Angkor Wat and the temples of Siem Rep Cambodia

Our trip to Siem Reap in Cambodia was an amazing trip that should not be missed if you are visiting the Asian region.  The area was a beautiful mix of jungle and lush rice fields (their main crop).  The people we found to be genuine and very friendly.  The accommodations were first class and affordable.  Our four full day tour of the ancient temples and surrounding area was the right length of time; any more time and the temples would all tend to blend together as they are all built in the same style.  The Cambodian cuisine is built around rice and all dishes seem to be based on coconut milk which made it an interesting blend of Thai and Vietnamese cuisines. We would highly recommend Cambodia as an interesting historical trip but also could be a relaxing pampered experienced; Catharine even experienced a full body massage for the first time (not sure that she enjoyed it but it was relaxing for me). The primary reason for the trip was to see Angkor Wat (an UNESCO site) and to learn about the Hindu and Buddhist temples in the region.  We were surprised to find interest in many of the other temples and also enjoyed shopping in the central market.  Many of you many benefit from this experience. I am afraid that many of you will find the following descriptions a bit of “overkill” but I wanted to write down what I could remember so when my memory fades, as it often does, I will have the memories.  For those of you non history majors; enjoy the pictures!

 Siem Reap is the name of the area which contains more than 200 Hindu and Buddhist temples which were built from the 10^th to14^th centuries and this is the reason for our sojourn into Cambodia.  The region of Siem Reap was given the name by King Ang Chan (1516-1566) after he defeated the Thais.  The meaning of the word is “the defeat of Siam” (Cambodians call Siam or Thailand “Siem”) .  This may however have been a little ironic as the Thais retook the region in 1794 and held it until 1907 when the French army retook it for Cambodia. The French built up the city from what was previously a small fishing village and established the modern day Siem Reap. In 1884 a treaty was signed and the whole of Cambodia essentially became a French colony.  When the French pulled out in the mid 1950’s the city was thrust into turmoil until 1975 when the communist Khmer Rouge began their killing rampage (you may remember the “killing fields”), and forced very one out of the city. At this time, Angkor Wat, Siem Reap's prized asset, lay dormant, not a single visitor coming to see the site as Siem Reap remained off-limits to tourists. Since Pol Pot's death in 1998, relative stability and a rejuvenated tourist industry have been important steps in Siem Reap regaining its importance.

Angkor Wat (Wat meaning temple) is the central feature of the Siem Reap region and the primary reason for our visit.  It is now an UNESCO World Heritage Site containing the magnificent remains of the Khmer civilization. Angkor Wat is dominated by five massive towers which are surrounded by bathing pools, gathering places and libraries where the people came to be educated.  The shape of the towers symbolize the mythical Mount Meru. The walls surrounding the complex are covered by thousands of feet of murals which have been carved into the outer walls and depict the history and the battles of the kings.  Also depicted here are scenes from Hindu mythology including the impressive creation story.

History of Angkor Wat

The temple complex at Angkor Wat, just outside of Siem Reap, Cambodia, is world famous for its intricate lotus-blossom towers, its smiling Buddha images and lovely dancing girls called Apsaras, and its geometrically perfect and very beautiful moats and reservoirs.

An amazing temple, Angkor Wat itself is the largest religious structure in the world. It is the crowning achievement of the classical Khmer Empire, which once ruled most of Southeast Asia. The Khmer culture and the empire alike were built around a single critical resource: water. The Angkor area was unfortunately suffering from too much water during our visit and we were not able to visit two of the lesser temples. Angkor Wat (meaning "Capital Temple") and the larger Angkor Thom ("Capital City") are both surrounded by perfectly square moats. It is hard to get an impression of the massive size of this complex including its moats so we took a tethered balloon 150 meters into the air above the complex to get a better perspective. 

Some twenty miles to the south of Siem Reap, a seemingly inexhaustible supply of freshwater stretches across 16,000 square kilometers of Cambodia. This is the Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia's largest freshwater lake.

According to Hindu mythology, which was brought to the Khmer people by the Indian traders, the gods live on the five-peaked Mount Meru, surrounded by an ocean. To replicate this geography, the Khmer king Suryavarman II designed a five-towered temple surrounded by an enormous moat. Each of Angkor Wat's five towers is shaped like an unopened lotus blossom. Construction of Angkor Wat began in 1140 and ended with his rein some 32 years later.  It is amazing to think that this massive complex could be constructed in such a short period of time. It is thought that most of the 1 million inhabitants at the time took some part in the construction of the complex.

By 1431, the Khmer people had abandoned the urban center at Angkor. Power shifted south, to the area around the present-day capital at Phnom Pehn. But the monks continued to worship at the temple of Angkor Wat itself, but the rest of the 200+ temples and other buildings of the Angkor complex were abandoned. Gradually, the sites were reclaimed by the jungle. Although the Khmer people knew that these marvelous ruins stood there, amidst the jungle trees, the outside world did not know about the temples of Angkor until French explorers began to write about the place in the mid-nineteenth century. Over the past 150 years, scholars and scientists from Cambodia and around the world have worked to restore the Khmer buildings and to learn more about the Khmer Empire

Ta Prohm  is best known as the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed.  It was also a Buddhist temple and was built in the Bayon style in 1186 (before Angkor Wat).  It was founded by the Khmer King Jayavarman VII as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Ta Prohm has been left in much the same condition in which it was found: that is taken over by the jungle but this makes it very photogenic as many of the trees are growing out of the ruins which seems to add intrigue to the already beautiful temple; actually making it kind of eerie looking. Ta Prohm was built to honor the deity Prajnaparamita, the 'perfection of wisdom’.

After the fall of the Khmer empire in the 15th century, the temple of Ta Prohm was abandoned and neglected for centuries. When the effort to conserve and restore the temples of Angkor began in the early 20th century, the École française d'Extrême-Orient decided that Ta Prohm would be left largely as it had been found, as a "concession to the general taste for the picturesque." Ta Prohm was singled out because it was "one of the most imposing [temples] and the one which had best merged with the jungle, but not yet to the point of becoming a part of it". The major threat from the tress growing into the temple is that the roots will make the foundations unstable and cause further damage.   But, much work has been done to stabilize the ruins, to permit access, and to maintain "this condition of apparent neglect." We did get to see some archeological work being done at this temple and they were excited that they had discovered some important facades and carvings.

Banteay Srei:  Next we visited the temple named Banteay Srei (Citadel of Women, Citadel of Beauty) , and were astounded by the amazing intrique carvings and small details; we called it the women’s temple. .   Banteay Srei is a 10th century Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.   It was interesting to learn that some of the temples are Buddhist and some are Hindu.  This was largely due to the faith of the King that built the temple and often varied from one King to the next.  Banteay Srei is built largely of red sandstone, a medium that lends itself to the elaborate decorative wall carvings which are still observable today. The buildings themselves are miniature in scale, unusually so when measured by the standards of Angkorian construction. This fact gives the temple an impressive character all its own and has led to it being widely praised as a "precious gem", or the "jewel of Khmer art.”

The temple was not rediscovered until 1914 and was cleared the following year. In the 1930s Banteay Srei was restored and many of its magnificient carving were brought back to “life”. Historians were surprised to discover that this level of extreme decoration had been used at such an early age. To prevent the site from water damage, the joint Cambodian-Swiss Banteay Srei Conservation Project installed a drainage system between 2000 and 2003.It was interesting to learn that the majority of temples are being restored with grants and joint support from many European countries and the USA.  Of the many temples in Angkor, this one holds a special place in our hearts. 

Bayon Temple (c. 1200)

Bayon (The 120 faces of Buddha temple) was the state temple of Jayavarman VII, a powerful ruler in the late 13th century. The temple sat at the center of Angkor Thom, a walled city that served as the capital of the Khmer Empire. The walls of the city were quite a distance from the temple which made the temple seem to rise abruptly from the ground like an artificial mountain. In fact, the temple was intended to simulate the form of Mt. Meru—the cosmic mountain at the center of the world in Buddhist cosmology. The temple honored not just one deity, but a host of gods that were being worshiped throughout the Khmer empire. Its central shrine held an image of Jayavarman VII, who perhaps imagined himself as a god-King ruling in the name of the Buddha.

The temple is best known today for the gigantic face sculptures that adorn its thirty-seven surviving towers. Facing in four directions on each tower, the faces are thought to represent Lokeshvara, a Buddhist deity that projected benevolence outward to the four directions. From a distance, the Bayon temple appears "as but a muddle of stones”, but closer inspection reveals the intricate carvings of the many Buddha faces. There are 216 gigantic faces on the temple's towers many of which appear to be representations of Jayavarman VII himself.

Since the time of Jayavarman VII, the Bayon has suffered numerous additions and alterations at the hands of subsequent monarchs. During the reign of Jayavarman VIII in the mid-13th century, the Khmer empire reverted to Hinduism and its state temple was altered accordingly. In later centuries, Theravada Buddhism became the dominant religion, leading to still further changes, before the temple was eventually abandoned to the jungle. Since 1995 the Japanese Government team for the Safeguarding of Angkor has been restoring the site. Unlike Angkor Wat, which impresses with the grand scale of its architecture and open spaces, the Bayon "gives the impression of being compressed within a frame which is too tight for it."  Many scenes of local activities of the time are carved into the temple walls.

Angkor Thom (We pronounced it Uncle Tom)

Angkor Thom literally means: "Great City", was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It was established in the late twelfth century by king Jayavarman VII. It covers an area of 9 km², within which are located several monuments from earlier eras as well as those established by Jayavarman and his successors. Angkor Thom serves as the entrance into the temple complex within which are housed Bayon temple, Terrace of the Leopard King and the Elephant Terrace. From here the king used to review the troops and throw parties upon their return.

In the following centuries Angkor Thom remained the capital of a kingdom until its decline some time prior to 1609.

Rolous Group:  Next on the agenda was the Rolous group of temples. These were a little bit further from the city center and were comprised of many smaller temples in various states of restoration / disrepair. Roluos is a Cambodian modern small town and an archeological site about 13 km east of Siem Reap.

Among "Rolous Group" of temples are some of the earliest permanent structures built by Khmer. They mark the beginning of classical period of Khmer civilization, dating from the late 9th century. Some were totally built with bricks, others partially with laterite or sandstone. At present it is composed by three major temples: Bakong, Lolei and Preah Ko.  The first temple that we visited was Preah Ko temple. 

Preah Ko, the oldest, is arranged as two rows of three “prasats” (towers) each, and boasts stunning stone carvings and plasterwork. The most impressive part of this temple is the three cows situated out front of the complex.  The cow is a sacred animal and was probably deemed as such by the Indian culture then brought to the Cambodians. The children playing at the threshold of one of the pillars made for a stunning picture.

By now the temples were tending to all blend together but the site at Bakong was impressive.  It also blended the old with the new in that there was a working / thriving new Buddhist monastery on the grounds. 

Bottom of FormBakong: Distinguishable by the three tiers of elephants standing guard at the corners. In 802 AD, the first king of Angkor Jayavarman II declared the sovereignty of Cambodia. After ups and downs, he established his capital at Hariharalaya. Here his successors constructed Bakong as the first temple mountain of sandstone at Angkor. So in 881 King Indravarman I dedicated the temple to the god Shiva. Toward the end of the 9th century, Indravarman's son and successor Yasovarman I moved the capital from Hariharalaya to the area north of Siem Reap now known as Angkor, where he founded the new city of Yasodharapura around a new temple mountain called Bakheng. Large stone statues of elephants are positioned as guardians at the corners of the three lower levels of the pyramid. Statues of lions guard the stairways.

Pre Rup:,Distinguishable by the all brick construction.  Built in 961 and one of the most important temple mountains, it marks the transition from the pre-classic to the classic period of Angkor. It consists of two terraces, on the second of which is a three-tier pyramid. At the top, the central tower is flanked by four corner towers, all in brick.  It is very distinguishable from the other temples as it is built completely of bricks whereas the other temples were constructed of carved stone.

The almost final stop on our adventure was to Tonle Sap, a massive fresh water lake to rival those of Michigan.  At this time the massive lake was even larger due to the torrential rains of the past few months.  It made getting to the Lake difficult as the local roads were flooded out.  Once on the lake we met up with a very interesting city, a floating city.  This city housed 1200 people mostly fisherman and farmers. There are said to be many of these floating villages in Cambodia and about 2 million people are living in these sorts of villages.  The interesting thing about this particular village is that they move the entire village 5 times per year based on the availability of fish and crops.  They literally tow (with boats) the entire village of more than 200 houses.  Even the school is a series of floating classrooms where the kids get back and forth by dugout canoes.

And finally we visited the Angkor National Museum which was opened in 2007 and houses an impressive collection of artifacts..  The museum afforded us the opportunity to learn more about the areas that we had been visiting.  It is impressive in its collections but also in the way the artifacts are presented.  The room of 1000 Buddha’s was very impressive.

It was an amazing trip back in time to when the Cambodian people ruled the region and built some amazing temples to honor their Gods.  Over time things have changed but they left us an outstanding legacy from the 10-14 centuries.

More pictures will be on Picasa

A night out in downtown Shanghai

A day In our life, a good life. Have you ever had a really great day, for me today was one of those days. It started with "a day with Habitat China" and ended with this 70's cruise on the Hongpu river in Shanghai.

 As you can see from the pictures, Shanghai really comes Alive at night ! And this was the best night in Shanghai since we have been here. A Perfectly clear sky (no visible signs of pollution or clouds), and a temperature in the mid 70's with no humidity. And we were partying on the "Captain 2" with a hundred of our closest friends; actually the largest chapter of the American's women's club in the world.

We had a great time listening to the good old songs of the 70's and sipping champagne, a good recipe for a nice evening. We did meet a few really nice couples and it was interesting to discover that most of them had lived in more countries than we had. But none could say that their family had Lived on all the continents except Anartica (we will leave that one to Tommy). Well I will leave you to enjoy the pictures and hopefully plan your trip to come and see Shanghai.

A day with Habitat for Humanity China

About a month ago, Catharine came home from here Expat luncheon all excited because there was a presentation from the Habitat for Humanity China team and she was able to bring me a contact.  Needless to say I was also very excited.

So I immediately, if not before, contacted the group and said that I would be excited to help the local group in whatever way I could.  Well I guess that I should have been a little more specific. AS it turns out, the majority of work here in Shanghai is painting.  Painting is the only thing that I refused to do at Habitat Detroit as I really don’t like painting.  But that was the need here so I excitedly accepted the position of house coordinator for the painting detail at the apartment of an elderly man in one of Shanghai’s suburbs.  Come to find out, the owner of the apartment was one of those that was severely affected by the “cultural revolution”  .  His parents were both well-educated professors at the time and they were executed as they were a threat to the “party”.  He was also a college graduate and was thrown in jail and stripped of his social status.  When the revolution finally ended he was freed but he was still without social status and was an enemy of the state so he to this day is still an outcast and it is difficult for him to get any kind of meaningful work.  So we were happy to help him renovate his meager apartment.  By the time we finished we were very proud of the “new look” as was he. 

So now for the “experience”.  Well since this is not my forte, I was a bit apprehensive about leading the job but I didn’t let on.  Our task was to paint two rooms of his apartment which doesn’t sound too daunting, but as I was soon to find out, we had our hands full.

To begin I gathered the group of 5 volunteers in the main room and asked: how many of you have painted before….no hands were raised, so I asked ok, how many of you have seen someone paint something, again, no hands were raised; I knew I had my work cut out for me.  So undaunted, I proceeded to be the instructor for painting 101.  I started with things like, when you use a paintbrush and when you use a roller, then how to put paint onto a brush or a roller, and then on to the sequence of painting a room.  So after about half an hour of instruction, we proceeded to start the work.  So after I thought I had explained everything, I asked one person in the group to put paint in one of the pails so that we could start painting the corners of the room and ceiling.  (first mistake) So he proceeded to fill the pail so full that you could not lift it then he dropped the paint brush into the pail and it disappeared into the paint (so much for my full instruction), I could not believe that these people really had no practical knowledge.  On the positive side, they thought that I was all knowing and they were very appreciative of learning how to paint. 

So once we recovered from the first incident, we proceeded to painting the ceiling.  Second mistake; so after they turned their hair from black to white, I decided to take over and they went on to the walls (a good decision).  From then on out, they actually did a great job and we almost finished the job by lunch time.  After lunch we moved on to our second can of paint and discovered that it was YELLOW not WHITE!  Panic set in!  So after I admitted the mistake, we took a big breath and set about changing the color of the walls to yellow.  So I had to instruct them in one more skill; taping off the ceiling.  Actually they did a great job at this and we were ready to paint the walls in no time.  The group really stepped up to the plate and hit a home run.  We repainted the walls, the windows and the doors and cleaned up before it was time to go home.  I had a great group of hard, enthusiastic workers. 

Just as we finished, the habitat coordinator came by to take some pictures and said that this was the best job that he had ever seen (whether this was a pep talk or his real opinion we will never know but the group was very proud and they stopped just short of hoisting me up on their shoulders and parading around the block).  And the home owner said that we did a great job and that we even put a primer layer on the walls (a nice thought even if we did make the mistake).  Come to find out, the other house group did not even finish their work and so they asked me to come back next weekend and help finish it off.

So my first experience was a great and humorous one and one I hope to repeat soon.  It was really nice to be recognized for my skill and ability to teach since I never get any of this at work.  The team asked me how I learned how to paint so I related how I had learned this from my Dad; they were amazed and said that it must therefore be a tradition in America! 

I discovered that Habitat for Humanity Shanghai really only does painting because the contractors for construction, wiring, and plumbing are so cheap that it really doesn’t pay to let volunteers make mistakes with the hardware. 

I am now on the preferred volunteer list and was recently asked to lead teams at another 8 apartments before the end of this year. Looks like I found a new hobby.

Education in China

Referring to the topic of this edition of my blog, the subject matter could go in one of two directions: our education in China or the education system in China, Let’s choose the China education system because many of my past articles have covered the essence of our education.

I have been fairly critical of the education system here as it really doesn’t preach free enterprise, reach for the stars, or be all you can be.  Instead it focuses on being a good Chinese worker which means that you listen to the boss and do what you are told.  Creativity and passion really do not play a role here. 

I remember being invited to an open house at Tommy’s school (Kalamazoo College) where they were telling us how great the school is and what a fantastic educational opportunity they have.  But I just couldn’t help but ask how they were going to stimulate creativity and passion in the students as this is what I believe sets the US apart from other countries we have lived in.  Unfortunately the response was lack luster but I was impressed when the curriculum changed the following year to encourage the students to follow their passion.  In the US people are willing to take on constructive criticism, not so here. A good example of a US company that really embraces this is 3M, they not only encourage their employees to be creative but they give them 1 day per week to do their own thing!  This is surely something that is desperately lacking here.

So what does this have to do with the education system?  Well if the government is in charge of the education system and owns the businesses, so I guess we have to expect that honoring your elders plays a big role in society.  I find it very difficult to function in this environment because I am really never asked for my opinion and discouraged from disagreeing with the bosses.  I have to stay focused on the technical input and let them run the organization.

So although outwardly the education system is quite similar to ours, it has a number of fundamental differences.  The schooling starts at the Kindergarten level and seems similar to ours in that most of the focus is on social skills but they do start requiring real school work and it is not uncommon for them to have homework.  The lower grades are similar to the US system except that they require them to learn English from the 1^st grade.  The difference comes when they reach 9^th grade; here their system better resembles the German system in that they are required to take a major exam.  This exam determines whether the student will follow the education system into high school or into a trade school, or whether their formal education will end.  About 60% of the students will continue on into high school.

High school is only three years and its primary purpose is to get the students ready for college or to weed them out. At the end of the three years, they undergo another major testing program.  From this test they will determine if they go onto to college or if they once again take the route to a trade school.  Again about 60% of the students will be eligible to go on to college.  And much like our system, the better grades you get the better school you can attend.  The major difference is that the best schools are government run and there is fierce competition to get into them.  It does matter what school you attend because all major companies will hire from only the top schools in their field.  This is true for our company as we hire only from the top business and engineering schools.  College is generally a four year program and although there are graduate schools most people enter the work force after undergraduate education.  But it is not uncommon for the students to go back to university after about 6-10 years of work experience because they then know what they want to specialize in (sounds like a good idea to me).  The cost of a year at a public university is less than $1000 so most students can afford to go if they qualify.  Of course private universities are much more expensive.  Once a graduate enters the work force the pay varies widely but if they have done well and work in Shanghai they can expect to receive between 8-12,000RMB per month ($1500- $1800).  This may not seem a lot but their chances of advancement are great and this is in sharp contrast to the factory worker just outside of Shanghai who makes between 1000RMB-3000RMB per month ($170-$500). 

So although the system is a mix between the German and the American systems, the focus of the educational process is quite different (surprising to me but not to most people).  So the culture continues to reinforce the ideals that management is all powerful and all-knowing so this makes my job very difficult as I try to stimulate their creative sides (something that the management does not fully understand or appreciate).

Remember also that this system of education is a relatively new opportunity as education was nearly wiped out during the time of the Cultural Revolution, and the people remember this vividly and are very appreciative of the educational opportunities that they now have.  Hence we really do not see people near my age in the major companies because they were not educated during the period of the Cultural Revolution and thus do not have the skills to compete with the younger generation.

History of the Bund

Why do we live in Shanghai anyway?  For sure it is not for the food because the Chinese food in the USA is much more appetizing than in China; it’s not for the work because work is not as much fun as retirement; it’s not for the weather because the weather is much too hot for my liking.  It’s for those times when we can come face to face with the real Shanghai; not the new infrastructure like in Pudong but rather for the history as shown on “THE BUND”.  So remembering why we are here, I took this past Friday off to join Catharine in a “Tour of the Bund”.  For those unfamiliar with Shanghai, the Bund refers to that portion of Shanghai which borders the Huangpu River.  It is where Shanghai really began.

Prior to the 1800’s Shanghai was nothing but a farming community and there was very little if any development in the city.  The first European traveler to reach the Shanghai area was Marco Polo in the mid 1200’s.  He was the first to travel the “Silk Road” from Europe to Shanghai. Marco Polo was the first outsider allowed to visit and trade with the Chinese and became a great friend of the Mongol Emperor.  Trading with Shanghai was very difficult because of its distance from Europe so it wasn’t long before the trade was done with the Mongols and Shanghai did not benefit further from the European trade.  In the mid 1700’s, and with the advent of the Shipping trade, Shanghai once again became a potential trading port but no one other than the Chinese were allow to land on Chinese soil.  So in the 1830 the British traders from India made the first real impact into the Chinese market.  They did this by starting the “Opium Wars”.

The area got its name at the time of the “Opium Wars” from the early British East Indian traders. The name “Bund” is an Indian word meaning Muddy Waters, and that was a great description for the area at the time.   In 1756 the Chinese government enacted a law which restricted trade to one port and did not allow foreigners entrance to China, the British East India Company wanted to improve their trade with China and therefore invested heavily in opium production. At this time the Chinese people were heavily addicted to Opium. British and United States merchants brought opium from the British East India Company's factories to the coast of China, where they sold it to Chinese smugglers who distributed the drug in defiance of Chinese laws. In 1838, the Emperor demanded that foreign firms turn over their stocks. When they refused, the Emperor stopped trade altogether and declared war on the British.  This was a foolish move because the British had a strong navy and China had none. The British easily defeated the Chinese and demanded retribution for the loss of their Opium Stocks.  But the Chinese were broke and decided instead to give them land.  This land became known as the Bund. ^[Before the 1840s, the Bund was a muddy narrow lane with tall reeds. After Shanghai was established as the trading port in 1846, a street was paved there and the riversides were reinforced. Then, rows of commercial buildings were constructed. As the UK Concession, a building boom at the end of 19th century and beginning of 20th century led to the Bund becoming a major financial hub of East Asia. It was the center of Shanghai's politics, economy and culture more than a hundred years ago, consulates of most countries and many banks, businesses and newspaper offices were settled there, and that's why we have these spectacular buildings representing the Art Deco, the Neo Classical and Queen Victorian eras of architecture.

During the time of the “Cultural Revolution” these buildings became part of the government and were used as barracks for the sailors. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, with the change of economic policy in the People's Republic of China, buildings on the Bund were gradually returned to their former uses. Government institutions were moved out in favor of financial institutions, and hotels resumed trading.

In the 1990s the Shanghai government attempted to promote tourism and started to plan the restoration of the waterfront. From 2008, a major reconfiguration of traffic flow along the Bund was carried out. After 33-months of tunnel construction, Shanghai's Bund was reopened to visitors on March 28, 2010. The new tunnel allowed for a much more pedestrian friendly downtown area.  One of the most interesting aspects of the Bund area is that there is no “bed-rock”. After drilling footings as deep as 2000 meters, the idea of footings had to be abandoned.  They borrowed the construction techniques from Venice to create the foundations for the waterfront buildings.  The historic buildings were built on huge floating “logs.  The Logs, when placed into the muddy waters, become petrified and last approximately 300 years before gradually succumbing to the mud. You can see cracks starting to form in some of the historic buildings, especially those near to where the tunnel was constructed.  The newer buildings use a form of “concrete logs” to float the buildings that are constructed on them.  What happens after 30 years only time will tell.

The Bund has been called a 'museum of international architecture' and indeed it was and still is. But it was also much more. Here were located the banks, hotels, exclusive clubs, press organizations and headquarters of international concerns. The twenty-six major structures, of various heights along approximately 1.5 kilometers of Zhongshan Lu and the Huangpu River, have changed little externally since the 1930s. All were constructed in western-inspired styles.  Many of these building are now open to the public and have been exquisitely restored to their former glory. 

The tour was delightful 2 hours of architecture and history, and is a must see on the visitor list.  We hope many of you will take the opportunity to check out this and many other sights in the Shanghai area. 

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As the companies struggle the employees win

With company seniority numbers in the single digits, most companies here is China are desperate to attract and keep their highly trained and skilled employees.  To this end, at our recent management offsite, the company had everyone break into functional groups and come up with ideas on how to lower the turnover rate.  Although there were many novel ideas, the real problem is that there just aren’t enough skilled people available to support the astronomical growth rates, especially in the major cities. 

So my company has focused on trying to make the employees more of a family than of a collection of colleagues.  They encourage company team dinners (for most any reason (we have already been to 5)), as well as team sports and teambuilding activities.  So it is on this topic that I will spend the rest of this article.

This past weekend, Catharine and I were invited to join 49 other members of our work team and their families on a teambuilding outing.  So early this past Saturday morning we all boarded a bus and headed for the nearby seaside town of Ningbo.  This is a popular place with the Shanghai people as the drive is a pretty one and can easily be accomplished in less than three hours.  The route took us across what must be one of the longest bridges in the world; it spanned more than 40 kilometers.  For us our destination was what we thought would be a water park but in fact was an amusement park (small Cedar Point).  As we struggled with the local language we missed out on many things but managed to have a great time in the park and rendezvous with our colleagues at the appointed time.  As you can see from the picture below, I finally completed my list of participation in all the daring sports I care to participate in.  This one being bungee jumping.  The location was not as picturesque as Tommy’s bridge over Victoria Falls in southern Africa, but it was a thrill jumping off a platform from a height of 400 meters.  The real part of the thrill was actually the first 5 feet,  after that the anxiety lapsed and the free fall thrill began; I guess once you know you are going to die, you can relax a bit!!

The rest of the amusement park was fun but soon it got too hot and we spent the last hours lying in the pool at the waterpark portion of the park.  The temperature was in the upper 90s all weekend and the water felt great.  From here we went back to our 5 star hotel in Ningbo and dressed for our “teambuilding” dinner. The dinner was a great variety of Chinese dishes followed by way too much wine which is typical of these events; thus ended the first day. 

The following day we headed for the mountains (we were unaware that the east coast even had mountains) which were in the middle of the national forest.  The views were spectacular and we were all very glad that we were not driving a car no less a bus.  Unfortunately the winding roads got the best of those of us that might have had a bit too much to drink the previous night, but we still enjoyed the scenery.    During the trip we were surprised to see the biggest Bronze Buddha on the east coast.  It must have stood over 300feet high on top of one of the mountains.  Very impressive.

Our destination was the “drifting park”.  What we might call a white water rapids park.  So our group of 50 and what must have been about 300 other Chinese, boarded our rafts and headed down the river.  The river had quite a large natural drop which was enhanced by the “Chinese Builders” .  They diverted the river and added a huge concrete “slipway” where our rafts literally plunged down the rapids while taking on a full boatload of water; a refreshing feeling on a hot day. Our rafts continued down the natural river for some time until we encountered another man-made waterfall where we found that our bailing skills were once again put to the test.  After another series of sharp turns and more waterfalls we finally reached the main part of the river and rejoined my colleagues for a float through town.  We all had a great time and it was nice getting to know some of my colleagues and their families.  From here we headed back through the winding stretches in the mountains and back to Shanghai.  Most of the employees see these kinds of events (which are a bi-annual occurrence) as a reward and also believe it is a real sign that the company values their contributions and skills.  For us it was a great weekend away and a good time to get to know my colleagues.  I hope this will translate into more communication at work and more friends in the long term.

A worrying Imbalance

Here in Shanghai more than any other place that we have lived previously, we find the government continuing to try to control societal balance. The issues that the government fears more than any other is the uprising of the people and the people’s choices changing the balance of the fragile economic order.

I remember a story my dad once told me about the government trying to fix the inflation problem in Brazil.  It seemed that the government’s response to the rising inflation was to enact laws to force producers to stabilize their prices.  The ultimate extent of this “control” was when the government tried to control the cost of beer so the government enacted a law which controlled he price of a can of beer.  So, as you can imagine, the size of the can kept getting smaller.

I mention this here because it seems that every time there is an imbalance here, the government enacts some sort of control.  Case in point this time is the imbalance in the population, that is, in the ratio of boy babies to girls.  The ratio is actually improving from its worst level in 2008 of 114 boys to 100 girls, this year in Shanghai the ratio is 106 to 100 girls and 111 to 100 overall.  What this means is that by 2020, millions of Chinese men of marriageable age will be bachelors.  The worst imbalance occurs amongst the migrant farmers where the ratio is 121 boys’ to100 girls.  

So this week, the government started a new campaign of awareness and has banned “sex-selective” abortions.  It is also banning non-medical sex checks.  I must say I agree with bringing critical information to the masses and even showing the issue a little more critically than necessary,  but I stop short of enacting laws to “control” the population.  In the end the real change needs to happen in the societal views and cultural behaviors which focuses on the equality of the sexes.   They have a come a long way in having equal opportunities for men and women but the “son” stigma still exists.