Dour, 電通-controlled, family-centric Belgian Neocolonialism, enthusiastically jaded observations, support for state-owned neoliberalist media and occasional rants from the twisted mind of a privileged middle-class expatriate atheist Crypto Jew and とてもくだらないひと projecting some leftist ideals with my ridicule of Tucker Carlson, all while taking America's blood money and cashing out that pension and TSP (from The Blogs Formerly Known As Sponge Bear and Kaminoge 物語)
*see disclaimer below
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:
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:
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.
Cruising the waterway between Chaoyang Park and SOLANA
In our last episode I shared with the world the news that after months of uncertainty I had been offered, and accepted, a Consular position at the consulate in Guangzhou 广州. The initial excitement at finally having an onward assignment, and especially one that returns me to the world of Consular work, has since worn off. Frankly speaking, it was never my intention to have so much of my relatively short career in the Foreign Service to be devoted to China. While my wife is happy to be staying in this country for the next three years (due to Guangzhou's closer proximity to Taiwan when compared to Beijing 北京), I had been hoping to finish out my stint in the State Department with a job in a different exotic locale, ideally still in Asia but I certainly would not have minded Africa, Europe, Oceania or even the Americas. Instead, three years in China will be doubled to six (eight if you count our two-year tour in Shanghai 上海 in 2013-15) by the time I reach retirement age, unless I have a mental and/or physical breakdown in the upcoming years (not outside the realms of possibility).
While some people might consider me fortunate to have this Sino-centric career, I've never considered myself, nor ever wanted to be considered, as an "old China hand". In these current times, with the many issues roiling the U.S.-China relationship, serving in the Middle Kingdom may not carry the same cache that it once had. But a job is a job (for now, at least), so I'll strive to make the best of this "opportunity".
In my last post I hinted at an overall feeling of ennui since returning from Hokkaidō 北海道 and Taiwan, exacerbated by being on my own in Beijing for almost a month while Shu-E was in her homeland. Though she eventually came back on the last Saturday in March, ennui has turned into malaise with the onset of several issues (both health and non-health-related). Nevertheless, I still managed to get out and do some things. For example, the day following Shu-E's return, while still cool temperature wise, was clear and sunny. My wife had read about a bread market being held in Chaoyang Park 朝阳公园 so she suggested going there as a Sunday outing. We first walked around the SOLANA Shopping Park in search of somewhere to eat. However, being the lunchtime peak hour all was crowded, and in some restaurants we were informed that we would have to wait for up to 14 or 15 tables to turn over before we could be seated. Eventually, though, we found a taco place where we could sit without waiting (hint: if one exists try using a restaurant's rear entrance). The food was unexceptional but the Slow Boat IPA was good:
In Chaoyang Park we came across this work of art:
Shu-E, while looking at her phone discovered two inconvenient truths - 1.) the market was a further 18 minutes away on foot; and 2.) entry was by ticket only, at 39 RMB ($5.40). And so we opted to give the market a pass, and ended up going to a German-style bakery near our house instead. Which was probably a good call, too, as WeChat revealed a long line of people waiting to get inside the bread market. My wife contented herself with taking photos of flowers in the park:
Soon after we got home two uninvited guests showed up, one right after the other. Meow-meow (middle) lives next door, while Tom (partially hidden on the left) resides across the road, but spends most of his time outside. Both frequently drop in to snoop around, but this was the first time for the pair to show up at the same time (there's also a third cat that visited while my wife was away). In true feline fashion the trio spent most of the time ignoring each other.
Friday, April 4 was Tomb Sweeping Day 清明节, a public holiday in China (and in Taiwan). It was Shu-E's suggestion following lunch at home to visit Haitang Huaxi 海棠花溪, a part of the Yuan Dadu City Walls Park 元大都城垣遗址公园, to see the begonia blossoms. The day was warm and many people were present, but not in overwhelming numbers:
My wife crouches to get a shot of the blossoms with the bridge behind it. Her knees are in better shape than mine:
And here's the shot she worked so hard to get:
The temperature that day got up to 22°C/72°F so it was finally time to break out the shorts and sandals, to the distress of those around me who couldn't avoid having to look at my legs:
Shu-E says this amusement park-looking complex is part of the China Ethnic Museum 中国民族博物馆, exhibiting the People's Republic's 56 officially recognized ethnic groups (including the "Gaoshan" 高山族, which lumps into one the 16 officially recognized aboriginal groups in Taiwan). It should be noted that one of those 56, the Han 汉族, makes up 92% of the population (though the Han is not a homogeneous grouping of people as the term encompasses different dialects, customs, cuisine and so on). The other 55 are expected to dress in colorful native attire and sing ethnic folk songs for the benefit of Han tour groups, but are not permitted to bring up topics that might disrupt "ethnic harmony":
IYKYK. I didn't realize until later I was being (unintentionally) photobombed:
Walking in the direction of the Beijing Olympic Park, or what Wikipedia calls Olympic Green 奥林匹克森林公园:
Approaching the National Stadium 国家体育场, aka the Bird's Nest 鸟巢, site of the 2008 Olympics opening and closing ceremonies, as well as track and field and soccer events. It was extremely windy in the open plaza:
The Olympics site attracts many tour groups even though there isn't much to see or do unless there's a special event taking place. In the souvenir stores you can buy Beijing Eight Scenery Cakes to bring back to family and friends in your hometown:
Some kind of alcoholic drink in time for Easter. I would not want to see this visage staring back at me after downing a few shots:
My wife wanted to go on despite the long walk from the Haitang Huaxi because she wanted to see more begonias, even though we had already visited with Amber two years before:
We detoured into the Xin'ao Shopping Center 馨奥购物中心 for a beer and some black fried chicken:
Lining up on the stairs to get that perfect shot:
I was surprised at the number of cosplayers at the park. The term was originally coined in Japan - コスプレ at one point started to have negative connotations as Japan's extensive porn industry began to incorporate it into storylines and videos, but its growing popularity among overseas fans of anime アニメ and manga 漫画 has made it acceptable again:
Note the young woman in the foreground - despite hostility (much of it officially-generated) toward Japan many young women in Beijing like to dress as Japanese schoolgirls. Could Japan's AV industry be a way to ease tensions between states?:
One afternoon while visiting an optician's shop to order some new glasses I noticed this hair salon sign. "Fujino Styling - Tokyo's Latest Fashion Hairstyles" 藤野造型 mixes the Simplified Chinese characters 东京 for Tōkyō 東京 with Japanese kanji 藤野 and katakana ファッション (even if they didn't get the font size right on the latter):
"Sheeple, Zombies and Kool-Aid". I saw this shirt while on my home from the office one afternoon, and my initial thought was that is Chinglish. It turned out, however, the design came out of the winter 2022 Paris Fashion Week so this guy is way cooler than me:
A couple of weeks ago the news came that winds with speeds of up to 150 kph/93 mph were predicted to hit Beijing over the weekend, the first such warning by the authorities in over a decade. As a result, we were allowed to leave work an hour earlier on Friday, presumably to go home and batten down some hatches. The authorities also warned that people who weigh less than 50 kilograms/110 pounds could be "easily blown away" There was no need for me to worry about that, unfortunately, though a friend warned of the danger of flying children in our residential compound.
That Friday evening Shu-E and I went to a favorite izakaya 居酒屋 with my wife's friend Shoyu (visiting from Taiwan) to fortify ourselves for the coming onslaught. One early casualty of the approaching windstorm was having to cancel plans to drive up into the mountains to visit a temple that weekend.
Tempura 天ぷら:
Orion Beer オリオンビール, a favorite since visiting Miyako-jima 宮古島 (on my first visit to Okinawa 沖縄) in the summer of 1993:
Shu-E and Shoyu (I have no idea if that's the proper Romanization of her name):
As is usually the case the actual windstorm the following day appeared to be much less dire than the warnings were suggesting. Still, the three of us stayed indoors until the early afternoon, when Shu-E and I went out for lunch (Shoyu was taking a nap). Instead of the typhoon-like conditions I'd been expecting, we only encountered the occasional gust. I went out again later for a walk, where I did encounter some strong bursts of wind. The only casualties of the weather that I could see were all the bicycles and scooters that had been blown over:
For us, other than the boredom resulting from a disrupted Saturday, the biggest impact was the sudden drop in temperature, going from the mid-20s C/high-70s F we'd been enjoying earlier that week to a high of 12°C/54°F, with a wind chill factor making it feel like 2°C/36°F! This article gives an idea of what it was like while we were (mostly) hunkered down indoors on the Saturday.
Even though we have access to an underground parking garage, we prefer to keep our car in the driveway in front of our duplex. Because of the strong wind warnings, however, we were advised by the compound's management to move our Geely below ground. Although I've been in the garage a number of times already (we have a storage room in there), that weekend was the first time for me to notice one section of the garage is separated from the rest with a pair of thick, vault-like doors. Why?:
Day two of the windswept weekend was just as gusty as the day before, but more people were out and about on the Sunday compared to the Saturday. We ventured out to have lunch and to run a couple of errands (including picking up my new spectacles). Though thankfully I've haven't heard or read of any serious injuries (or worse) due to the strong gusts, the same can't be said of Beijing's two-wheeled modes of transport, which appeared to have borne the brunt of the wind's fury:
My wife and her friend pick up a milk tea for me from one of the many branches of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea 蜜雪冰城 that can be seen all over the city. My drink was only RMB7 ($1) - and tasted like it:
Shoyu and I having a post-dinner ice cream one evening in SOLANA:
Speaking of SOLANA, this past weekend there was a small outdoor market operating, something that happens from time to time. As usual there wasn't much to write home about, though these pairs of stalls briefly piqued my interest.
The one on the left was selling "Omedi Craft Beer" 奥麦帝精酿啤酒, though I couldn't find any information about it online other than it's an American-style wheat beer. The same vendors were also offering "Taiwanese Oyster Egg Omelets" 台湾蚝蛋烧. My wife and her friend had stopped by earlier in the day and discovered the stall had run out of oysters and was substituting shrimp and squid instead. The stand on the right was selling "Taiwanese Salt Crispy Chicken" 台湾盐酥鸡 - the ladies didn't buy anything from them because according to Shu-E the chicken meat didn't look fresh:
A deceptively idyllic-looking sliver between SOLANA and Chaoyang Park:
For Shoyu's final night in Beijing the three of us went to an izakaya居酒屋. I'm pictured drinking a peach draft beer, which was literally a glass of beer with peach pieces floating in it. Menu options also included yogurt beer (which Shoyu can be seen drinking) and cucumber beer. Yes, cucumber:
The restaurant specialized in anglerfish アンコウ but my favorite of the dishes we ordered was the grilled eel ウナギ:
The establishment was called Nishiki Shokuya 錦食屋. Sogai そがい is the restaurant's head chef (at least according to both the signboard and the menu):
While apathy, health and malaise may have affected my desire to go out and do much of anything of interest, the same can't be said of my wife, especially while she played hostess to Shoyu for the fortnight she stayed with us. What follows are some photos she shared of some of their activities, many of which took place while I toiled away in my bureaucratic cubbyhole.
With her friend in tow Shu-E (again) traveled overnight to Gubei Water Town 古北水镇. It was created for the purposes of tourism but my wife likes it - this was the third time for her to visit. She went there for our first out-of-town trip following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, then returned when her brother and one of her sisters recently visited us in Beijing:
On another afternoon the two of them went to Shichahai 什刹海:
One place that Amber and I didn't visit while in Tianjin was this library:
Last weekend in Chaoyang Park:
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the Pacific Ocean from us, our daughter shared some recent photos of her life in Oregon
According to Amber, the weather in Corvallis is often like this...
...but when it isn't raining it appears to be glorious:
Capturing a rainbow:
On one weekend she drove to visit the open house being held at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. Amber had visited the aquarium with us back in the summer of 2018:
She seems to like Newport as she had earlier driven out there just before the start of spring break:
It must be the resident sea lions that brings her back:
Amber's lunch in Newport. At first glance I thought this was taken at an Ivar's but it turned out to be at Oregon's equivalent, Mo's:
Back in Corvallis and sampling Oregon State's own creamery ice cream:
Our daughter appears to have adapted quite well to life in a college town, and that knowledge goes a long way toward compensating for the sense of loneliness at not having her around. I suppose some people choose to fill such voids by focusing on their work, but my job these days is keeping me busy in ways I would rather not be occupying my limited time with. Advice from Google suggests New Age-like methods such as "digging deep down within yourself to understand your feelings", "committing to loving yourself", "connecting with a higher power" and other peace, love and granola suggestions. The one thing that does resonate is "get involved in activities that make you happy". For me, that would be traveling. And next month I plan to embark on a long-awaited journey that hopefully will help to put things into clearer focus. Until then, I just gotta bear down and do what needs to be done, both here in Beijing and in preparation for our eventual move to Guangzhou.
Assuming, of course, that I'll even still have a job in the months to come.
Damn, that ice cream above looks really good...
I've never liked this song but it seemed appropriate several weekends ago when the air was dusty with sand despite the aforementioned gusty conditions:
