Games or no games

Believe it or not –but Shanghai Daily today reported on some negative news related to the upcoming Olympic Games.

On Wed night this week it became known that director Steven Spielberg pulled out of his role as an artistic adviser for the Beijing Games because he felt China wasn't doing enough to pressure Sudan to end the conflict in Darfur. While the international press published libraries of information on the issue, the Chinese press (as usual), said nothing.

Until this morning, when Shanghai Daily, Xinhua, and all the other government run newspapers published an urge to the public ‘not to link the Olympic Games with the conflict in Darfur.’

The article went on by listing all aid and support that China has provided Sudan with during the last year. However, there was no mention of the amounts of weapons that they have also sold to the same country.

The article finished off with an angry quote from The Global Times, a current affairs newspaper run by the People's Daily:

"Western exploitation of the Olympics to pressure China immediately provoked much disgust among ordinary Chinese people," said the newspaper. "The vast majority of Chinese people have expressed bafflement and outrage at the Western pressure."

For the full article, go to www.shanghaidaily.com. It’s a first pager of today’s issue.

I personally find it a bit late for the world to start complaining about the Games now, when we are only 6 months away from the opening ceremony date. However, China’s trade with Sudan is unacceptable. I don’t know, it’s a fine line. What do you guys think?

Time to run again

Fancy taking a race in China?

Just get into the crowd!

I’ve been a bit of a slack blogger lately, much due to the CNY holiday. The Chinese holidays always make me extremely lazy, much because of the fact that the cities get so overcrowded that I just want to hide inside with a DVD and take-away. Huh, aren’t I a super fun girl?!

But now the holidays are over (finally!), the crowds have gone back home (thank lord) and I have turned off my DVD player.

My university course doesn’t start until March so I’ve got plenty of time to kill, meaning: articles to write, Chinese characters to study and miles to run. Yup, you heard me. Miles to run.

Seeing that January was a very slow month for me (call me slow started) I decided to embrace the CNY as MY new beginning, so my Chinese New Year resolution is…. To get into the running again!

Once upon a time (hihi) I was actually a quite devoted runner who would feel terrible unless I did a 10 km run every morning. Then something happened, namely I broke my foot and couldn’t run for 6 months, and when I started running again, the nice feeling just wasn’t there. I still tried though, and in 2006 I ran the Shanghai half marathon.

...and I wasn't the only one who ran...

About the race? Well, what can I say. It was crowded. Big time! Like, big big big time! At the starting point (Nanjing Lu, close to the Bund) I thought I was going to get run over, however, in an attempt to keep up and not be stepped on, I started up with speed and ended up with a stitch, making the first 8km more painful than enjoyable.

...and I wasn't the only one who was suffering.

During the first 10-12km or so, the crowd support was quite good. There were taiji performances, dancers, orchestras, and you name it. Girlfriends, boyfriends, envious non-runner and a lot of annoyed Chinese people (that were stuck in traffic because the roads had been closed for the race) were also lining the roads shouting out everything from cheerful support to angry curses. It was perfect!

Here we go!

At 15km I hit a low. My legs were getting stiff (stupid me ended up running in mini shorts and a singlet… and it was the end of November. Doooh!) and my head was feeling heavy. The support had also disappeared as we had left the more commercial areas of the city.

Then, magically, my saviour appeared. A Chinese guy that suddenly ran up next to me and asked:
“Sprechen zi deutch?!”

I was a bit surprised and said no, although I am not sure if he heard me because he kept firing me some more phrases, and I kept nodding, smiling and looking confused back. As he eventually understood I wasn’t German, he gave up and asked me if I’d like to run faster. My legs were already killing me so I said that I’d love to but that it wasn’t possible.
“OK, so we keep your speed then!” he said, and settled into my jog.
“Uhu…” I panted, not really understanding what he meant. Was he going to run next to me for the last 7km?

Oh yes he was.

I struggled, slowed down, tried to speed up, wanted to eventually give up, but my new Chinese friend wouldn’t let me. He got water for me at the water stations. He literally ran behind me and shouted to me to go faster. He put a hand on my back and pushed me when I tried to slow down (does that count as cheating?!) and he kept urging me to go faster.

Here we are. Like peas and carrots after sharing those 7km together.

At the finish line we got separated as girls and guys had to do their finish spurt at two different spots. A bit silly, yeah, and even more silly is the fact that I never managed to find my running buddy again.

He is, honestly, totally responsible for me managing to finish at the time of 2 hours and 5 minutes (Which I think is decent due to my stitch and the fact that neither my body nor my foot were in their best shapes). My personal best (1 hour and 50 min) wasn’t even up for grabs so I’m quite happy with how I did.

Now, if anyone seen this lad, get in touch. I owe him a thank you. Or maybe a “Danke schoen”.

Wanted. Anyone seen him?

What happens when 1,3 billion people travel at once?

I’m trying to get my head around those Chinese holidays, but no matter how my mind twists and twirls with the idea of a whole country taking one week off at the same time, I still cannot understand it. Sure, if you’re a small little place like Sweden, but when we are talking about 1.3 billion people, who all wants to travel at the same time, it doesn’t make any sense. I’ve heard so many horror stories from over crammed holiday trains and the fact that the sales of adult diapers reach its peak during this time of the year speaks for itself.

Fortunately, the Chinese Government has realised this too, and decided to remove one of those week-long national holidays (the one in May). In reality this means that 1.3 billion people will now ‘only’ have a week of holiday together (?!) during the CNY (which is taking place now) and during the National Day in October. Thank god!

Now, for those of you who doesn’t realise just how many people there can be during these kinds of holidays in China, let me give you a hint.

Hello, Nanjing Lu.

Happy New (Chinese) Year!

And so finally, it’s a new year in China too! We spent Wednesday night eating, drinking and doing the compulsory ‘gan bei’ (meaning ‘clean cup’, which obviously means: ‘bottom up!’) together with a lovely Chinese family.

Chinese astrologist have predicted that the year of the Mouse (that we have now stepped into) is not going to be as good for the economy as the previous year of the Pig. However, I have nothing bad to say about the Chinese New Year celebration: A table full of delicious food, a happy and friendly family, beer, white wine, and Chinese bai jiu (Chinese white wine) –it barely gets any better than that! We ate and drank ourselves under the table, just like you are supposed to do.


Some minor, unavoidable mistakes, of course:

* I gave our gift to the host mom’s sister instead of the host mom.
* When asked about my favourite Chinese food, I mentioned a food that wasn’t served that very night. Big mistake. In order to please me at least five people kept asking the waiters to tell the chef to make this special dish only for me (The waiters refused. Thanks lord!)
* When asked how old I was I first replied 'I am a size 25’. Then I realised my mistake and said ‘I am a year 25’, before I finally I managed to say ‘I am 25 years old’. Yikes, I really need to work on my Chinese!
* Someone said I looked Russian.

OK, so the latter wasn’t really a mistake of mine, but still a bit of a downer. However, people also commented on the looks of my boyfriend, saying that he looked 18, rather than his actual age: 28. There we go. CNY in a nutshell!

Under the skin of Seoul

Before I travelled to Seoul I knew very little about Korea, however, I did know some Koreans, and since I thought they seemed like a lovely, happy bunch of people I decided to go and visit their capital city. This is my Seoul review.

Seoul city –a sophisticated and beautiful city.

I had expected Seoul to be cold and polluted at the end of January, so imagine my happiness when I was greeted by a clear blue sky, sunshine, fresh air and a temperature around 1 degree during day time. I couldn’t have asked for more: the weather was perfect!

Me and my travel partner Anna!

Another great thing about visiting Seoul at the end of January/beginning of February, is the fact that me and my friend Anna seemed to be the only tourists in the whole city. No, but seriously! There were no other tourists!?! Awesome my may think, and yeah, it was! Out hotel (Best Vision in Wagasimmi, conveniently located 5 minutes from the metro) was cheap, the staff was friendly, we didn’t have to cue for anything and neither the metro nor the streets were crammed. Sure, it was a bit chilly (especially during night time) but I strongly recommend anyone to visit Seoul during winter time. It’s beautiful and tourist free, just the way you want it when you are there to travel and explore.

Korean Bibimbap

Seoul turned out to be much larger and diverse than I had expected it to be. The city is decided into different districts/areas and none of those areas are alike. There’s an art gallery/old city area (beautiful little lanes, shops and gorgeous restaurants), a more Western area (Itaewon –or sleazeawon as the Seoul inhabitants also call it, due to its extensive selection of western bars and apparently also some western guys), which is a great place for wining and dining, and then there is Apkujong: Seoul’s own Beverly Hills, with prices so high that they make you turn around at the entrance of night clubs.

Dongdaemun Market, every shoe lovers paradise.

There is also a beautiful and buzzling university area called Hongdae, full of cheap and expensive shops, good restaurants, DVD bangs and young, trendy, window shopping Koreans. Speaking of shopping, anyone up for cheap bargains should head to the extensive market areas such as Dongdaemun, where you can buy shoes for 10 euros and bags and clothes for even less. Seoul is not a cheap city but the market areas still make it possible to fill up your suitcase with stuff. Finally, there is the downtown of Seoul –City Hall, which is like any other downtown; busy and happening. And of course I shouldn’t forget the fact that Seoul is surrounded by magnificent hills, which draws a beautiful contrast between big city and country side.

Korean boys making and selling street food

Of course there are several other areas in Seoul too, however, seeing that we only had five days in Seoul we didn’t have time to go everywhere.

The metro

Don't have any photos of the metro but well.. here's a nice typical city sight!

Seoul has a well developed metro system with more than nine lines running from 5am-11pm. The metro is easy to use and you can buy a transport card, fill it up with 10 euros and travel for around 0,9 euros/fare. There are plenty of maps in the metro, as well as plenty of metro workers and commuters that are happy to help confused westerners to figure out their journey/ how to buy tickets/ how to fill up your metro card. During the week days and the day time the metro isn’t too busy, however, during peak hours and weekends it can get crammed. Since taxis are not cheap in Seoul I recommend the metro. After only one day we had worked out how most things worked and it is definitely the fastest way to get from one point to another. Seoul is not a walk-friendly place due to heavy trafficked roads and it can also be hard to cross big streets, so most people rely on metro and buses.

The Koreans

Stylish, polite, helpful and friendly –I only have positive things to say about the Korean population! The only thing that can be annoying is the fact that their English is quite bad, and especially amongst the younger generation. But normally restaurants or cafes have at least one person that can understand you, otherwise you’ll just have to do what I did: improvise!

Both the Korean men and women are very stylish and fashion conscious. If you’re coming to Seoul then don’t dress down. Even Koreans from the country side makes and effort with dressing up when they visit the city, as they might otherwise be looked down on by the trendy and well groomed city population.

Who said looking good comes for free?

We were amazed of how many women that walked around bare legged (brrrrr!!!) in mini skirts and shorts (!) in minus degrees. What can I say? Superwoman doesn’t let the cold stop her from looking good?

The food

Korean food is delicious. I could have eaten myself through the whole week. Bibimbap (rice and veggies with an egg that are mixed together and then you add a medium spicy red sauce on top, yum!) is my favourite but the kimchi isn’t bad either. The food was not as spicy as we had expected it to be, but if you want a burning hot experience then head to the uni area, order some spicy chicken and… well, let your mouth burn!

Mmmmm... bugs!

There are plenty of street food stands selling everything from Korean red bean baozi to Korean sushi rolls and steamed/boiled bugs. Yes my friends, steamed bugs. It smells as disgusting as it looks, and no, I didn’t try it. But I did try some of the other street food and that was yummy.

What to do?

Korean sauna is a must! Appear naked in a huge bath house (no, okay, don’t turn up naked but go to the bath house, pay the 7 euro fee, enter the male/female section, strip down and get into the cleaning buzz) and enjoy saunas, scrubbing, bubble baths, steam baths, ice cold baths and cool down rooms. These places are amazing; you can spend hours in there, and you will feel so clean and fresh once you are done.

Me and Anna at Casa del Vino in Apkujong.

Wining and dining in Seoul’s Beverly Hills: Apkujong. Yes, it’s disturbingly expensive. But you can do like we did: order the cheapest bottle of wine (42 euros, aoooch!) and the cheapest snack on the menu (a cheese platter for 25 euros) and just sit back, relax, and get a feel of the life of the rich and the beautiful. We went to some different wine bars and had a blast, however, when we tried a ‘Beverly Hill’s like’ nightclub and were asked to pay 30 euros just to get in (!) we decided it was time to return to our normal, not so lavish lives and left the building.

Shopping –like I said, the Dongdaemun market is quite good, however, if you are looking for more upscale stuff than head to Apkujong which is the address to all the big, international, luxury brands. I personally also like the university area, Hongdae.

DVD bang

DVD Bang –DVD bangs are scattered around the city. They are private room where you can watch a DVD (that you select –if you select a Korean movie you can get good English subtitles, so in that way it’s an excellent opportunity to explore the Korean movie world). This is especially popular amongst young Korean couples, and most DVD bangs are on the verge of tacky with their pink walls and satin cushions, but well, we thought it was a fun thing to try out. Like a private cinema. And you can bring your own snacks! :) It costs around 15 euros to watch one movie.

The DMZ tour. Seoul city offers you plenty of sightseeing possibilities. Since I am personally not a huge fan of sightseeing, I simply settled for the DMZ tour, a trip to the North Korean border. At this half day tour you get to do/visit the following places:

Board bus at hotel → Head towards the DMZ → The Third Tunnel → The Dora Observatory→ The Unification bridge → The Dora Mountain Train Station → Return to Itaewon.

Me at the Unification bridge.

All in all, the DMZ tour was one of the most interesting tourist tours I have ever been on. According to our guide, the tour is the most popular in Korea, and during summer time more than 3000 tourist travel to the boarder on a daily basis. (We were so happy it was winter time and didn’t have to share the tunnel that amount of people). I would like to tell you in detail about this tour, however, I fear that this blog entry then will become one of those never ending ones that no one gets through? If you’d like to know more about the DMZ tour, than please say so in the comments field and I will give you a more detailed report.

However, at this point I think I have said enough about my trip to Seoul. I hope I have inspired someone to visit this fantastic city. I know for sure that I will be coming back!

Last day in Seoul

Today's my last day in Seoul... which is a sad thing. I love this place. Seriously! Before I went here, people told me that 'sure, it's a cool place but then again it's just another big city'. I strongly disagree with that statement... I think Seoul is amazing, and that Koreans are very interesting and kind people. I don't know how many people that have offered to help us when we have been standing (with puzzled expressions) and studied the metro maps. The Korean food is fantastic (bibimbap is my new favorite dish!) and there is so much fun stuff to do in Seoul! I have taken some photos so I'll upload those once I am back in China.

But really, if you are planning an Asia trip, and don't necessarily want to go to the turist destinations or need the beaches (read: Thailand) then I recommend u to visit Seoul. Just make sure u to arrive here with a bit of cash because the city ain't cheap! Just the other day we had to turn around at a nightclub, as the cover charge turned out to be 30 euros.. 30 euos?! Just to get in. Nah. But don't worry, there are cheaper options.

I'll tell u more when I get home. Stay tuned!!

Korean Sauna and DMZ tour

My gosh, I have so much to tell u guys... I've really taken a liking to Seoul, despite it being an expensive place. Last night me and Anna decided to try the Korean Sauna experience. Quite, ehum, different. We had to walk around butt naked in a huge room that was full of showers, 2 saunas (one regular and one steam), 6 different pools and benches where u could get a real 'scrub', and at 10 pm on a Thu night the place was packed! Women of all ages and shapes sat on small stools and scrubbed themselves with special gloves. We have already decided to go back on Sunday, armed with gloves so that we fit in better.

This morning we did the DMZ tour to the North Korean boarder. It was an extremely interesting and at the same emotional experience. Our guide's family was originally from North Korea so the guide had so many interesting things to tell us. I will share some more info and put up some pictures once I am back in Shanghai. One of the highlights was the visit to one of the tunnels that the North Koreans had secretly dugged to South Korea, in order to eventually do a secret invasion.

Being at the boarder and watching the 'dividing fences' felt both strange, scary and a bit unreal, especially when we watched a whole city that the North koreans have built (only for viewing) in order to pretend that their country is wealthy and that the population is doing well.. I recommend the DMZ tour to anyone who is planning a visit to Seoul.

Tonight we r going out in an area which is supposed to be 'Seoul's Beverly Hills' so we are quite excited! :) I'll get back to you with a hangover report tomorrow! :)