Lonely Planet

Travelling by yourself in a foreign country can be challenging sometimes. When you add the fact that you do not speak their language, and they do not speak yours, the often taken for granted task of getting from point A to point B can seem daunting.

Self-admittedly, I am no expert backpacker. Yes, I have done kindergarten level backpacking (backpacking through Europe), where everyone speaks English. Words to the wise, those that do not speak English really do, but just do not want to admit it for pouty nationalistic pride (damn FROGs). For the extreme minority that truly do not know English, most likely they know the essentials (time, greetings, etc).

I would definitely put a healthy wager on the fact that if I ask a European who does not speak English "what time is it," the European probably would know how to say "8:30 am" or whatever time it may be. So on the scale of backpacking difficulty, Europe gets the ABC's/123's of kindergarten.

Panama and West Africa were definitely harder than Europe. Specifically, travelling West Africa alone was one of the toughest journeys I have had to make. I still remember arriving at the capital of the Afram Plains by boat (because there is no road that connects this area of Ghana with the rest of the region). There were only dirt roads and no running water. In my hotel bedroom that night, I counted roughly 50 different kinds of spiders on the wall and bed of the hotel room. I think I probably slept with a few new species that night given the seemingly limitless varitey. The bucket showers were tolerable. The 50 spiders crawling over you while you slept was an adventure. Needless to say, I got in and out of there as quick as my research would allow me to.

I am a firm believer that there are times to complain, and times to go with the flow of things. If I found even 10 different kinds of spiders in my apartment in Manhattan, most likely all my friends would have heard about it. However, put myself in a different situation, like in Ghana, I will just roll with it.

I chaulk this split personality up to helping my parents around the house. I guess being 13 and knee-deep in septic waste trying to figure why the leech field is not decomposing last week's dinner has some hidden fiberous pyschological benefits. The list of similar less-than-pleasant memories of my youth could go on, but I think you have the point.

With this blue-collar do-it-yourself indoctrination, my brother and I also developed a penchant for the arts, science, classical music, five star restaurants, and at one time musicals and operas - mainly my brother got to fly with Papa to London to go see Cats and the like in the late 80s/early 90s. I was left behind to learn piano scales and cause general mischief for my mom. All in all, it was a pretty well rounded upbringing. I definitely did not grow complaining about my shoulder or back pain when I did something physical around the house. But, back to the point.

The biggest issue in China is the language barrier. When I say no one speaks English, I mean 98 out of 100 people do not have even the slightest idea of how to say a few English words. Where I'd throw down a good chunk of change on people in Europe telling me what time it is, I would hestitate to do the same in China. When I posed this question to someone I met in Shanghai, the man looked at me as if I was infecting him with scabies or something. The blank stare of fear and confusion seems to be popular response. On top of that, most signs are in Chinese although the main ones for streets and such have English translations below. Trying to figure where and how to get somewhere is much like a game of craps, and no you cannot just play the pass line. If only I knew a little Chinese.

Outside of the language issue. Travelling alone through China is a backpacker's dream. Everything in China runs like clockwork. Trains arrive on time, everything is immaculately clean, the country so far has been really safe, and friendliness is an understatement to what I experienced from Chinese people my first night in Shanghai.

I make a left onto East Beijing road from Xiangxi road. After that phenomenal meal of peanuts and bread on the plane, I look for some local food. The dimly lit street leaves only the outline of a person standing on the sidewalk. I think she is waiting for a bus. I walk past her a few steps. I am a little shy at first. I think to myself, "Well, you will never get anywhere without trying."

"Excuse me, do you speak English?"

She smiles and looks at her feet a little embarrased. "Yes, a little."

"Do you know where I can get some xiaolongbau?"

"What?" she responds with that classic blank stare.

"xiao--long--bao" I repeat.

"Oh, xiaolongbao!" She smiles again. "There is no xiaolongbao here. You need to go..."

At this point she changes into Chinese. I give her the stare of confusion back. "How about some local food? I want to eat some local Shanghai food."

She knods with understanding. "You come follow me." I smile but I also wonder, 'but I don't want you to miss your bus. What should I do? I would hate to have this girl wait another hour to catch her bus home.' I reluctantly follow believing she knows what she is doing.

We enter a restaurant I would never have gone to without her reassurance this was the place to order local food. For those of you who have been to San Diego or any US-Mexico bordertown, picture a Mexican hole-in-the-wall restuarant with only locals. She says, "you like soup?"

"Yes!" By this time I could eat anything. That dry airline bread for lunch just could not cut it. She sits with me as I eat. The soup consisted of wontons in beef broth. The meat was cooked with ginger, parsley, a hint of local spices and what I think were scallions or green onions. She says, "very good yes?"

I knod with enthusiasm. It was amazing food. She gets up from the table. "I have to go meet my friend."

"Xie xie," (thank you) and I smile. I finish my meal while staring at the kitchen. I grab my backpack and look outside. She just happens to be walking outside near the entrance. At that moment she yells, "Bye bye, nice to meet you." I smile and think about how friendly everyone in China is.

Shanghai

"What did you say?" The flight attendent looks at me puzzled. I point to the tray and smile. Next thing I know I get a roll of bread and salted peanuts. But wait, where's the main course?

"Oh she was asking whether I wanted beef or chicken," I thought to myself. By this time she's five rows behind me. Despondent over my lack of Mandarin language skills, I eat the stale bread and salted peanuts. "Well I guess I can eat when I get off the plane."

I just arrived in Shanghai. When my friends said mainland China and the SAR Hong Kong were different, they were definitely not joking. Literally no one speaks English here. After my numerous attempts to communicate with the flight attendant, I realize this is just a taste of what I will most likely experience for the next 17 days. However, with that said, I will hopefully be able to pick up a few words here or there. Essentials would have to be "hello, thank you, toilet." Luckily, I have two of the three down. The other, well, lets just hope I learn that one before I need to use the porcelin god.

I'm at a hostel in Shanghai's Bund district. It is nice. Pine beds, clean sheets, random Europeans and Chinese. The conditions are btter than most hostels in Europe I would say. It's just about time for me to round up some pork soup dumplings "xiaolongbao". Shanghai is known for it's "xiaolongbao." If it's better than the dumplings I've had in new york, I'll be in Chinese food heaven. After experiencing the tasty local food in Hong Kong, I'm looking forward to the famous local xiaolongbao. I'll be sure to take a few pictures/videos of it if you have never tried it. And, if you have tried it in the States, it better have been in San Fran or New York because Chinese food anywhere else is, quite frankly, not real Chinese.

I hope to update this blog frequently, but videos will have to wait until I'm back in HK.

Video: Hong Kong

Here are a few highlights from the week. Big ups to Hong Kong's finest, Mr. Andy Lau for his rockin' music.

Blogs

Randomly came across this while checking what's up in the U.S. these days.

Apparently there is a positive correlation between blogs and recessions (see the New York Times op-ed from Adam Cohen), or so one could assume. Economists and economics in general seems to be in demand given the crisis.

Sign of the times

I saw this sign in Tsim Sha Tsui (TST). It's an area of Hong Kong with shopping and lots of Indian watch sellers (no joke). Every block there's some guy asking whether I need a fake timex, rolex, tag heuer or Armani suit. Just in case you can't read it, the sign says "Global Recession, Crazy Sale, Up to 80% off".

For the non-economists (most my finance/economist friends know this already), the crisis has definitely hit Asia pretty hard. I guess all those people who thought East Asia would not be affected by the crisis were wrong. The Chinese government says that due to the size of China, China needs to grow above 8% in order to maintain positive growth (as in still being able to pull Chinese citizens out of poverty). 8% seems a little high for me. Regardless, most economists do not see that happening this year, even with China's attempts at curbing the loss of manufacturing jobs with public works spending.

I think if China's economy was in a later stage of development (maybe 20 years from now), with a strong level of domestic demand for goods and services similar to the United States (which will happen soon although China's marginal propensity to save will naturally be higher than the US), this global contagion would not have hit Asia too hard. As an export led industry focused on US consumption, most Asian countries are getting hit really hard. In Japan alone, exports are down 45%. Korea, China and all Asian countries are in a similar shape.

Like I wrote a few weeks ago, it's easy to divert to economic nationalism when things go south. However, if we see higher trade barriers in countries, the short answer is this global recession will be prolonged. This flat world could soon be rigid once again.

As for me, I'm looking forward to riding out this severe L-shaped recession in law school. It's probably the best time to go to school (if you have ever thought about going back and your job is insecure, I'd throw a few applications out). I can probably name 12 of my friends who are unemployed and actively seeking a job. There is just nothing available.

The 20-30 somethings are getting hit the hardest, which is natural when you think about it. I mean, if the totem pole needs to be shortened, most likely you start from the ugly bottom, not the intricate top where all the intellectual experience-capital is.

However riding out the recession in school is a double-edged sword too. For me, application rates to law schools are at the highest rates in decades. More applications means more competitive applicants, which means I'm pretty "f - ed." It's just plain harder to get into a good law school now than at any point in the last 30 years. And most analysts have raw data to back that statement up. It's something to think about, and it's definitely really frustrating.

Video: First Day in Asia. Hong Kong arrival

Still getting used to this small camera, sorry for the instability issues. I hope you guys like it!

Roger Cohen's latest piece

If you missed the last article Roger Cohen wrote. Here it is.

It's a follow-up on the piece I posted a week ago.