Cliffhanger

Amidst the modernity of a fast developing nation, it is always possible to find fascinating traces of the past. 100 kilometers from Beijing lie a series of ancient caves carved out of the cliff side at Guyaju. The original inhabitants of the largest cliff dwellings discovered in China lived here over a thousand years ago. Not much is known about the cave dwellers, with both their origins and disappearance from the region still a mystery. Archaeologists have made guesses on which cave was a temple, which belonged to the village chieftain, which was a stable for horses, and which was a storeroom based on clues such as size, location, and shape of the specific cave.

Although the rock is soft, life was hard for the residents of Guyaju. Not only the walls of their homes, but their tables, beds, and tools were all made of stone. Carefully climbing the steps etched into the cliff, I examined a small sample of the over 120 caves in the complex. From atop I could see the odd modern day reconstruction of a town from the American West down below. This development, ostensibly to allow wealthy Chinese to have vacation homes where they could imagine they are living in 19th century America, is called Jackson Hole.

*****

"Here we stand in the middle of this new world with our primitive brain, attuned to the simple cave life, with terrific forces at our disposal, which we are clever enough to release, but whose consequences we cannot comprehend." ~ Albert Szent-Gyorgyi 

TPM

When today's tech savvy toddlers were posed the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" one of the most frequently heard answers was "Technical Project Manager". I live that dream.

My job as a Technical Project Manager (TPM) at Interone allows me to work in a creative environment, alongside art directors, designers, copywriters, and developers in the online division of the advertising agency. What exactly do I do as a TPM?

• I oversee the technical design, development, and launch of multilingual websites in multiple countries simultaneously, always having to be aware of the statuses of dozens of projects at once
• I supervise the technical staff, which includes developers (who write code) and content editors (who upload content to the  website), by explaining to them what tasks have to be completed and when, providing guidance on how to accomplish these tasks, checking that they have all the materials they need, and helping them when they are in a bind
• I evaluate business requirements and alternate solutions, provide cost estimates, and schedule resources
• I coordinate with third party vendors and service providers
• I identify, report, and fix bugs
• I star in the occasional movie
• I interview potential candidates and perform other day to day managerial tasks

It is a multidisciplinary job that requires not only top notch technical skills, attention to detail, devastatingly gorgeous facial features, and a sharp intellect, but a 360 degree understanding of what needs to be done in the minds of various stakeholders and the ability to bring it all together into a combined product that can be launched under tight deadlines.

******

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves." - Lao Tzu

Mist and Mirage - Kaiping Daiolou

The last place I visited during my epic 40 day trek through the Middle Kingdom was Kaiping. The county is famed for its distinctive watchtowers, known as diaolou. Rising magnificently from fields of green, the diaolou fuse Western and Chinese architectural styles. Originally constructed to keep bandits away during a time of rampant poverty, 1800 of the approximately 3000 structures remain standing today. Many are shuttered and not open to the public, while some still function as active living quarters for locals. Although Kaiping has a population of 700,000 people, it is estimated that another 700,000 Kaipingers are scattered throughout the globe. On a rainy day, I wandered through the cobblestone paths from one diaolou to the other in the village of Zili, accompanied only by a group of clucking roosters. I also visited the nearby Li Gardens and the town of Chikan, both of which also had similar fusion architecture.

After the practice of slavery was largely outlawed in the colonies of the Western powers, the colonialists still needed a source of low cost labour for construction, mining, gold-digging, and other economic pursuits. Their eyes turned to Canton in the 1800's, and Kaiping in particular, for here there was an untapped resoirvor of workers willing to accept any offer for a chance to work abroad. The worker would often get passage to North America or Australasia, and painstakingly work off the debt owed for the ticket in exchange. Many never made it back alive to see their families, others came back much worse off than before, but a few made fortunes in these far off places. These wealthy overseas Chinese then brought back Western ideas and money to fund the construction of these unique structures in Kaiping.

*****

"Americans are very rich people. They want the Chinaman to come and will make him welcome. There will be big pay, large houses, and food and clothing of the finest description. You can write your friends or send them money at any time, and we will be responsible for its safe delivery. It is a nice country, without mandarins or soldiers. All alike; big man no larger than little man. There are a great many Chinamen there now, and it will not be a strange country. Never fear, and you will be lucky. Money is in great plenty and to spare in America." - advertisement for recruiting workers in Kaiping

Beast Inside

After years of getting the cold shoulder from both Hollywood and Bollywood, my talent was finally recognized in the People's Republic of China. I acted in a short film called Beast Inside. Along with my fellow thespians, I was picked up in a van and taken to an abandoned warehouse where the movie would be filmed. My principal scene was the first to be shot. It would set the tone for the rest of the movie. After a few practice runs to see if the lighting and camera angles were correct, I changed into my costume.

Everyone held their breath as they waited to see how I would perform in my long awaited debut. Crew members ran around me, releasing smoke from canisters to create the proper effect. The director signalled that filming had commenced. Even through the haze, the spotlight shone brightly on me. I rose to the occasion, nailing my scenes after only a few takes. Everyone applauded as the director yelled "Cut!". I humbly acknowledged their praise as I walked off the set.

*****

"A man of knowledge lives by acting, not by thinking about acting."
- Carlos Castaneda

Forty Days and Forty Nights

After half a year of near continuous overtime at work, I took a 40 day leave of absence to explore the faraway regions of China. I said goodbye to some friends, reunited with others, and made new ones along the way. My Irish roommate and Malaysian diplomat would both leave the country to pursue other opportunities while I was away on my trip. My friend Preston would be my travel partner for the first half of my adventure, before returning to his American homeland. We met up in Xinjiang, crossing deserts (the Taklamakan), borders (into Pakistan), streets, and anything else that we came across.

At the midpoint of my journey I would spend a few days in Chongqing with my father, who would be attending a conference there. Preston and I would continue onwards, sailing the utterly disappointing Three Gorges before going our separate ways in Wuhan. He would return to Beijing to collect his belongings before flying home to America. I would turn my gaze eastwards to Shanghai and the World Expo, before traveling south to a tiny village in Fujian province to attend a colleague's marriage.

One successful wedding and several sessions of heavy drinking later I would find myself in Xiamen, a lovely coastal town near Taiwan. Here I would reunite with my former sidekick Leo for a few days until our paths diverged again. He was headed north and I was going south. My 40 days were almost up as I reached Canton, where I divided my time between the mega-city of Guangzhou and the tiny villages of Kaiping before jetting back to Beijing. All told I traveled over 13000 kilometers during this epic journey, or approximately 1/3 of the circumference of the Earth.

*****

“Not all those who wander are lost.” - J. R. R. Tolkien

The Hanging Monastery

Sixty five kilometers away from the dusty city of Datong is a sight to behold. A 1400 year old monastery is perched halfway up a sheer cliff wall. Constructed fifty meters up the rock face, the monastery is shielded from flooding of the river below. As I approached it from ground level it did not look that high.

The staircase grew increasingly narrow as I ascended the precipice. The monastery is supported by pillars of wood, which act as stilts. The stairs wind their way underneath the monastery, allowing zany Chinese tourists to vigorously shake the lumber that supports the very temple atop their heads. Once I had climbed up and peered down, my attitude about its altitude changed. With narrow pathways and knee high railings, the monk hang out was quite scary from above. I stuck as close to the walls of the monastery as I could.

*****

"Don't push! Safty first" - an unheeded warning sign atop the Hanging Monastery

Crash Landing

I soared through the air. This time I had taken flight willingly in a hot air balloon and not because I was at the mercy of a Chinese driver. Hovering thousands of meters above the earth, I surveyed the majestic scenery of Yangshuo below. Jagged peaks dotted the landscape as far as the eye could see. I sailed up into the clouds as the wisps of air evaporated around me, just barely out of reach. But the beauty of the clouds also posed a threat. The skies were becoming overcast, an ominous portent of things to come. Soon the first drops of rain started to fall, quickly picking up strength until it transformed into a full scale shower.

It was time for us to land but we were not near our base camp, having floated away in the opposite direction. We started our descent, but there was no chair to put back into upright position or seat belt to buckle up. After soaring at high altitudes for nearly an hour, the balloon was now only several hundred feet above the earth. We hovered over paddy fields and then drifted over to a nearby town. A spotter ran through the narrow lanes until he located an opening. He beckoned us towards an apartment complex with a basketball court. My trip to the troposphere became even more memorable as the pilot gracefully guided the hot air balloon on to the court. A few bemused spectators who had come out of their homes watched me breath a sigh of relief as soon as my feet touched the ground.

*****

"They say any landing you can walk away from is a good one." ~ Alan Shepard 

Full of Hot Air

I staggered outside before dawn and was ushered into a van. The door slid shut and darkness enveloped me. The van started moving. About half an hour later we were outside the city limits. The vehicle came to an abrupt halt. I stepped out. A truck was parked ahead of me. Further ahead I saw a crew dressed in combat fatigues assembling several large canisters, a basket, and a massive amount of multicoloured material into something altogether extraordinary.

It was around five in the morning. I was in the outskirts of Yangshuo, surrounded by magnificent karst peaks and a crew of workers putting together my means to see them from above. I went to inspect their handiwork. Suddenly a massive flame leapt into the air. I turned away, the heat glancing of my stubble in a ferociously sexy manner. The workers eagerly motioned me towards them. I walked towards the fire and climbed into the basket beneath it. I closed my eyes and felt myself floating up into the sky.

*****

"Sometimes you are overwhelmed when a thing comes, and you do not realize the magnitude of the affair at that moment. When you get away from it, you wonder, did it really happen to you?" ~ Marian Anderson

Xian Shenanigans

As a capital for a thousand years and the eastern end of the Silk Road, Xian played an important role in the development of Chinese civilization. After seeing the army of terracotta warriors firsthand, I journeyed to Xian's famed Muslim Quarter for some snacking. Street vendors sold tasty items such as chuan (meat on a stick) and cold noodles, which I slurped from a plastic bag. I headed back to the hostel in a three wheeled miniature paddy wagon. Pedestrians leapt out of the way as the three wheeler careened haphazardly through alleyways and sidewalks to avoid the traffic in the main streets.

The next day was left solely to explore the city of Xian, beginning with the world's largest city walls. Rather than take the easy way, I scaled a rickety old ladder up to the top of the fortifications. Chancing upon a reenactment of an ancient court, I went down from the wall to investigate. A bevy of Hawaiian beauties had also come to the city for a visit so they were being entertained by the local officials. I watched the performance along with the rest of the foreign dignitaries. My final stops before catching an overnight train back to Beijing were the Drum Tower and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the emblem of the city.

*****

“I have not told half of what I saw.” ~ Marco Polo

Once Upon a Restaurant in China

I spot a restaurant in China that looks like it serves tasty food and take a seat inside. After being offered someone else's bill, a look of bafflement, and a pack of cigarettes, I finally receive a menu. A piece of paper with Chinese writing and a sauce stain is provided to me. The waiter stares at me with piercing eyes, darting impatiently from side to side. 60% of the dishes on the menu are not available. "Don't have, don't have." drones the waiter, distaste dripping from his mouth at my ignorance of the state of the current food inventory at his place of work. I look at what the other customers are eating and point at the items I want, the waiter's blank stare not revealing whether I have made myself understood.

I order a starter, one meat dish, and a bowl of rice. It is hot outside so I cannot ask for a glass of water, as that only comes in the piping hot variety and I need something cool and refreshing. I am brought a room temperature bottle of beer. It is left unopened and I am not given a glass. Soon my main course arrives, followed 45 minutes later by the appetizer, and 5 minutes later by my bowl of rice. I try to explain that I need a plate or bowl to eat from, and am finally provided with some napkins and a glass. The next attempt brings forth chopsticks, and I begin my meal eating directly from the large dishes.

The ratio of staff to customers is 1:2 but most of the workers are clustered into groups chatting with each other or solitary types who are often found to be staring into space. It is hard to attract the attention of a waiter without yelling at them, but that is not my style. Sometimes there is a glimmer of recognition that I am motioning for them, but after 15 minutes have passed I realize that this is not the case. Eventually, the staff all sit down at a nearby table and start eating their meal. One notices that I am still trying to attract their attention. I ask for the bill and am given the menu. I ask for the bill and am given a toothpick. I ask for the bill and am given another bottle of beer. I ask for the bill and am given the bill. The figures are within a reasonable range of my estimates. Similar to when I ordered food I am under pressure now. The waiter hovers near me, fixing me with another impatient stare as I struggle to provide exact change. I decide to give him a 100 RMB note instead. Still eyeing me suspiciously, the waiter holds up the note and examines it to see if it is counterfeit before walking back to the counter to retrieve my change.

*****

"It is a good thing that life is not as serious as it seems to a waiter." ~ Don Herold

Going Dutch

As part of my Eurotrip, I caught a train in France that crossed Belgium to get to Holland. I dropped off my luggage in Eindhoven, where  former Bangalore roommate Stein lived. Eindhoven is more a residential city than a tourist one, with its claim to fame being that the electronics manufacturer Philips was founded there in 1891. We headed to his university town of Maastricht, which claims to be the oldest city in the Netherlands. Roman fortifications, churches, and public squares abound. As with many European towns it feels like a living museum. We enjoyed some cognac at his college buddy's pad before heading back to Eindhoven.

The next day we went to the Hague or Den Haag as the locals refer to it. Although not the capital of the Netherlands it is the seat of government and plays an important role in international politics. Home to the International Court of Justice and over 150 other global organizations, the Hague bills itself as the legal capital of the world. After traipsing past some parliamentary buildings and estates of the nobility, we caught a tram to the nearby seaside resort of Scheveningen.

Stein was about to begin a new job and his company had provided him with an apartment in Scheveningen. We walked around the the most visited beach town in the Benelux region until we located it. He had not yet received the keys to his house, so we perused it from outside before heading to the coast and enjoying the windswept sands of the Dutch coastline.

*****

“Whenever I found out anything remarkable, I have thought it my duty to put down my discovery on paper, so that all ingenious people might be informed thereof.”
- Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch biologist

One Country, Two Systems

I had come to China with a double entry business visa. Each entry could last 45 days. Although I could stay for 3 months in total within the country, I had to leave and reenter during some point. Despite being reunified with the mainland over a decade ago, Hong Kong or Macau are treated as distinct entities. I would be crossing international borders to visit them, so for the purposes of my visa it would qualify as leaving the country.

Hong Kong and Macau are Special Administrative Regions (SAR) of the People's Republic of China. The former British and Portuguese outposts retain their distinct charm while embracing the opportunities provided to them by a modern China. Falling under the "one country, two systems" principle originally proposed by Deng Xiaoping, they maintain most of their past political and economic autonomy. The policy will remain in place for 50 years from the time of their respective handovers in 1997 and 1999, as was agreed with the United Kingdom and Portugal when China regained sovereignty over these territories. I spent five relaxing days in the SARs before returning to China.

*****

"The future comes one day at a time." ~ Dean Acheson

Arnab and the Sedin

Henrik Sedin led the NHL in scoring and captured the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player for the 2009-2010 season. Before his breakout year he was mostly known for being identical twins and lifetime linemates with his brother Daniel Sedin. Taken one spot after Daniel in the 1999 National Hockey League Draft by the Vancouver Canucks, he was supposed to be the playmaker while his brother was to be the scorer. He came face to face with another rising star in 2008 when he crossed paths with me.

Source: Canucks Army

I had just left my job at ResponseTek and was about to embark on my oriental oddysey. I met him in GM Place, the home of the Canucks. Preparations were under way for Vancouver fan favourite Trevor Linden's retirement ceremony. His #16 jersey was to be raised to the rafters the follwong night, so no one was allowed onto the skating surface of the arena as rehearsals were taking place. We chatted briefly outside the team dressing room and posed for some photographs, before I was herded off to the press room and he went off to do some exercises.

*****

"A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be." ~ Wayne Gretzky

ARNABarbie

Barbie celebrated her 50th anniversary in style in 2009. More than just a doll, Barbie is a brand that has evolved with the times. The bikini wearing bimbo has had many careers, ranging from flight attendant to surgeon. The leggy blonde with the perfect figure is popular across the planet. Her dull boyfriend Ken is not.

Although Barbie was only introduced to the People's Republic ten years ago and I only arrived last year, China has embraced both pop culture icons wholeheartedly. The fashionable figurine staged an exhibition in the World Art Musuem near the China Millenium Monument to commerate five decades of existence. Scores of kids and adults alike came to marvel at the thousands of variations of the plastic girl on display. I, of course, was one of them.

*****

“To me, fair friend, you never can be old,
For as you were when first your eye I eyed,
Such seems your beauty still.”
~ William Shaksepeare

ARNABites

I cook very rarely. If I have to, it means that I have no family, friends, or females around who will make me food or go to a restaurant to eat with me. On the rare occasions that I do enter the kitchen, I am sure to deliver a feast unmatched in taste and texture, untried by the common chef, and untainted by prior cooking experience. I use a combination of heating techniques such as baking, microwaving, burning, grilling, boiling, and toasting to prepare the courses. A pathfinder in the culinary arts, I deliver dishes that the world has not seen before. Since I only cook for myself and never repeat a dish nor write down a recipe, I capture the moments of edible euphoria on camera.

*****

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating." ~ Luciano Pavarotti

The Largest City in the World

Chongqing was the provisional capital of China during the years of the Sino-Japanese war. Since then it has evolved into the nation's most prosperous inland city, famed both for its hot pot and its hot women. The central government carved the city out from the province of Sichuan, putting it in the same heady company as the other three directly controlled municipalities of Beijng, Tianjin, and Shanghai. The largest city on Earth based on the surface area it covers, Chongqing is spread around the confluence of the Yangzi and Jialing Rivers. The city state is the size of Austria and boasts 32 million inhabitants.

I flew from Beijing to Chongqing on October 1st, shortly after the the skies were reopened to commercial traffic following the 60th Anniversary Parade of the People's Republic. I visited the lavish Three Gorges Museum, the intriguing Planning Exhibition Gallery depicting the grand plans for Chongqing's future, and the Arhat Temple. Its rolling hills were a welcome change to the flat terrain of most Chinese cities, but the level of pollution was on par with the coastal megapolises. The sky and the river were similar shades of brown, and I spent only a few days there before heading of to the wilderness in Yunnan.

*****

"The path to our destination is not always a straight one. We go down the wrong road, we get lost, we turn back. Maybe it doesn't matter which road we embark on. Maybe what matters is that we embark." ~ Barbara Hall

Yangshuo

One of the most frequently asked but hardest questions to answer for women in China is "Why don't you shave your armpits?". For me, that question has been "What is your favourite place that you have visited in China?". Usually I mutter a list that includes some of the recent places I have visited, but ostensibly it includes Yangshuo. The limestone paradise is located in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Reachable from Guilin via road or river, Yangshuo is extremely popular among travelers but not overwhelmed by them. From spectacular scenery to hot air ballooning to tai chi lessons to 18 year old Chinese girls who want to practice their "Business English", the tourist haven of Yangshuo has something for everyone. Skirting the Li River, Yangshuo is surrounded by unique karst formations. Many people rent a bicycle and take a ride to the neighbouring villages. I took a bus.

Weather permitting, a folk musical is performed on the river every night. The water show is the brainchild of world renowned director Zhang Yimou, the man behind Hero and the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. I spent almost four days in  Yangshuo, but the water level was too high for the performance to take place safely.

*****

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple." ~ Dr. Suess

The Persecution of the ARNABeard

Afflicted with pogonophobia from an early age due to a diet free of follicly gifted men, the vast majority of Chinese girls get the the chills when they see a man with facial hair. One day, I walked onto the street with a coworker. She immediately noticed that she did not have my undivided attention. Following my appreciative gaze, she deduced the source of my distraction.

"Look, so many beautiful girls all around..." she murmured.

"But none of them can speak English." I lamented.

"Have you ever considered that they aren't the problem? That you are!"

"Eh?" I sneered, one of my eyebrows arching upward.

"You should shave your beard!"

***

"You look like a bonobo!" squealed another Chinese girl, referring to the endangered great apes of Africa.

***

"Don't worry, you are still a good human being person." a Korean girl said comfortingly, after I told her about the persecution of the ARNABeard in China.

***

Ceding to popular sentiment, I finally shaved off my magnificent mane one night. The ARNABeard had been tamed, but not for long. Virile to the core, I sported stubble by the next morning. Nonetheless, my 5 o'clock shadow was appreciated by the local beauties far more than the resplendent glory of the thick yet well groomed masterpiece that had previously decorated my face.

***

"There is always a period when a man with a beard shaves it off. This period does not last. He returns headlong to his beard." ~ Jean Cocteau

Shanghai Buddhas

There are a couple of interesting Buddhist temples in Shanghai. The Jade Buddha Temple has multiple admission levels - one to enter the temple, one to see the jade statues, and one to watch the fish swimming in the stream behind. After paying the initial entrance fee, the security guard eyed my friend Barry and I suspiciously. We lurked around the entrance, hoping to catch a glimpse of the famed jade statue as a group of cell phone wielding monks passed by.

The Temple of Peace and Tranquility looked brand new and was attached to a shopping mall. In the courtyard stood a large vase. Visitors tried to throw coins into it for good luck. Most people missed, as the coins glanced off the exterior, clattered onto the cement, and rolled away. We observed one lady who collected all these coins and pocketed the loose change. To divert attention from her insidious actions, every once in a while she performed a mock coin toss that missed horribly. She collected my daily wage in coins in the 15 minutes that we observed her. We moved on to Yuyuan Gardens. The well manicured property is one of the the more pleasant areas amidst the steel and concrete of the modern metropolis.

***

"There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed." ~ Buddha