ChinaTeacher

Let me tell you about my weekend.  Our university organized its Annual Outing for Foreign Teachers.  This year we travelled to Wuyi in Jinhua District, 3 hrs. from Hangzhou.  We visited a really wonderful ancient town (people still live there, so it’s not just for show!).

Then after dinner we went to Wuyi’s famous Qing Hot Springs Resort.  Now, get all ideas of a ‘natural hot spring’ OUT of your head!  The Chinese have built a massive complex on top of hot springs.  When we arrived, there were tons of people in the lobby.  I said if the pools are crowded, I’m not staying!  Well, after a quick change and shower, we entered the Hot Springs Room, an immense space featuring 3 large hot tubs, adjoining a massive pool hosting many different gadgets where one can enjoy surging jets of water (ie there are some ‘water loungers’ that you lay on (immersed in the pool itself).  You simply press a button and jets of water pulse into your body at key massage points - wonderful!

Then we heard about a pool where small fish nibble at the dead skin on your body! Had to check that out!  It was freezing outside that evening, but we managed to find the Fish Pool after meandering our way around many ‘individual hot tubs’ mostly in use by couples.  At night this can become a very romantic place indeed!  Once in the Fish Pool, we had to be quiet and not move so the fish could come and check us out.  Every time a newcomer arrived, we would yell at them to be careful not to hit our legs (where the fish were doing their thing!) upon entering the pool.  It was a pretty cool feeling, I have to admit!

Later on, I sought out the Massage area.  They have a very extensive menu of massages, I heard.  Well, finding the area was not easy. Bear in mind that I can’t read Mandarin.  There was no English signage any where in this facility.  So all I could do was point to my shoulders and say the word “amoi” meaning massage.  People kept pointing down one hallway after the other.  I must have walked for at least 15 minutes (past the cafeteria, the internet bar, massage chair room, another restaurant, computer game room, TV room) before I finally located the right place.  What I was looking for turned out to be simply a young fellow with a clipboard, standing in the middle of the hallway.  Once you decide on a massage, it’s his job to find the appropriate masseuse and room (there are many rooms I found out!).  But there was one more glitch.  I was wearing a wet bathing suit and a terrycloth robe (provided by the resort).  Turns out that I need some special ‘massage clothes’ also provided by the resort).  My poor masseuse grimaced and took off to find me some clothes that would fit (yes, he looted the men’s locker room!).  Once correctly clothed, my back/shoulder massage began.  And believe me, it was entirely worth all the effort it took to find this place! 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at this Hot Springs Spa Resort, despite all the people.  It’s really so amazingly large, with so many different rooms, that you honestly don’t notice how many people are there.  We spent 2.5 hours there; I could easily have stayed 4 hours, with no effort at all.  Highly recommended!

The next day (Sunday) we went to a beautiful place in Wuyi called Red Rock Mountain - a beautiful, serene countryside with really spectacular red rock mountains.  I should point out that it was an outstandingly gorgeous weekend - cold, blue skies and sunshine and fresh air … Best of all, no pollution!

All in all, a great weekend getaway!  CHECK OUT MY PHOTOS!

OBSERVATIONS

Went shopping at my local supermarket yesterday - I was shocked to observe some staffers culling through fresh eggs,‘tossing’ the cracked ones into a rubbish bin!  There were at least a hundred broken eggs in there!  Now, this is what I don’t understand:  nearby, cooks were preparing various food items which require EGGS!  Now, why wouldn’t the store have the women put the cracked eggs ‘carefully’ into a container and then pass them over to the cooks!  Such an incredible waste!  I could see by the looks on many local shoppers’ faces that they were thinking the very same thing!  Another big “WHY” in my books! 

Here in Hangzhou, modernization is barreling along at an incredible pace – we have import cars on our roads, construction has begun on our first subway line, luxury products are advertised in many shop windows – but still a large portion of the population is barely living a ‘hand to mouth’ existence.  Such wasteful disposal of those eggs is simply beyond my comprehension.  And I now realize this goes on every single store, and probably not only in my local supermarket!

You know, this country is well known for its lack of ‘safety precautions’ and ‘quality construction’.  Evidence of that was the terrible earthquake earlier this year in Western China. My own city, Hangzhou, recently faced a disaster of its own.  We are in the midst of building our first subway system.  Now, this will be of fantastic benefit to our city and its people, but my fears about safety are well founded. 

Last week, during construction a section of subway tunnel collapsed, trapping many workers underground, killing at least 8.  Rescuers said there was no chance of survival for 13 more workers still trapped in the tunnel.  The cave-in originally trapped at least 50 workers and engulfed 11 vehicles.  Questions have been raised about the perceived lack of safety at the site.  The sad thing about this incident is that apparently there were warning signs more than a month ago when cracks appeared on the road surface, and the roadbed near the construction site had sunk.  Admittedly, the construction company did notice these problems and to remedy it, decided to pave the roadbed and insert steel rods – I wonder if their efforts actually contributed to the collapse! 

Many of the victims were farmers from nearby provinces, who receive no construction or safety training before they start work on such projects.  Before coming to Hangzhou to work on our subway, I am told that most were planting wheat at home.  And these are the same workers who build Hangzhou’s skyscrapers! 

Here’s another example of the lack of safety precautions in China:  A friend of mine, from the U.S., is general manager of a company in Hangzhou.  When he first arrived to take up his job as General Manager, he was appalled to see that the factory workers wore no safety goggles and, instead of steel-toe boots, were wearing leather shoes, , runners, with some even wearing slippers!  His managers balked at having to buy the needed goggles and boots, stating the cost would be too high.  My friend said, “the cost to our workers’ health and safety is too high – buy them now”!

In a country as over-populated as China is, people’s health and safety continues to come last, with profit and position being the only consideration.  It’s a tough place for migrant workers to find safe, steady jobs with good incomes.

JANUARY HOLIDAY

I’ve been trying to plan my January holiday, with little success.  I had originally planned to travel to India for a month – well check out the news – I guess India is out now.  So, maybe instead I should go back to Thailand for a second visit – I really enjoyed it there.  Oops, demonstrators have taken over Bangkok International Airport, and violence is sure to follow – I guess Thailand is out too.  I don’t want to lie on a beach, so I guess I will stay in China and head out to one of my favourite destinations: Yangshuo (Guilin).  It is a very laid-back town tucked away in Guanxi Province, completely surrounded by the Karst Mountains that are so characteristic in Chinese paintings.  I’m going to ‘chill out’, do some Tai-Chi, learn how to play Mahjong, try my hand at Chinese painting, take long walks into the countryside and enjoy some great ‘western food’.  Many of Yangshuo’s cafes also do double duty as used bookstores, so I will be in my ‘element’!  And, I’ll save some cash, a definite Plus!