If you're wondering why I went MIA for a while and am only reporting in now, well, I was sent to China recently for a business trip. Altogether, I spent 8 whole days in Beijing and Shanghai.
It was not exactly my first time to China, but given that my last trip to Beijing one year ago was a touch-and-go (I departed the very next day), I kind of took the opportunity this time to explore the city (or cities) a little when I had the time.
My impression? Frankly, I was not impressed. Both cities were sprawled with skyscrapers, so many that they were almost identical.
Then there was the great (and in my opinion, gross) divide between the upper and lower classes of society. Being a shopaholic, I of course checked out the shopping malls first, and found, disturbingly, that these either sold really high end luxury brands (and at marked-up prices way higher than Singapore!) or very cheap imitation stuff (like our pasar malams in a way). There was nowhere I could go to find quality local brands, which then explained why I came back empty handed, except for some fridge magnets and a teapot set.
I asked my Beijing colleague about this strange phenomenon, and she confirmed that the majority of the locals could not afford to shop at the shopping malls, simply because the prices of the merchandise there were usually more than that of their monthly salaries.
Checking out the next interest on my list - food! - I was also not greatly impressed. Granted, I had the most delicious Beijing Kao Ya (Peking roast duck) I have ever tasted in my life, but that was about it. The rest was passable, edible, but nothing to shout about.
Other interesting observations from the trip:
- It was my first time seeing and touching snow! The snow had passed when I touched down in Beijing, but to my delight, my colleague pointed out some remnants of snow in the bushes as we walked by. So I went back that very evening to take a picture and touch the snow. Strangely enough (or maybe rightly so), it felt exactly like the shaved ice from ice kacang. I was like a little girl, so amazed by this creation of nature, as the security guard nearby looked at me strangely.
- I wonder whether it was the perpetual haze that clouded the city or the bitter cold, but the people there looked absolutely lifeless. They went about their daily errands with no expression on their face whatsoever, so much so that they kind of resembled robots. Is this what urbanization is costing us - even in a city so rich with cultural heritage and history such as China? I am definitely not relishing the thought that this could be what we will become in another few years.
- Civility, or the lack of. Enough said, I think the lack of common manners has been well documented enough. It is something that I can never get used to, however, no matter how many times I visit. Thank god we're not like that yet, but it's not hard to see that we are treading down this path.
And so ends my boring (in many ways) but interesting (in some ways) business trip. Let's just say that it will never be a holiday destination of my choice.
Next up, I'm going down under to visit the Empress Dowager and the rest of the Fam. Now, that is one trip I'm truly looking forward to!
