The Rising Sun

I've been here for a little over 24 hours now, so it's time for a blog post. First of all, to those not in the know, my time studying in Qingdao is over, and I'm now spending a week in Japan in Fukuoka, the capital of Kyushu. Now, for my Flagship friends who read this blog's enlightenment, and for my friends and family at home's entertainment, here are my first impressions of Japan.

First, let's start with the non-China people. Let's imagine China, so we can better understand these comparisons. Think of a big American city. Now, think of the Chinatown in that city, with grungy looking vendors all over the place trying to sell you fake bags and watches, dilapidated Chinese restaurants, litter, narrow alleyways, and the smell of sweat, exhaust, and weird, foreign animals and vegetables (and probably minerals) permeating the air between the acutely angled alleyways and nooks that serve the area's thoroughfares. Now, imagine that the big city was actually one big Chinatown, except there's a single road with skyscrapers on it, and 2/3 of them are banks. (There's another road with skyscrapers, but every building on that road is under construction, and so is the street.) There's your basic Chinese city. Oh, also there are people, cars, and mopeds EVERYWHERE.

So now that we have a decent picture of what a Chinese city is, how do we compare it to a Japanese city? What's the difference? Aren't they both full of signs covered in squiggly symbols and slanted tile-roof houses that sell noodles?

Well, yes, actually. But there are some notable differences. Now, here's my guide on how to turn a Chinese city into a Japanese city.

1. Erase the smog layer blanketing the city.
2. Plant trees along every road.
3. Convert every roadside peddler into a vending machine.
4. Cut the population by 70%.
5. Force everyone to obey traffic rules perfectly.
6. Remove all parasites and carcinogens from the tap water.
7. Pick up all the litter, but leave the cigarette butts.
8. Remove 90% of the banks.
9. Triple the number of post offices.
10. Teach citizens to stare less.
11. Make everything about 3 times as expensive, except...
12. ...make public transportation 10 times as expensive.
13. Triple the number of bus routes, and screw up bus maps so only Japanese understand them.
14. Make everyone drive and walk on the left side instead of the right.
15. Sell pornography in random and inappropriate places.

Voila! A Japanese city! And now, since I'm making lists, here's another one I've been thinking about:

Habits I've Gotten from Living in China

1. I jump when I hear a car horn and look behind me to avoid the oncoming moped.
2. I look at my clothes after touching a wall to brush off any paint or soot.
3. I feel uncomfortable when the cashier/driver/sales clerk says "Thank you," or anything at all.
4. I gauge how much time it will mean in the bathroom later before eating anything,
5. I automatically assume someone wearing a suit is ungodly rich.
6. I compulsively buy bottled water.
7. I make sure I have a pocketful of change at all times.
8. I ignore all traffic signals and run across roads, dodging cars.
9. I instantly divide the price of anything by 7.
10. I loudly say "tai gui le!" (too expensive!) if I think something is.
11. The zero-second rule.

So as you can see, with my western background and my Chinese quirks, adjusting to the way of life in Japan has been interesting. Now, for some pictures...

This was my communal bedroom on the ferry. You get a blanket to spread out, a sheet, and a black foam brick that is supposed to be a pillow. Also, it's not air conditioned and they wake you up at 6 am everyday. Well, they didn't say it was gonna be a luxury cruise...








The Qingdao shipyard.













More Qingdao shipyard.













Me in the luxury suite area that I'm supposed to stay out of. Oops.












A cigarette vending machine on the ship. My life really wouldn't be as joyful if I couldn't have a piece of cigarette every now and then.











38 hours later... Shimonoseki! Not exactly the Shanghai skyline, but it's somewhere other than the boat!











Shimonoseki is kind of industrial. Which is most of the reason I opted to go to Fukuoka instead.












On the bus, just leaving Shimonoseki on my way to Fukuoka. This sort of reminds me of driving through Hawaii or something.











Crossing the Shimonoseki bridge.













Here's the bay Shimonoseki was built around.













We went through half a dozen tunnels on the way there.


























"When this baby hits 88 miles per hour..."













The mountains in Japan are beautiful. I wish I could hike here.












An agricultural town. The Japanese use black, oddly shaped tiles while the Chinese use the red square ones.











A park near my youth hostel. So nice and peaceful that I had to stop and snap a picture in the sweltering heat. Well, that and it was shady there.











After getting to my hostel, working out some minor/major kinks, and getting settled, I headed out to the nearby mall of sorts, Yodobashi camera, to look around and grab some food. They had three floors devoted to electronics, toys, CDs, DVDs, games and home appliances of all kinds. Needless to say, it was pretty cool.

A flashback to my childhood...













This was an interesting find in the (incredibly huge) video game section. A game about the WWII Pacific theater? In Japan? That's odd... until you notice that the planes are Zeros, and they're shooting at American aircraft carriers. I guess some shrewd game company managed to turn a national defeat into a marketing victory. Needless to say, this game is "Only in Japan."












I found this gem in between two DVDs about crunch routines. "Sexy Exercise with Pole Dance" must be a cross genre film. I'm not sure how this has been selling, but I'm guessing poorly, since I, for one, need to be totally focused when exercising.














Oh look, cool keychains. Wait...













Why anyone would want to have this swinging on their keychain, I do not know. Oh Japan.


















Then it was off to Canal City, a shopping area near my hostel that I'd heard a lot about. Every Japanese that I talked to recommended it, so I went to check it out. They had a Wendy's there. I ate lunch at it, and cried.

Me at Canal City, Hakata:



Yes, this is an honest to God Pokemon Center. While I was watching the water show, I got so excited that I blacked out and woke up here. All my Pokemon were healed but half my money was gone. Go figure. Sadly, all they sell here are cards, food and candy with Pokemon on them, and stuffed animals. I was hoping I could access my home PC to store some of the stuff I bought.






I can't remember the name of this store, but I remember it was billed as "Western goods." Here's an interesting section...

















...and another...


















...and another?? I guess that's all they think we do here.












While in the Canal City bathroom, I was excited to see my first ever robotic toilet.

















Now, do I want water sprayed on me or a seat warmer...? You can even adjust the pressure! And oh look, they have braille on it, so even blind people get to feel uncomfortable for a few minutes! Though I suppose it would've been worse without the braille.















After Canal City, I rode the bus back to the hostel. Now, navigating Chinese buses can be confusing and intimidating, what with the characters and the crowd and people staring at you like you're from Mars, but at least when you get on and pay money, it's straightforward. Not so in Japan.

Note that I'm standing in the back of the bus here, with the rear doors to my left. THAT'S where you're supposed to get on. After getting on, you pull a ticket from the ticket box with a number on it. This number corresponds to a price on the electric fare board, which increases at mysterious intervals along your route. Finally, to get off, you walk up to the front of the bus and drop your coins in a box, with the driver supposedly watching, but you're basically on the honor system since he has to watch a million people a day put money in and nobody shows their ticket. Makes sense to you? Me neither.


Sooo, this morning I got up and was pretty hungry. After making the long journey to the Chinese consulate to get my visa done for Shanghai, only to discover they'd closed 15 minutes early that day, I hit up a neary Mos Burger for lunch. Mos Burger is like a Japanese McDonalds, except with better food, service, and color scheme. The tradeoff is that it's more expensive (maybe that's just because it's in Japan?). Anyway, here's my Mos Burger meal.

Oishii.













A typical Japanese backstreet, seen on the way to the consulate.


















Well, that's all I got for now. I should have a few more blog posts up soon (I promise), this time with historical sites instead of shopping malls. Stay tuned.

Jen

The Forgotten: Scenery

So it's been a while since I've updated. I guess a massive update is in order. I'll try to break this thing up into sections so it's easily readable, because I'm about to vomit as much as I can about the last month (!) onto this paper. Alright. Deep breath... here we go.

Three weekends ago on a clear, sunny Saturday morning, I hopped on a bus with the A-level Chinese class to Laoshan (or Mt. Lao, "shan" being the Chinese word for mountain). Laoshan is a smooth, rocky Pacific mountain that sits on the coast of China's Shandong peninsula. The mountain and its foothills (footrocks?) surround the small fishing village that we arrived at before starting our trek. The village was yet another example of how technology and tradition coexist in China; people in the foreground zipped around on mopeds and pickup trucks while fishermen on dozens of hand-made wooden junks cast their nets into the sea. If there's such a thing as a second world country, China is the definition.

Disembarking from the bus, we started up the mountain. The first forty five minutes were mostly pleasant, with flat or slightly sloping trails cutting through the thick, aromatic pine forest, and occasional clearings that allowed for spectacular views of the ocean.


About an hour into the hike, the trail became less a trail and more an endless stone staircase that stretched up to the peak. Water and conversation became scarce. But suddenly, around the bend of the trail I spotted one of my favorite parts of Laoshan...


These characters have to do with Daoism, though I'm unsure of their meanings and whether or not they're actually used outside of the world of cliff-side calligraphy (or whether the Chinese government carved and painted them... more discussion on that when my posts aren't being scanned by the internet police). There're aroundtwelve of these massive characters in the area, but this one's the largest. One can only wonder how many monks it took to cut this into rock, considering the average Chinese shoe store has about a 1:1 customer to sales clerk ratio. Government subsidised labor aside, the characters were neat.










Me and several classmates sitting in front of a shrine to mountain spirits, posing as Bodhisattvas. And mixing Buddhism with Traditional Chinese religion. A rookie mistake...













Taking a rest after winding through more pristine, unspoiled forest, punctuated by the occasional tent stall selling Coke, ramen noodles, and assorted produce. No wonder the Chinese are all so thin.











And finally, after almost two hours of walking, we made it... sixty percent of the way to the top. In order to continue on, we had to make our way through a cavecalled Xi Tian Dong, or "Looking for Heaven Cave," which kind of sounds like a place that high school couples hang out and lie to their parents about. The jury is still out on whether the cave's name comes from a wise monk and his quest for longevity, or a claustrophobic monk and his quest for fresh air, as the cave can be around two feet wide or high in some place, and it's pitch black to boot.










But before you enter, some rules. Thank you, Vanna...

I have to be honest, when I'm on Laoshan, I really do feel fairyland, and very much on the scoop.
















This was the most spacious part of the cave. The camera flash and the pen flashlight in Robert's hand are all that light up this scene. None of the other pictures I took really captured how creepy it was in there, especially when the flashlight was off.










I think Laoshan has some of the prettiest scenery in China. I love the fog, it makes everything seem more mysterious.













The next order of business, immediately after exiting the cave, was to cross a delightfully rusty chain bridge. What one can't see in this picture is that the bridge is suspended over a sloped chain link barrier, which drops off over the edge of the mountain, affording the imminently deceased a stunning view before splatting on a rock.








"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto Laoshan, and few there be that find it."


















Breathtaking. This about eighty percent of the way up.














Just don't do it.



















On the edge of the trail was this giant pillar of rock that stuck up in the air, with a boulder on top of it. On the other side was a drop of over one hundred feet onto a slope that would have rolled you down and into and even deeper chasm. Scary.










Needless to say, I had to get a picture on top of it.















And doing something dangerous and stupid is only fun if you have someone to do it with.














Robert's quite the mountain goat. (And I'm quite the photographer).




















And here we are, on the top-most area of the mountain, taking a breather. Again, the view of the countryside is incredible. We're done. Well, almost...












I needed to go to the actual peak, or it didn't count.














Riding the cable car down. I'm obsessed with that little village.














The turely feeling, indeed.















So that was Laoshan. It's one of the five famous mountains in ancient China. As of this posting I've climbed three of them (Laoshan, Taishan, and Huashan), and Laoshan is still my favorite. Tune in tomorrow or the next day for another post and another huge batch of pictures!