often than not, we find our arguments siting on the fence. I respect them for putting their stand clearly and support it with substantial reasoning. I was told that this could be because the people (in the city) travels frequently in China and they establish their thoughts from what they observe. Unlike in Singapore, they are not told "what is right" and "what is wrong"; what they say is what they see. Probably that is why it is not an uncommon sight to see Chinese quarreling along the street.
Patriotic
Every time when I talk to the Chinese people, they will discuss about history, politics, literature, business and education. Most of these topics revolve around China and they are very concern of the current affairs of China. They will openly discuss the politics of China, whether it is working or not, and put in their inputs. For instance, I am convinced by them that communism may be a good political system in governing China, which is large and developing. What I admire most is that most of them know their history at their fingertips. This could be the result of the education system focusing on history and literature. Well... it may not seem to be as useful as science and mathematics, but it gives China its unique identity.
Strong Desire to Learn
Chinese are famous of being hardworking and I can feel their strong desire to excel and learn. Every now and then, my colleagues will ask me about English, IT skills and other things that I have learned in school. I also heard of many people taking night classes in China. With the opening of the Chinese market and the Internet, I believe they will catch up with the rest of the world very fast.. I am indeed motivated by them to continue learning fast. When every Chinese knows how to write and speak English, we would no longer have this competitive advantage of English anymore. No wonder it is very important to take another language. Well, I will keep up this learning spirit with them.
Friendship and Guanxi
I have many friends who told me that the Chinese were unfriendly to them in the public. And I would usually say that this would not be the case if they get to know you better. I make a lot of Chinese friends in China and they have treated me very well during my stay. Probably this is the reason why many people say it is very important to establish good 关系with the locals. But I believe this will apply to other parts of the world. Overall, they will look after their friends very well.
Creativity
Well... Creativity can come in both good and bad ways.. It is not uncommon to find counterfeit goods in the market such as pirated DVDs (5RMB a disc!). There are also creative products produced but they will be copied immediately. I believe there are still rooms for improvements to educate the public on Intellectual Property Rights... But if such rules are enforced, how is China going to feed so many poor and hungry people?
There are other interesting observations as well. For example, they said that people in northern China are more 豪爽 and people in the southern China are more 精算. Why 江苏area can develop faster than the rest of China is because scholars were usually produced in this region from history. These are just some interesting stories that I have heard. Like what I have said earlier on, these are just my personal observations.
Beginning of Shanghai Memory
I have a dilemma. I want to blog down every experience that I had in Shanghai. But it is not possible for me to do so. There are simply too many things that I want to talk about and if I were to put them down all in a single post, it will be too long to be read. Hence, I have decided to break my Shanghai Memory down into a few manageable posts:
1) Learning the Chinese Ways, Culture and History
2) Glancing at the Shanghai Town
3) Experiencing working and living in China
4) Fostering friendships in China
5) Knowing to treasure what I have
In addition, I will also talk about my trips to 黄山, 西安, 洛阳, 苏州, 杭州 in the later posts. I am going to leave Singapore soon for overseas exchange in Hong Kong. Hopefully I have the time to finish journalizing this memory down before I engage another journey....
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