Trip to Hong Kong and Macau Pt 2 - Macau

So after my Hong Kong experience, I hopped (literally) onto a ferryboat, which took me over the short strait to Macau. Like its neighbour, Hong Kong, it is an "autonomous region" within the People's Republic of China, allowing it to set its own immigration policy and laws. Lucky for me, since I didnt need a visa to visit, and lucky for all the entrepreneurial types who have leapt upon the region's unusually lax gambling laws to make Macau the Las Vegas of the East. What used to be a quiet Portuguese colony island, has been inundated with glitzy casinos and hotels, and there's more and bigger ones on the way.

I met up with Angela and her folks at the Venetian Hotel, possibly currently the most famous on the island. It was my first experience of 5 star accommodation, and although luxuriously comfortable, we all agreed it was predictably tacky in the extreme. It's Venice themed, as the name suggests, from an exterior modelled on Piazza San Marco, to a surreal interior canal, complete with singing gondoliers and a fake sky, set to a perpetual watercolour dawn. The rest of the (huge) building was shops, a huge casino, and more shops. It was really more of a casino-mall with a posh hotel tacked on, than a hotel itself.

So we luxuriated in the big bath and soft bed, and even had room service breakfast. Its not like we're going to be doing this again in a hurry, so why not, eh?

Unfortunately, while the original plan was to stay only one night in Macau, get my visa the next day and leave that evening together, it turned out that the next day was a holiday and the Taiwan Trade and Cultural Office (nearest thing they're allowed to an embassy) was shut. Luckily the Hong's have an old school friend who works there, Mr Chang, and he very kindly put me up for the night and helped sort out my visa smoothly the next day.

Behind the lights and glitz of the casino boom lies remnants of the old colonial Macau, and in many places it seemed more like we were walking around a European city, just with lots of Chinese tourists. Pretty much the whole Portuguese population has left though, or been refused re-entry, since China took the place over, so only the buildings remain.

Can you see your two intrepid correspondents somewhere in this picture?

That night Mr Chang took me out to see the bright lights, to pontificate on the failings of the harbour-front development, explain the Feng-Shui behind the design of casino lobbies, and dish the dirt on the heated feud between the big boss of Macau casinos (he owns the Grand Lisboa) and his namesake, the departed mayor of Macau. Looking at the sea of neon lights, huge building projects, and glassy-eyed gamblers it hardly needed explaining that the casino interests won. Now around half the population work in the casinos or associated hotels..

The next day was much more relaxing. Once I put in my visa documents, I had all day to wander round the old town. Everything in Macau city is pretty much within walking distance, if you dont mind the heat. Went to see the ruins of the Catedral de Sau Paulo, complete with reliquary stacked full of genuine martyrs bones.

and found myself on top of the old colonial fort, wishing for one last cannonball and a bucket of black powder...

DEAD WALK THE STREETS OF XIMENDING!

If you go out to Ximen late in the evening, you never know what you might find. ...
On this particular night, the dead walked the streets!
Turned out to be one of the coolest school projects Ive heard of. For a marketing course, they create, promote and perform a Haunted House show in several rooms of the school. Damn, I wish my teachers had such fun ideas. But the east does take the biscuit in terms of creepy horror movies, so it makes sense.
And they've done a grand job of it by what we could see. Heres some pics of their street haunting. For more info (Chinese only, but theres photos and video) go to http://blog.yam.com/qipan

Trip to Hong Kong and Macau (pt 1)

Left Taiwan briefly on another visa-run, this time to Hong-Kong and Macau. I hung out in HK while Angela and her folks went to a Wedding in Shanghai, and then met up with them in Macau, which is a short ferry ride from HK (pt2). Hong Kong city was predictably bustling, but also surprisingly multicultural, but perhaps thats just in contrast to Taipei, where white folk and (gasp) Africans still frighten small children with their rarity. The area in HK (actually Kowloon, across the bay) where I was staying is full of Indians, Pakistanis and Africans hawking suits, knock off watches, curry, hashish, massage, "massage", electronics etc etc. Needless to say I indulged greatly in the curry...:P

I stayed in the (in)famous ChungKing Mansions which consists of several floors of small shops selling luggage, clothes, internet access, electronics and (more) curry, with layers of packed cheap accommodation above. The room I got was about as small as you could get without being a capsule hotel, but it was clean enough, and I had my own shower. The view from the stairwell is uniquely Hong Kong I think, along with the smell (if only I could photograph that) and microclimate (always raining).



I ditched my stuff and headed out of town, to discover the strangely paradoxical thing about HK - its about the most densely populated place on the planet, but its really easy to escape the city and be in wild hills with roaming water-buffalo. The city just stops when the hills start (see panorama). So I went and explored the boulders in the nearby Twen Wan area. Very nice coarse granite on a hilltop with a pleasant breeze to take the worst of the heat. Lovely.

In the evening me and some whisky went for a donder down the Kowloon waterfront, from where you can enjoy the famous view of central Hong Kong at night.




Spent the next couple of days wandering the town staring at unfeasibly tall buildings, almost dying of heat stroke hiking round the "Monkey Mountain" area (sadly lacking in monkeys apart from by the road, and they're all feral rhesus and long-tail macaques, the indigenous population having been previously hunted to extinction), eating more curry (I recommend the "Khyber Pass Mess Club" in Chung King. Says its private, but just go in - its just a licensing dodge), and twisting my ankle descending from more bouldering (doh).

Finally, while I hobbled round the streets of downtown HK on friday night, weaving through the crowds of partygoers and soaring glass towers, I came across this scene, which I think illustrates the divide between bustling affluence and abject poverty that often sadly characterises economic hotspots like HK.

As usual, you can click on any picture to see a full-size version...

another visitor

Found this one hanging out on the front doorstep when I got back from Taipei. About 6 ft long I reckon, but no idea what species. Head shape suggests not too venomous, but I didn't get close enough to find out.... ~ Monkey

Goodness me. Still, they don't frighten me quite as much as Taiwanese House Centipedes - possibly because from all that I have heard, snakes are really quite shy creatures. Besides, Felix lived in the mountains of Nantou with loads of snakes for ages and never got bit. They used to even hide in his shoes and stuff. ~ Pseudoangela

Myanmar Cyclone Relief Concert

A walk in the hills

We joined some of Angela's work colleagues for a short hike up on Yangmingshan Mountain, which is just behind our house in Jinshan, but quite a trek up, so this was the first time we had explored there. Took the lazy bus to the ridge and then walked through buffalo country and mossy woods. It was a fine dry day, which was lucky since the mountain holds rainclouds like the Cuillin.

Most of the trail was wooded, so when we arrived at the road end, we were glad to find an ice-smoothie stall (with locally grown "tree-tomatoes" and very cute kittens). We walked down hill to find a bus back into town, and then went directly off to the climbing wall. Are we hardcore or what?

(kind of) new bed

Toph and I made this bed about a month ago and I've been meaning to upload the pictures ever since. The first little while after we moved in we were sleeping on a sofa bed that isn't long enough for Toph to stretch out on, so this is a definite improvement.

We went and got the materials from B&Q and did the dirty work out on the balcony on a sunny day. While we were hammering and sanding away a neighbour (presumably, as I don't know who he actually is) stopped outside the gate and called out "What are you so busy with?" and I told him we were making furniture. He declined my invitation to stop in for a cup of tea. I generally get the feeling that we're quite entertaining to the locals.

The bed now has a few extra legs (stability and to stop it creaking), the shelf next to bed (which Toph also made) has been painted white, and the bed has a mosquito net. What else could one ask for?

Everything is getting more and more homely all the time. We even had a little bonfire at home with a few friends to celebrate Beltane. But we are leaving so soon! If only we could go and live in different places in the world, but take the house (and garden) with us. Instead of travelling by plane, we could fly the house (and garden).

Baosheng Cultural Festival

Went to check out this event at the Baoan Temple in Taipei, 19th April.

Its one of the highlights of the celebrations of the the birth of the Baosheng Emperor, the main deity worshipped at this Taoist Temple. Other days included firewalking, opera competitions (!) and street theater seminars.

Saturdays events included performances from some of Taiwans most highly regarded street performance troupes, including Songjiang Formation, Flower Drum Formation and the excellently titled Twelve Grannies Formation. Needless to say I had no clue which of these crews did what performances as there was a constant procession of groups waiting for their turn in front of the main shrine. What I did see was some quality pole-top lion dancing, giant carnivalesque puppets, a 20m long dragon, LOTS of firecrackers (see pictures).

The culmination of the day was the fire-lion, which was about the most up-close firework display Ive ever experienced (as a punter). An interesting contrast to health and safety standards in the UK, it centered around a paper lion stuffed annd surrounded by tiers of fireworks. Audience members in the know brought hats and umbrellas to protect their heads from debris and downward-pointed fountains. After the first few seconds, I could see very little except smoke and glimpses of 'technicians' scurrying about with firebrands lighting the next giant cake. The aftermath could have been a bomb-site if not for the children still excitely running around in the ash and debris. I may still be a little deaf...

An Uninvited Guest

And such bad manners too, eating the residents...

Found this beastie the other evening, busy devouring one of our biggest resident hunting spiders. The spider was about 5 inches across, so it must have been quite a tussle. Its a Taiwanese House Centipede, similar to the species found commonly across the US, but considerably bigger. I hear that they eat cockroaches too, though, so its not all bad..

2-28 Incident, White Terror and Peace Memorial Day

Today is a national holiday - Peace Memorial Day, founded to commemorate the 2-28 Massacre that started on February 28, 1947 and continued into the period known as the White Terror, during which up to 30,000 dissidents were killed or disappeared in Taiwan.

After WW2, the UN removed Japanese control of Taiwan (then Formosa) and placed it in the hands of the Kuomintang (KMT) government, (then part of the pre-revolution Republic of China, but later being better know as the party of General Chiang Kai-shek, who formed a government/dictatorship in exile in Taiwan after being defeated by the communists in the mainland Chinese civil war.)

During the first 2 years of KMT rule under governer-general Chen Yi, they became renowned for corruption, mismanagement and nepotism. Inflation soared, causing widespread discontent especially amongst native Taiwanese. A flash point incident occurred when police confronted an elderly Taiwanese lady who was allegedly selling counterfeit cigarettes. When she resisted arrest, the police pistol-whipped her, sparking a flood of angry onlookers. When a stray warning shot killed a protester the rage spilled over into full scale riots, and the shooting of several unarmed protesters. The movement spread across the country and at their hight the anti-KMT movement took control of administrative centres and formed local community policing to keep civil order. Petitions were made to the UN to allow democracy, reduce corruption and even full Taiwanese independence.

The KMT, under Chen Yi, stalled in the negotiations, and in the meantime gathered a large army on the mainland. They arrived back in Taiwan on the 8th March and by the end of the month had killed 3000-4000 leaders of the rebels. There were reports of indiscriminate shooting of high-school boys, since they had formed the basis of the community police during the uprising.

The initial purge lead to a long period of single-party oppression, known as the White Terror, which lasted until the end of martial law in 1987, and during which time many thousands more Taiwanese were imprisoned, executed or disappeared for their political beliefs.

No mention of the massacre appeared in history books here until the progressive KMT president Lee Teng-hui publicly apologised in 1992, after which many memorials were built and this national holiday founded.

Now, the 2-28 incident is still a hot political issue, with the "pan-green" DPP (democratic) party often using it to vilify the KMT (reminiscent of GW Bush bringing up 9-11 whenever possible), while the "pan-blue" KMT (nationalist) coalition accuse their opponents of "hate speech" against mainland Chinese in Taiwan. Often relatives of 228 massacre victims are used in political publicity stunts, especially around election time (like now), often without due respect for their dignity and loss.

Money for the Earth God

We burned money for Tu Di Gong. Its a regular part of offerings at shrines here, just like food and incense, but especially at significant times of year like new year.
Theres a special little fire-house next to the shrine itself for this purpose.
Its not real cash, of course, but specially printed symbolic shrine-money. There's shops that sell pretty much nothing but paper money by the bag, incense and candles for offerings.

Once again, click on the slide-show to go to a full size gallery.

The Temple Generals

So heres another story from the fount of Chinese folklore in Angela encyclopoedic mind.
As told to Monkey.

Painted huge on either half of temple doors there are always a couple of intimidating and grim looking military gentlemen. A little incongruous with the more tranquil space inside, so whats the deal?

Once there was a dragon, well known for being a bit full of themselves. In Chinese mythology, the weather is controlled by dragons, on the orders of higher gods. This one dragon was in-between rainstorms when he saw the shop of a fortune teller. AHA, thought the dragon, NO MORTAL CAN SEE THE FUTURE. I WILL DENOUNCE THIS PRETENDER! So he went into the shop and challenged the old man to predict where rain would fall the next day. Even the dragon himself didnt know yet, since the orders had not yet been issued. The man made his prediction, and the dragon chuckled in anticipated triumph: TOMORROW I WILL COME BACK AND TEAR DOWN YOUR SIGN, YOU FRAUD! NO ONE CAN KNOW SUCH THINGS!

Off went the dragon with such smugness that only their species can muster. The next day he went to his godly master and received his rain orders for the day. To his horror, he realised that the old fortune teller had been right down to the last detail! But rather than admit himself wrong, he deliberately sent rain to places other than where he was ordered, and left areas dry that were destined for downpours. Then he went to the fortune tellers shop in triumph to claim the wager won. There the old man was in a terrible state. "What have you done?" he asked, "The gods are VERY angry. There is drought across half the land and floods on the plains! They have ordered your death by beheading at the hands of the Prime Minister!". The dragon knew this to be true and didn't dare return to his master, but asked the old man instead - WHAT SHOULD I DO?

"There is only one way to save your head" said the old man, after much thought. "You must go and plead your case to the Emperor himself, and ask him to detain the Prime Minister the day of your execution, so that he cannot be in the city to carry out your sentence." So the dragon went on bended knee to the Emperor and pleaded his good nature and the harshness of the penalty, and promised to be a good friend of the country for ever more, if only the Emperor would detain his Prime Minister for that afternoon that he was scheduled to be put to the axe. The Emperor was merciful, and agreed to his terms.

On the day of the execution, the Prime Minister was summoned to the Imperial Palace on state affairs, where he was kept busy for several hours, but it was not yet too late to return to the city. So the Emperor bade his remain for tea, and the Prime Minister could not refuse, although he was keen to get on with his other duties. But soon the tea was drunk, and still it was early, so the Emperor detained his minister by playing many games of chess, until they were exhausted and the Prime Minister fell asleep. "Good" thought the Emperor "that keeps him here, and the dragon safe." But after some time, the PM awoke and exclaimed "What a strange dream! I dreamt that I cut the head off a dragon!" And indeed the dragon had been executed, just as in the dream.

The dragon was understandably upset with this outcome, and took to haunting the Emperor each night. A fearsome sight indeed - an enraged dragon, holding his severed head beneath his foreleg! The Emperor could never sleep soundly and was tired all day. Eventually he ordered his two best generals to guard the door to his sleeping chamber, and to be on guard for dead dragons. This measure worked and for the first time in weeks, the Emperor was able sleep undisturbed. But of course he couldn't keep his two best generals at his door indefinitely, so he had his artists paint life size portraits of the soldiers on either side of his door, and lo behold! That worked just as well! Dragons are known more for their cunning and pride than their sheer intelligence it would seem...

So in memory of these two exceptional generals and their illusion, their images adorn either side of main temple doors, to protect the inhabitants from evil influences and angry ghosts...

There you go. You learned something new. So did I...

Pics

Click on the image to go to bigger versions.

The Year Beast

Xin Nian Kuai Le (新年快樂), happy lunar new year!
Seems as good a time to start a blog as any.

Got woken up at 7am by someone letting off a string of firecrackers outside the Tu Di Gong shrine by ooer wee hoosie. Set me thinking - why are Chinese folk so mad on firecrackers round this time?

(so I told this story to Monkey while we laid around in bed - nothing like a good lie in during the holiday season... Angela)

There's the story of the Nian, the Year Beast ("Nian/年" = Year), a fearsome creature that would emerge from the sea and terrorise villages around new year. Once there was a village that was preparing to flee inland before the time of the Nian's arrival, but one old granny was near to death and wanted to be able to spend the last of her time peacefully in her home. So she refused to leave with the others, and went about her daily chores. Later that day, a old beggar came through the village, but was puzzled to find no-one there, and no-one to beg from. When the old granny saw the beggar, she invited him to her house, because he looked hungry and tired. When he asked where all the people had gone, she explained that they had all fled before the Year Beast arrived. The beggar laughed and asked "Is that all it is? Leave the Nian to me. But do as I say. You must make dumplings, and no matter what you hear or imagine, you mustn't stop chopping!" So the old lady set to, chopping pork for the dumplings.
Meanwhile the beggar went off and made a long string of bamboo firecrackers and hung them all around the roof and door of the old granny's house. Then he went through the house and found all the red paper and fabric he could, and hung it over the walls of the house, and those of her neighbours.
Just then, the old lady heard the roar of the Year Beast, as it came charging into the village, looking for prey. It ran up and down streets, but couldn't find anyone, because they had all fled. But then it heard the sound of the old lady's knife chopping on her wooden board, and it turned towards her house. Just as it approached her door, the beggar set off the firecrackers, and suddenly the Beast was overwhelmed with loud bangs, the smell of sulphur, red colour everywhere it looked, and still the persistent sound of a knife striking a wooden chopping board. In its terror and confusion it fled the village, never to return again.
And that is why, around Chinese New Year, people decorate their houses in red, hang firecracker-like decorations all around, and let off real, loud firecrackers at every opportunity, even at 7 in the morning!

Happy Year of the Rat!