China Trip Day One - Traveling to China - 2013-01-13

IRELAND

Awake and fly! 24 hours from now I will be in Shanghai, China in a country for the next 13 days where the language is unfamiliar to me, the culture is to be discovered and I feel excited like a kid on Christmas morning!

08.16 (GMT+0) Ramada Hotel Bus Stop for the AirCoach (http://www.aircoach.ie/). The bus driver has hit a bad day and do not know the terminal for my flight :) I checked on the internet and Turkish Airlines (http://www.turkishairlines.com/) fly out of Terminal 1, Dublin (http://www.dublinairport.com/). The bus driver has cheered up and made some classic Irish complaining comments about the planners of the airport. We will enter the airport by arriving at Terminal 2 first. I offered to move my bag at the next stop and he counter offered :) I do really like that the aircoach now has Free WiFi.

09.40 (GMT+0) Arrive at Dublin airport with plenty preconceptions about what will happen, who will be with me. I imagine that there could be Chinese Immigration like we get when we go to the US and maybe I should have come much earlier to handle all of that and that I am about to be surrounded by a mix of Turkish and Chinese people on the plane! So off to the Check-In section and it was all too simple. I even had to point out that I had a Chinese Visa. All of the staff for Turkish airlines appeared to be from Eastern Europe, no Turkish personnel. It appears that any immigration will happen in Istanbul (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul) :) Ok, so Dublin will be a walk through. The long walk to the Gate in Terminal 1. Expecting now to meet with Turkish and Chinese at the gate but I don't see even one Chinese person and it is hard to identify Turkish people. So I feel a little disorientated! Now before I get on the plane I think about my expectations for Turkish Airlines. I have no idea...

11.15 (GMT+0) On board we get and Turkish Airlines has been voted the best European Airline for the last three years. What does that mean? Maybe the next 4 hours will unveil that to me. At least I get to sit in row of three seats with one other Irish guy on the way to Vietnam, a bit of space to maneuver during the next few hours. It was great to hear that are other people prepared to live around the world. Now we receive a menu in both English and Turkish of the upcoming refreshment during the flight.

I remember that we had several choices when asked about food while booking on the website and I was in a particularly healthy mood when I chose. "Raw Menu" was what I had selected and I got notified that I was on a special meal. As the air hostesses are passing through the aisles with food, I received an all-fresh-fruit plate. Fabulous.

And then the drinks include Turkish red wine which I had never contemplated before. Italian normally being top of my list in that department. Have to give it a go and to be honest, not bad!

There is a USB Electric socket in the panel in front of me so phones and tablets can keep charged during the journey. Four hours flew and I look at the screen to see that Dublin and Istanbul are exactly 3,000 Kilometers apart! I know that I will have a 7 hours wait in Ataturk Airport Istanbul (20 kilometers west of the city http://goo.gl/maps/as8ww) but I have already decided that I will not risk the airport exit for a visit of one of the cities that is on the top of my list to see. I prepared for a 7 hour tour of the airport and good read of my current book Flourishing by Maureen Gaffney.

17.25 (GMT+2) Istanbul begins the separation by not just distance but also timezone, now 2 hours ahead of Dublin. To keep in contact with home we use an innovative tool called Voxer which has the amazing facility of recording voice messages, pictures and text messages offline and sends on the next connection to the Net, love it.
As we enter the Transit part of the airport, the Food court is the first site. Had a little walk around spotting the Kebab Shop and then thinking to myself, an original kebab in Turkey, that will have to be my choice even thought there were choices of pizza, asia fusion, KFC etc

A simple slip of mind made me realise that I had not a Turkish Lira (approx. conversion 2,5 lira to 1 euro http://bit.ly/WwIClO) to my name and will they accept the famous credit cards, not a problem. Up I went to get a turkish kebab and a local beer "Efes". The beer was good but the kebab was ver disappointing. I have had my best kebabs in Germany and Switzerland from Turkish Kebab Houses and they were far superior to my first on ground soil. Watching people in the food court area, this is really a crossroads for the world, asian, south american, european, african peoples all together enjoying some grub!
Next for a wander around the waiting area Duty Free and bookshops of the Airport. The D&R Bookshop (http://www.dr.com.tr/) was a well stocked bookshop for English and Turkish books. My resistance is low when I get into places like this and I begin to scan the books both their covers and full boks when one catches my interest. I know I am mid-reading Flourishing but... "ReWork" by the founders of 37Signals after a scan intrigues me. I put it down trying to resist temptation and another man picks it up directly afterwards. I know now that I want to and will walk around the airport for a while pretending to myself that I have discarded it and come back and buy it.
Wandering down in the direction of my gate there is a massage machine but a water massage machine (http://www.aquamassage.com/) claiming to give you a water massage in 7 minutes that would be the equivalent of a 40 minute massage. Nah, I'm ok but interested to keep that in mind for another time. Never saw one of those machines before.
There is a lot of time to still pass and wandering around there was a bar where everyone appeared to be plugged in with their laptops and tablets. I thought that will be perfect for me BUT what type of electric socket do they have in Turkey? Hell, if I know. I'll have to wander in a get down to have a good look. I do not have a super duper Universal adaptor on me. Down I get and it is the same as an Italian socket, yes sir, I have that covered. Always have a socket of that nature in my bag so I can sit down, enjoy another Efes, and get online. The strange thing was the price of the beers at the bar
250 ml 18 lira
330 ml 19 lira
500 ml 20 lira
The quantity difference was not reflected in the price! I commented to my neighbour that really we are just renting the seat not paying for the quantity of beer we are drinking. I asked for a beer without mentioning the quantity and of course the waiter came back with a 500 ml as I hoped after examining the prices.

After these hours in Istanbul airport, I am ready for a 10 hour flight across the Asian continent and sleep. This time as we wait for boarding, there are more Chinese and Turkish people in the queue which makes me feel that I am on the right track after dublin having being so disorientating.

00.40 (GMT+2) Flight ready to take off for Shanghai!

To 'Xi Jinping' from 'Hu Jintao' - Change in Chinese Leadership

The Chinese have an amazing history reaching back thousands of years. The last century has seen the fall of the monarchs, the Last Emperor 'Puyi', and the rise of Communism with 'Chairman Mao' and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). And between now and Spring of 2013, we will see a leadership change in the Government of what is to be the most influential country in the world for the coming century.

The direction of China, a country with a population of over a billion people (1,000,000,000) will be lead by this relatively young man, Xi Jinping, in his late fifties from Weinen near Xi'an (the old capital of China) in the provence of Shaanxi. Reading the history of this man, he is committed to his country since his father was imprisoned during the 'Cultural Revolution'. His father was purged and sent to work in a factory in 1963 for his Communist activities and then 5 years later, in 1968, his father was sent to prison when Xi was only 15 years of age. He joined Mao's Countryside revolution with ideals.

Using the GDP from Trading Economics (or visually from The Richest.Org or Washington Post) and we all know on the news that China is on the way if not already the largest GDP country in the world. It is one of the biggest creditors to the United States and it influence on the Globe is just beginning.

Having been brought up in Ireland a western country, firstly as a second world country and then as a first world country under the governance (via the EU) of democracy (ancient Athenians to Thomas Jefferson) and capitalism (Adam Smith), my understandings of communism were skewed. The different versions of capitalism from the Bolsheviks of Russia, to the Italians and the Chinese (centered on the works of Karl Marx). When I look at the modern Ireland it gives me doubt as to which governance if any can really work for the Citizen.

Since China will become the guiding light for the economy, it will automatically inherit the leadership role for the planet and the balance of resources on the planet. I wish the Chinese and us as much luck as we can muster to find a way.

Chinese Cities - Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3!

The Chinese have made clear demarcations on their cities based on their GDP, their population and other criteria. I recently received the recommendation that when I will go there and bring my family, it would be more comfortable to goto a Tier 1 or Tier 2 city.

Total number of Chinese Cities listed 655 Cities

Tier 1 [3 Cities] 2009 statistics
1 - Shanghai, GDP 228 Billion USD (1US$=6.6RMB) and a population of 14 million
2 - Beijing, GDP 184 Billion USD (1US$=6.6RMB) and a population of 12.5 million
3 - Guangzhou, GDP 138 Billion USD (1US$=6.6RMB) and a population of 10 million.

Tier 2 [15 Cities]
1 - Chengdu, Sichuan
2 - Chongqing
3 - Dalian, Liaoning
4 - Hangzhou, Zhejiang
5 - Ningbo, Zhejiang
6 - Kunming, Yunnan
7 - Nanjing, Jiangsu
8 - Suzhou, Jiangsu
9 - Qingdao, Shandong
10 - Tianjin
11 - Shenzhen, Guangdong
12 - Zhuhai, Guangdong
13 - Wuhan, Hubei
14 - Xiamen, Fujian
15 - Xi'an, Shaanxi

Tier 3 [637 Cities]
...

Depending on where you look, you may also find cities classified as Tier 4 & 5 too!

There are 4 National City Centers that report directly to the Central Government
1 - Shanghai
2 - Beijing
3 - Tianjin
4 - Chongqing

My direction is Shanghai (Tier 1), Shenzhen (Tier 2), or Beijing (Tier 1). Hold on! Hong Kong is not listed!

Getting a Chinese Name! 江纳什 - Jiang Nash

Now that I know that is the direction that I am going I thought wouldn't it be interesting to get on some of the Chinese Social Networks. Recently, a colleague sent me an invite to Ushi. So let me register and begin to understand a little more. Not so simple. Doing the registration had a few difficulties.

1 - All of the content was in Chinese Pictograms
2 - I need a Chinese Name to register.
3 - A Chinese Name has three or two characters
4 - A Chinese Name from a Chinese Girl from Dalian and questions some questions answered

1 - All of the content was in Chinese Pictograms

At the beginning it was not that easy to see the English language button so I had some difficulty. Luckily with Chrome, Google Translate seems to be built in and after 10 seconds a page would be translated into English. Yes !!!

2 - I need a Chinese Name to register for Ushi

So when I finally get into the registration process. I was asked for a Chinese Name or the registration process would not complete :(

A helpful friend picks a name
My first thought was ask a Chinese person I know to register me on the network because I do not even have the pictograms to enter them. My friend Joe was very helpful and a few hours, I received confirmation that my account ready to activate. During the process Joe picked a name for me 江纳什 - Jiang Nash. Solution found! :)

For a few days, I was bubbling with contentedness. I now had a Chinese Name 江纳什 and I am on the Professional Social Network Ushi! Curiosity struck me, how do you pick a name in Chinese?

A website helps choose a name
So I went and did a classic Google Search for Chinese Names and the first site was Mandarin Tools. Brilliant. You give your first name, you last name, your date of birth and one more intriguing attribute, the desired essence of your name. There is a choice of 5 essences.

1 - Personal Character and Skill
2 - Wealth and Fortune
3 - Beauty and Appearance
4 - Mind and Intelligence
5 - Strength and Power


What I learned from this process is that there seems to be three Chinese pictograms that represent a name.
[Surname] [Firstname] [Firstname]

So I went ahead to see what names would come out for me.

1 - Ma Zhi nu
Ma
Zhi - purpose, will determination
nu - exert, strive, make effort

2 - Ma Zhen nu
Ma
Zhen - precious
nu - exert, strive, make effort

3 - Meng Ji ning
Meng
Ji - excite, quickly
ning - respose, serenity, peace, peaceful

4 - Ma Jie ning
Ma
Jie - clean, purify, pure
ning - respose, serenity, peace, peaceful

5 - Mai Zhi nu
Mai
Zhi - purpose, will, determination
nu - exert, strive, make effort

Now the funny thing is, if you retry all the same criteria another time you can get different results! So there is not simply 5 variations of your name according to this tool. I am not sure how many variations there possibly could be. So a little frustrated in not really understanding how a name was picked.

Note: The website creates the name in images rather than in characters that can be copied.

So I am still left with a lack of understanding of how Chinese Names can be chosen.

3 - A Chinese Name has three or two characters

As a fan of Asian Martial Arts movies, this time I decided to watch the end of the movie with the names. As I watched the credits I noticed that some names seem to have three pictograms and others two pictograms. Now I am more confused, how many pictograms are there in a name?

4 - A Chinese Name from a Chinese Girl from Dalian and questions some questions answered

A few days later, I met with a Chinese Girl know as 'Kate' to people in Ireland and I simply had to ask about how a normal Mum and Dad go about picking a new born child's name in China. Some of Kate answered to me was familiar, there was usually three pictograms in a person's name. And I asked her about the film credits. Kate answered that newer names are starting to have only two pictograms for their names. There seems to be some reformation and simplification process happening in China with respect to the creation of names. Kate is from Dalian, China. Dalian is a city with about 6 million people in the province of Liaoning east of Beijing and close to North Korea. One question was answered.
Now how do parents go about choosing a name for a new born child.

The surname: the surname like in western European countries comes from the father. So the first of the three characters or two characters is inherited from the father family name for the child.

The firstname: the first name is made up of two characters and the modus operandi of Kate's family is that people of the same age get the same second character. I didn't fully get why they did. Like her and her cousin have the same second character in their name. The third character seemed to be the one to represent the individual. And she explained the different names and what could be usual for a boy or a girl like Liong is for Dragon and that usually be used for boys.

Choosing a name for me. Kate seemed to think that choosing a name for a foreigner was a more flexible arrangement. She was asking me do I want the Chinese name to sound like my English name Jonathan. So then the surname would be a character that sounded like Jon. Apparently this is a common surname in China. So choosing a name for me would simply a matter of sound, a deviation from the normal Chinese way to choose for their own.

This investigation required more research I feel I am slowly gaining some insight into how the name can be chosen. I want to go back to Joe and ask him why did he choose 江纳什 - Jiang Nash for me? From which ideas did he derive the name. I will stick with that name at least until I understand the principles for choosing a name. My family may need to go through a similar process for living there.

A name is precious, why we chose it, what we chose, who helps us choose it are all important. This search for understanding of my Chinese Name is just beginning...

After just posting this blog I got curious about my own name Jiang Nash, what do the three characters 江纳什 mean. And I went to my handy tool of Google Translate.

江 means 'River'
纳 means 'Satisfied'
什 means 'Even'

and put altogether are pronounced Jiang Nash!

The search goes on...

1421 - Who discovered the world?

Early this year in Kensington High Street, London, I eventually was ready to buy the book from Gavin Menzies [Website http://www.1421.tv/] on Chinese Naval History, 1421. In 1421, under the command of Emperor Zhu Di, four men

1. Hong Bao
2. Zhou Man
3. Zhou Wen
4. Yang Qing

lead Chinese fleets around the entire world in expeditions that lasted two years, until 1423, which included reaching different parts of the Americas and circumnavigating the globe.

It makes me think about the famous explorers revere like

• Christopher Columbus
• Bartolomeu Dias
• Pedro Alvares Cabral
• Vasco da Gama
• Ferdinand Magellan; and
• Captain James Cook 

who followed in the wake of the Chinese expeditions. They were brave but maybe not as much as we think because they were not the first and they knew it too!

Read this book and we will realise that the way we see the world has been marketed to us!

Being Irish, I actually am in favour of Saint Brendan having been the first man to Captain a boat to the Americas but the truth is that we will never know who that was!

China means Shanghai, Shenzhen or Beijing!

The possibility of going to China is now turning into high probability! So much so that I can narrow it down to three locations

- Shanghai which means '上' "Above" '海' "Sea"  
- Shenzhen which means '深' "Deep" '圳' "Drains"
- Beijing which means '北' "North" '京' "Capital 



- Shanghai which means '上' "Above" '海' "Sea"

  

- Shenzhen which means '深' "Deep" '圳' "Drains"

- Beijing which means '北' "North" '京' "Capital" 

At the same time, I have just read the blog from a friend of mine, Brendan, who took his family on Around the World Trip in 2007 and 2008.

Brendan's Trip 2007 December and 2008 January. The blog is great it gave my his impressions of being there 5 years ago with a family traveling around the country, worth a read.

Next comes the confirmation of where we will be going. I am uncertain yet, which of the three places, that I will be going. I am learning about all three for the moment!

It feels like Christmas is coming!

What do I know about China?

I am like a kid with a new toy. This blog is like opening a present!

Recently, the opportunity has arrived to potentially work in China. The idea excites me. It is soon to be the largest economy in the world and it is continuously growing.

For a few years I have been thinking about the idea of going where the most growth is. I imagine people to be more optimistic, driven and living a great quality of life. Progress is the fuel that feeds the human soul.

I have played with the idea of learning the language. I have even bought a few books on the subject including Chinese for Dummies, a Chinese Dictionary, a magazine series on the learning of the Chinese language and subscribed to a few Chinese language learning sites like ChinesePod.

I would love to say I am fluent and ready to go! But I haven't invested the priority needed in any of those tools that I bought to understand the language.

Last year, in April, I pushed an business opportunity to get to Hong Kong but the trip got postponed and finally the trip did not happen because of other priorities.

And now, this new opportunity has arrived!

A new burst of energy came to me to learn the language again as I believe that it will be important to interact with Chinese people more and more in the coming years and it will be even more so for our children. So my iPod Touch came out of the drawer and I rechecked that the ChinesePod app was on there. Yes, I was good to go!

The first lesson that I listened to was about inviting someone to dinner, a great starting point. John and Dilu were enjoyable to listen to. It was fun as they flirted with each other through the lesson. I actually wonder does John really fancy Dilu. I vote Yes! I was in Rome traveling to London as I was listening to ChinesePod. My enthusiasm was building and would have loved to bought a book about China or language if I could find one. But between Rome and Leonardo da Vinci Airport, there NO books on the shelves about tourism in China. I was hoping for a Lonely Planet Guide to China. So I guess no has recognised that a few Italians might be heading in the direction of China!

During my trip, I realised that I know very very little about China.
- What the current exchange rate is between the Euro and the Yuan?
- What are the latest population figures?
- Which countries share borders with China?

I simply didn't know the very basics about a country that I might go to work or live in. And yet I have this idea to go there. More than that I have an opportunity to work there for 6 months.

I want to know more! Therefore I am beginning to write this blog to capture and share all the things that I learn about China as I prepare for this opportunity.

It will be fun...