June 18, 2007
By Frank McMains
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first blog by Red Star Bar owner and all around renaissance man Frank McMains, who is studying and traveling in China for six weeks.
Back in 1999, as we approached the Millennium and the world was more given over to long-view introspection, I heard a story on public radio. A commentator for the program “Marketplace” had decided to travel the world in search of indicators of humanity’s direction. He opened his story with some simple advice: “Learn Chinese.” The difficulties of picking up Mandarin or Cantonese are famous and, at the time, seemed to me a challenge equaled only by String Theory or Telekinesis. The advice was noted, filed away with all the other anxiety and fortunetelling that Y2K brought, and I went back to the sufficiently daunting task of opening a bar in downtown Baton Rouge.
A complicated series of events that column space and good taste prevent me from listing eventually led me to the MBA program at LSU. Maybe it was a faint memory of that “Marketplace” story or a taste for the unknown--or a fear of an accounting-heavy curriculum--but upon entering the program I set my course toward the program’s Chinese Business concentration. And so it was as I boarded a plane at Baton Rouge’s Ryan Airport, one sunny morning in late May, for six weeks in the Middle Kingdom.
There is an inevitable arrogance at pretending to coax anything profound out of a few weeks in a country that has thousands of years of proud and complicated history. So, with a healthy awe for what lies ahead and some grasp of the inescapable limitations to be faced, I will lay out some of my observations in the coming weeks. The hope is that they will be funny or touching or provocative. The hope is that this space 225 has provided me will help us all see a bit of the world’s largest country and our nation’s biggest trading partner in a way that is meaningful. The hope is that these weeks of stories will help to put into place some of the pieces of our ever-complicated world. And I hope that you laugh and I do not get dysentery.
Comments
Posted by parrymattt on June 21 at 8:12 a.m.
Frank,
China is one of the most popular trips for US citizens now. The visa process is quick and easy. I just returned June 3rd from 16 days in Zhanjiang and Guangzhou in Guangdong Province, and Guilin and Yangshou resort areas in China.
The people are very friendly and the sights are beautiful. Everywhere I went the people stared at me in a curious manner. Often people would ask if they could talk to me in English.
The street vendors always said "hello" hoping to draw you in which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Be careful of pickpockets in most public areas, some of the cards for digital cameras and CD discs may not work in your camera or CD player when you get home to watch them.
The only place I had any problem with a hotel was Guilin where a hotel was the worst that I have ever stayed. It is the Golden Elephant. It is supposed to be a three star, but it had a broken a/c system, the toilets in the lobby were full of manure, and no toilet paper and stunk up the lobby. When we checked out they gave us our deposit back with counterfeit money. They refused to refund our money when we confronted the manager and the clerk who gave us the bogus bill and convienently forgot how to speak English. With my Chinese fiancee and Chinese tour guide translating, they refused to return legit money.
Learn how to spot bad bills soon after arriving and make sure that any bill you receive has all four corners or it will not be any good.
I am going back August 12, 2007 to be formally married August 28 and stay for a month.
My bride and I hope to return to Baton Rouge some time late next year once she has a visa from the US.
One of the LSU Lady Tiger tennis alums has joined the Chinese Connection and is teaching tennis in Hong Kong as of June 15, 2007.
I hope to be a volunteer in Beijing or one of the satelite cities for the 2008 Olympics.
You can sign up and learn about China from their government web site www.china.org.cn
Have fun and have safe travel.
PMT
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