4/24/07
32° 9.41N
133° 2.73E

Well hello! I am now back on the ship and am traveling between China and Japan. We only have two days at sea, and I have way too much work to get done. For the first time this entire voyage, I could actually use another day at sea. What has gotten into me?

China was incredible. Our first stop was the initial port-of-call: Hong Kong. Hong Kong was an amazingly modern and developed city. Enormous skyscrapers dominated the skyline, quick and efficient subways traversed the city, and ships filled the world’s third busiest port. Hong Kong was also very Western. Although Cantonese was the official language, most people spoke English and nearly every written piece used both languages. My great friend, Alan, is studying abroad in the city, so he took us through the bustling markets and complex city streets. As you may have read in the news, piracy is a major area of contention in China today. Well, Hong Kong is no exception. Fake watches, DVDs, handbags, sunglasses, shoes, and many other goods could be found on every street corner. During my stay, I also had the opportunity to meet with a lady named Elsy, who was a Vice President at Lehman Brothers’ Hong Kong office. Elsy informed me on the development of China, the involvement of international finance, and the influence of the United States. After two days of living the Hong Kong life, several friends and I caught an early morning flight to Shanghai via Dragon Air.

Shanghai is the Hong Kong of mainland China. Although, it is younger, less developed, more polluted, and growing like a weed. After leaving the airport, we hopped on a 431 km/hr Maglev train that took us into the city. We were literally passing cars on the highway like they were standing still, and yet we were still accelerating through a 45° turn. Upon arrival, I immediately knew we were in a foreign country when the English language vanished. Suddenly we were lost. Even if I don’t know the language, I can usually decipher the meaning of most words written with Latin characters. Not Mandarin Chinese. Luckily for us, I have a friend, Adam, who is living in Shanghai and working for an American company. We spent the next two days taking in the culture, struggling with the language barrier, getting lost in a city of a mere 12 million, and eating some incredible Chinese food. One evening we ate dinner at tiny, family-run street stall. Adam’s local favorite. A sizable bowl of noodles with meat and tasty broth cost us a whopping $0.50 USD. Really breaking the bank! Another fascinating thing we did was our trip to the top of the current tallest building in Shanghai where the club Cloud Nine is located. This experience really gave me a perspective of Shanghai’s development. High above the bustling city, we were chatting in a swanky club with overpriced drinks. Right next to us was one of the world’s tallest telecommunication towers and next to it the construction of the tallest building in the world (China couldn’t give that honor to Taiwan). I would be willing to bet that if I returned to Shanghai in five years, I wouldn’t even recognize it.

Our final stop was Beijing, where we hiked the Great Wall of China and explored Tiananmen Square. The Great Wall was breathtaking. It is impossible to describe the experience in words. Thousands of tourists flooded the ancient wall that seemed to dance through the hills stretching as far as the eye could see. Tiananmen Square was also very moving. Being at the heart of Beijing’s political structure, I could certainly feel the presence of communism. Not to mention, I was standing in the vary place where “Tank Man” essentially brought the 1989 massacres to a halt. It’s hard to imagine that was less than 20 years ago.

Because I spent so much time traveling through China, I only had a couple of hours in Qingdao before I had to catch the ship for departure. My first impression of Qingdao?…depressing. Qingdao exemplifies what I think of as communism. Quiet, depressing, slow, oppressed and almost surreal. We were told by someone familiar with the city that many Qingdao citizens don’t even know about the Beijing events of 1989. I guess that’s what happens when the government sensors everything…including Google!

We port in Kobe, Japan tomorrow morning where I will be catching a bullet train to Tokyo for a couple of days. Check back in a week for details of my last port stay. I can’t believe this is coming to an end so fast!

Cheers,

Mike