Coping in Canton

Tianhe Stadium 广州天河体育中心体育场 as seen from the outdoor balcony of Parc Central

As the old saying goes "All good things must come to an end". When we arrived in Guangzhou 广州 in early September, you could say I was on a high, following two recent trips. The first was from late May to the middle of June when I traveled solo again to Japan, and spent almost three weeks exploring the island of Shikoku 四国, with much of that time behind the wheel of a rented car. This was followed by our Home Leave stay in Washington and Oregon, which lasted from the start of August until the first week of September. The winning streak continued with our recent trip to Taiwan during the beginning of October. Another old saying talks about "good things coming in threes", but that hoary adage doesn't delve into what happens after the third has finished. In my case it has turned into something akin to depression, exhaustion and/or an overwhelming air of malaise.

Whichever noun applies, the trigger came when I returned to Guangzhou from Taiwan alone, after my wife stayed behind to spend more time with her family. I returned feeling rested and confident, intending to start doing many things while Shu-E was away, including swimming, exercising, riding my bike, cooking, discovering new (for us) restaurants and so on. Instead, the opposite has occurred. With the exception of the now unpaid work I'm doing for the American taxpayer, for the most part I have stayed hidden away in the apartment, avoiding going down to the community swimming pool, while also having little desire to take the bicycle out for some exercise, and remaining uninterested in exploring the still-new surroundings. 

Why? The easy answer is to pin the blame on the ongoing federal government shutdown, now in its thirty-first day. I'm one of those "fortunate" employees who have been deemed essential, meaning I still have to go to work as usual. Except that my services are being performed without any remuneration. This is happpening in spite of the fact Consular Affairs has its own revenue stream, separate from Congressional appropriations, and in past shutdowns (why this is an ongoing occurrence is just one of many reasons that the U.S. as a society has some serious collective mental health issues) I continued to be paid for the work I still had to perform. This time, however, the powers that be have determined that people like me must also work gratis, so my most recent paycheck just showed a lot of empty boxes.

These past twenty-five days since coming back from Taiwan have also had an effect on my health, leading to sleepless nights, gastrointestinal discomfort, raging heartburn and the return at times of uncomfortable sensastions in my chest. But the stress of the shutdown isn't the only factor taking its toll on my mental and physical well-being.

I'm currently on my third go round in Mission China, but with the exception of our first tour in Shanghai 上海, I have never felt comfortable or at ease in this country, despite extensive domestic travels and with a working understanding of the Mandarin dialect. With retirement so close I would've preferred another location in Asia to keep the interest-sparking flame burning on this (presumably) last go-round in the Foreign Service, but this isn't going to be the case. Shanghai was enjoyable because not only was it my first tour as a diplomat, it was also assumed (by us) that it would be our one and only posting in the Middle Kingdom. Instead, if I retire according to plan I will have spent half my career in the State Department in a land I've never been all that enamored with.

So can this be written off as a China-weary jadedness? Most likely. But something else might also be at play. I've been diagnosed with depression in the past, with medication to deal with it prescribed at times. Travel has helped keep it at bay, but with my wife away for an extended period (and our daughter off to school in the U.S.) the black dog has returned with a vengeance. And unlike in Beijing 北京, this time I don't even have a cat around to keep me company. All I can do for the time being is to 我慢 until Shu-E returns at the beginning of November. 

Despite what's written above, I haven't entirely pursued the lifestyle of a recluse or hikikomori 引きこもり. In fact on the weekends I did go out several times on walks so I have some material for padding out this otherwise pathetically whiny post.  

The Xinhe Building 信合大厦:

The Haixin Bridge 海心桥:

The Canton Tower 广州塔, which we can't see from our apartment but is visible from other parts of the building: 

The sightseeing boat pier for excursions on the Pearl River 珠江:

The Liede Bridge 猎德大桥:

Just another quiet Saturday afternoon by the Pearl River: 

Guangzhou's central business district at night: 

For some reason a golden sculpture that includes a giant cicada stands outside the Guangzhou International Financial Center 广州国际金融中心:

More after-dark images of the central business district: 

The Guangzhou CTF Financial Center 广州周大福金融中心, the 8th tallest building in the world at 530 meters/1739 feet:

Still bored, and with nothing to do on yet another Saturday afternooon, I took a walk through a park with no name. This fire engine is parked above ground; spreading out underneath is the Mall of the World shopping center. The park with no name also has several sculptures depicting heroic firefighters, so it would seem there's a theme to the layout: 

A spa where patrons can lie down while their ear wax is removed with a special ear-cleaning tool:

A philosophical cafe. Note the sign in Amharic for Ethiopian coffee: 

The following day I went to check out three large shopping malls located close to one another. Along the way I passed this shop - I, too, felt baked in Guangzhou, but that was due more to the heat and humidity, and not a certain herb: 

Grandview Mall 正佳广场 was the first of the three I visited. The presence of a rainforest ecological garden, an aquarium and animatronic dinosaurs ensures this shopping complex will be filled with families on weekends. Being on my own, at times I felt uncomfortable, much like Phil Carr:

Next door is Parc Central, more upscale than the other two, with fewer families and more couples. This photo shows a long line of diners waiting to get into Rou Rou Rice 肉肉大米, a "Japanese-style beef burger restaurant". Even if I were feeling confident I would not have waited in a queue that lengthy:

Last of the three, TeeMall was the most similar in appearance to shopping centers in North America. By this point I was tired and feeling a twinge of loneliness, being surrounded by families, couples and groups of friends. Maybe I'll pay a return visit someday after the wife gets back:

It would've been better to have taken the metro to these shopping centers. Instead, I made the mistake of walking to Grandview Mall, so I was very hot and sweaty by time I arrived. However, soon after the weekend in question, the weather changed for the better, at least temporarily. The view at night after the temperature had dropped, the wind was blowing hard and the Canton Fair 中国进出口商品交易会 was taking place:

Going on a longer walk that took me temporarily outside the CBD:

Chibi Maruko-chan ちびまる子ちゃん as seen on Chinese TV:

In front of the R&F Center are thirteen sculptures by the noted Chinese artist Xu Hongfei 许鸿飞, whom it would seem has a fetish for "chubby women". Here are seven of them:

These past three and a half weeks have for the most part been a wasted opportunity to further settle myself into our new surroundings. Hopefully, with the much better half coming back this weekend, I can banish the black dog to its house in the back yard for the time being, and enthrall my few followers with more engaging (and less whinier) tales our adventures in Guangzhou.

Hopefully.

What Shu-E was doing in Taiwan during this time: