Kunming Panorama

 

Having fun with these panorama "stitched" photos at the moment. The first one is Kunming downtown, and the other is a few blocks from my apartment. Good light after the rain while the sun is setting.

Hangzhou and Shanghai

Probably the highlight of our recent China trip was our last day spent in Hangzhou, exploring West Lake and surrounds. This thousand year old lake is one of the most famous tourist attractions in China and is surrounded by lovely landscaped gardens, pathways, bridges, pagodas and temples. And as the photos shows, the lake is right next to a prosperous city of 4 million plus people. It was created from a lagoon in the 8th century, and gradually beautified and developed over the next centuries. When Marco Polo visited in the 13th century he remarked that Hangzhou was one of the finest and most splendid cities in the world. (And when you visit you will be reminded of this fact many times). As China's fortunes lagged in recent centuries it wasn't so well kept, however over the past decade it has been restored to the pristine state we experienced it in. From what we saw, one of the many signs of China's wealth is the impeccable state of their tourist attractions, another example being this temple below.

On one side of West Lake is the bustling city, and the other rolling hills and tea plantations, and the occasional temple like this one. I've never visited a city where you can go from busy downtown to tranquil countryside in a matter of minutes. It makes for a great tourist destination.

Shanghai was great too, such an interesting combination of old traditions and modern development. One of the most intriguing experiences we had was wandering through this gathering of people on a Saturday afternoon in People's Park in central Shanghai. There must have been about a thousand people there all with the one goal in mind, to find a spouse for their son or daughter. My friend had told me about these match-making events but I had no idea that it would be on this scale.

It seems that each parent comes with an A4 sheet of paper like these, detailing the essential characteristics of their child, so you can just browse the sheets of information until you find one that looks like a good match. The atmosphere was very convivial. I did wonder if some people just came for the social aspect, or as with real estate and the way people visit open houses, some were not seriously looking, just generally interested in the market.

China bound

Later this week we will head to Shanghai and some nearby cities.

This is my favourite photo from a trip to southern China we did a couple of years ago. It captured a very sweet moment involving this little girl. We were walking the cobbled streets of this quiet old town near Yangshuo. It was mid winter, as evidenced by her puffy quilted jacket and boots. I remember this way of dressing well, some of the children were so tiny and so puffed out with quilted layers, they looked like little Michelin men.

It was so cold and the streets were deserted as we approached her house. We heard the reprimanding tones of a mother from within, and then saw the little girl scurrying out of the house with a mischievous look. There were some more cries from inside, but she chose to ignore them as she tucked into her corn cob with relish, and looked away wistfully into the distance. 

I think small moments like these are one of the best things about travelling, and may be the things that stay with you years later. I hope to have some more next week.

Happy Teacher's Day

Today is every Vietnamese Teacher's favourite day of the year. They may receive flowers, as this earnest young lady in the poster is, from the little outstretched arms in the foreground. Or they may receive other gifts and cards expressing sincere gratitude and best wishes, and will most likely be contacted by some of their former students. Actually, this day used to be a holiday for all teachers, they would just stay at home and old students would visit to pay their respects. These days, it's a day of celebration held at the school.

On this day Vietnamese students always extend their kindness and hospitality to foreign teachers too. As I'm not teaching here anymore, it was a little sad not to be involved in any of the celebrations this year, though I did receive some messages from my old students. 

The importance of this day is indicative of the deep respect for this profession in Vietnam. It is a shame though that this reverence could not be reflected in higher salaries. They earn around $100 dollars a month; hundreds of thousands earn less than this in Vietnam, but compared to other professions it is low, so they commonly supplement their income by privately tutoring students after school. Thus, many teachers end up working long hours, and the average class size is about fifty students.

They certainly deserve a day to be honoured!

Cafe Culture

As I’ve noted before in this blog, cafes or ‘coffee shops’ as they’re often called here, are very popular for Vietnamese of all walks of life. Students – of which there are many, with over half the population under 30 – like to go in big groups and sit on a fruit shake for an hour or five. Well – heeled types come to the more expensive ones in District 1 to pose and play with their latest hi-tech accessory. And anyone with a laptop likes to take advantage of the free wifi, which is pretty much a given these days. Hanging out in cafes is high on the list of freetime activities here in Saigon. They are generally quite big, often covering multiple levels, and those aimed at the younger generation have flashy interiors and loud techno/dance music. But there are a few places that are starting to do their own thing.

The ‘Hi End’ Café has 3 branches around central Saigon. The name may conjure images of something sleek and luxe, but this café is far from that. It’s a study in cream, beige and brown. The tables are covered with what look like old pieces of checked picnic rug. In the evening the lights are turned right down and each table is candle lit. It might sound a little drab, but what is distinctive about this place is not what can be seen. It’s that each of the Hi End cafés has a hand made sound system, which with its assortment of valves, speakers etc. takes up most of the back wall….

As can be deduced from my inadequate description above, I’m not someone who has ever put too much thought into the technicalities of sound systems. I would probably not care too much about this feature of this café, that is, if I had not experienced its effect. This contraption produces a purring, warm, velvety sound, which along with the low lighting and somewhat log cabin-ish interiors creates a unique and very intimate atmosphere. And the choice of music is befitting of the retro stylings of the sound system. They play a selection of jazz, folk, and various crooners and balladeers, mostly from at least 30 or so years ago. Nothing anywhere near abrasive, just smooth sounds, at the perfect volume to set the mood but not distract. No wonder there were so many canoodling young couples here. If you’re like the average young Vietnamese person, living in a small house with extended family and very little personal space, I could see why you’d be lingering here with your darling.

We follow the signs to the ‘Princess and the Pea’ café, down a quiet alley in District 1, into a nondescript building and up four levels. Before the final flight of stairs to its entrance, shelves of footwear indicate that shoes are to be removed. It’s the first sign that the Princess and the Pea is fairytale theme meets Zen simplicity. We enter a space not much bigger than a living room. There are no chairs, just thin square cushions and low tables. It feels a bit dark and sombre, but then I start to notice the details. The drink coasters are squares of floral printed cord, and the same fabric is used on the lamp shades, which are not actually attached to lamps. To accommodate the modest space, the “lamps” are 2 dimensional wood fashioned to look like a 3 dimensional lamp, and attached to the wall with a light bulb behind them. Surplus mini size cushions are stowed away in the tiny tables. A more literal tribute to the fairytale is found at the end of the room; a dozen child size mattresses piled up with a bamboo ladder resting against them. And embedded into each table is a photo of a somewhat androgenous looking figure, crashed out on the pile of matresses, with wild hair and limbs akimbo. There are also tasteful fairytale themed prints on the purple walls.

I suspect the pint-sized waitress may be playing a role in the fairytale too. Her manner of serving us is gentle and respectful, but she doesn’t say a word and keeps her distance, like an obedient servant.  And she is dressed in a floral printed peasant style dress (which I notice is the same fabric as the curtains). Overall this cafe has a restrained vibe, but with sweet and whimsical flourishes too. I admire the person who has used a small space so cleverly and to such good effect.

These cafes are unique and inspiring, and successful, given the full tables when we visited. It’s refreshing to see something different. And as I wander around central Saigon, seeing other new hand painted signs leading down alleys and up narrow staircases, there maybe a few more to come.

Rain, Bikes and the Bitexco Tower

A few months ago, I wasn’t so happy with was going on weather-wise in Saigon, but now with the rainy season set in, I have nothing to complain about. Something I read the other day calculated that it rains 2 out of 3 days during this season in southern Vietnam, and that does sound about right to me. Though that would be more of an average, because sometimes you can have a week without it or 10 days of showers every day.

Most often, the clouds build in the mid afternoon and it rains at about 4, or the sky may tease for longer and it won’t rain until the evening. It’s amazing how fast the clouds can build, the sky darken and threaten, but then it’s all over without a drop of rain. Though it might not rain where you are, if you’re lucky to have a big sky vantage point you’ll see that another district is getting dumped on. I do love the rain that is a thorough dumping, bouncing off all surfaces and making everything glimmer.

When it’s not raining the cloud cover drops the temperature a few degrees, so I also find it to be good bike riding weather, which has become a regular weekend activity these days; sometimes heading out to a certain destination or others just in a general direction with an unexplored district in mind. But then intriguing alleys may lead to detours and you never know where you might end up or what you might see along the way. It’s a good way of finding new local restaurants, tucked away pagodas, crumbling colonial buildings that are surely not long for this world, markets and shopping streets specialising in a certain obscure product.

Of course the traffic can be a little overwhelming, but also negotiating your way through it can be strangely meditative, if you’re in the right mood. It can also be irritating, which is why I’m only heading out on the weekends. I think that if I was riding during weekday peak hour and putting up with Saigon traffic shenanigans every day, this activity would lose its appeal.

My vehicle of choice is the trusty and ever popular Martin 107 bicycle. Ridden by all types in Vietnam, from monks, to construction workers, to school children, the young and old. The standard product comes with a basket and gears are unheard of, which is fine. Saigon, on the edge of the Mekong delta flood plane, is hill-less and rarely very windy.

Actually, I’d never thought that much about the lack of wind here, but when I read someone else mentioning this, I thought about all my leisurely bike riding and realised that it was true. What I was reading was an article about the construction of the near complete 68 floor Bitexco Financial Tower. You cannot miss this new construction in Saigon, as it’s about double the height of the previous tallest building. It soars hundreds of metres beyond anything else, very impressive but also sticking out like a big, somewhat lonely, sore thumb at the moment. In the article the architect was addressing concerns over the safety of it’s unusual jutting out helipad, positioned adjacent rather than on top of the building, and he cited Saigon’s lack of wind as a reason to have no fear that any helicopter was going to go veering off and chopping its way through the building.

The other reason I like bike riding in Saigon is because I can meander and explore without getting lost. Sure, I might not  know exactly where I am for a while, but if I keep riding I’ll come across one of the main roads after not too long. And if that doesn’t work, all I need to do is locate the Bitexco tower and head in its general direction to find my way home.

Ha Noi

The celebrations in Ha Noi have got me thinking about Vietnam's northern capital, a place of lakes and literature, where the people are seen as more conservative than their cousins in the south.

I like this photo of these old timers having a chat by Hoan Kiem lake. This lake is right in the centre of town, next to the famous old quarter. Although it draws many tourists, you'll still see the older folk of Ha Noi there, comtemplating the water or taking some gentle exercise. I always wonder what they think of all that's happened in Vietnam in their lifetime. The stories they could tell.

Unsurprisingly, given Vietnam's history, the differences between north and south and thus Hanoi and Saigon are quite pronounced. A southerner may not always have the nicest things to say about his compatriots in the north, and vice versa. There's a simmering rivalry, and if you wanted to take part in this and endear yourself to a southerner, there are a number of things you could say about Hanoi. You could say the food is too salty and that you prefer the south's sweet flavours, or that the people aren't as friendly or that the weather is miserable. 

But are these things true? The differences in the food are fairly universally acknowledged. And Ha Noi is known for being grey and drizzly for a few too many months of the year. And the people? Well, Ha Noi is the capital of this communist country. It's cooler and perhaps you could say its culture is more Chinese influenced. Although Chinese traditions are fundamental to  Kinh Vietnamese throughout the country, the south has also been influenced by various and shifting cultures such as the Khmer and Cham. 

There is a difference in culture because of differences in history, and I have had experiences in Ha Noi where I would agree completely with the southern view of the north, but maybe that's just my own prejudices from being so much more familiar with Saigon. In Ha Noi, I'm a tourist in a place that I feel like I know because it's Vietnam, but then am often frustrated to find that I don't. In Saigon, well, even after four years, some days I still feel like a tourist, but at least I know my way around.