Shanghai



Red Sky at Morning

 We missed Shanghai!  The port was too tumultous to allow us to enter,

Where did I first hear "Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailors take warning"?  Probably Mom. A gorgeous sunrise greeted us on our sea day to Shanghai. While beautiful, it was unfortunately a predictor of things to come.

An explanation - courtesy of the Internet -  "the colors we see in the sky are due to the rays of sunlight being split into colors of the spectrum as they pass through the atmosphere and ricochet off the water vapor and particles in the atmosphere. The amounts of water vapor and dust particles in the atmosphere are good indicators of weather conditions. They also determine which colors we will see in the sky. During sunrise and sunset the sun is low in the sky, and it transmits light through the thickest part of the atmosphere. A red sky suggests an atmosphere loaded with dust and moisture particles. We see the red, because red wavelengths (the longest in the color spectrum) are breaking through the atmosphere. The shorter wavelengths, such as blue, are scattered and broken up.

When we see a red sky at NIGHT  the setting sun is sending its light through a high concentration of dust particles. This usually indicates high pressure and stable air coming in from the west, an indication that good weather will follow.

A red sky in the MORNING  reflects the dust particles of a system that has just passed from the west. This indicates that a storm system may be moving to the east. If the morning sky is a deep fiery red, it means a high water content in the atmosphere, i.e. stormy weather."

Turned into this

The day got increasingly "romantic"; our land tour guide Michael's description for misty, rainy, cloudy or otherwise less than sunshine-sparkly days. Fortunately I don't get seasick; our 'cradle' was rocking. Normally it helps me sleep, but our good friend Mary P. had passed her virus to me so my night was slightly miserable. I would have missed Shanghai anyway, so for me, not being able to port was a fortunate coincidence.

After 7 or 8 hours of waiting, the Captain gave up and headed for Hong Kong for two days.  I loved Hong Kong!

The first day we would be tendering to Hong Kong from Pier 4.  We had No Plans, so it was a 'free' day. This could be fun! 

We really paid attention at the port lecture this time.  She always gave us choices about what we could do in port with or without booking a tour. With nothing planned we considered the options:  Disneyland on Lantau, Old Hong Kong, the cable car to Victoria Park, IFC Mall, Harbor Cruise, choice of 3 Hop On Hop Off routes, Sampan Ride, Man Mo Temple, the Jumbo Floating Restaurant, Aberdeen Floating Village, Ocean Park, Big Buddha Village...let's just say there are many reasons to return.  We  coldn't resist signing up for the Symphony of Lights night tour but the day was ours to create.

Peter Tam, Lecture in the Theater

Sea days are also educational days. Tam, our educational port lecturer, born in Hong Kong referred to the many ABC's now in China - American Born Chinese. The Tams, originally dancing instructors onboard,  were recruited for the educational lectures.

In this lecture, Peter theorized that China was defined by its walls - 1 visible (the one Terry climbed - see therosgas.com) and the other 3

invisible walls. Our land tour had taken us to many of the places he mentioned: the Yangtze River, Forbidden City, Terra Cotta soldiers and the Great Wall -  built by 2 million workers to protect the food supply.  While there are other's walls in the world like Hadrians Wall in Britain and Antoine Wall in Scotland (MORE TRIPS!) the Great Wall in China is much higher and longer than the rest. 

The 3 INVISIBLE Chinese walls are (1) Confucianism (giving China a philosophy to live by - the 5 constants: humanity, righteousness, virtuous, knowledge, integrity - how to relate to others - much less talk about Godm demons and dieties -  focused on the here and now. (2) Taoism 'The Way' - observation of Yin and Yang (opposites - like female and male), practice of geomancy. Buildings commonly have a big hole in them for Che to go through and (3) Buddhism which came from India and focuses on karma, religious tolerance, reincarnation, zen.

The next lecture focused on Hong Kong. Peter mentioned some of the movies made here: Love is a Many Splendored Thing,the first James Bond, the first Batman, Suzy Wong World. They would have been good  movies to feature on our giant outdoor screen, except of course for the rain pelting us. Well maybe on our smaller indoor screen - the tv -  or in the theater.

Hong Kong, according to Tam, means Fragrant Harbor and is pronounced Shang Gong (Putonhua) Heung Gong (Cantonese) or Hong Kong (English).

Hong Kong is the youngest Chinese coastal city - less than 170 years old.  It has the most Rolls Royce Phantoms (Cost of $380,000) per capita in the world. The Penisula - the hotel we stayed at in Beijing- bought 10 of them for their clients.

9 percent of the population is a millionaire, coming in second to Singapore with 17 percent.   Only 4 percent of the US population are millionaires.  Hong Kong is the world's 3rd busiest container port, with Shanghai being number one.

Emperor Qianlong

Starting with the Mongol led Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) the Chinese prefered to be isolationalists, forbiding building of ocean going craft.  This philosophy continued with the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty.  Emperor Qianlong (1735-1796)  received a letter from English Lord McCarty in 1793 requesting to trade with China. His answer was they had no need to trade, they were the center of the world and according to Tam invited King George to make England a vassal state of China.

I read the text of Qianlong's letter, available online. I'm not sure what I was expecting - maybe something in halting primitive English, but it was pretty eloquent and amazingly well written.  As far as I could tell, the closest it got to offering vassal status to England was  "It behoves you, O King, to respect my sentiments and to display even greater devotion and loyalty in future, so that, by perpetual submission to our Throne, you may secure peace and prosperity for your country hereafter." From E. Backhouse and J. O. P. Bland, Annals and Memoirs of the Court of Peking (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1914), pp. 322­331
Website: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1793qianlong.asp

Back in the day, in order for a foreigner to live in Peking (also known as Beijing) the foreigner had to adopt Chinese dress, was confined to precincts designated for foreigners, and was NEVER permitted to return home. So I guess we are fortunate today even if we can't connect to websites like facebook and blogspot, because we can LEAVE. We met a US citizen working in Beijing who said he lived in one of the outer rings of the Beijing and Tour Guide Michael also referenced the outer 'ring' where foreigners lived.

The Chinese sold silk, tea and porcelin, much in demand in the western world producing a net influx of silver.  This changed with the English bringing opium from India, which had been used medicinally and recreationally since the mid 15th century.  Opium was not an illegal drug, or even undesirable then.  But the result was silver began flowing out of China at a rate alarming to the Emperor and productivity probably decreased. In 1839 they declared opium was illegal, closed the channel to trading. British surrendered the opium and it was burned.

The British government demanded compensation...so started the Opium War.  The wooden ships of China were no match for the British navy.  In the Nanjing (North Capital) Treaty of 1842 Hong Kong was ceded to Britain as a colony along with a number of smaller cities and received monetary compensation for the burnt opium. A part of the terms included  Extraterritoriality for British citizens living in Hong Kong - they were 'exempted from jurisdiction of local law'.  Any 'crimes' they committed were referred to English courts.
After the 2nd Opium War, instigated by 'unfair' treatment of British merchants, Kowloon was ceeded to the British. It was about the money more than it was about the drugs.  Although today we punish a country by NOT trading with them, in those days the punishment for losing the war was forcing them TO trade

In 1997 Hong Kong and Kowloon were returned to the People's Republic of China with the provision that for 50 years they would be a Special Administrative Region of the PRC; i.e. things will remain as they are.
For the time being, although Hong Kong is now part of China, the Chinese Yuan is not accepted.

As Tams observed,  Chinese Culture and British Rule seemed to be a winning combination. 

Arriving in Hong Kong