Thoughts on Shanghai vs. New York

Shanghai

West meets East

I landed in Shanghai the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival. This year is the first time that the Chinese government has made this traditional Chinese festival a day off for everyone. Interestingly, when I was growing up, most of the official holidays (i.e. days off for everyone) were “new” holidays, as opposed to traditional Chinese festivals that have long histories, special meanings and unique food. Now that China is experiencing breathtaking Western-style development, it is also trying to dig up more and more of its history and tradition to become more “Chinese”.

For a tourist, Shanghai really does not offer much. As a city, it does not have the Great Wall, Forbidden City or Ming Tombs that help a rather austere Beijing convey a sense of majesty; it does not have the terra cotta warriors that have made a sleepy Xian uniquely mythical; it cannot rival Hangzhou on natural beauty, without a breathtaking West Lake of its own; nor can it rival Suzhou when it comes to those elegant scholars’ gardens. Even though urban development in the past 50 years have taken away many of Suzhou’s gardens and filled most of its canals, one can still get a sense of its ethereal and delicate beauty, just as a naturally beautiful woman could still be beautiful even in shabby clothes.

In a way, almost every other major city in China has something “permanent” to their identities and something uniquely theirs. When it comes to Shanghai, however, I have always tried without success to capture its essence with words. In the end, I have come to realize that its essence is its complete malleability and its constant change. And it is indeed a constantly changing city, with an aim to be more modern, more wealthy and more important, based on the latest definition of those criteria.


The second tallest building in the world opened its doors in Shanghai recently – Shanghai World Financial Center looks like a can opener, with a square hole in the middle of the top portion of the building. Architects must be running out of good ideas these days. I did not get a chance to visit it, as I heard that the lines would be long. Still, just by looking out of the windows of my room at St. Regis in the Pudong Area of Shanghai, I must say that this city reminds me more of New York than other Chinese cities.

Like my previous trips to Shanghai, this one was also for work, which means that I spent a lot of time talking business in restaurants. The food at these restaurants is infinitely better than the Chinese food one can find anywhere in the US, with service so attentive that it borders on making you feel uneasy. By comparison to what one can get at somewhat more “local” restaurants that cater to the Chinese paying out of their own pockets as opposed to paying out of an expense account, there is a dramatic and perhaps unnecessary price difference. – I am not complaining though, as I did love the food tremendously, not least because I recently came back from a vacation trip to central Europe, where I might have lost weight, despite eating apple strudels constantly…

St. Regis is of course not a Shanghai brand or a Shanghai phenomenon. However, I feel that a St. Regis experience is perhaps more “Shanghai-esque” than visiting the Yu Garden (arguably the only historic site in Shanghai), because of its emphasis on luxury and comfort and “westernization”. While I previously never exercised on my business trips, I decided to bring my swimsuit this time. The swimming pool was on the 5th floor – I put on my swim suit and my robe in my room and took the elevators down to the 5th floor. The pool was huge with just a couple of people swimming. There were several Jacuzzis and saunas located at two different floors, with separate bathrooms and changing rooms attached to them. I had the impression that the staff (as opposed to guests) were taking the most advantage of this fabulous facility. I asked a staff member how to turn on one of the Jacuzzis as she was putting down more fresh towels, bottled water and robes next to me (even though there was just me), and she apparently did not know. She called to one of the shower rooms for instruction – someone was taking a shower there. Instead of poking her head out of the shower or calling out instructions from behind the door, out came this woman standing completely naked in front of me providing instructions. I was so startled by this obviously unintentional “exhibitionism” and I found myself staring at her naked body (very attractive and curvaceous I must say). Later on, I would find out that in women’s bathrooms, even though all the showers and changing rooms were separate to allow maximum privacy, the local women do not feel any need to be NOT naked – they walked around completely naked chatting each other up, completely unaware that I felt embarrassed the whole time!

On a Friday evening, a friend took me to this Irish pub in Puxi area (i.e. west of the Huangpu River) in Shanghai. As I walked in, I had the impression that I was in Australia or Europe, because almost no one there was Chinese and everyone was speaking a foreign tongue. The pub is called O’Malley’s, and they serve all kinds of beer, include Guinness of course. There was a huge open seating area outside of the house, which itself dated to the colonial days. In the States I have never seen a pub that is simultaneously so interesting, lively and international…

Mixing with the locals

The next day, I got together with two friends who are professors – they are the new generation of academics in China. They are a little younger than I am, and were both trained in the US before going back to China. We met in Xujiahui for lunch, arguably the busiest commercial district in Shanghai. One thing about professional women in Shanghai is that they always look so good, with nice hair, tasteful clothes, and perfect complexion. After lunch at a Korean restaurant, we went to a beauty salon in the same shopping center for a facial. The beauty salon in Shanghai is a completely decadent experience. Their menus are as heavy as dictionaries, with all kinds of treatment for all kinds of skin types, age groups, etc. Needless to say, the minute the receptionist saw me, she labeled me as one that needed serious and serial treatments. She immediately suggested a regimen that must be continued monthly for at least a year if not forever, and my friend quickly added that if I don’t continue, my skin would look even worse than if I had not done it at all. Sadly, by not living in Shanghai, I had to give up the possibility of having translucent and youthful-looking skin. I chose the generic introductory facial, which comes at close to $30 even after the 70% discount. – With wages in Shanghai still much lower on average than the US, it shows how much women in Shanghai are willing to pay for beauty.

I felt all relaxed, refreshed and rejuvenated after my 90-minute long facial, but my relaxed state did not last long – in a city like Shanghai, one cannot stay relaxed for long. Since it was raining a little bit and I was in the busiest shopping district, I could not find a taxi. I decided to take the subway even though there is no direct line going back to the hotel. It took me over an hour changing lines, battling the crowds, standing in crowded trains and eventually still taking a taxi from the closet subway stop to finally get back to my hotel. I looked into the mirror as I was trying to put on some makeup for the wedding reception that evening – my face looked as weathered and stressed out as it was before that magic facial. I thought to myself, “no wonder the expats all need a car with a driver.”

The wedding reception was held at Grand Hyatt in Jinmao Tower, which was Shanghai’s tallest building until recently. The groom is the CEO of a local biotech company. The bride is originally from Taiwan, went to school in Vancouver and now works in Shanghai for a foreign bank. The reception was quite nice and lavish – as one would expect from the Grand Hyatt of Shanghai. It was the first time that I got to see the families of many life science leaders in the hi-tech park of Shanghai. Previously I had met many of them at functions, events or dinners. I was assigned to a table where everyone had an investment background except for me! Needless to say, all of us exchanged business cards the minute we got to our table, and started talking shop. They all were educated in the US and lived and worked in the US for many years before returning to Shanghai. Throughout the whole dinner, I had this fear that my dinner companions would suddenly find out that I am actually an impoverished entrepreneur (they know that I am an entrepreneur but they may not know how impoverished I am), and they would all get up and say to me, “you cannot sit at this table, because you have not made millions yet. You don’t even have a real Louis Vuitton bag.” – Actually I am worse than that, as I do not even have a fake LV bag. To be fair, all the people at my table were very nice and I had a lot of fun talking to them.

Photo copyright Ben Houge

China... all the way to New York

Is bigger better?

I left Shanghai and landed in San Francisco early morning on Sunday. While none of my friends in Shanghai does any housework (they all hire housekeepers), I of course have to do all the cleaning and laundry myself in Bay Area. I ran a few errands, did a lot of work by email (what did people do before the age of email?) and went to a friend’s place for dinner. Her mom did all the cooking, which was great. I ate so much that they felt a bit perplexed, as I just returned from China that day. “Well, the United Airlines flight itself could make one long for great Chinese food.” Over dinner, I relayed my experiences in Shanghai to her, including the part on how I felt like a country bumpkin in Shanghai, to which her husband asked somewhat incredulously, “so you don’t consider yourself part of that group of rich people?” Before I could answer, the wife wryly added, “if she did, she would not be coming to our house for dinner!”

The next morning, I flew to New York for a business meeting. While I consider St. Regis in Shanghai pricey, it turned out that the Hilton hotel I would stay in mid-town Manhattan would be three times as expensive. It was almost 9 pm when I got into mid town Manhattan in a taxi, and the streets were still busy with pedestrians. Indeed it is the city that never sleeps. At check-in, I was told that I should not be shocked when I opened the door to my room, because I had been upgraded to a very big suite at no extra charge.

And indeed I was shocked when I opened the door to my suite – it was at least 1500 square feet, with a dining room, a living room, a kitchen, two bathrooms, and a bedroom. It took me forever just to find all the light switches to turn on enough lights to see the place, and find all the air-conditioner switches to turn off all that cold air blasting from everywhere. I still failed to figure out how to turn on the complicated TV system in the living room though. Since I dislike room service, I asked a friend for the phone number of a nearby Chinese restaurant that delivers. She gave me the number of the same Chinese restaurant that I went to with my friends when I would periodically visit New York from Boston in my grad school days. I called and asked for a couple of dishes, feeling a little guilty as I could not possibly finish two dishes. The door bell rang, and it was clearly too early for my delivery to show up. I nervously asked, “who is it?” “Room service.” “But I did not order room service.” “it comes with the suite.” With that, I opened the door, and saw a waiter pushing this huge cart with a lot of things on top. He asked me where he should set it up, and I almost asked him where most people would have it set up. He showed me all those plates of fruits and cheese, the dozen bottles of soft drinks, all the chips and crackers, and two boxes of chocolates, and asked me if I needed anything else. I hesitated for a second, “is it all free?” – He said, “it is included in the room.” Soon after he left, my Chinese takeout arrived. I felt really bad not letting the delivery guy in when he expressed utter amazement at the big suite and asked if he could come in for a tour. But after all, this is dangerous New York!

I thought long and hard about whether I knew anyone living in mid-town Manhattan that I could invite to my suite to enjoy the panoramic view from the 44th floor and all those free snacks, and could not think of any. Besides, if anyone is rich enough to live there, how could they have the time to care about free snacks? – I sat down to eat my Chinese takeout dinner, consisting of a string bean dish and a chicken dish, choosing to ignore the fancy display of fruits and cheese. The scene must have been somewhat comical, as here I was, staying in an expensive hotel in Manhattan, but still eating like a grad student. The suite was huge, but it was all wasted on me. In fact, I did not even like the suite, as it exacerbated my awareness that I was all alone on a business trip. Besides, the building is fairly old. Despite some recent renovations, one could still tell that it was a bit tired. It was nothing like the brand new and glitzy St. Regis that has “personal butler” service.

The Old New World

The next morning, I went to the meeting, which was held in the New York Times building. And what a grandiose view it was from the meeting room! The skyline of New York is still better than that of Shanghai. They had to shut the blinds so that people could concentrate on the meeting instead of constantly looking out the windows! I loved this small meeting, where I gave a short talk on the Chinese life science industry, and the obligatory short promotion on my company. Everyone was fascinated by China. With all that’s going on in the world, it seems that "China" has become the answer to everything:

· Searching for new products and innovation? – Go to China! – That’s why pharma companies have sent partnering people to be based in Shanghai.
· Seeking to grow revenue? – Go to emerging markets such as China!
· Funding companies and early-stage innovation? – China has the money!
· Seeking to cut costs of R&D? – China!

Right before I left for the airport, I saw two friends at a nearby Starbucks. If there is a category of “perfect professional women that can do everything well”, they two belong to that category. They are MIT and Columbia-trained PhDs who also have received MBAs, and are now working for Fortune-500 companies in New York in finance and marketing. They have been happily married to their college sweethearts for years, who themselves are highly successful professionals. Despite the lengthy education and the demanding careers, they have also found time to have kids – one has a boy and a girl, and the other has 3 boys (two of them are twins)! They are both fun-loving, travel a lot, read a lot, and socialize a lot. What else can I enthuse about them? – In summary, they are superwomen that would put most to shame, including myself. They told me that the United Nations General Assembly was going on at the time, which I otherwise would not have known. “With all the problems, maybe New York will not be the center of the world any more. But for those of us who live here, those events like the United Nations General Assembly still make us feel that this remains the center of the world,” my friend said philosophically and somewhat forlornly. I said good-bye to my friends, as they both hurried onto their next tasks – they are busy professionals, mothers, wives and daughters, and yet they still make time for friends. I am amazed at them, and ashamed at how little I have been able to accomplish with my much smaller repertoire of responsibilities and duties.

As I was leaving New York, I found myself thinking of New York as an old (and established) city, and Shanghai as a young (and emerging) city, when in reality Shanghai has been around for many more centuries. George Santayana said, “America is a young country with an old mentality.” Regardless of whether people agree with his sentiment or not, I am at least convinced that “China is an old country with a young mentality”.

Mozart lives on

Mozart is still putting out new work! Today a French museum found a previously unknown composition in his handwriting. (Alas it is not a complete score.) Apparently Mozart was about to become choir director in the Stephansdom in Vienna when he died at the age of 35.

Listening to Mozart in the Stephansdom on our recent Vienna trip

A lesson from the past

There is a certain amount of kindness, just as there is a certain amount of light. We cast a shadow on something wherever we stand, and it is no good moving from place to place to save things; because the shadow always follows. Choose a place where you won't do harm — yes, choose a place where you won't do very much harm, and stand in it for all you are worth, facing the sunshine.

So wrote E. M. Forster in A Room With a View. Perhaps it is a philosophy we should keep in mind 100 years later.

European impressions from the summer of 2008

Michael and I went to Prague and Vienna towards the end of August. While on this trip, we also visited London and Bratislava briefly in transit. Needless to say, I have taken hundreds of photos and he has taken thousands. It will perhaps take months for him to sort through and edit the photos…

As we get older (and presumably wiser), we get different things out of vacation trips, largely because we are somewhat different people. For example, I pay attention to certain things more, and am much more mentally active –or the sightseeing could be rendered as active information processing and intellectually stimulating as opposed to passive information digesting. I do want to capture (if it’s not too late) my impressions and memories of the trip, before they fade away. Because I travel frequently between San Francisco and Shanghai, I naturally compare and contrast the United States and China constantly – even though neither San Francisco nor Shanghai could be considered representative of the countries, they surely come to mind when we talk about the United States or China. To sum up the impressions from this trip: “ Europe is the past; America is the present; China is the future.”

Now that statement might lead one to think that “past, present and future” is supposed to represent a gradient that goes from “bad” to “good”, when it really is not meant to pass severe judgment. In fact, as grown-up adults, when we think about our personal lives, we regard “past” with sweet nostalgia (perhaps even inaccurately) and our selective memory renders it even sweeter; we discuss “present” with urgency, vigor and convictions because it is all about the “now” and the “here”; and we talk about “future” with sometimes hope but often times uncertainty and even a bit trepidation. And that is exactly how I feel about Europe, America and China. I am not really singing praises for China really, because a “futuristic” China sounds threatening to many whereas a “nostalgic” Europe sounds beautiful….

And what a beautiful trip it was to Europe indeed….


London – it was my second time to London. The first time was in the winter, when Michael and I were both in graduate school. On that first trip, it was cold and damp and dark, and I was mostly clueless and blindly going from one tourist attraction to another, based on suggestions from tour books and friends. This time, we spent two half days there, and the weather was nice and pleasant. One gets the impression that London wants to be “permanently relevant”, and does it in an unassuming and peaceful way, and does not get frustrated if it gets underappreciated a little bit. Prague and Vienna are content or resigned to stay in the past without caring about their relevance today. Paris is unhappy to be regarded irrelevant, hates the rest of the world for doing so, but does not know what to do except for sulking (or does not want to do anything because it wants to only work part-time every week). Beijing and Shanghai, with their amazing youthful enthusiasm and boundless energy, are tirelessly working to be MOST relevant every day, as if there is no tomorrow, and as if there were a daily contest… one gets the sense that they pay too little attention to the past and think too little about the future that is beyond people’s lifetime today. New York still believes adamantly that it is the center of the world and nothing will change that.

But London, for all its past glory represented by the magnificent Westminster Abbey, House of Parliament and St. Paul’s Cathedral, seems to be really at ease with itself without resignation or frustration. The modern urban development has been happening and is still happening without destroying the historic grandeur of the city – something that other cities seem to be incapable of. It has maintained its relevance in socio-economic, geo-political and financial matters in the world, as well as its relevance as a historic tourist attraction. It has kept up with internationalization and globalization, without losing its cultural and national identity. Considering how small of a country it is in terms of land, population and resources, that is fairly remarkable.

We visited British Museum, House of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, and walked through St. James Park, all of which are the signs of “old and beautiful” London. We go on London Eye to have a panoramic view of the city on this giant ferris wheel(!) and stayed in an ultra-modern hotel near Canary Wharf, where the skyscrapers of this financial district rival those of New York, all of which are signs of an “ultra-modern and constantly updating” London.


Samuel Johnson said, "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."

*****

Prague – perhaps it was because I was inundated with enthusiastic reports on the incredible beauty of Prague, I was in the end somewhat underwhelmed by its beauty. That is not to say that it is not stunningly beautiful – how many cities in the world boast such serenely majestic medieval structures juxtaposed with neo-Renaissance architecture? As always, it was probably the psychology of eager anticipation. With an anticipation that Prague would take my breath away, I was holding my breath very tight!

The great thing about visiting Prague is that I have a friend who’s been living there for a while, right in the center of the old town area. Through her we socialized with the “Czech intellectuals” – or shall I say “the Bohemians”, as after all, Prague is in the heart of Bohemia. When we landed at the airport, it was already past midnight. I never got to see what the airport was like in the daytime, because we left Prague by train for Vienna a few days later. All I remember is that the airport is a ridiculous civil engineering project. It is actually fairly small. Still, it took us a long time from getting off the plane to finally meeting my friend in the lobby – we took a bus, got into the building, went upstairs, only to go downstairs again, and perhaps another iteration of going up and down stairs again – without escalators, went through customs, and finally walked into the terminal. – It was as if the airport was designed to make tired passengers even more tired, or to taunt people for their desire for convenience or efficiency.

Now this first impression was to be repeated when we got back to my friend’s place. She’s living in the Jewish quarters of Prague, which is only 5 minutes by walking from the Old Town Square, where the big clock is, and where all the important events/gatherings have taken place in Prague. The building was built in late 19th century. Just to get into the building, one has to unlock 3 doors! And not only that, each door needs to be locked with the key from the inside after it’s been opened! That is using your key 6 times just to get into the building. No wonder Kafka was paranoid …One has to wonder: is it paranoia that has led to such ridiculous design? Or is it for sadistic pleasure of the architect? The elevator is one of those I saw in movies – situated right in the middle of the hallway, making such clunking noises when it’s going up and down. The apartment is extremely spacious, with a huge receiving area (one can imagine that in the old days the maid would ask the guest to wait while she announced the name of the guest to the master). The rooms all have large double-paneled windows without screens, indicating cold winters but relatively mild summers. The living room seems to suggest that perhaps over 100 years ago, a wealthy family would have a big banquet there, after which a lady would play the piano, and a few others dancing to the music. The toilet is at the opposite end of the apartment from the bathroom, which means every time one goes to the toilet, he/she will have to go across the entire apartment to the bathroom to wash his/her hands! And the bathroom is fairly small, which suggests a different era when perhaps servants and maids took care of getting their masters and mistresses ready for baths. There is simply not enough room for towels or clothes!

I would find out in the next few days that the Czechs do not derive any pleasure from food. The next day we set out for the old town square – a lot of people gathered under the big clock to watch when the little figurine on the clock would strike the hour. Prague is known for its cobble-stoned paved streets and squares, and I was wearing the same shoes that I wore to work and investor presentations, which are not pointy stiletto but certainly with some heels. I think I ruined them, as well as my feet after 2 days of walking on cobblestones. The buildings in the old town area, like the Prague Castle and Charles Bridge, are medieval in style. I guess most people love Prague better than Vienna because Prague’s architecture is more medieval and more simple whereas Vienna was more neo-Renaissance and more ornate. There is much more of a myth associated with anything older.


We walked across the river to see Prague Castle, which was a collection of palaces (well, medieval palaces were very austere and not that luxurious), churches and cathedrals. As we got an audio guide, we heard hundreds of stories that one immediately forgets the next minute – this prince once lived here, that princess lived a life of devotion and was canonized; so-and-so was tortured (people during medieval ages were very much into tortures) and became a saint; etc. Part of Prague Castle is this street where Franz Kafka lived. The continuous building lining up the street was also home to prison and torture chambers. The displays were full of torture devices – I still cringe at the memory of them.

The next day we decided to take a train to a nearby town Kutna Hora – which has a huge and beautiful cathedral. It used to have a silver mine, and the historic town centre is representative of a Bohemian town. One of the eerie tourist attractions is this crypt where bones of thousands (if not more) of people were stacked up by the monks to make pyramids or other “sculptures” – needless to say, it’s situated in the middle of a cemetery. Maybe death was not an unpleasant topic, if food in life has always been so bad…

We finished our 3rd day in Prague visiting the Jewish quarters, getting a good education of Jewish culture. We also went to the other side of the river to visit this ancient library, where really old books are kept. Think “In the name of the Rose’ with Sean Connery! When I was there, I could imagine the shabby-clothed monks reading those “forbidden” books and dying of the poison on those books! It is pretty amazing, however, to look at those big and disintegrating books, and imagine that they were once written and read by people half a millennia ago! We had the obligatory daily beer (the Czechs consume more beer on a per capita basis than anywhere else in the world) in the garden outside of the library – it was relaxing and fun – what a European way to pass some time on a beautiful early autumn afternoon…

We tried the dishes and restaurants recommended by the tour book and my friend. It would be an understatement to say that we are disappointed in the food. There is practically nothing to eat there, except for bread, cheese, beef gulash (just a beef stew), potatoes, and boiled beef. No wonder beer is considered not only a beverage, but also a source of nutrition! While there were numerous concerts designed for tourists in churches, we decided to join the locals and went to a piano recital at Rudolfinum – the major concert hall in Prague. Music is such a big thing. We also went to this local pub which has a mill over a river – with people chatting vigorously and smoking like chimneys. As an ignorant tourist, I finally have to come to the conclusion – this is Bohemia, and people want to be left alone to complain freely but do nothing about what they complain about. They want to be left to live not just like Bohemians, but as Bohemians. Who cares about material comfort or possessions, when you can have history, architecture and music and talk about them over Czech beer all day and all night with other like-minded Bohemians? Given the choices of eating a great meal and reading Kafka, while pseudo-intellectuals like myself would not hesitate to choose the great meal (after spending 2 days in Prague away from California I was starving), the real Czech intellectuals would absolutely choose reading and discussing Kafka.

After visiting Prague, I realized that I was not nearly as cerebral as I thought I was – compared to the martyrs and saints who despite torture stayed with their conviction and the writers and musicians who produced masterpieces despite living in mental or physical agony and material deprivation, I concede that I am mere human, with too many trivial and mundane human needs that my intellectual interests can never transcend fully.

*****

Vienna – this is a city of grandeur. A city where Maria Teresa, Franz Josef and Sisi seem to be still alive at these palaces, churches, cathedrals. The Hapsburgs ruled from Vienna their Holy Roman Empire, which was neither Holy nor Roman, as it turned out. The magnificent Hofburg Palace and Schonbrunn Palace definitely suggest Versaille and Fontainbleau. Even Belvedere – a palace of a mere prince – was grandiose and decadent. No wonder the common people eventually decided that “enough was enough”. It was fun to visit the Royal Treasury and to imagine those robes and crowns on ancient kings. I was amazed to see how all the silver and china have been nicely kept – there must have been millions of pieces of china and silver. I still consider the holder for the boiled egg about the most ridiculous and useless invention in the history of kitchenware.


We did succumb to the tourist temptation and went to two concerts at Stephensdom and Karlskirch, respectively. Stephensdom is a beautiful gothic cathedral, where we listened to a collection of pieces including Ava Maria. Karlskirch has this beautiful fresco on the ceiling, where we listened to Mozart’s Requiem. What’s interesting is that major royal events did not happen in those two famous churches. In fact, Franz Josef and Sisi were married in a rather small and unassuming church next to Hofburg palace. All the royal families’ bodies were kept in the crypt of one church, their hearts in another, and their internal organs in yet another! - How complicated and strange! The last Hapsburg just died in 2007 – he was the son of the last Emperor. The coffins of Franz Josef, Sisi and their only Son Rudolf were side by side. The film trilogy starring Romy Schneider from the 1950s have indeed immortalized Sisi – the empress that was well-known for her striking beauty, slender figure (she weighed herself every day, tried to eat little and perhaps was a pioneer in calorie-restricted diet), and ankle-length hair. Franz Josef loved and adored his “angel Sisi”, and was thrilled to have married her. But Sisi was ambivalent and perhaps did not return Franz Josef’s lifelong affection equally. A princess from Bavaria, she hated leaving her family at the age of 16 and conforming to Viennese court rules. In her later years, she rarely stayed in Vienna, travelled constantly and was restless and unhappy, and eventually was assassinated by an Italian anarchist in Geneva.


We visited quite a few museums, as well as the Secession building. Gustav Klimt’s frieze on Beethoven’s 9th Symphony perhaps is representative of the secessionist movement. There were so many different artistic movements in Vienna that I can barely remember their names – I did try. To sum up my impression of the art from that era (late 19th century to early 20th century) in Vienna, I have to say that I am not fond of it. It seems that it was a most unhappy and turbulent time. Too many people committed suicide – that is all I can remember! Today’s Vienna is clearly very much into hosting modern art exhibitions, and John Currin’s paintings, including the famous one “Thanksgiving Dinner” were part of this “Bad Paintings Good Art’ exhibition. If any art requires the spectator to think in order to appreciate, I feel that it is too pretentious. – For the artist to say that he only is trying to project what he sees, or how he feels without caring about the audience or the spectators is downright disingenuous. I always feel as if I were a character from Hans Christian Andersen’s story “The Emperor’s New Clothes” when I go to modern art exhibitions. I feel that I have to look and think harder in case I am missing something others can see in this “art”, when in fact I can see nothing inspiring or pleasing in it. Modern art or contemporary art often is a farce - I just don’t know when I will finally decide that I have given it enough benefit of doubt.

(not a farce)

Food was as bad in Vienna as it was in Prague – with the exception of apple strudel….we watched an apple strudel show at Schonbrunn Palace, and presumably one can e-mail or call the number if you have trouble making your apple strudel based on the recipe!

*****

Bratislava – this city is so sad and sorry, that I wonder, why did the Slovakians bother to break away from the Czech Republic? If it was for the sake of making a point, it’s too bad that after making this point they cannot just crawl back and say, “we had some fun breaking away, but we would like to be together again”.

There is absolutely no sign that this city aims to do anything. While every tour book seems to suggest that everything that’s sad about this city should be blamed on its temporary communist rule, I realize that it really cannot blame the temporary communist rule for its sad and sorry state. There is something intrinsic in the national identity that makes it NOT want to do much. It is that lack of energy and initiative that seems to have been there for centuries that has contributed to its current state. They are renovating the Brastislava castle, but it will not be finished until 2011! You can build a castle twice as big somewhere else in the world in that timeframe!!!

The telling sign happened the minute we got into the train station of Bratislava from Vienna. It was run-down and chaotic. Since Slovakia has its own crowns (believe it or not, each of the 4 cities requires a different currency, with British pounds in London, Czech crowns in Prague, Euros in Vienna and Slovakian crows in Bratislava!), we had to get some money. We went to the currency exchange window, and as we walked to it, it suddenly closed with a “back in 10 minutes” sign. In that case, we knocked on the window, as we had all our Euros in hand to change money already. A man angrily opened the window and pointed to that sign and closed it without a word.


We visited the historic town area, which I could tell resembles Prague or at least Kutna Hora to some extent – it’s got that central European charm. There is a town square, with old buildings and churches around it. The palace museum, which was once a king’s palace and now a museum, had practically no visitors except for us. The bathrooms at this palace museum were the best I have seen in the world – it’s as if no one had ever been there. Once I was finished with the bathroom, the attendant was waiting outside – I guess this is the way they do things: the bathrooms must be clean at all times for foreign visitors. In fact, it was the same thing for the airport. While flights within the EU are considered “domestic” and were all leaving from the floor where it’s extremely crowded and the bathrooms were dirty, flights out of the EU (eg. to London) were leaving from the “international” terminal. And sure enough, the bathrooms were spotlessly clean, with duty-free shopping and a bar that’s essentially empty and much more expensive than the “domestic floor”.

I am finishing writing up my impressions of the European trip from a hotel in Shanghai. Outside of my window is the skyline of Shanghai, which whispers New York. After I flew in yesterday, I had dinner with two friends who are working in China in the pharmaceutical industry. The food in China is always so good and so creative and so various (the range of tastes and flavors are just simply mind-boggling) that I sometimes think that China ought to be known first and foremost for its cuisine than for anything else that the western world is talking about. Unfortunately, the Chinese restaurants in the US are doing a big disservice to the Chinese cuisine.

My friends were dressed immaculate as usual, and were so vivacious that they talked most of the time. They talked about the expat life, what it’s like to work in China after being in the States for over a decade, what it’s like to be highly-paid professional women in China (they are often taken as secretaries of their male colleagues), etc. There were no discussions on Dvorak, Kafka, or the Russia-Georgia conflict… I realized that I was firmly back to the real world again. More of that delicious duck soup please.

(Photos in this post copyright 2008 by Michael Lin, all rights reserved)