Merry Christmas

Well, Christmas has come and gone. Here it China, you would hardly realize it was Christmas. There were a few signs and a few Christmas decorations around the city, but it really is not celebrated here in China. I guess for us foreigners, it would seem like the Grinch did steal Christmas.

Above you see our Christmas tree. This tree comes with all the lights and everything needed. No need to decorate. All for 220 RMB ($32.12 US). Notice, no presents are under the tree. Also, due to the "financial crisis" we decided to spend very little for Christmas. I doubt if the lack of spending really affected the economy. No one else was really celebrating Christmas.

So many may ask, "What was Christmas like in China?". Well, Christmas Eve, we spent with a family from Mexico eating really good food. We had ceviche, curry chicken wings, and bacon and cheese sticks as our appetizers. For the main dish we ate salad, creamy spaghetti and roast beef. We drank some Coronas. It was a very nice Christmas Eve Dinner. Christmas was spent in our house just hanging out. There were no presents to open, no Santa to deliver gifts. We actually woke up a little late. We prepared for the evening get together with our friends here at the apartment complex. Each family brought a few dishes and we had a Christmas Dinner buffet. We would hold the buffet at the Club house. This place has no heat, so we keep our jackets on for dinner. After dinner we all went to my house to keep the festive spirit going.

The day after Christmas, we went to an electronics mall to purchase my sons Christmas gift. He wanted a better cell phone for Christmas. Well, he got his gift and was very happy.

All in all, Christmas really isn't an important event here in China. If it wasn't for the world recession and low production volumes, I would have worked Christmas as any other day of the year. Christmas Day actually felt just like any other day. I guess it was easy for the Grinch to steal our Christmas. We didn't feel the Christmas spirit, we didn't have any of our family to celebrate Christmas with, and we didn't have to buy many gifts at all!

The most important thing about Christmas was we were all together. No gifts needed!

I wish everyone who reads this blog post a very Merry Christmas. I hope you got to enjoy Christmas with family and friends.

Five Peaks Mountian 五峰山

Well this last Saturday, we decided to join the Merida Bicycle Group for riding Five Peaks Mountain (Wu Feng Shan). We would spend the morning riding out to the mountain and then climbing some steep hills. After the riding, we would have a BBQ. Well, not your typical BBQ it would be a Chinese BBQ.

We started the morning by riding out to the Merida Bike Shop. The shop is 29 km (18 miles) from our house. As usual, it would be an early start without any breakfast. We would stop by and eat some local Chinese breakfast foods. This type of food is what the Chinese eat in the early morning on their way out to either daily activities or work. Last time we ate buns filled with meat. This time I would try something different. This time I would eat 油条 (you tiao) . It was like a warm sweet breakfast bread. It was crunchy on the outside from being fried and had a nice sweet taste. I had one and wish I had bought more than one. The cost of this meal was 0.50 RMB ($0.08 US). The street vendor noticed that I was a foreigner and commented to my Singaporean friend that foreigners are rich and he would like to charge me 1 RMB for the you tiao.

We would arrive at the shop and meet up with about thirty riders for today's ride. Everyone who wanted to have the BBQ lunch would chip in. The BBQ would cost us 30 RMB ($4.38 US) each.

From the shop we road out to Five Peaks Mountain. This area has been used for training by Chinese armored divisions (tanks). The first two climbs were very very steep. I don't think anyone in the group was able to climb up. We climb to the highest point possible and then push the bike up the remaining slope. Even pushing the bike up these steep slopes is tiring.

One of the Chinese girls who joined us is very strong. She picked her bike up and carried it up the second slope. I figure her bike weighs about 30 lbs easily. She can ride long distances, climb and also carry her bike when she has too. I was very amazed by her strength for such a small woman. I really admire her and wish more women would get to the outdoors and enjoy mother nature. After all, mother nature is a woman.

After climbing we continue down a nice single track. It was actually very enjoyable ride. It was up and down. Sometimes, it seemed a little dangerous because one side of the single track would be close to the edge of the cliff. One wrong move and maybe more than a few broken bones!

Well, we reached the area for the BBQ. This experience would be a little different than the typical BBQ. There was no way to start the charcoal. We would make a camp fire from materials located around the area. We would then place all the charcoal in the campfire. After the charcoal would light, we would remove them one by one to start cooking. This process actually took sometime. There was a time I thought we would never get to eat.

We were then divided into teams of about eight persons for a small two grill system. Each team would start his own charcoal and cook. Each team was given the same amount of meat to cook. It kind of reminded me of some team building activities. We would cook chicken wings, lamb skewers, chicken skewers, egg plant, and a few other things.

I was thinking about public and private property. In the states, or at least back home, it would be hard to find so many good places to ride. Most property is private and trespassing is not allowed. It seems like here in Suzhou the land belongs to the people. In the different areas we have biked at, we have also seen locals hiking around these hills. Even areas which have been locked, we still climb in and ride. There have been cases when the person with the keys opens up the gate and lets us all in. It gives me the feeling open to the public. I am sure that alot of people are riding the Olympic mountain bike course in Beijing because it is open to the public.

After the BBQ we would return home. It would be a long ride home. We would ride 83 km (52 miles) this day. On our return trip, we would ride down real local streets. I would be the only foreigner seen. On these streets you see a different side of China. Here in Suzhou, you hear some Mandarin, but the main spoken language is the local dialect, which many Chinese in Suzhou can not speak. There is a wet market for fish, local fruit stands, stores which sell local clothing brands, barber shops which cut hair for 5 RMB ($0.73 US), local food stands and meat markets.

I wanted to try some more local food, so I decided to try more street sold food. I would eat a nice rice dumpling. It was a dumpling filled with sticky rice. It would also cost 0.50 RMB ($0.80 US).

One of the most beautiful things I like about China is city design. The city is designed for walking, for biking, and then for cars. This city design makes sense for a green world. In the US, we all talk about a green world, but keep designing the cities for cars first. We all use the car for short trips. You do not see people walking. I think this is a serious issue the country must deal with as obesity increases. The lack of obesity in China is due to the fact that the people walk and people ride. I hope as China becomes more modern, the people keep these activities close to their heart and stay healthy and beautiful.

Second Winter Ride

This weekend was my second ride this winter. My first ride was about a week after the Shanghai Marathon. That ride was 37.5 km (23.3 miles) at night and pretty cold. This ride would start out at 6:45 am. We would ride out to the Mudu bridge to meet the group to start the ride. It would be about a 42 km (26.3 miles) just to the mountain. Once at the mountain we would ride another 10 km (6.2 miles) up and down hill. Then we would ride another 42 km (26.3 miles) home. The day would be a total of 94 km (58.8 miles) of riding.

Since we start so early, there really isn't much time for breakfast. Breakfast is usually on the run and consists of one or two granola bars. This time we stopped at one of the local hole in the wall and bought some buns. The buns had meat inside and were a very good snack to keep the energy reserves up for all the riding.

After our snack, we keep riding until we reached the mountain. We would ride out to Yu Yang Shan. I am not sure what temperature we were riding in, but it was sure pretty cold. The whole group was dressed in winter gear. I am the second to the last guy on the right hand side.

The mountain has a very nice, but very steep road to climb to the top. It also has some trails which can be used to climb all the way to the top. Some riders chose the trails to climb to the top and others chose the road. My fitness level for biking climbing isn't up to par yet. I had not ridden a off-road since October and decided I would stay on the path.

Here I am in full winter gear. I felt like I was on the wrong bike. Maybe I needed a Harley. Behind me is Tai Hu. It is one of the largest lakes I have seen in China. My buddy Xu Pei decided to take the trails to go down. He is a pretty good rider and was actually riding one of the other guy's bike that had a few problems with the shock.

This type of riding can become an all day event. We would go up and down the mountain a few times before lunch. After lunch come back for more climbing and then go home. Three of us decided to call it an early day and head out for an early lunch before heading home. We stopped at a local restaurant 香满楼酒家 (Xiang Man Lou Jiu Jia) close to Tai Hu.

Between the three of us we would eat five dishes. It would cost a total of 75 RMB ($10.95 US). The food was good for the price. We would eat an egg and tomato dish, a beef dish, a green vegetable dish, noodles, and a sweet and sour pork. See below:

As we returned home, we noticed a Suzhou in-line skating park. This park is located close to the Suzhou Stadium. We went inside to have a look and saw an instructor teaching kids how to race around the track. Looks pretty fun. I will have to investigate and see when it would be open to the public to use. I was thinking of taking the whole family for some skating fun.

All in all the weather turned out to be pretty nice and we enjoyed this long ride. I am looking forward to next weekend's ride. I am sure it will be cold, but I will have to stay in shape over the winter.

Engineering Dinner

Every year we hold an engineering dinner for all the Engineers who work in our department. This dinner is sponsored by the Engineering Managers. This year we went to the same restaurant as last year; however, we would have a karaoke to sing some songs.

The dinner had many local Chinese dishes including two dishes which I thought I would post here. The first dish is duck tongue. The first time I had this dish almost two years ago, I just ate it without asking what I was eating. I knew it was something exotic for me, but i was willing to try it. For me, this dish really has no taste so I do not particularly eat it anymore. If it was the only dish available, I would eat it.

The second dish was a crab. I have eaten crab many times and I really enjoyed this dish. The only problem was there was no tools available to break the shell. This had to be done with one's mouth. It was actually a little messy, but very nice to taste.

After our wonderful team dinner, the cheers would start. Last year our table was slowly approached by many different engineers wanted to drink a cup with of us and of course, it was always bottoms up. We ended up drinking quite a few glasses of beer. This year, the strategy changed. We would go as a group to drink with all the engineers at each table. This would limit our consumption of alcohol throughout the night.

We would also have some karaoke fun and various of our team members would get up and sing Chinese songs and also a few English songs. We actually have many good singers on our engineering team. I am just a terrible singer and would have to sing from my seat. I would probably have scared many people if I had tried to sing.

It was a wonderful dinner and a nice get together for all of us. I would like to thank all our engineers who have worked with us this year. Thanks for all your hard work and effort. Keep up the good work!

More on Food

I really don't want this to seem like a food blog, but it seems that due to the economic recession, I find my self eating more than exercising. This change in activities probably also has to do with the end of my marathon season and the cold weather.

Last Sunday, we decided to go out for dinner. I had decided that we would have Chinese food and we would try a new restaurant. Well, it would be a new restaurant for the family, because I had eaten there before. The restaurant 美美 (MeiMei) is located near 金鸡湖 (Jinji Hu) in 李公堤 (Ligong Di). It has very good food, but is a little pricey. The price is probably due to the location and also the elegance of the restaurant inside.

We would start of with a few Shanghai steamed buns. These are very delicious and are meat filled. It is advised to put them in your spoon and cut a small hole to let all the hot steam out. Then you can slowly devour the bun. The juice of the bun should be left in the spoon for a nice last savor of the bun. We actually ordered two baskets. My son loves this type of bun.

The next dish was a pineapple prawn dish similar to a sweet and sour dish. it is very delicious and I ordered this dish for mainly for my son. He still likes western looking dishes.

Then our only meat dish arrived. It is like a steak with a mixture of green beans and what I thought were potatoes. They were not potatoes. The beans and the steak were very good in this dish.

We would order spring rolls and a vegetable plate. This plate is our common broccoli plate, but cooked in a special sauce. Very nicely done.

The final dish to arrive was a spicy Sichuan fish. This fish was served with no bones. The meat was already cut and placed over some tofu. It was spicy and had a lip numbing effect. My son actually tried two pieces of this fish and liked it, but said it was too spicy.

All in all it was a very good dinner. My son actually tried everything on the table and has asked when will we return to eat at MeiMei. The total cost for the seven dishes including the spring rolls was under 280 RMB ($35.66 US). Not bad for an elegant dining experience.

2008 Shanghai Marathon

Well, it has been a little over a week since the Shanghai Marathon. It turned out to be a beautiful day to run. It was a little chilly, but blue clouds and very sunny. I was very excited and motivated to run. It would be a very packed day with over 13,000 runners for the half marathon and the full marathon. Another 7,000 would run the 4.5 km fun run.

I would say it was a case of all the usual suspects running in the Marathon. Above you can see Team Delphi up bright and early ready for the long run. All of us participated in the Hangzhou Half Marathon and were ready to go three weeks later with our second half marathon in November.

The start of the Shanghai Marathon is something really special. The elite runners are separated from the rest of the field by group of soldiers. When the marathon starts, the elite runners start running along with all the soldiers and the rest of the field. After about one hundred meters, the soldiers pull of the course and the race is on.

Here you can see the group of soldiers that would start the race with us. They would have to run pretty fast with about 13,000 people running behind them. The actual starting lane for all these people is actually quite small for the number of runners starting the race. In Houston, we had one three lane street for just the half marathon runners. In Hangzhou, we also had a three lane street for all the runners. Here it is pretty important to be close to the front. Even though your chip time is recorded, all results are based on your gun time. So if you are close to the two hour cut-off for the extra prize you have five minutes less to finish. Even worse if you are close to the three hour cut-off to be listed as a finisher, you better finish five minutes earlier.

As you can see, a sea of people waiting for the start of the race. There is really no place to stretch or warm up. At least it was nice and warm with all of us so close together. As we got closer to the start of the race, all of us would get excited and compress even closer.

Here I am in the sea of people all smiles and ready to run. The excitement fills the air and you get so pumped to start the race, that you have to remember not to go all out on the first couple of kilometers.

This year my training had been much better than the previous year. I was expecting to be able to run the race under 1:50. I was a little bit nervous because the last two weeks, the training had not been very good. I missed my 14 mile long run and only done 13 miles a week for the last two weeks. Rain showers had messed up my schedule and my longest run after Hangzhou was 9 miles. I was really not to sure how I would do.

The race started and I was feeling pretty good, so I let my own body set the pace and I would just glance down and see how I was at the mile alerts on my Garmin GPS. I was doing excellent. The first eight miles I was running eight minute miles. I was on track to better my Houston Marathon time. On the ninth mile I had began to slow. By the tenth mile I started to feel a slight pain in my left ilio band. This feeling is not a pleasant feeling and I know that in minutes you can go from running to walking. I slowed down the pace and finished the half marathon with a respectable 1:48:47 gun time, 799th place.

I think I really needed those last two weekends of long runs to keep the legs and the ilio band in shape and used to the fatigue. Well, at least I was able to break last years mark by about a full nine minutes.

Last year I received a finisher's certificate and a pair of 95 RMB ($13.87 US) Win-DO running shoes for finishing under two hours. This year, it was a pleasant surprise to receive a finisher's medal as well as the finisher's certificate. For finishing under two hours, I received a Mizuno Cap and a Mizuno wrist band.

On a sad note, the first death for the Shanghai Marathon was recorded in this half marathon. He collapsed about 200m before the finish line. The half marathon race is not a distance you want to run without a good deal of training before hand. Death is the worst that can occur, but there are many other injuries that can result from not training correctly. So if you plan to run the half be sure to find a training plan and train hard for the race. I have found running this distance very fulfilling and I will run the distance next year somewhere on this world!

Nanjing Road Walking Street

Nanjing Road in Shanghai is known as one of the biggest shopping streets in China. There are hundreds of shopping centers that line the street. It is a 5.5 km road full of shopping. You can find almost anything you need on Nanjing Road. It has the famous silk store where all diplomats and important people of the world come to buy silk. It has so many stores, any women might actually get tired from shopping if they attempt to visit every store or at least spend a few days down this street.

There is a small train that can take you from one end of Nanjing Road to the other end of the road. The train actually also competes for space on the road with the people. So if you do not want to walk the whole 5.5 km you can always take the train. I am not sure how much it costs, because I have never taken the train.

As you walk down the street you are approached by various people trying to sell you fake goods or get you into restaurants. They will ask you the famous question all foreigners who have visited China know, "watch, bag, shoes?". If you are a male alone on the street the question changes to "watch, bag, shoes, lady?". Some young ladies will even approach you and ask you, "Where should we go?".

At night the whole street lights up and I think it has more lights than Las Vegas, but I am not sure. The last Sunday of every November, the Shanghai Marathon starts down this street. Last Sunday I ran down this street with 13,000+ runners. It would be my second half in Shanghai. More on that later.

Another Good Lunch

After walking along the gardens, your stomach starts to make some funny sounds. It means that lunch is approaching and its time to go. Today we would go to Tan Xiang Shan （坛香膳）to eat lunch. I like the food served at this restaurant.

We would start with a very delicious pork and green peppers dish. This dish was very delicious and we finished the whole dish.

I always like to choose a green vegetable to eat. I forgot the English name for this vegetable. There were three different cooking methods for the vegetables on the menu. All were in Chinese, so I just pointed to one cooking method and it actually turned out to be cooked how I like them.

This dish is similar to the sweet and sour pork we are used to in the United States, but at this restaurant it is called pork in tomato sauce. It is a very delicious dish and probably a dish that a westerner would be very comfortable eating. We also ordered a fried rice Yangtze style and then the main dish below.

This dish is the Spicy Mandarin Fish. We completely devoured this fish. The fish was so spicy it would open up your nasal passages and leave your mouth numb. I love to see the colorful peppers. We usually choose the Mandarin fish because it has fewer bones and is much easier to eat cooked as a whole fish. Some of the other fresh water fishes have many bones and are very difficult to eat. If you like spicy food, I recommend you try this fish.

For five dishes we paid 189 RMB ($27.59 US). This meal is actually a little expensive for China, but I have to say the most expensive dish was the fish and it alone was close to 100 RMB, but it was the most enjoyable dish.

Lion Grove Garden

While my mom was with us, I managed to take her to the Lions Grove Garden. This garden is one of the four most famous gardens in Suzhou. For your information, the other four famous gardens are the Humble Administrator's Garden, Blue Wave Pavilion, and the Lingering Garden.

The Lion Grove Garden was built during the 14th Century. The garden was built by a group of Buddhist monks to honor their master. The most important part of the garden is the rocky labyrinth which twists and turns about different parts of the garden. The labyrinth is made out of limestone form Taihu Lake. This labyrinth is something all the kids love to visit. They love to run around and get lost in the maze. No kids today, just the three of us visiting the garden. Below is my mother inside the maze.

One beautiful site we were able to see were all the fall colors. It is now closer to winter, but we can still see all the yellows, reds, and greens from the different trees.

It was a truly beautiful site to see and actually quite relaxing. We had managed to go during the week when few people were around. Suzhou actually offers its residents a garden card to be able to enter all the gardens and a very low price. Many Chinese spend the weekend and holidays visiting the gardens in their free time. They will have a picnic in the garden, get in some walking exercise, and enjoy the scenery. Something that us westerners should probably get out and do more often. They say that we should all try to walk 5 km a day.

There are also many different flowers around the garden and even though winter is close, you can still see the beautiful colored flowers. The flower and stone mixture is quite a beautiful site to see.

Every season the gardens have a different experience to offer. The colors change, the scenery changes, and our clothing changes. It is all about life and the changes that happen. Next year we will be have many changes as the world economy changes. We should all look at these changes as an opportunity. The winter will be hard and cold, but the spring will bring new life.

Cold Mountain Temple 寺山寒

The Cold Mountain Temple, also known as Han Shan Temple, is located in Suzhou. Entrance to the temple is 20 RMB ($2.92). This temple was built during the Liang Dynasty around 502-557 AD. The temple is famous for the bell tolls. Every Chinese New Year's Eve thousands of people gather inside and outside the temple to listen to the one-hundred and eight bell tolls. Then they pray for luck, safety, and happiness for the new year to come.

For 5 RMB ($0.73) one can go into the bell tower in the temple and ring the bell three times. This event happens hundreds of times during the day and you can always here the bell ringing. Below, my mom rings the bell and makes her wish.

There are many trees where red ribbons hang on the branches. These trees are called propitious trees. The ribbons contain people's wishes and hopes. First, one writes down on the ribbon what they wish for or hope for. Then, they must toss the ribbon onto the tree. If the ribbon hangs onto the tree the wish will come true. If the ribbon falls to the ground, the wish will not come true.

Joss stick burning is an everyday practice in traditional Chinese religion. Usually the burning of the joss sticks is an offering to the heavens asking for health, wealth, good luck, or any type of help that the person requires.

If your ever in Suzhou during the Spring Festival remember to go hear the bells at Cold Mountain Temple.

Chinese Lunch

I haven't posted anything on food. Well, one of the things one must do when coming to China is try the food. This activity becomes very interesting due to the hundreds of dishes wish can be found in China.

When I first arrived in China, I was weary of trying so many different things. I was a very finicky eater. I would only try things I really like and I was not open to new things as far as food is concerned. I would have to give up this fear of new food and begin and adventure in eating.

My first meals in China mainly consisted of vegetables. I learned to eat as many different vegetables as I could, but I can not live off of vegetables alone. I begin to taste many different things. Hunger makes you try different foods. I can eat alot of different dishes and now, even the things I did not like in the states, I try.

For my Mom's first Chinese lunch we took her to Jia Wang （嘉旺茶餐厅）. This restaurant is in SIP and it is always very crowded during the lunch hour. It is a restaurant that has a bunch of delicious food. There is an English menu, but it is not a complete menu. Some of the most delicious dishes are on the Chinese menu. The food is fairly tame and easily appeals to any one's taste. For starters, I like to have one of the delicious sweet breads with a cold milk tea.

The first dish for lunch was a simple beef noodle dish in XO sauce. My friend Elva recommended this dish and she was correct, It was very delicious.

The next dish was also fairly simple. It was the mixed vegetable dish. It contains vegetables seen in the west like carrots, sweet peas, and cucumbers as well as lotus petals, fungus, lotus root, and a few other things.

We ordered one meat dish. the meat dish was a simple barbecue pork ribs. It is also delicious. Jia Wang has a whole sheet on the menu dedicated to barbecue. I recommend trying different dishes each time you go to see what your favorite will be.

One of my favorite dishes is the skillet egg plant with pork. This dish is served very, very hot. It is meant to be eaten hot. When it gets cold, it is not very tasty at all. It is very delicious and probably not a healthy vegetable meal with all the oil involved in the cooking.

If your ever in Suzhou, please check out Jia Wang （嘉旺茶餐厅）. It has delicious food at an excellent price.