Where is the Real China ?

"Shanghai ? People would tell me 'No..no..no.. Shanghai is not the real China.' Beijing ? 'No..no..no.. Beijing is not the real China.' Neither is Hangzhou, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Xian. After being in China for 10 years, I still don't know where the real China is" - Professor in Marketing Class

Coming to Shanghai for my MBA program, of course, I was one of those people here in search of the elusive "real China". After traveling to Beijing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Xian, Hohhot, Nanjing, I was just being a tourist and did not manage to see the "real China".

I remembered when I first arrived, one of my classmates told me that only a true Chinese could understand Feng Xiaogang's works fully. Almost immediately, I started to hunt high and low for his movies. I appreciate the dry humor in his movies and in fact, he is one of my favorite directors now. Yet, there is always a nagging thought at the back of my mind when I watch one of his movies, "Was I supposed to have laughed at that last line? Am I not Chinese enough to understand him?"

Other attempts to understand the real China included watching the CCTV - 1990 version of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It was long, painful, and I had to use English subtitles. Haiz.. Jinyong? Is Jinyong Chinese enough? Going to visit my ancestral village in Guangzhou in end Feb, contemplating learning Chinese art history. Considering that here I was a native Chinese speaker with grandparents from Guangzhou and Fujian, I would think that I was as Chinese as they go. But here lies the irony, I was only Chinese in Singapore and only Singaporean in China.

If I could just make a humble suggestion, there is no Real China. There is a Real China like there is a unicorn, Santa Claus or a real Singaporean. For many people, their version of real china are girls in cheongsams working in the fields, rugged farmers smiling up at them and toilets that are only pits with no doors. A real Singaporean would be Mr Kiasu? Phua Chu Kang ?

In fact, I am sharing to you the most valuable lesson that I have received here. There is no Real China. This is a country so big and varying, filled with people and various extremes. This is something to be experienced on a day to day basis, to see for yourself how diverse all these people are. China, a country that is still evolving and defining itself, and I am glad to have spent the last year being here.

Old Movie Cafe at Duolun Street

Went to the Duolun Cultural Street for a short trip today. Had a quick laugh over a philosopher that lived around the area called Mao Dun - Or Contradiction in Chinese

Duolun was marketed as a cultural street as Lu Xun used to be a resident on the street. Now it has plenty of little stalls, antique and jewelery shops, a blend of the old, new and the tacky.


After shopping for a bit, we found a charming cafe called the Old Film Cafe.



Inside, we had a true globalism moment as we sat down there. Two Singaporeans chatting in English, were watching a old Bollywood movie with Chinese voice-overs in Shanghai.

The Day when the God of Fortune Descend Back to Earth

On the 5th day of the Chinese New Year, the God of Fortune descends back to Earth and people celebrate this occasion by setting off fireworks everywhere. I started off the day by visiting the Jade Buddha Temple in the morning.


I paid extra to buy good quality incense for prayer. I cannot have a repeat of what happened last year again. (Joss sticks breaking in half.. *shudder*)


Anyway, the Jade Buddha Temple has been transformed into a model for economic efficiency. Not your year this year? Come buy the pre-packaged prayer set. Lucky charms? One for every occasion. Incense for every type of prayer that you can dream of .. Just come and get itttttttttttttt... .

Sasha with the Little Grouchy Old Lady

Went to Sasha's to celebrate J's birthday tonight, followed by a visit to the gigolo bar. TO clarify, we watched. AHEM That was all.



Sasha, the mansion that it is housed in, was originally a gift from Soong Ziwen, or Charlie Soong, for his daughter Soong Meiling and Jiang Jieshi as a wedding gift. You might remember the movie about the Soong sisters, one loved money, one loved the country, one loved power. The three sisters were highly educated, the eldest married the richest man in China, the middle sister married Sun Yat-Sen, the youngest married Jiang Jieshi.

In 1943, the house was lost to the Japanese army. In 1950, the building became a music school. And only much later, a group of expatriate businessman leased the house and named the mansion Sasha after the Soong's alleged mistress,

Food was so-so and not worth the price that they were asking for. Be it starters, main courses or the dessert platter that we ordered. But the atmosphere and the cocktails served are fantastic, therefore go there for drinks, soak up the history and read about the characters which are written about in the drinks menu. But go, only go, after dinner somewhere else.


Sasha's
Address: 11 Dongping Lu (corner of Hengshan Lu), Shanghai
Tel: (021) 64746628
Fax: (021) 64679403
Email: steven.burns@sashas-shanghai.com

Temple Fair in Beijing

Going to Beijing at an opportune time for the 庙会 or temple fairs, when I think of temple fairs, I somehow associated them with yukatas and Japan, curious to see my first Chinese one in action, we made our way to the Ditan Park.



Mobs of people, queues to buy tickets to enter the fair, kawaii cow figurines. We made our way into the fair apprehensively, but we were greeted with tons of stalls selling cute little items, food stalls from all over China, game stalls, puppet shows, lion dances, performances in various corners of the park. It was plenty of fun just walking around the park.




Bought a cute little red carp for the New Year...