Banana Talk

August 10, 2007

Shanghai: There and back again, A Malaysian tale, by Alex Wong

The last time I’ve been aboard was 2002 to Hong Kong on a business-leisure trip. Well, there was another trip in 2004 to Singapore, but that was purely business and was less memorable. This time, I get to travel again, which is also a business trip with my dad but on a much relaxed timetable for a little sight seeing and exploration of the country which my ancestors originated from, China.

Day one of our 7 days adventure. Here I am at the Honggiao domestic airport, waiting for our contact to arrive to pick us up to their office for the first meeting of the day. Eyes were set on me because I dressed one season in advance. I prepared clothes for autumn, while it’s near end of summer. it was suppose to be cooler this time of the year. Guess I forgot to factor in global warming.

I was awestruck how advance China is. Well, who can blame me, your typical Malaysian who’s impression of China is through bias western media and the influx of ultra cheap and low quality products from China all thanks to local traders looking for a quick buck. Take this electronic payment parking meter for instance which was taken at Wenzhou, a smaller city and less developed compared to Shanghai. If less developed has reach this stage of development, i wonder where do we, Malaysians stand. Oh, also all the public toilet that i’ve visited (Shanghai, Wehzhou and Tiantai) has functioning automated flushing system. None of them vandalized, or out of commissioned. And yes, it’s free too.

Here’s me sight seeing in the city center of Wenzhou. Something like Petaling Street where it’s dedicated for pedestrians only. Difference is there’s no stalls setup along the street. Just rows of shops ranging from boutique, to cyber cafes to fast food restaurants.

Speaking for food, Chinese businessmen has a habit of over feeding their guest. Maybe it’s a way of showing wealth, but for me, it’s an absolute strain to the digestive system. We were pampered with a variety of dishes, at least eight dishes ranging from appetizers (normally cold dish) and main course. Rice, noodles and other carbs are "fillers" which is served at the end, in the event we still have room for more, which we never had. The picture above is taken while choosing our dishes for the evening. See the dish that you like, just point and the waiter jots it down. Beats reading the menu anytime.

On the side note, it was also my first time being choufered in a Porsche Cayenne by the boss himself (refer pic above). He drove us to Tiantai, an approximate 2-3 hour drive from Wenzhou, it’s like having the boss of your supplier driving you from KL to Ipoh. Well, the distance covered is much more than that. But anyways, it’s a Porsche Cayenne!

Moving further into the rural area of Tiantai, which industry is mainly textile where we met our next supplier for business talks. Upon reaching this rural place, the word rural is slowly being erased with new infrastructure like this new bus terminal for instance, which puts Pudu Raya to shame.

or this soon to be open residential/commercial high rise. Imagine seeing these being built in Kota Bahru. Ok, i think that’s enough dissing of the incompetent Malaysian government for slacking off their single digit growth rate. Enjoy the rest of the pictures.

Me enjoying a meal of "sui kau" at a road side stall in Shanghai. I still thinks that it taste better with sliced cili padi then fried dried chili they provided.

The family that made the "sui kau". BBC and CNN probably did many coverage on families like this regarding living standards. Wait till you see the next set of pictures.

Inside a random shopping mall in Shanghai. seriously, there’s so many of them i couldn’t remember which i’ve visited and which i’ve yet to visit.

Some shopping district in Shanghai. All i can remember from this place is a Low Yat like building which houses a huge variety of computer and electronic goods.