GUIZHOU, CHINA 2016

"But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God." 

 "Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law."

SHANGHAI, CHINA 2015

1.  No one wears flip flops on Shanghai streets, not even American tourists 
2.  Designer brands must stake at least one giant shop in Shanghai or they are no longer “World Class”
3.  600 RMB (US 100) for a Tommy Hilfiger t-shirt
4.  Job opening:  3000 RMB per month for restaurant worker
5.  Brunch at the Puli Hotel  400 RMB + 15% per person
6.   Rice plate 10 RMB could be had at local eatery
7.  Sorry, anything Made in China worth buying is no longer cheap
8.   Lots of security guards, aka door openers, in every 5*hotel 
9.  CCTV12 shows reality dramas to “teach” law and order
10.  A mug of coffee is 35 RMB, no refill
11.  US$1 = 6 RMB, dollar is not so hot at the moment due to dropping exchange rate
12.  No stranger, including children, would smile back at you
13.  It’s hard for LA people to live in Shanghai—too much walking
14.  No Google, no Yahoo in all of China, go for Baidu
15.  Yes, free wifi at Starbucks!!
16.  Still coughing having left Shanghai 2 weeks ago 
17. Yoshinoya takeout soup is a powder packet, just add water
18. Continuous long line at McDonald's for 5 RMB sesame ice cream 

1984 was my first visit.  There was no fashion statement then.  In all of China, men and women looked the same in comrade blue.   Even then, Shanghainese managed to wear their blues with style, some even sported dark sun glasses.   In 2002 was my second visit; China’s blood was already pumping, and Shanghai was the heart.   The Orient Pearl, like a trophy to be won or a beacon for the lost, was egging opportunists Chinese and foreign, rich and poor, smart and dumb to come for their pie in the sky.   Now my third visit, thirteen years later, Shanghai is even a grander and shinier metropolis.  Avian should start bottling clean air. 

MYANMAR 2014

Los Angeles 16 hours Boeing 777 to Hong Kong + 3 hours Airbus to Yangon.

The big city Yangon is a labyrinth of vendors, cars, stupas, colonial leftover buildings, and crow-like pigeons. It is the city in “Blade Runner” that hasn’t made it into the future. Bagan is a desert town with simple villages of bamboo huts and dirt roads. It is famous for its concentration of stupas.  From a distance, the stupas seemed to have sprouted from under the earth; their silhouettes shaped like Eiffel Towers of various sizes. In the north are the Shan highlands, bordering Yunnan, China, with green hills and colored fields; there is also a scenic train bridge. Shan tea is a must buy for about 1500 kyat ($1.50) a package.  Inle Lake is an entire city on water. What’s not to love about a 20- minute speed canoe ride to and fro each way every day under a magnificent changing sky?  Unlike Yangon, which sustained the remnants of the British, the City of Mandalay is the place to see Myanmar’s majestic past.

YANGON

All of Myanmar manifests a loyal and devoted people by their obsessive and repetitive whims. If there is one stupa or Buddha statue, there would be clusters of the like in the area, and then repeated throughout the country.  The country is naturally endowed with rich gems, petroleum, and timbers; it also has the Irrawaddy River, a great waterway for commerce. Such a plentiful country could groom its people toward comfort and prosperity.

BAGAN 

Clothing not yet come from Gucci here; they are from threads of fibers, including fiber from the lotus stalk.  As a tourist I visited home shops hand-making cigars, weaving fabrics, burnishing silver jewelry, and making scissors—the medieval way.  In a world where a knife “Made in China” could be bought for 99 cents, why Myanmar still bothers to melt, cast, and pound iron into a simple cutlery should be puzzling to the average tourist.

MANDALAY

I saw a truck speeding down the road packed with young ladies, their faces smeared with white sunscreen paste.  I could only hope they were on their way to work in factories that pay more than $1 a day.  Along the tour route, I saw that work was mostly manual labor with only minimal mechanical or animal aid.  The best job was the pretty girl who stood in waiting, although without a chair in sight, to greet at the entrance to the Karaweik Hall. Coolies hulled heavy loads on their shoulders; their only insurance was Buddha. Troops of novice monks and nuns were always seen trotting the streets for alm under the sun that was hot and humid even in November.  These children looked especially pure and much alike with their shaven heads. To tell them apart, boys were wrapped in burgundy and girls in pink. They are the future of Myanmar!

SHAN 

Buddha statues are colored with real gold at $300~$1900 an ounce, and there is no shortage of such statues everywhere in this land.  Sources declared that the Maha-Muni Buddha is stacked with 6-inch layers of gold leaf on its 12 feet 7 inches sitting body, and more goes on it every day.  Gold has inherent power, even if it were just metallic paint. Walking into the golden world of stupas in Yangon’s Shwedagon courtyard, I was instantly overtaken by a feeling of promise and hope, of glory and glamour—I was “high” on gold. Everywhere there was smoldering smoke from burning incense, devotees crawled and dropped their knees before their choice of statues or stupas.  Here is Ground Zero of Myanmar’s preview of a better after-life. Pull our eyes away from the gold, and the land returns to its wear and tear of cracked floors, chipped walls and columns, dulled fixtures, dilapidating surroundings, infestation of fleas and flies.

INLE

Buddha statues, the ruling military, and tourists enjoy riches and the best accommodations, but what about the people?! Do people really pray for Nirvana—never to be reborn into another earthly life? What do they really beg for in front of Gold Buddha? In Yangon, I saw a child with not even a pair of cheap flip flops; his bare feet were not layered with gold but thicken with black soot and grime already insensitive to the hot caustic pavement. Ask the people about Nirvana only after they experience a sweeter life, like my stay at the Sule Shangri-La/Trader Hotel, an air conditioned paradise with daily buffet dining. 
                                                              

COOL PEOPLE IN HOT WEATHER