Jackhammering by night is now over.
The portion of the construction project for Yanan Road (West) devoted to redoing the street is over! Glory hallelujah! No more jackhammering starting at around 10:00 pm and continuing on into the wee hours.
That's the good news.
The not-so-good news is that the portion of the project devoted to redoing the "sidewalks" has now begun. Work on the street simply had to wait each day until evening and early morning hours because of the huge amount of motorized traffic on Yanan Road (one of the major east-west arteries of the Puxi side of Shanghai). Cars count, you see. Pedestrians and the other traffic (bicycles and motorized cycles of all kinds) using the "sidewalks" don't count, so the construction (whence the jackhammering) can be done during the day, to save money on the work crews. It simply does not matter if this is precisely the time for maximum impact on pedestrians.
I keep putting "sidewalks" inside those scare quotes, because it really doesn't seem like a sidewalk when, at any moment, you can expect to be mowed down — head-on or from behind — by a bicycle on a narrow strip of bricked area about 3-4 feet (0.9-1.2 meters) wide. It seems more like a combat zone. But that is the "normal" condition of these "sidewalks." For now, you can multiply that feeling by at least 1,000. On any given traversal, you may be "cordoned" onto a "walkable" strip of the "sidewalk" about 1 foot (.3 meters) wide. That can be nerve-wracking because you are walking just next to an open ditch about half a person's height deep, and just next to the workers making, or playing in that ditch, some using heavy equipment (shovels if you're lucky, jackhammers if you're not). Passing on that narrow strip is really interesting, especially if either person is carrying anything. Some people, understandably simply give up on the "sidewalk" and walk in the street. Of course, the entire "sidewalk" may simply be blocked off, and then you have to walk in the street, inviting the very audible ire of any car, truck, and bus traffic your thoughtless use of their lane happens to inconvenience. (It doesn't help much to cross the street and walk on the other side. For a start, it can take 5 minutes to do that, if the timing of the lights is against you. And the construction is going on both sides anyhow.)
All of this (and so much more) is all part of the preparations for Shanghai Expo 2010. Opening day is now just a tad over 4 months away — 1 May 2010. An incomprehensible amount of construction and renovation is underway, everywhere in Shanghai, all of which simply must be finished on time. And everyone knows that. So people put up with it. I think they actually take some pride knowing that their putting up with things like this represents an increment of doing their part towards this extremely important civic goal. For the expatriate, here only temporarily, it feels more like Shanghai's way of saying: time to go home!
19 December 2009
17 December 2009
Friday, 18 December 2009
T minus 4 days and counting...
Yesterday seemed like a good day to tackle a chore we knew (or thought we knew) we had to do: When I returned my rented piano back to the piano store, they refunded to me the sizable deposit I had put down (less rent and moving fee) — in cash, in Chinese rmb. Foreign nationals are only allowed to purchase a limited number of US dollars in exchange for Chinese currency per day — $500 to be precise. Of course, as currency controls typically are, this rule is quite porous, as it is enforced by recording your passport number at the exchanging bank — and no place else. The rule therefore actually applies only per bank per day. You can simply trot from one bank to the next, changing the equivalent of $500 in rmb at a time at each, all on the same day, and nobody says boo.
As the deposit was a little more than twice the limit, I had to find two banks nearby that do foreign exchange, and I would be set. I had good hopes for the bank down on the ground floor of our apartment building, but a sign on the door advised that, sadly, foreign exchange prestidigation is beyond the powers of those within, and would you please visit their more capable branch (about a mile away). On the way there, I passed two other banks that would do the exchanges, and about an hour later I had 10 crisp $100 bills, and about 70 fewer not-so-crisp 100¥ notes. If it hadn't been so cold and windy, it could have actually been a pleasant time that I had doing this.
Banks in China all work the same, which is to say, the same in the main, but completely differently in the finer details. On entering the bank you need to get a number. Without a number you will never interact with a teller. The thing is, each bank has a completely different scheme for sorting its customers out. You don't want just any number, but a number in the range of numbers for whatever it is that you want to do. Nobody beats the Chinese for inventive schemes for sorting things by type.
The first bank I went to was easy. There was a machine with around 10 different buttons labeled in Chinese and English. I got a number for "international cash transaction" and settled in for what proved to be 20 minute wait, and a further 20 minutes later, was ready to go find another bank. The second bank was harder. A similar machine, yes, but only three buttons, and only one had any English on it. That one simply said "VIP." While I was pondering, things were taken out of my hands, as another patron reached around from behind me, pressed the VIP button, and handed me the ticket produced, and then kind of pushed me out of his way for having his own go at the machine. I felt more "important" after that. With my VIP ticket, the wait was only 5 minutes. The exchange still took 20 minutes.
At both banks, much paper had to be produced, everything in multiple copies, and stamped, multiple times with multiple different stamps, and shifted from place to place before it was all over. At the first bank, some of the pieces of paper, I am not kidding, was actually folded into charming little origamis so that it would fit into the pigeonholes of the ancient desk the teller was manning. Astonishing really, when you realize that all of what was on each of those sheets of paper got there as the result of using some pretty cutting-edge high tech gear, including, at the first bank, a lightning-fast scanner that made pictures of everything to do with the transaction from my passport, to the exchange invoice, to the little pile of 100¥ notes I was exchanging. Nobody but me actually wrote by hand on any of those pieces of paper. One wonders what future lies in store for those pieces of paper, so carefully produced, stamped, and distributed?
After returning home to our apartment from my banking excursion, and thawing out a bit, it was time to tackle the next chore we knew we had to do: to arrange for two suitcases, one with winter weight clothes, the other with my music, to travel back to the states. You see, we are going home from Shanghai (average daily high temperatures this week in the low 30s F) to San Diego (average daily high temperatures this week in the high 60s F) via various countries in Indochina (average daily high temperatures this week in the 90s F). So methinks we won't need our woolly sweaters and other cold weather garb during our week in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, or immediately on return, and we will surely enjoy our travels more with less baggage to shift.
Knowing what you want to do and why doesn't make it any easier, though, when you need help to do it, and the help has to come from someone who may work for a multinational corporation, but may nonetheless not speak much English. So began the web searches, the phone calls, the taxi trips to office branches that weren't really much help, or to others that are simply no longer there (because the entire office tower they were in is in renovations, a common occurrence in Shanghai these days).
After much exploration, we narrowed things down to two options: use one of the firms that claim to make the arrangements for you (but use FedEx themselves), or make the arrangements with FedEx yourself. It eventually turned out the leading firm who will do things for you — called Luggage Forward — is unable to arrange international service with less than 4 business days lead time. Of course their web site clearly states "same-day pick-up is available" if you call a number in the Boston area code. That number isn't staffed during hours convenient to China, though, and by the time I actually connected with a person there, I was given the bad news that we didn't have enough lead time. So, I obtained the number for the FedEx China "hotline." After a few calls I connected with a very nice man who was very helpful, and even told me that our shipment qualified for a 25% discount from the standard rate. Unfortunately, they are completely and totally unable to take an order for a pick-up with more than 1 business day of lead time. So yesterday the best he could do for me was to promise to save all my details and promise to call me back today to finalize the order, which he just did. Whew!
Just one thing, though. You'd think if you're dealing with FedEx it would be possible to make the payment by credit card. Not so. When the pick-up occurs next Monday afternoon, they will take our payment in cash in Chinese rmb. So about half the cash I changed to US dollars yesterday will have to be changed back. Of course, changing US dollars into Chinese rmb is much easier than the opposite and can be done even at the front desk down in the lobby of our apartment building.
Yesterday seemed like a good day to tackle a chore we knew (or thought we knew) we had to do: When I returned my rented piano back to the piano store, they refunded to me the sizable deposit I had put down (less rent and moving fee) — in cash, in Chinese rmb. Foreign nationals are only allowed to purchase a limited number of US dollars in exchange for Chinese currency per day — $500 to be precise. Of course, as currency controls typically are, this rule is quite porous, as it is enforced by recording your passport number at the exchanging bank — and no place else. The rule therefore actually applies only per bank per day. You can simply trot from one bank to the next, changing the equivalent of $500 in rmb at a time at each, all on the same day, and nobody says boo.
As the deposit was a little more than twice the limit, I had to find two banks nearby that do foreign exchange, and I would be set. I had good hopes for the bank down on the ground floor of our apartment building, but a sign on the door advised that, sadly, foreign exchange prestidigation is beyond the powers of those within, and would you please visit their more capable branch (about a mile away). On the way there, I passed two other banks that would do the exchanges, and about an hour later I had 10 crisp $100 bills, and about 70 fewer not-so-crisp 100¥ notes. If it hadn't been so cold and windy, it could have actually been a pleasant time that I had doing this.
Banks in China all work the same, which is to say, the same in the main, but completely differently in the finer details. On entering the bank you need to get a number. Without a number you will never interact with a teller. The thing is, each bank has a completely different scheme for sorting its customers out. You don't want just any number, but a number in the range of numbers for whatever it is that you want to do. Nobody beats the Chinese for inventive schemes for sorting things by type.
The first bank I went to was easy. There was a machine with around 10 different buttons labeled in Chinese and English. I got a number for "international cash transaction" and settled in for what proved to be 20 minute wait, and a further 20 minutes later, was ready to go find another bank. The second bank was harder. A similar machine, yes, but only three buttons, and only one had any English on it. That one simply said "VIP." While I was pondering, things were taken out of my hands, as another patron reached around from behind me, pressed the VIP button, and handed me the ticket produced, and then kind of pushed me out of his way for having his own go at the machine. I felt more "important" after that. With my VIP ticket, the wait was only 5 minutes. The exchange still took 20 minutes.
At both banks, much paper had to be produced, everything in multiple copies, and stamped, multiple times with multiple different stamps, and shifted from place to place before it was all over. At the first bank, some of the pieces of paper, I am not kidding, was actually folded into charming little origamis so that it would fit into the pigeonholes of the ancient desk the teller was manning. Astonishing really, when you realize that all of what was on each of those sheets of paper got there as the result of using some pretty cutting-edge high tech gear, including, at the first bank, a lightning-fast scanner that made pictures of everything to do with the transaction from my passport, to the exchange invoice, to the little pile of 100¥ notes I was exchanging. Nobody but me actually wrote by hand on any of those pieces of paper. One wonders what future lies in store for those pieces of paper, so carefully produced, stamped, and distributed?
After returning home to our apartment from my banking excursion, and thawing out a bit, it was time to tackle the next chore we knew we had to do: to arrange for two suitcases, one with winter weight clothes, the other with my music, to travel back to the states. You see, we are going home from Shanghai (average daily high temperatures this week in the low 30s F) to San Diego (average daily high temperatures this week in the high 60s F) via various countries in Indochina (average daily high temperatures this week in the 90s F). So methinks we won't need our woolly sweaters and other cold weather garb during our week in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, or immediately on return, and we will surely enjoy our travels more with less baggage to shift.
Knowing what you want to do and why doesn't make it any easier, though, when you need help to do it, and the help has to come from someone who may work for a multinational corporation, but may nonetheless not speak much English. So began the web searches, the phone calls, the taxi trips to office branches that weren't really much help, or to others that are simply no longer there (because the entire office tower they were in is in renovations, a common occurrence in Shanghai these days).
After much exploration, we narrowed things down to two options: use one of the firms that claim to make the arrangements for you (but use FedEx themselves), or make the arrangements with FedEx yourself. It eventually turned out the leading firm who will do things for you — called Luggage Forward — is unable to arrange international service with less than 4 business days lead time. Of course their web site clearly states "same-day pick-up is available" if you call a number in the Boston area code. That number isn't staffed during hours convenient to China, though, and by the time I actually connected with a person there, I was given the bad news that we didn't have enough lead time. So, I obtained the number for the FedEx China "hotline." After a few calls I connected with a very nice man who was very helpful, and even told me that our shipment qualified for a 25% discount from the standard rate. Unfortunately, they are completely and totally unable to take an order for a pick-up with more than 1 business day of lead time. So yesterday the best he could do for me was to promise to save all my details and promise to call me back today to finalize the order, which he just did. Whew!
Just one thing, though. You'd think if you're dealing with FedEx it would be possible to make the payment by credit card. Not so. When the pick-up occurs next Monday afternoon, they will take our payment in cash in Chinese rmb. So about half the cash I changed to US dollars yesterday will have to be changed back. Of course, changing US dollars into Chinese rmb is much easier than the opposite and can be done even at the front desk down in the lobby of our apartment building.
14 December 2009
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
What a relief!
I woke up this morning thinking that it was Wednesday, but it's only Tuesday! There's a lot to be done before we can leave Shanghai, and we'll need every day we've got. I just got back from this morning's errand — getting a set of passport sized photos made. (When we leave Shanghai, we don't go home right away, we're going to Laos and Cambodia for a week of traveling first, and each of those countries requires you to present passport photos to get the visa that you get at the airport on entry.) Such a simple thing, you'd think, getting a set of passport photos made. I went onto the shanghaiexpat.com web site I've grown to rely on when seeking advice, and found there that many of the Shanghai subway stations have little bright orange booths that are just for the purpose of making sets of ID photos. Then I remembered seeing one right at our own local subway stop, so I set off there. Ordinarily this would be the end of the story, or actually, this is where there would have been no story. But this is China after all. I tried pressing all manner of buttons in the little orange booth but it seemed to be dead. It turned out that power to the booth has been cut temporarily, because there is a construction project in the station. But I was lucky. The station porter saw me attempting to make the booth work, and he found the station security guard — who speaks a few words of halting English — to explain to me about the power cut. It also turned out that there was a working booth very nearby, and his powers of explanation and mine of understanding him were just equal to the task of him conveying to me just where it was and how I could get there. The second booth was actually nicer than the first, or was supposed to have been. It promised to have a mode where it would present its interface in English. No such luck, at least I couldn't coax it into that mode, no matter what I tried. Still, the interface showed helpful pictures at each point where you had to make choices, and I believe I ended up with exactly what I needed — a set of four passport sized photos. All in all, a good morning.
I wouldn't say that Sunday evening's concert was a disappointment exactly, but it was uneven. Shaham, of course, played beautifully. It was the Sejong ensemble who were good in some things, not so good in others. As my violinist friend put it, there did not appear to be "a Latin bone" present on the stage, so it's perhaps understandable that they really didn't seem to "get" the Golijov piece, which begins with a tango movement full of anxiety and segues into a very subdued slow movement. The Mendelssohn octet was better, with Shaham taking the starring role of the first first violin. But the best performances by far came in the Haydn violin concerto. This is an early work of Haydn's from the 1760's. We tend to think of Haydn as one of those who reacted against baroque music and struggled to invent what would become the classical style. This work is not in that vein, and looks backward rather than forward. The violin soloist is set against a simple string ensemble plus keyboard continuo. Much as I enjoyed hearing this, it was somewhat jarring that the continuo part was played on an electronic piano using its "harpsichord button." One supposes that a real harpsichord was simply not obtainable in Shanghai for the occasion.
I woke up this morning thinking that it was Wednesday, but it's only Tuesday! There's a lot to be done before we can leave Shanghai, and we'll need every day we've got. I just got back from this morning's errand — getting a set of passport sized photos made. (When we leave Shanghai, we don't go home right away, we're going to Laos and Cambodia for a week of traveling first, and each of those countries requires you to present passport photos to get the visa that you get at the airport on entry.) Such a simple thing, you'd think, getting a set of passport photos made. I went onto the shanghaiexpat.com web site I've grown to rely on when seeking advice, and found there that many of the Shanghai subway stations have little bright orange booths that are just for the purpose of making sets of ID photos. Then I remembered seeing one right at our own local subway stop, so I set off there. Ordinarily this would be the end of the story, or actually, this is where there would have been no story. But this is China after all. I tried pressing all manner of buttons in the little orange booth but it seemed to be dead. It turned out that power to the booth has been cut temporarily, because there is a construction project in the station. But I was lucky. The station porter saw me attempting to make the booth work, and he found the station security guard — who speaks a few words of halting English — to explain to me about the power cut. It also turned out that there was a working booth very nearby, and his powers of explanation and mine of understanding him were just equal to the task of him conveying to me just where it was and how I could get there. The second booth was actually nicer than the first, or was supposed to have been. It promised to have a mode where it would present its interface in English. No such luck, at least I couldn't coax it into that mode, no matter what I tried. Still, the interface showed helpful pictures at each point where you had to make choices, and I believe I ended up with exactly what I needed — a set of four passport sized photos. All in all, a good morning.
I wouldn't say that Sunday evening's concert was a disappointment exactly, but it was uneven. Shaham, of course, played beautifully. It was the Sejong ensemble who were good in some things, not so good in others. As my violinist friend put it, there did not appear to be "a Latin bone" present on the stage, so it's perhaps understandable that they really didn't seem to "get" the Golijov piece, which begins with a tango movement full of anxiety and segues into a very subdued slow movement. The Mendelssohn octet was better, with Shaham taking the starring role of the first first violin. But the best performances by far came in the Haydn violin concerto. This is an early work of Haydn's from the 1760's. We tend to think of Haydn as one of those who reacted against baroque music and struggled to invent what would become the classical style. This work is not in that vein, and looks backward rather than forward. The violin soloist is set against a simple string ensemble plus keyboard continuo. Much as I enjoyed hearing this, it was somewhat jarring that the continuo part was played on an electronic piano using its "harpsichord button." One supposes that a real harpsichord was simply not obtainable in Shanghai for the occasion.
12 December 2009
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Our Shanghai music season officially closes today.
We have tickets this evening for one more concert in Shanghai: Israeli-American violinist Gil Shaham is appearing with the very international string ensemble Sejong (its members come from nine different countries: Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the United States) at the Shanghai Concert Hall. We're going along with my violinist friend. The program is supposed to be:
J.S. Bach: Violin Partita No.3 in E Major, BWV1006
I had a really great time on Friday.
My violinist friend here is also a teacher here, at a school for expatriate children. She directs the arts program at the school, and Friday was the Winter Concert for the middle and high school age students. She had a 6th grade kid, a violin student, who wanted to play at the concert but needed an accompanist, and I was happy to volunteer. He was really very good! We played one of Charles Dancla's Air and Variations — this one on a theme by Pacini. Very 19th century indeed!
The concert included 12 acts in total — everything from the String Orchestra (mostly beginners) playing "Theme from the Planets (Jupiter)" by Gustav Holst, to the Choir (all girls) singing "Can I Have This Dance" from High School Musical, to the Rock Band (all boys) doing "With Me" by Sum 41. What fun! There's video of this available. Because of privacy concerns, I can't post a public link here, but will be happy to share it with you individually; if you would like to see the video just add a comment on this post.
After the school concert, we went to see the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe's "Huangpu Sensation" show at the Shanghai Center Theatre. This was really cool. If you're ever in Shanghai, be sure to check whether this troupe has a show on while you're there, and go see it if they do. They did some really incredible acrobatic routines, including one where the performers take a running start and dive through very small hoops attached to a table, doing somersaults either right before going through the hoop or right after. Another routine (shown in the picture) involves a duo who perform up in the air suspended by a pair of silk cloths. You may have seen acrobatic shows before, but this troupe's offering is a notch up, for sure. They are constantly inventing new routines, so when you go, you'll probably see different ones than we did.
We have tickets this evening for one more concert in Shanghai: Israeli-American violinist Gil Shaham is appearing with the very international string ensemble Sejong (its members come from nine different countries: Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the United States) at the Shanghai Concert Hall. We're going along with my violinist friend. The program is supposed to be:
J.S. Bach: Violin Partita No.3 in E Major, BWV1006
Golijov: Last Round for String Orchestra
Haydn: Violin Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Hob. VIIa-4
Mendelssohn: Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20
Haydn: Violin Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Hob. VIIa-4
Mendelssohn: Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20
We are especially looking forward to the Mendelssohn. Both Miles and I fell in love with this work when it was played by one of the ensembles at AlpenKammerMusik last summer. If you're not familiar with Mendelssohn's output, just know that this being his Opus 20 means that he wrote it when he was 16! Of course, we only heard the first movement at AlpenKammerMusik. It will be a pleasure to hear the complete work.
I had a really great time on Friday.
My violinist friend here is also a teacher here, at a school for expatriate children. She directs the arts program at the school, and Friday was the Winter Concert for the middle and high school age students. She had a 6th grade kid, a violin student, who wanted to play at the concert but needed an accompanist, and I was happy to volunteer. He was really very good! We played one of Charles Dancla's Air and Variations — this one on a theme by Pacini. Very 19th century indeed!
The concert included 12 acts in total — everything from the String Orchestra (mostly beginners) playing "Theme from the Planets (Jupiter)" by Gustav Holst, to the Choir (all girls) singing "Can I Have This Dance" from High School Musical, to the Rock Band (all boys) doing "With Me" by Sum 41. What fun! There's video of this available. Because of privacy concerns, I can't post a public link here, but will be happy to share it with you individually; if you would like to see the video just add a comment on this post.
After the school concert, we went to see the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe's "Huangpu Sensation" show at the Shanghai Center Theatre. This was really cool. If you're ever in Shanghai, be sure to check whether this troupe has a show on while you're there, and go see it if they do. They did some really incredible acrobatic routines, including one where the performers take a running start and dive through very small hoops attached to a table, doing somersaults either right before going through the hoop or right after. Another routine (shown in the picture) involves a duo who perform up in the air suspended by a pair of silk cloths. You may have seen acrobatic shows before, but this troupe's offering is a notch up, for sure. They are constantly inventing new routines, so when you go, you'll probably see different ones than we did.
07 December 2009
Monday, 7 December 2009
Shanghai has a whole museum devoted to urban planning.
And it's really cool. We went there yesterday.
To begin with this is the building it's in:
Inside, there is a scale model of that part of Shanghai that lies within the so-called Middle Ring Road. The model is just amazing. It's so big, you simply can't take a picture of the whole thing. But I did take several pictures, each one focusing on a part. I thought you might have wanted to see the building that the Carrefour department store (where we go for food shopping) is in, so I have a picture of that. And there is a picture of our apartment building as well. Oh, and another of the China Pavilion of the Expo Site. Go here for those pictures.
I haven't really written anything about H1N1 in China. Maybe I should.
You've probably heard about the measures that the Chinese government has taken to protect its population against H1N1. I have seen some of these measures in action. Today for instance, I was going to one of the Shanghai schools for expatriates' children — doing some volunteer work in the form of serving as an accompanist to a student for his upcoming winter recital — and as I entered the gate to the school grounds, the guard used a device to take my temperature, and directed me to "wash" my hands with some germ-killing gel (this was not a "suggestion"). If I'd been running any fever at all, I would not have gotten in. Not only that. I would, in all likelihood, have been taken directly to an H1N1 testing station and have spent some time in some form of quarantine, while tests were done to see whether I had H1N1 or not. As another example, the Wash Bakery I've written about in previous posts has for a couple of weeks now posted signs stating that the handles of all the doors, as well as the trash can used by patrons who consume pastries on the premises, are disinfected once an hour.
China has produced its own H1N1 vaccine and innoculated upwards of 26 million people with it. You may have seen a headline that four people have died after receiving the innoculation. However, the deaths of three of those four have proved to be coincidental and unrelated to the vaccine. The fourth case is still being investigated. A few thousand of those receiving the vaccine have had some form of adverse reaction (fever, swelling, etc.). That's actually not a bad outcome, as these things go. The real problem is a shortage of the vaccine — there's only enough for some 7% of the population.
China has also produced an official public health awareness cartoon about H1N1. We've seen it on the planes we've taken inside China. It's kind of entertaining, but also kind of spooky. The characters in it are all pigs. If you're a kid, they just look cute. The messages are all the usual ones about washing your hands, covering your nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing, and even staying home if you're sick.
The jury is still out on whether all these measures were necessary, whether they have worked, or, indeed, whether any sort of measures could ever really have kept H1N1 out of China completely. China has taken some hard knocks in the press. They've run the risk of looking paranoid, xenophobic, or both. But some at the UN have said that it appears that the measures, intrusive and uncomfortable as they may be, seem to have helped. For example, they mave have bought enough time to get the vaccine developed.
Meanwhile ordinary citizens have responded to the H1N1 situation much as they always do, I suppose. They try things that can't possibly help, and don't do enough of the things we all know work. So, for example, there are reports that the price of garlic has been driven up, way up, actually, presumably because people are consuming it to try to avoid getting H1N1. (Read more about this here.)
You also see people wearing surgical masks in ordinary public places (i.e. not in operating rooms). Now people have actually done that here for a long time I'm told, and in all of Asia, not just in China. I do think there are more masks in use due to the H1N1 situation, though. Of course, people should be using the real surgical-quality 12-ply cotton masks that actually can prevent the spread of disease — and they should be using them once only, and disposing of the used masks properly afterward. Which is not the case. Especially not in Shanghai, where these masks have morphed into fashion statements. Many of the masks you see are clearly knitted or crocheted. They come in pastel "ice cream flavor" colors, stripes, plaids. I saw a woman on the subway today (this is what actually reminded me to write about this today) that was wearing a leopard pattern mask! Clearly these masks are not being thrown away after one wearing. They are probably being washed in cold water.
We in the west are not used to seeing people — other than surgeons and nurses — wearing surgical masks, so this calls for some "decoding." It's not tremendously common, just common enough to take note of. So, whatever motivates the act, it's not a universal condition, it's something particular. What could that something be? Are the people sporting these masks especially paranoid people who cannot bear to breathe other people's air without filtering it first? Or are they just people who might have "a little something" and are taking care not to spread it? One kind of hopes it is the latter rather than the former. But if it is the latter, why don't they simply stay home until they are better again, which is what public health recommendations always advise?
And it's really cool. We went there yesterday.
To begin with this is the building it's in:
Inside, there is a scale model of that part of Shanghai that lies within the so-called Middle Ring Road. The model is just amazing. It's so big, you simply can't take a picture of the whole thing. But I did take several pictures, each one focusing on a part. I thought you might have wanted to see the building that the Carrefour department store (where we go for food shopping) is in, so I have a picture of that. And there is a picture of our apartment building as well. Oh, and another of the China Pavilion of the Expo Site. Go here for those pictures.
I haven't really written anything about H1N1 in China. Maybe I should.
You've probably heard about the measures that the Chinese government has taken to protect its population against H1N1. I have seen some of these measures in action. Today for instance, I was going to one of the Shanghai schools for expatriates' children — doing some volunteer work in the form of serving as an accompanist to a student for his upcoming winter recital — and as I entered the gate to the school grounds, the guard used a device to take my temperature, and directed me to "wash" my hands with some germ-killing gel (this was not a "suggestion"). If I'd been running any fever at all, I would not have gotten in. Not only that. I would, in all likelihood, have been taken directly to an H1N1 testing station and have spent some time in some form of quarantine, while tests were done to see whether I had H1N1 or not. As another example, the Wash Bakery I've written about in previous posts has for a couple of weeks now posted signs stating that the handles of all the doors, as well as the trash can used by patrons who consume pastries on the premises, are disinfected once an hour.
China has produced its own H1N1 vaccine and innoculated upwards of 26 million people with it. You may have seen a headline that four people have died after receiving the innoculation. However, the deaths of three of those four have proved to be coincidental and unrelated to the vaccine. The fourth case is still being investigated. A few thousand of those receiving the vaccine have had some form of adverse reaction (fever, swelling, etc.). That's actually not a bad outcome, as these things go. The real problem is a shortage of the vaccine — there's only enough for some 7% of the population.
China has also produced an official public health awareness cartoon about H1N1. We've seen it on the planes we've taken inside China. It's kind of entertaining, but also kind of spooky. The characters in it are all pigs. If you're a kid, they just look cute. The messages are all the usual ones about washing your hands, covering your nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing, and even staying home if you're sick.
The jury is still out on whether all these measures were necessary, whether they have worked, or, indeed, whether any sort of measures could ever really have kept H1N1 out of China completely. China has taken some hard knocks in the press. They've run the risk of looking paranoid, xenophobic, or both. But some at the UN have said that it appears that the measures, intrusive and uncomfortable as they may be, seem to have helped. For example, they mave have bought enough time to get the vaccine developed.
Meanwhile ordinary citizens have responded to the H1N1 situation much as they always do, I suppose. They try things that can't possibly help, and don't do enough of the things we all know work. So, for example, there are reports that the price of garlic has been driven up, way up, actually, presumably because people are consuming it to try to avoid getting H1N1. (Read more about this here.)
You also see people wearing surgical masks in ordinary public places (i.e. not in operating rooms). Now people have actually done that here for a long time I'm told, and in all of Asia, not just in China. I do think there are more masks in use due to the H1N1 situation, though. Of course, people should be using the real surgical-quality 12-ply cotton masks that actually can prevent the spread of disease — and they should be using them once only, and disposing of the used masks properly afterward. Which is not the case. Especially not in Shanghai, where these masks have morphed into fashion statements. Many of the masks you see are clearly knitted or crocheted. They come in pastel "ice cream flavor" colors, stripes, plaids. I saw a woman on the subway today (this is what actually reminded me to write about this today) that was wearing a leopard pattern mask! Clearly these masks are not being thrown away after one wearing. They are probably being washed in cold water.
We in the west are not used to seeing people — other than surgeons and nurses — wearing surgical masks, so this calls for some "decoding." It's not tremendously common, just common enough to take note of. So, whatever motivates the act, it's not a universal condition, it's something particular. What could that something be? Are the people sporting these masks especially paranoid people who cannot bear to breathe other people's air without filtering it first? Or are they just people who might have "a little something" and are taking care not to spread it? One kind of hopes it is the latter rather than the former. But if it is the latter, why don't they simply stay home until they are better again, which is what public health recommendations always advise?
04 December 2009
Saturday, 5 December 2009
It's starting to look like Christmas!
I guess.
We're starting to see Christmas decorations all over the place in Shanghai, especially, but not exclusively, in neighborhoods and districts with lots of expatriates. I'm not too sure how much the locals get into the whole Christmas thing. The decorations seem mostly to be an exterior feature, but that may actually only reflect the interiors I've happened to be in. For the locals, it's probably mostly something they do for the kids. They're starting to do Hallowe'en as well, and for the same reason. Both Autumn Festival (around an autumn full moon) and Lunar New Year (generally sometime in January) are probably much bigger holidays for the more traditional Chinese.
Personally, I'm finding it difficult to get into the whole Christmas thing this year. This is the first year I can remember that we won't be sending out our usual flock of Holiday cards. Put it down to "technical difficulties." It's just too hard even to think about doing that from here. We may get a select few out via email. This weekend, I'm going to have to knuckle down and get on-line to do the small amount of Christmas shopping I'm going to do this year, but it all feels weird somehow, like I'm doing it from one of those control rooms where you manipulate things using mechanical hands. I can't really explain it. Other signs of the coming of winter are surely evident. Wonderfully sweet seedless Satsuma tangerines and navel oranges are in place in the fruit markets just as they should be by now. It's not very cold at the moment, but it sure has been — and we've even already had our first dusting of snow. But still something seems to be missing that is a vital Christmastime ingredient.
Maybe we should go back to that restaurant — Vegetarian Lifestyle I think it was — that was playing that tape of Christmas carol favorites back in September!
My Sonatina is finished.
I have no earthly idea why, but the third movement came out as a Tango. It started out as something quite different, perhaps more of a Tangle. Somewhere along the line, it inexorably morphed into something very insistently syncopated. I really just put it away for a day at that point. When I came back to it, I had to accept it, like it or not, it was a Tango that all my work had wrought to that point. It was easier to finish it from that point of view, although, I'm not sure I've truly accepted this whole Tango thing yet. Anyhow here it is.
In fact, here, in one place, for your convenience, is the whole set of links to my Shanghai work.
There's so much to do in the next two weeks as we prepare to leave Shanghai that I probably won't get to any more composition. Sad thought that, but I did at least get the opportunity to do a bit of work here — more than I've had time for, for several years!
I guess.
We're starting to see Christmas decorations all over the place in Shanghai, especially, but not exclusively, in neighborhoods and districts with lots of expatriates. I'm not too sure how much the locals get into the whole Christmas thing. The decorations seem mostly to be an exterior feature, but that may actually only reflect the interiors I've happened to be in. For the locals, it's probably mostly something they do for the kids. They're starting to do Hallowe'en as well, and for the same reason. Both Autumn Festival (around an autumn full moon) and Lunar New Year (generally sometime in January) are probably much bigger holidays for the more traditional Chinese.
Personally, I'm finding it difficult to get into the whole Christmas thing this year. This is the first year I can remember that we won't be sending out our usual flock of Holiday cards. Put it down to "technical difficulties." It's just too hard even to think about doing that from here. We may get a select few out via email. This weekend, I'm going to have to knuckle down and get on-line to do the small amount of Christmas shopping I'm going to do this year, but it all feels weird somehow, like I'm doing it from one of those control rooms where you manipulate things using mechanical hands. I can't really explain it. Other signs of the coming of winter are surely evident. Wonderfully sweet seedless Satsuma tangerines and navel oranges are in place in the fruit markets just as they should be by now. It's not very cold at the moment, but it sure has been — and we've even already had our first dusting of snow. But still something seems to be missing that is a vital Christmastime ingredient.
Maybe we should go back to that restaurant — Vegetarian Lifestyle I think it was — that was playing that tape of Christmas carol favorites back in September!
My Sonatina is finished.
I have no earthly idea why, but the third movement came out as a Tango. It started out as something quite different, perhaps more of a Tangle. Somewhere along the line, it inexorably morphed into something very insistently syncopated. I really just put it away for a day at that point. When I came back to it, I had to accept it, like it or not, it was a Tango that all my work had wrought to that point. It was easier to finish it from that point of view, although, I'm not sure I've truly accepted this whole Tango thing yet. Anyhow here it is.
In fact, here, in one place, for your convenience, is the whole set of links to my Shanghai work.
There's so much to do in the next two weeks as we prepare to leave Shanghai that I probably won't get to any more composition. Sad thought that, but I did at least get the opportunity to do a bit of work here — more than I've had time for, for several years!
| Composition | Link to .m4a File (for iTunes) | Link to .mid File (for QuickTime) |
|---|---|---|
| Prelude, September 22-23, 2009 | link | link |
| Barcarolle, September-October, 2009 | link | link |
| Prelude, November 10-16, 2009 | link | link |
| Sonatina, November-December, 2009, I. Allegro | link | link |
| Sonatina, November-December, 2009, II. Chaconne | link | link |
| Sonatina, November-December, 2009, III. Tango | link | link |
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