My China Adventure Travelogue

This was another great movie by director Zhang Yimou.  

This film is based in 1930's gangster underworld, and spans 7 days.

  

It is centered around the life of a young man, 14 yr old Shuisheng, who just recently moved to Shanghai from the country to get a job with his uncle.  Little did he know what he was getting into.  On his first day, he witnesses a murder over an opium delivery.  His uncle works for the major crime boss of Shanghai, "Boss" Tang.  "Boss" has a mistress, Jinbao,  who is now Shuisheng's duty to wait upon, as he is now her personal servant.  Wherever she goes, he goes.

Mistress is having an affair with Boss' right-hand man, Song.  It ends abruptly, the night before Boss and his men are attacked by Boss' rival, Fat Yu.  Among the men killed by Fat Yu's men, are Shuiseng's uncle, Liu.  Boss was stabbed during the battle.  

The next night, Boss and a few of his men, including Mistress and Shuisheng, are brought to a remote island where they can hide, and Boss can recuperate from his injuries.  There are only 2 other people living on the island.

Mistress befriends the peasant woman who lives on the island with her 9 yr old daughter, Ajiao.  Every time someone sees the child, they comment on how beautiful she is, and how she looks like Mistress when she was young.  Mistress unwittingly butts into the peasant Cuihao's life, mostly out of boredom, and causes destruction.  One night, she wonders over to Cuihao's hut, and sees her in bed with a man who had snuck onto the island at night to be with her.  When she jokes about it to Boss, he has his men kill the man, because his orders were that no one enters or leaves the island without his permission.  He blames Mistress for the death when she confronts him about it.

By the 7th day of Shuisheng's adventures in Shanghai, he witnesses a mahjong game between Boss, Mistress, Zheng (bosses other man), and Song.  Boss admits to having known the entire time that Song was working for Fat Yu, and having an affair with Mistress.  He has had  Song followed, and planned this night for months.  He admits he was never actually wounded.

Boss kills Song, and tells Mistress he is going to kill her, too.  She asks him to leave the little girl Ajiao alone, and he tells her no.  He plans on killing her mother, and bringing the little girl to Shanghai to raise as the next Mistress.

When Shuisheng tries to stop him, he gets strung upside down on the boat, and the last scene is of the little girl telling Boss that she wants to be just like Mistress.  It was sad that the whole cycle would repeat itself.

One thing I did not like about this movie (and Raise the Red Lantern) is that it's the men who put the women in horrible situations, but it's the women who get blamed for the horrible things that happen.

A movie with a message. This was a great film.

I can't believe the huge gap between poor and rich. Even after having traveled through China, I had no idea how crazy it could get.

Here is a 13 yr old girl, Wei Minzhi, who has been chosen to be the substitute teacher for a school in a small village in the mountains. Of course, the children will not listen to her, especially the young prankster, Zhang Huike.

Minzhi is told by the teacher before he leaves that she is not to lose one more student. If one student leaves while she is in charge, he will not pay her as much money. The only problem is that the mayor comes one day to take away a little girl to bring her to a sport school in the city. She tries to hide her so she can't leave, but it doesn't work.

Shortly after, Zhang Huike is missing from class. Minzhi finds out that he has gone to the city to help his sick mother pay off the debt she owes after his father has died.

Now that's 2 children who have left her class, and Minzhi starts to panic. She goes to the mayor to ask him for his help, but there's nothing he can do. She decides to ask the children for help getting into the city to search for Zhang Huike, but the children have no money. One of the children tell her about the factory in town, and how they can earn money by moving bricks. They all run over to the factory and start moving bricks, the manager takes pity on them and gives her money, but it's not enough.

Minzhi hitchhikes a ride to the city and begins her search. She is there for days, searching for Zhang, who became lost on his first day. After a few failed attempts at finding him, Minzhi goes to the nearest TV station to try to get on air. She is there for a day and a half asking for the station manager when she is finally let in, and goes on a TV program beseeching Zhang Huike to return to her. When he sees her tear streaked face begging him to come back, he does.

The TV crew follow Minzhi and Zhang on the way back to their village, in the car, during their interview, the reporter asks Zhang what he will always remember about the city. He pauses, and says, very seriously, the he "will always remember having to beg for food."
Many people have donated money and school supplies after having seen the TV program Minzhi was on. It turned out to be a happy ending.

At the end of the movie, the director gives us facts, saying that millions of children drop out of school each year, and only about 15% can return, thanks to donations.

"Light The Red Lantern"

  

This film is about a young woman, Songlian, a former student, who decides to become a rich man's 4th concubine.  She feels that she has no other choice, since her stepmother wants to get rid of her after her father's death, and she has no way of paying for school.

As soon as she moves in to her new quarter, she meets open hostility from some of the other women.  

The only friend she has is 2nd Mistress (or does she?)  3rd Mistress treats her unfairly from the start, and 1st Mistress really wants nothing to do with any of them.

The Master of the house has a long family tradition that dictates that red lanterns will be lit in the quarter of the woman whom he is going to spend the night with.  Everyday, each woman has to wait by the entranceof their quarter in the courtyard to see which one of them will be chosen.  Talk about cruel competition.  If that's not bad enough, to make the women even more jealous, only the one with red lanterns gets a foot massage.  After not getting a foot massage after having one for many days (as the new mistress) Songlian actually begins to crave it.  She plots a way to make sure that she will have a foot massage every night, by pretending to be pregnant.

When Songlian isn't dealing with pettiness from 3rd Mistress, she also has to deal with a jealous, vindictive maid.  The maid is jealous of 4th Mistress because she had delusions of being a Mistress because of the affair she is having with the Master.  Yang, the maid, hates 4th Mistress so much that she tells 2nd Mistress that she has had her period, which angers the Master so much that he covers her lanterns.  This means that he will not be lighting the lanterns for a very long time.

It turns out the 2nd Mistress was really a woman with "a buddha face, but the heart of a scorpion".  The whole time she was pretending to be friendly with Songlian, she was really plotting against her, as she was with 3rd Mistress.   3rd Mistress may have been mean to Songlian at first, but really she is the only nice one there.

On a day when she was not chosen, Songlian begins to explore the house.  On the farthest and highest roof she sees a locked room and wonders what is inside.  She finds out that that room was used for hanging women of past generations.

Everything about this house is slowly changing Songlian.  One day she gets drunk because she is depressed about causing the maid's death (in a fit of rage and vengeance) and about having her lanterns covered.  She mistakingly tells 2nd Mistress a secret about 3rd Mistress that causes the Master to "send her away" (to the room-top room).

In the end, Songlian looses her mind.

I found it interesting that the Master's face was never clearly seen.  He is almost seen when he is in the bed of Songlian, but the camera only ever focuses on the women.  They are the main focus of the film.  The face of the man is unimportant.  Because in actuality, it didn't matter which man it was who they were bound to, they would have had the same problems if they had married any other rich man.

3/23/09

We had a few hours before we had to meet up (at 12) to get on the bus for Shanghai International Airport. We decided to head back to the market areas surrounding the hotel. These were basically just alleyways with people's shops on each side of the street. They were selling all kinds of things, and since we all had Chinese money we had to get rid of, we bought the last of our souvenirs. I wound up buying a shirt for my mom, which said was an XXL, but was really more like a large/medium. Oh well, I guess I have another shirt.

I got to finish off the last of my rolls of film, and bought a cute knock-off purse.

Then we went on another 14 hr flight, and then another 2 hr flight, then 1 hr bus ride.

But we made it home! I don't think I'm going to be eating Chinese food for about a month!

3/22/09

It's Sunday. We all basically have a free day. Larry took a few of us over to Nan Jing Rd. where there is a bunch of shops (the theme for this journey.) I wasn't looking for anything fancy though, these shops mostly consisted of high-end stores and malls (basically stores you couldn't bargain in.)
We decided to go back to the hotel and explore the little market next door.

That was really cool! We discovered that behind the buildings construction there was a pet market. You could find a number of different kinds of animals for sale. There were giant crickets in cages, meal worms in boxes, turtles and birds and cats and dogs...etc. We all got a lot of great pictures at this market.

We then went back to the hotel for some needed personal leisure time before dinner.

After dinner we went back to Xin Tian Di.

3/21/09

Today we went to the Jade Buddha Temple. We were only allowed to take photos of the wooden statues, but I understand why they don't want photos of the Jade, out of respect.  

They are beautiful statues, and it was a beautiful Temple.  It was lucky (even though it was raining) that it was a buddhist holiday.  So while at the temple we saw people praying.  

After the temple, we went over near Yu Yuan Garden. After grabbing a quick lunch, we took a tour of the garden. Wow, that was amazing. It's hard to believe that that huge area (almost like a small city) was the home of one man and his family.

After the tour, we went shopping in the market around the garden. Let's just say that was an adventure in itself. There was a lot of people, and a lot of vendors yelling, and a lot of people staring at us.

Later that night, we went to the Bund (water). After walking for about an hour (following Dr. Searson) and not finding a good bar, we wound up going back to Xin Tian Di. My new favorite mixed drink is a lychee martini, which we had at one of bars over there. It was fun.

3/20/09

Today we had a couple of hours before we had to get back on the bus. After check-out, I wandered around Hangzhou with Lindsey and Neil. We went to Pizza Hut for lunch (probably the fanciest Pizza Hut I've ever seen.) Then we found an alley that held a market, mostly for the locals. Even though we felt a little out of place, it was a cool experience walking down there.

We had another 3 hr. bus ride back to Shanghai, and this time we got to stay there.

We went straight to the restaurant for dinner, then made it over to our hotel, The Magnificent (yeah, right.)

We found our way over to the bar area, Xin Tian Di. There we found one long street with a bunch of bars along it. After bar hopping a little, we made our way back.

3/19/09

Today the Media and Film Department went out only. This time the education group got a free day.

We went first to the Zhejiang University of Media and Communications. It was an amazing campus. I think it made every single one of us (including the Professors) jealous of how fancy their campus and equipment is.





After the tour, the students met with some students of the university while the professors went to a meeting with the Party Chair. Everyone was really nice. We had lunch there. We exchanged emails with some of the students. I hope they actually email me soon. It was nice getting to know them.



After the university, we went over to the Zhejiang Television Station International Channel. We met with the anchors and head of the station. Angela (real name HaoHao) and William were kind enough to give us a tour of all the facilities. We got to see many things on the tour. They have some amazing equipment there.

We had dinner at the station.

We decided to walk back to the hotel. Which was probably a bad idea in hindsight, because on the way back we stopped in nearly every store. Unfortunately, I was unable to find anything that fit me.


When we finally made it back to the hotel, a few of us met up and decided to go out and do some karaoke. That was a lot of fun, even though I'm not a karaoke person. I figured though, hey, I'm in China. I actually sang a few songs, which is something I would never normally do. It was fun.

3/18/09

Plane ride to Shanghai! As soon as we got there though, we hopped on a bus and drove 3 hours to Hangzhou (pronounce Han-jo). We got to Hangzhou near dusk, so when we went to go look at beautiful and famous West Lake, it was too dark for many pictures. It was kind of cool though to have all those bats flying over head, eating all the bugs over the lake. Daniel told us a very famous tale about the West Lake and the White Snake Myth.

3/17/09 (St. Patty's day in Xi'an)

Woke up really early today. Had to take a plane ride from Beijing to Xi'an.

We went to go see the Terracotta Warriors of the first Quin emperor of China (this was the same guy who had the Great Wall built, who knew!)

I have to say that this was pretty cool. You can see where the warriors and horses were dug up, and see the archeologists in the process of rebuilding some. It's amazing to think that these statues survived the centuries, especially since they are made of clay. Did you know that apparently every single statue is subtly different?


After dinner, we went out around the town. It's amazing to see that part of the city is inside the only completed city wall in that province, the Shanxi province. Our hotel was inside. According to our guide, 7 million people reside outside of the wall, and only 1 million are on the inside. We took a short walk to the outskirts.

After that we decided to take a taxi (crazy drivers!) to a street with a bunch of bars running along it. Had a couple of drinks and some laughs, and danced a little, too. Had to cut it short, though, because we had another early day ahead.

3/16/09

Everyone in the film department had a free morning.  The rest of our group is in education, and they went to go visit a school today.  We went downtown and did some shopping (well, not all of us made it, some were a little too "tired" from the night before, and their sundry sleepwalking adventures).

While searching for a convenience-type store, Caryn and I somehow managed to get lost, by going into a building that only had an Up escalator.  After finding the elevator, we found our way to an alley, that luckily was next to a store I was looking for.  We managed to get back to the group on time.  (On this trip, that was a miracle!  No one was on time for anything!)

We all met up at the Beijing Zoo.  It was kind of depressing how sad all the animals were.  They seemed to be in pretty bad shape.  The pandas just kind of sat there, all dirty.

Later that day, we went to the Temple of Heaven.  This is the spot most famous nowadays for the morning Tai Chi.  

This place was huge!  But it was extremely beautiful.

Unfortunately, we lost Maria.  We spent a good hour trying to find her, but she found her way back to the hotel, safe and sound.  

3/15/09 (The Great Wall Adventure)

Can't wait to see the footage and photos from this day. We went to the Great Wall, and our group, which consisted of me, Neil, Caryn, and Lindsay walked farther than anyone else. I can't believe how steep the slopes and those stairs were! Man my legs are killing me! Monique had a little height problem and had to turn back (but we got some funny footage of it, which I'm going to steal from Neil).

I can't believe how far I walked. I only had to take one break, and then caught up with everyone, but I made it! It was really cool.

We went to the most famous part of the wall, The Great Wall of Badaling.

We then went to a tea house, where they showed us the Chinese Tea Ceremony.  We were taught how to properly drink jasmine tea (the tea most drunk in the areas around Beijing).  You have to drink it in  3 sips, and men and women hold the cup differently.  Women hold it with only 3 fingers, and the rest are fanned out, resembling a phoenix tail.  We also got to sample the other types of tea, which were Green, Fruit, Lychee, and Black.  I liked them all.  After the tea ceremony, we were let loose in the gift shop.  I walked out of there spending less than $100 yuan, but some other women weren't so lucky.

Afterwards, we went to Silk Street. It was basically like Englishtown, or any other kind of market, with lots of little booths with people selling knock-offs for really cheap. I'm really bad at haggling. But I'm getting there. My roomate Karen bought some really cute outfits, and only spent about $200. I didn't buy anything. It's crazy with all the people basically attacking you to get you to buy something.

After that we went to the Hutong. Which is basically like a little village area with really old houses, all built in a quadrangle, 4 buildings surrounding a courtyard. We had a ride on a rickshaw (which honestly, I could have done without). I got a Chairman Mao watch, which was a hassle, but that's a long story, involving a man chasing us on his bike, and me mishearing the bargain, and actually paying more. Annoying!!!! I'm not too mad though, because I bought the thing for the price I wanted to pay anyway, it's just that the man was so desperate for the sale, he actually said I could have 2! All I heard was the price and took the one, and then Neil started yelling at me, but it was too late. The man wasn't giving that sucker up.

We went to dinner at another restaurant, where the food was served family style. It was ok. I liked the beef and the potatoes.  We walked through the night food market, where we got to see snakes, bats, seahorses, and various other animals on sticks.  On one menu we even saw "Dog Meat Pot".  None of us were going near that.

I think people are going out tonight, but jetlag is still kicking me in the a$$, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to stay up long enough to enjoy the night.

Next we have to decide what's going to be done in the morning.

3/14/09

We went to Tian'anmen Square and The Forbidden City and The Summer Palace today. It's true what they say, Chinese people love the novelty of Americans. I had a bunch of people ask me to take a picture with them. Everyone seems to think I was asked more because I have red hair.

The Forbidden City was fascinating. Apparently for centuries, the only male allowed inside the city was the emperor. His own sons had to leave the city as soon as they turned 10. So inside this city (and I mean city, it's freaking huge) was one man, and hundreds of women (his wives, and concubines). The city was only opened to the public this century. Even today, there are many rooms, like the Empress' bedroom, and the throne rooms, that are still no access. I was really difficult to try to get close enough to look in, there were so many people pushing their way in.

We went to lunch at a buffet style restaurant (which so far was my favorite) and then afterwards we went to a Pearl Market, where we were given a lecture on how to tell the difference between fake and real pearls, and then of course we were shown the jewelry. I luckily walked out of there only buying some facial cream and a bracelet. I believe Caryn spent about $200 (American) in there.

Right after that we went to the Summer Palace. It was beautiful. It's right on the lake. It has a beautiful Buddhist temple. We got to see the infamous Marble Boat the Dragon Lady had sanctioned, which cost China its Navy. Apparently, the mother of the Emperor, the Dragon Lady, was the Empress because her son was only 5. She also loved power and beautiful things. She had the Marble Boat built, taking all of the money for the Navy, leaving China without protection. Crazy.

Neil and I have been sharing his camera, recording each other in each spot. Can't wait to see all of the footage, and start working on it.

3/12/09 (3/13/09 in China)

All I have to say about today is 14 hr flight.

Torture.

"Happy Times"

I watched this great film the other day. I really liked this movie. The main character is a man in his 50's who wants to get married. He has found a large woman, with 2 children, who is willing. The only drawback is that he is unemployed and she wants 50,000 yuan for the wedding. He decides to go to his friend, who has the idea of converting an abandoned bus into a lover's nest and charging lover's to enter. They call the bus the "Happy Times Hut". When he tells his fiance that he is the General Manager of a big hotel, she decides to heft her blind step-daughter on him, with the premise of him getting her a job at the hotel. When the bus is unfortunately hauled away, the man decides to recreate a massage room for the girl in a factory, as she is very good at massage. Him and his friends believe that because she is blind, she won't be able to tell that the massage room is not real, and that she has the same clients coming in, over and over again. The girl is very sweet, and from the beginning, knows of the deception, but because she understands that it was done out of kindness, she goes along with it. Her and the man start to have an unlikely friendship. Both have been left by the unkind fiance, and both find comfort in each other. I thought this film was very sweet. The character of the girl is very endearing. And though at first you may not really like the bumbling, lying man, it becomes clear very soon that he has a heart of gold. Not once did the relationship between the two become awkward, or sexual, as some movies may have taken it. It is obvious the two care about each other, whether they came together by chance and unhappy circumstances. They had happy times together. Unfortuately, the end is not so happy. Neither knows what has happened to the other. The girl has decided to leave, and the man has been hit by a truck. In a very sweet and brilliant scene, the man's friends reads the letter his friend has written pretending to be the girl's father, to the voice recording of the girl's goodbye. I really liked this movie, and am looking forward to watching more from this director.

2/3/09

Handed in my visa application today...I actually think my photo for my visa is better than the one for my passport...too bad its too late to change it. But at least I'm one more step to the trip...it's only a month away! I can't wait! I'm actually going to have a stamp in my passport (which I didn't get when I went to Mexico). I'm gonna be a world traveler! (I'm such a dork.)

1/28/09

Well, had our first meeting today for the China trip...I'm getting more and more excited about going everyday. I need to start thinking about what kinds of projects I will do for the assignments. I know I definitely want to bring my film camera so I can take some nice B&W photos for myself when I am there....