Road Trip to Wuxi

25 May 2008

Of course, the BIG news out of China is the earthquake in Sichuan Province.  The Old Codger is happy to report that when the quake hit, he didn't spill a single drop of beer.  Now, that is skill.  Actually, in all honesty, here in Nantong felt any tremors from the earthquake at all.  That is a bit surprising considering the close proximity of Nantong to Shanghai and that tremors were felt as far south as Bangkok.  The first anyone here in Nantong knew about the earthquake was from the news.

The Old Codger expects that he will be seeing some of the damage there in a month or so as he was, and still is, planning on a trip over to Chengdu over the summer vacation to see the infamous Pandas.  After all, if one is in China, one must see the Pandas.  They have, from reports, something like 147 Pandas there.  Need to get in and out before all the Olympic Tourists start invading the country.  At least those that are coming and not protesting something about China.  Those that are protesting probably don't want to see any Pandas, or possibly won't be able to as their visas will probably be revoked and they will be deported fairly quickly for some reason or another.

School is almost out here - and students are all making plans for their summer holiday.  This being China, and all things being equal, of course no one knows for sure when the last day of school will be.  Things can, and do, change from day to day here. 

The Old Codger asked the school when they would have the contracts ready to sign today, and was told that everyone is really very busy this week.  "You know the earthquake?"  Being a perennial smart ass, the urge was to say "No, I don't know the earthquake" but the better part of valor prevailed.  The urge was try to find out what impact the earthquake 2,000 km away was having on the University here in Nantong, but there are some things that one does not really need to know here in China.  Of course, next week the excuse will be that everyone is busy because the Olympic Torch is coming through the campus on the afternoon of the 22nd.  There are some exchange students here from Washington State University.  Wonder if they have any plans? 

In one class today, the discussion of what people would be doing over the summer holiday came up, and one of the girls asked The Old Codger if he would like to come and visit her in her home.

OC:  If I were to come visit you, your mother would probably try to cut my throat.

Student:  Oh no.  Family happy foreigner come to visit and stay with them.  Foreigner very good for family. (Meaning, if a foreigner comes to visit there is some status for the family.)

OC:  Your father would probably try to kill me too. 

Student:  No. My family give you very good hospitalization.  You be very happy with hospitalization we give you.

OC:  No thank you.  I do not want any hospitalization during the summer holiday.

Student:  It be very good time for you.  I can show you many things and be very good at hospitalization.

OC:  OK.  Now for our vocabulary lesson for the day... There is a big difference between hospitalization and hospitality...

In other news:  The Old Codger can now be found on a bumper sticker...

Would be nice if they had spelled "damn" correct, but...

And other news:  In The Old Codger's former life he was the owner of a company that chased after deadbeat parents and both literally and figuratively, forced them to pay child support.  Now, most people that The Old Codger has run across thought that was an honorable and even respectable profession to be involved in.  Given that we live in a diverse world, there of course some people who have no kind words to say about that particular profession.  Those who are opposed to that profession seem to also be members of various men's rights groups who all seem to hold the belief that all men are victims of feminists.  Anyway, The Old Codger has been called out of retirement to write a weekly hour about child support collections and the private industry for a men's rights blog - www.glennsacks.com   He always was good at creating controversies. 

A few weeks ago, the University offered The Old Codger a trip to Wuxi (Woo-she) which is known as "Little Shanghai" due to its massive economic development,  The problem is that they didn't really give much of an indication of the purpose of the trip - other than a 'week-end trip with everything paid for by the University.'  Naturally, all four people invited for this trip thought that it would be a good time.  Little did we know... 

Departure time was at 7:30 AM on Friday morning.  Wuxi is in Jiangsu Province, about a three hour drive from Nantong.  After about a half hour on the road, all traffic was stopped, so we waited for about an hour alongside the highway waiting for it to open again.  The Old Codger is starting to feel a bit paranoid about taking trips about this time given that the last trip also experienced an unanticipated delay.

Wuxi has a history of over 3,000 years.  When it was first found, it had tremendous tin deposits and was originally called Youxi, (Yow-she) which in Mandarin means "Has Tin."  When the tin was depleted from mining about 25 A.D. it became Wuxi, which in Chinese means "No Tin."

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Wuxi was an agricultural center possessing a significant national rice market.  Over the years, Wuxi then became a textile center, and into the early 20th century, both heavy and light industry came into existence.  Today, the city’s GDP is ranked 9th among all 659 Chinese cities and at the second in Jiangsu Province, even stronger than the provincial capital, Nanjing.

Today, Wuxi is recognized as the "Most Aspiring City of Prosperity and Civilization in the Southeast of China," and is a city with thriving economy and frequent exchanges with the 'outside' world.

Upon arriving in Wuxi, we quickly discovered that the week end trip was not going to be just fun and games.  In fact, the fun and games would be limited quite severely.  The "trip" was being sponsored by the Huishan District Foreign Affairs and Reception Office for Visiting Foreign Experts and Teachers. Ah yes, the Chinese are extremely good at coming up with lengthy titles for anything and everything, which in this case would be equivalent to the "Chamber of Commerce."  Yes.  The trip was a bit of a propaganda tour.

The first stop on the tour, complete with 4 large tour buses, as there were others from other Universities and schools in Jiangsu Province attending the "week end of fun," was the Huishan Hi-tech Innovation Service Center.  Outside this impressive looking building was also an impressive looking sign that said something about the building being an Incubation Research and Development Center.  The only thing Hi-Tech that we saw there was a theatre and stage where we hear a 45 minute Chamber of Commerce type of introduction to Wuxi.  Yes, everyone seemed to be thrilled and excited. 

After that it was off to a luncheon at the Ramada Plaza Wuxi.  The lunch was buffet style and primarily western style food.  To say that the food was exceptional and plentiful would be an understatement.  This meal proved to be the highlight of the trip. 

After lunch, a visit to the Huishan District Rehabilitation Center for Physically and Mentally Challenged Persons.  This was a fairly new facility with all the bells and whistles that one would expect for such a facility.  The outside recreation area ground was well padded to ensure minimal injuries if someone fell.  Inside was a gym, rehabilitation facilities, library, other recreational facilities such as pool tables, ping pong tables and foosball.  Individual rooms for clients / patients were also there.  The only noticeable thing missing was physically and mentally challenged people, aside from those of us taking the tour. 

After this enlightening tour, the next stop was Xishan (Shu-shan) Senior High School.  There, we were to engage in "communications between teachers and students, observe a (sic) English lesson and watching students' performances."

This was probably the highlight of the trip.  This school, like most in China is a boarding school for what could be considered to be gifted students.  The school campus rivaled any University campus that I have seen here in China. 

Being that this is, indeed, China, we did not "engage in any communications with teachers" nor "observe an English lesson and watch students' performances."  However, given that we were given one or two students to act as guides around the campus, we could interact with those students.  The tour wasn't really all that spectacular as about all that we were looking at was buildings and statute busts of people that the student guides assured me were famous Chinese philosophers, scholars or "I don't know" genres. 

After the "building looking at tour" was completed, we were ushered into a large theater which was pretty much state of the art.  There we were to watch some different performances by students which included dance, musical instruments (traditional Chinese as well as piano and violin), singing, and a short play based on The Sound of Music.  Entertaining?  Yes.  Spectacular?  Possibly.  A long hour and a half?  Without a doubt.

The Old Codger took a few pictures - which will be posted on the web site a bit later, when time and ambition permits. 

After that, it was to the hotel - The Wuxi International Hotel - for dinner.  Nothing spectacular about either.  The hotel was probably in the mid-range price - probably around 300 Yuan per night, based on double occupancy.  It has been years since The Old Codger shared a hotel room with anyone of the same sex, so that was a bit different, and not exactly welcomed. 

After dinner, we discovered that the night life in Wuxi is basically non-existent.  Alternatively, we were looking in all the wrong places.  As a result, everyone called it quits about 10:00, which on a Friday night, was totally unacceptable to all.

Saturday turned out to be pretty much of a wash out due to wind and rain.  Suited everyone fine, as we were all ready to return to Nantong  which, until visiting Wuxi held the "boring city" title. 

The Old Codger has now been invited to attend the annual Zhang Jian Conference next month.  Zhang Jian is considered to be the founder of Nantong and he basically started the industrial revolution in China.  At least, that is what is promoted at the local museum in his honor.  At times it is difficult to determine who did what and when in China.  This conference is another "out of town" trip, all expenses paid - which before Wuxi The Old Codger would have given some serious consideration to.  However, having checked with a participant from last year, it is possible that The Old Codger will pass on this particular venue.  According to the source, the entire conference except for one or two brief speeches is all conduct in Chinese.  Reckon it may be a bit of a status symbol for the University to provide some foreign teachers for this conference. 

Another reason to be apprehensive about it is that The Old Codger was told that he would have to give a speech at the conference.  The exact wording of what he was told is:

Moreover, as usual, candidates should submit an essay to the meeting, but Professor Wang said that you! (sic) do not have to hand in ,only have to have a short prepared speeched (sic) tanslated (sic) by me before the meeting.

Naturally, enquiring minds would want to know what the speech should be about, and what the definition of "short" is.  The response was confusing:

All what you will speek (sic) will be prepared by us, and your speech will within about 10 minutes. So never worry about that.

The Old Codger can't quite figure it out yet, but for some reason he sees some warning flags fluttering in the distance...  It is amazing how one can feel a case of food poisoning coming on 20 days or so before it actually hits.
 

That's about it for this time around.  Later on today the Olympic Torch will be carried through the campus here in Nantong.  The Old Codger will try to get some pictures and will probably have a story to tell about it all, since this is, after all, China.  Nothing is easy or simple in China. 

Click Here for the Olympic Torch Relay Page
 

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