Yu Garden and the Bund

In China, the new year begins based on the Lunar Calender. This year the Chinese New Year began on January 26. During this time period many people are going home to spend time with their family. The first three days of the new year are national holidays. These first three days are relatively quiet and many people stay home to be with family and friends. After these days, families and friends adventure out to the tourist areas to pray in the temples, to shop around town, and to eat out. This time of year becomes very crowded with many locals as well as tourist adventuring around the town. We decided to become part of the adventurers and visit some of the tourist areas in Shanghai.

Our day began at the famous Yu Garden. This area is known as the Old Town. Originally, this part of Shanghai never saw many foreigners. It was home to many of the poorest Chinese as the settlers from various countries built there communities around the Old Town. After the Cultural revolution, the area was restored. It has many traditional looking buildings with tea houses, local food vendors, as well as Starbucks and other modern shops. During this time of year, there are many decorations for the Year of the Ox. These include the traditional lanterns as well as many ox decorations.

This year there was an arts and crafts festival at the Old Town. Many of the traditional Chinese crafts which included paintings, paper-cuttings, seals, and many other handmade items were being sold at the market. Today we decided to buy a seal. Seals have been used for many years around China. Seals were used to mark ones own possessions as well as contracts and documents. These seals are made of many materials and are hand carved. We purchased our seal for a negotiated price of 30 RMB ($4.38 US). The market is the best place to get local arts and crafts. Always remember to negotiate. Once the price was negotiated, the artist would make the seal with one's name. We chose to have the Chinese version of our name on top with the English name on the bottom half of the seal.

After shopping and wandering around all morning, it was time for some local snacks. There were many delicious items to choose from including traditional Chinese barbecue, soup dumplings, meatball soup, and many other local snacks. We would snack on some soup dumplings.

Each dumpling contained a pork soup inside with a delicious meaty flavor. Each one came with a straw to be able drink the soup. After a few snacks, we also went to lunch to a local sit down fast food restaurant and enjoyed some pork chop noodles. The pork chop noodle is also a noodle soup with noodles, a few vegetables, and the pork chop. I love to eat this soup wherever I can find it.

After lunch, we decided to go to Longhua Market. This market sells clothes, watches, jewelry, purses, and so many other things at low prices. There is one catch. The prices actually start a little high. Here you have to use your negotiating skills to reduce the price. A long sleeve polo shirt can be sold from 40 RMB to 100 RMB ($5.83 US to $14.60 US). Your price depends on your negotiating skills and what you are willing to pay. Tourists will usually pay a little more than a local because a local will usually know fair market price. If you come to China, get some local help with the shopping!

After buying some clothes, we were of to the electronics market Mei Luo Cheng. This market works the same way as Longhua except it sells all electronic items from USBs, Cameras, and PCs. It is a huge electronic market with hundreds of stores inside. Here it is critical you know fare market price for the items or you could be spending hundreds of dollars more. We limited our purchases to an all in one card reader and a memory stick for my son's PSP already loaded with games.

We also had dinner at the electronic market. The method for ordering food was pretty electronically automated. First, you would purchase a card for the amount you would like to spend in food. Then you could go to any one of the food court stores and order food. You would present your card to the teller and the money would automatically be deducted from the card. Once your dinner was finished, you could return for the remaining balance on your card or save it for later.

As darkness approached over the city, it would seem as our day in Shanghai was almost over, but in fact it was just another beginning. We wanted to walk the Bund at night. The Bund is the scenic area on the western side of the Huangpu River and claims to be the most scenic spot in Shanghai for both locals and tourists. The west side has many 19th century colonial buildings which served as trading houses and banks earlier in Chinese history. During the night, these buildings light up the area. On the east side across the river the financial area of Pudong lights up the night. There are many ways to view the Bund at night. Boats along the Huangpu river offer tours around the Bund by water. Many people choose the walkway and walk along the river bank taking in the views from both sides of the river.

There are two ways to get to the other side of the river without having to take a taxi to the other side. There is a ferry that goes across the river and there is a pedestrian tunnel that can be used to cross underneath the water. We chose the pedestrian tunnel ,50 RMB ($7.30 US) for round trip, and stopped by the Super Brand Mall for a Starbucks Coffee. We returned to the west side by the pedestrian tunnel and called it a night.

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.

Tennis Masters Cup 2008 - Shanghai

This last Saturday my son and I attended the 2008 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. This event would be the last Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. The event actually started November 9 and finished November 16 with the finals. The event would be for both men's doubles and men's singles tennis. The Masters Cup is the final ATP Tournament of the year and only the top seven players in the world qualify automatically to play. The eighth player goes to the highest placed Grand Slam winner who finishes outside the top seven but within the top 20. Probably many of you are saying whatever that means.

I had decided to get tickets to watch #1 Rafael Nadal and the #2 Roger Federer play. The "B" tickets would cost 780 RMB ($114 US). These were the least expensive seats. We also decided to go for a semi-finals match to be able to watch two doubles matches and two singles matches. The final day would only be two matches, the finals of each event. Well, as far as seeing the #1 and #2 play, it did not happen. Nadal was injured and did not attend this event. Federer was beaten the night before by Andy Murray and thus eliminated.

The Masters Cup is held at the Shanghai Qi Zhong Tennis Center. This stadium is an engineering marvel that has a magnolia shaped retractable roof so games can either be played indoors or outdoors. You can see the roof above. Also, it has another 40 indoor and outdoor courts.

The actual facilities are gorgeous. All the sponsors had different booths and a few games to play and win prizes. I have been to many Chinese sporting events and have not been impressed with the ability to serve food for long events. Usually only snacks are available, but here there was a wide variety of selection. Yu could eat pizza, hot dogs, Chinese food, and many other items. Also, the players would come and autograph your items if you would wait at the players entrance. We waited a few minutes, but really got tired of waiting and decided to see the matches and eat some food.

The first matches were both doubles matches. The first event would see Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic (#2) defeat Pablo Cuevas and Luis Horna (#7). Then we got to see the American world #1 of Bob and Mike Bryan defeat Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski (#8). It was great to see the American team win. Photos below of the two matches. The Bryan brothers are in red and blue, second photo.

The featured singles matches would feature Novak Djokovic (#3) defeating Gilles Simon (#7). This match was excellent. It would go the three sets 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. It was a battle to the very end with Simon putting up a very good fight. Pictures Below.

The last match would feature Andy Murray (#4) losing to Nikolay Davydenko (#5). The day before Murray defeated Federer in a three hour three set match. It was probably the best match of the tournament. It had completely worn out Murray and you could tell during the match. Oh well, better luck next year in London!

These matches were the first time I had watched tennis live. It was a wonderful experience and I would do it again. I would go again. it is much more enjoyable in person than on TV. My son liked the tennis, although he said he did get bored at the end. I understand, it is pretty tough for a young guy like him to watch so much tennis in one day, but he said he would like to return next year to see Nadal. Next year, Shanghai will hold an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Tournament. It is one of the ATP's nine top tier event and it will be the only one in Asia.

Health Certificate and Registration for Shanghai

The Shanghai Marathon committee requires every participate for the half marathon and full marathon to complete a physical examination to assure each person can compete in the event. The physical examination includes general health questions, a stethoscope examination for cardio function, blood pressure, and heart rate. The notes for the physical examination are on the entry form.

I think the most important thing on the entry form is your home address. Last year I had a colleague write my address in Chinese, while others I know who ran wrote in their address in English. I was the only person who received the results book for the Marathon. It is a pretty thick book. For the half marathon alone there were 67 pages of finishers for the male category and 14 pages of finishers for the female category. So I hope any of you local runners put your address in Chinese.

Well today I woke up bright and early to complete my physical examination for the Shanghai Marathon (As you all know, I will be competing in the half). My driver today picked my running buddy Ravi and I up and took us to the Kowloon Hospital here in Suzhou. She took us right up to the front of the building and parked at the front door and went in with us to help us out with our Chinese. My driver does not speak any English. Actually, I speak very little Chinese, but she happens to understand my terrible Chinese and translate it into Chinese that people can understand.

We were led around by a nurse to the different areas of where the tests were to be conducted. In China, you queue in different lines where the different tests are conducted. It is very similar to an assembly line. Also, no privacy. It is more efficient in the fact that in about 20 minutes the whole process is complete. Not much more even if you have to include a blood test and urinalysis (you do get to do this in private) and x-rays. These would just be additional stations. I think it is an excellent process that follows the Toyota System without every having to have consults come in and make the process lean. I remember when I arrived the complete physical was done in less than 30 minutes. Something that took three to four hours back home. Both physicals included all the same tests!

So first we had our blood pressure and pulse checked. The blood pressure is checked at the hospital with a machine similar to what would be found in a Walmart or HEB Food Store back home. The machine shows your blood pressure and pulse. I am not sure how accurate these machines are. My blood pressure was 130/82 and my pulse was 62. I thought that my systolic pressure was a little too high. I'm not sure if that's from me moving in the machine or watching my money disappear in the stock market.

Then the nurse took us to see the doctor. We stood in the queue behind several people. She told the doctor that we were here for a check-up to compete in the marathon. That got every one's attention and then they were staring at both of us. Well, the line was all the way up to her desk. She would consult and everyone could here her consultation to each patient. The doctor did speak English and ask me if anything was bothering me. I said no I had no problems. Then she checked my heart with her stethoscope and signed my entry form.

The last step of the process is the most important. The official seal from the hospital. The doctor does not put these seal on your entry form. You have to go to a special little room and get someone else to stamp your form. Then, the process is complete.

The whole exam cost 18 RMB ($2.63 US). In the US, I would $90 US for a doctor's visit. The costs in the US are really ridicules. That's why health care is so expensive.

We had finished our exam and I wanted to go to the bank to take out some money for registration in Shanghai. We passed the Genway building and their was a big line of people outside the Human Resources building. I'm wondering if the line had to do with increased unemployment in Suzhou. Not sure.

Later on in the day I traveled to Shanghai and officially registered both of us for the half marathon. This year, the price has increased. I remember paying 100 RMB last year. This year I payed 200 RMB. My bib number will be 6398. I was quite happy with the number. It ends in an eight.

I am almost ready to run. Wish me luck!

2008 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix

This year we had the opportunity to see the Shanghai Grand Prix for the second straight year. The World Championship comes to China with Lewis Hamilton leading Felipe Massa by a meager 5 points. Last year Hamilton crashed out on worn tires. This track has proven to wear McLaren tires and many thought it could pose a problem this year.

The Grand Prix in China is now in its fifth season and is a great place to see the race. Race seats cost at minimum 780 RMB ($114 US) for all three days. You can get into the track area and watch from various grass areas for 380 RMB ($56 US). Unlike Indy F1 which allows you to sit anywhere you want on Friday and Saturday, you have the same seats for all three days; however, Friday the security is a little bit relaxed due to the small crowds. You can sneak around and see the practice rounds from all but the most expensive seats.

This picture shows the main grandstand. In front of this grand stand are the pits. These are the most expensive seats on the track 3980 RMB ($581 US) for the three days. They say you can see the whole track except the hairpin turn where this picture was taken.

Above is a picture of the grandstands by the hairpin turn. These are the only other covered seats on the track. You can see the F1 cars go from 310 km/h to 53 km/h. It almost looks as if the cars are being pulled back by the brakes. It is an incredible site.

Friday was a day spent relaxing, walking around the F1 Village. Also, no kids! Isaac was in school as Sonia and I enjoyed our day. We got to see the morning practice from our race seats. We then snuck into the B seating area beside the main grandstand. These are also good seats, but I preferred my race day seats to these seats.

This is Kimi Raikkonen, the reigning world champion, during the morning practice. He was third fastest on the track that morning. Then, Ferrari didn't show up in the top five in any other practice rounds. They were probably doing alot of testing on different set-ups for race day. It must have helped out. Both drivers qualified 2nd and 3rd.

Jarno Trulli was also one of the fastest on Friday. He was fourth fastest in the second practice session, but later faded in the qualifying rounds to qualify 9th overall.

Between the two qualifying sessions, we walked the village and purchased merchandise and took a few pictures of a few girls of F1. Below are the pictures for your viewing.

I hope you enjoy these pictures. There were many more girls from Coca-Cola, AT&T Williams, Toyota, and a few from China Mobile. These were just a few for you to see. I am sure you can check them out at the f1 live site. Those of you that follow F1 know where to find them.

I know alot of you all are Alonso fans and my blog would not be complete without a photo of the double world champion. He was actually second fastest in the second practice on Saturday and managed to qualify 4th and finish 4th right of the podium. Not bad for a slow Renault, but he is the double world champion.

Saturday, Isaac came to the track. He was not very happy that mom and dad were able to go Friday. He also wanted to go. Below Sonia and Isaac relax on the autograph stage before qualifying.

Saturday after the first practice, I was looking for merchandise from some of the back runners (teams that don't win grand prix's). I thought that there would be some merchandise by the other expensive grandstands. So I took the whole family for a long walk around the track. Unfortunately, I did not find any of the merchandise. What I did find was an unguarded entrance to the K grandstand. These are some of the best seats in the house and we snuck in to watch the qualifying. These seats are priced at 2580 RMB ($377 US). Very nice viewing.

In the above picture, you can see the hairpin turn. This photo shows David Coulthard during qualifying. He had a poor qualifying session and qualified 16th. He did manage to work his way up to 10th in the race. This race was his last race in China. He will retire after this season. China marked his 244th grand prix. He won 13 Grand Prix's during his career.

Williams has not been very competitive the past few years. They have moved from competing for the title to back marker. This year marks there 30th Anniversary as a Team in F1. They have won 9 world titles. I am sure they will be back in the hunt for the title soon. Above Rosberg didn't make it out of the first qualifying session.

Well, who would I be cheering for in the race. As some of you know, I have always been a Ralph Shumacher fan. So I have cheered on Williams and Toyota, but this year he isn't racing. Last year a purchased two driver caps (Shumacher and Hamilton). Since last year with a rookie going to win the world title, I have moved on to McLaren. I also like Heikki. I think he has potential and both are young and will be in Formula 1 for a while. Hopefully next year I can wear Hamilton's World Champion driver cap.

Onto the race! Hamilton started from the pole and completely dominated the race. I have to say, it kind of looked like Micheal Shumacher. Felipe and Kimi could not hang with the McLaren. Could it have to do with stolen Ferrari secrets last year? We will never know. Below are two photos of this years two title contenders.

Hamilton was fast in the Silver and Orange McLaren. It was his race to win and he was able to run the table and show that he does deserve to win the World Championship. I was a little concerned about tire wear, especially after Heikki's puncture.

Massa has been the best in his career. It would be special to see him win the Brazilian Grand Prix and the Championship at his home grand prix.

Lewis enjoys his victory lap. A well deserved lap after two consecutive years starting on the pole position. I hope all of you enjoyed the pictures!

Shanghai Duathlon

This was the third annual Shanghai Di Shui Lake Duathlon. I actually registered for the event over a month ago. I thought it would be good preparation for the double marathon goal of running both the Hangzhou Half Marathon and the Shanghai Half Marathon in November. The event consists of a 5 km run, 42.5 km bike, 10 km run.

My training for this event was decent. I would do my normal marathon training runs. I would add a 26 km bike leg after a short run and sometimes i would run 10 km and do a 26 km bike ride. I also did a few long mountain bike rides and I competed in the 140 km Qing Dao Lake Road Race (another story). Even with this training I felt really nervous. The distance is extremely long, so I put a simple goal of completing the event in three hours including transition time. I figured 30 minutes for the 5 km, one hour and a half for the 42.5 km, and 60 minutes for the 10 km. I figured I should be able to fit transition time somewhere in there without affecting the goal.

Here we are at the race site. Bill, Freddy, and Me ready to compete. The only thing that comes to mind when I see this picture is the lack of pain in our faces.

The race started of with the 5 km. I really wanted to run 8:05 pace. I thought a fast start would be good and set the tempo for the rest of the race. Thanks to my Garmin Forerunner 305, I was able to keep the pace and both Bill and I finished the first 5 km in 26 minutes. I was pretty happy, but already feeling the effort in my legs.

I had planned the transitions to be very quick. I had not really practiced transition before, but from my previous two mini-triathlons and short duathlon, I had learned that too much time in transitions can be very costly. For the first transition, the plan was to put on my bike helmet, stuff a granola bar in the back of my shorts, and change my shoes.

Here I am in the transition area. The plan worked nicely and I was very quickly on the bike. The first few miles on the bike were getting my legs used to the different feeling. After running a 5 km pretty fast and jumping on the bike, my legs take a few to get used to the new motion.

Just info for some of you bike enthusiasts, I now ride a Specialized Tarmac FACT Carbon bike with Shimano 105 components and an Ultegra Rear derailleur. Another interesting fact, the white rear water bottle was actually used in the Olympics by Carlos Coloma of Spain. Isaac picked it up as a souvenir at the Olympics.

I tried to ride pretty fast around the bike course. The wind was very strong in some sections. It would just sap your energy. I tried to conserve energy against the wind and then power when I was with the wind. It was a very hard effort. I knew that I also could not push myself harder because there were still 10 km of running left after the cycling. I averaged 29.4 km per hour over the 42.5 km. I was able to finish the biking section in one hour and 26 minutes.

The second transition also went well. I returned my bike, took off my helmet, and changed my shoes.

The second 10 km went real slow. My legs felt like bricks. The previous two hours of running and biking had taken their toll on my legs. I was pushing legs that no longer wanted to move. I could feel the pain. I was not alone. I would look at the faces of the other runners and see the same pain in their faces. Some had to walk, others would trot. I ran the last 10 km in 58:54.

Here I am running the last 1/4 mile. I always have in my head that once I pass the finish line the suffering will end. It is the will to suffer and knowing how deep you can suffer that helps do these long events. I think this thought is what made Lance Armstrong so good. He had suffered through cancer and cheated death. Suffering through the Tour de France would never equal the pain and agony he went through with Cancer. Simply put, he was willing to suffer more than all the other riders.

Here I am reaching the end of the suffering. It feels good to see the finish line in site. It even feels better to have my son running beside me as I reach the finish line. It reminded me of near the end of the Houston Half Marathon in 2007. I was nearing the finish line and I was getting tired. My son, out of no where, started to run with me and cheer me on in Houston. It gave me that extra energy to pick up the pace and finish strong in Houston.

Family and friend support is very important in these long races. I could hear my wife cheering me on while I went speeding by on the bike. This type of cheering gives you the extra effort to keep it going, especially when the mind starts to tell the body it doesn't want to feel the pain anymore.

All the hard work for a little medal. No it's not gold, but it comes with the satisfaction of finishing the event. My unofficial Garmin time was 2:57:22. The results have not been posted, but I did sign my card after the finish and it was just about the same time.

The official photographer of this race was my dear and loving wife Sonia. She took really good pictures and has made this blog entry come to life.