I was able to finish In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives. Thanks to my company’s generous book subsidy program, my department bought several books in December, most of which I recommended, and In the Plex was the first one I borrowed. It’s about Google, and it gives a good rundown about how Google was formed, the personalities of the two creators, and how the company became the ubiquitous search and tech giant it is now. You get a good idea of many aspects about Google, from how tough it is to get hired to how nice it is to work there (free snacks, gourmet staff restaurants, easygoing work environments etc) and how much effort the company put into its operations- it builds and operates its own data centers, ensuring the Google search engine is always up and blazing fast. Google is also the world’s largest computer manufacturer because it builds it own servers, in essence it makes more computers than actual computer giants HP, Lenovo or Acer.  The most fascinating parts were about the company in China (a lot of people probably know how that ended) and about how Google created its products from Gmail to Android to Streetview. The Youtube purchase and integration is also covered. Of course, the core of the company is its AdWords and AdSense ads services which bring in the bulk of the company’s revenues. These services are covered in good detail, though it’s a bit dry. Not everything was a success for Google, as its struggle with social services attests. The end provides a decent overview of Google’s failures with Orkut, Wave and Buzz, and the competition of Facebook, and ends with the development of Google +1 and cofounder Larry Page’s replacement of Eric Schmidt as CEO.

One big lesson that I realize from Google’s success is that sometimes “sexy” isn’t what sells, despite conventional wisdom. Google has a long list of killer products- Gmail, Android, Googlemaps, Gchat, GoogleEarth etc. Yet the bulk of its revenues (well, just 94%) come from its ads services – AdWords which puts up ads alongside Google’s search results and AdSense, which runs those little ads that appear in square boxes at the sides of many websites. It’s not flashy or hightech services that bring in the bucks for Google, it’s the small, banal, even annoying stuff like its ads that rake in the billions and allow Google to make those flashy products. Another example is Google’s search engine website, which is relatively sparse and has no ads. There’s a lot of empty space and no clutter, unlike say, Yahoo, which incidentally I like a lot. Of course, Google search works well and is fast and efficient, so whether you have style or not, the substance is important.

The negative anti-mainlander feelings of Hong Kongers isn’t completely unwarranted. Over the years, there’s been several incidents such as the shortage of hospital beds for mothers, due to a huge influx of mainlander mothers coming to HK to give birth, and a milk powder shortage, caused by mass buying by mainlanders due to panic over unsafe mainland milk powder. Mainlanders also haven’t done themselves any favors by doing things like spitting in public, jumping lines, or letting their kids pee in public. All this has aroused in many HKers a sense of fear over losing their public space, resources and culture to the mainland. But yet, I can’t quite agree with this fear, though I admit I don’t live there and I have had much more positive interactions with mainlanders than most average HKers. A lot of Hong Kongers have quite a serious sense of superiority and disdain toward mainlanders. For instance, locusts is a popular term to describe mainlanders, obviously not in a good way and influenced by events like the milk-powder buying spree. I do know a little of anti-mainlander sentiments given one half of my family is from HK and expressed a lot of these sentiments. Of course, the sentiments of some HKers from a decade ago and earlier were much more fearful, with paranoid expectations of bloodshed and destruction and death when Hong Kong was given back to China. This didn’t materialize, as did largescale interference with Hong Kong’s political, regulatory, and judicial systems. That’s not to say China hasn’t tried to interfere and push for changes to limit aspects of HK’s more open media and assembly laws, but nowhere to the point of completely disregarding HK’s existing laws. However, much of Hong Kong was created by the British. The education system, the laws, the judicial system, the street layouts, and so on, are all aspects of British rule. They largely work well and that’s the reason why Hong Kong became so prosperous and well-known. But in this sense, while it’s important to respect the British and what they left Hong Kong with, it’s also important to respect your Chinese values and identities. In other words, is it right to maintain a sense of intrinsic superiority over your fellow countrymen, when what made you supposedly superior was all created by a foreign ruler?

In short, both sides need to change. Mainlanders should be more aware of how they behave in Hong Kong, and Hong Kongers should be more humble and conscious of the fact that like it or not, Hong Kong is part of China and that hating and insulting people won’t benefit anybody.

Anyways, I feel there are tough issues that go beyond the usual fuzzy and paranoid political talking points that people on both sides of the political spectrum here should consider. Those who favor independence need to really think about if that will truly benefit themselves and Taiwan. A cross China, leaving aside the possibility of military action which I think is likely only in the most extreme of circumstances, bodes very unwell for future economic prospects and independence will mean cutting away a good part of historical and cultural ties that have lasted for centuries as well as the political and cultural base that has defined Taiwan since 1949. Meanwhile, those who support the KMT and the status quo should think of the future beyond economic and cultural ties, and realize that the status quo, while the most pragmatic political status for now, will only leave Taiwan in limbo mentally. Will growing ties with the mainland be mostly negative and consume Taiwan, or instead propel Taiwan into a completely new era?

However, Chinese MMA isn’t only Zhang. I only recently heard of Legend Fighting Championship, a Hong Kong-based MMA league that features Asian fighters, and their next event in February will indeed, feature Chinese fighters in a championship fight- the interestingly named Jumabieke Tuerxun (he’s Chinese but ethnic Kazakh) versus bantamweight champion Yao Honggang.

Crowded intersection half an hour after the fireworks ended.

Walking along Zhongxiao Street to the MRT station.

There was a line to enter the subway.

When it comes to the great cities of China, the “southern capital” Nanjing seems to get lost in the conversation sometimes. Sure, it is one of the Four Great Capitals of China (the others being Beijing, Xian, and Luoyang), and it is a relatively well-known, developed, and important city. Still, compared to Beijing and Shanghai, and also Xian, Suzhou,  and Hangzhou, Nanjing gets so little attention as a major Chinese city and a tourist destination. This was despite a history of over 2,000 years that included being the capital of China before Beijing in the 20th century and during the Ming Dynasty in the 15th century (coincidentally Nanjing also lost its capital status to Beijing during that time), as well as being the capital of many smaller dynasties and kingdoms.
Of course, despite what I wrote above, Nanjing is very famous, but for something that is more recent and dark. It was the site of one of worst atrocities in the past several hundred years. The Nanjing Massacre occurred in World War II, when Japanese troops killed hundreds of thousands of Chinese after capturing Nanjing. They also went on a mass raping rampage on girls and young and old women alike and did other ghastly things like use Chinese prisoners as live human targets.

It was because of all this history that I made Nanjing the main reason for my visit earlier this year, besides visiting relatives. Also, I wanted to visit a major city that was not Beijing or Shanghai and Nanjing fit the bill perfectly. I also hadn’t visited Nanjing when I went on a multi-city tour last year in the Yangtze Delta that included Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou.
Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province, lies on the Yangtze River, further inland from Shanghai. Taking the fast train there, the journey took just about 2 hours. I got dropped off by my relatives at Shanghai Train station with my uncle, where we had to go through a security X-ray machine at the entrance, a process that was repeated at museums as well.
Shanghai Train station was a newish building with a modern white facade and an electronic signobard above the front entrance showing train times; seemingly more modern than the Taipei Railway Station with its dowdy brown appearance. After getting into the station, we proceeded to the waiting area for our gate. This seemed kind of inadequate as anyone could enter the station and get to the gates. In Taipei, you show your ticket to enter the area and then go to your gates. When the time came to board the train, we lined up to pass through glass doors and went down an escalator onto the platform. The train ride was smooth, similar to taking the Taipei High-Speed Rail, reaching all the way up to 271 km/h.

We got off at the Nanjing Railway Station and transferred to the subway inside. On the corridor to the subway, I saw a few vagrants on the floor and somehow I got the feeling that there was more poverty here than Shanghai (Nanjing is a relatively prosperous Chinese city, but less so than Shanghai or nearby Suzhou, its erstwhile rival in historic Chinese times). Taking the Nanjing subway was cheap, only 2RMB (NT$8) for a short ride, compared to NT$15 in Taipei’s MRT. Surprisingly, it was also quite clean and orderly too. Though I have to say this wasn’t the first time I’d been in a sleek and orderly Chinese subway; the first being in Shenzhen. During the two days I took the subway, I saw no pushing or spitting or any type of rowdiness that I’d seen in Internet videos in Shanghai or Beijing subways, despite there being a good bit of people.
Getting to the stop near my hotel, we got out and stepping out into the street, my relative hailed a rickshaw. Unlike at Daishan, these were motorized rickshaws. There were several of them around the subway entrance, and if I was by myself I would not have taken them, because it seemed a bit unsafe. I didn’t just worry about personal safety, but also my suitcase falling out from the back because of the flimsy tray that was held by a cable attached to the top. My uncle was unperturbed and I trusted him and luckily the rickshaw journey went well. I told the driver the hotel address and we went through some side roads, into a lane with construction going on and some very low-income houses and I momentarily panicked inside. I couldn’t believe the hotel was here, though it was cheap. The driver kept driving and pulled into a more developed, but still somewhat shady small commercial street and we eventually found our hotel. Despite my misgivings about the street, it was the perfect location because it was right outside the main square leading into the Fuzimiao (Confucius Temple) area.

As a former imperial capital, Nanjing used to be surrounded by a giant wall. While most of it has long been gone, destroyed or pulled down, a lot of it still remains. Along with Xian, another one of China’s four great ancient capitals, Nanjing’s city wall is a tourist attraction where you can climb up and walk along. Zhongshan Gate is the biggest remaining gate of the Nanjing City Wall and this was our first stop. It forms part of the longest section of the city wall, long enough that you could take a 15-minute ride on a vehicle on it, which we did after we got on top.
The entrance was impressive, a long old and stuffy dark hallway enclosed by old stone and linked to smaller adjoining chambers. The hallway opened up onto a small grass patch and a ramp, wide enough for horses to run up and down, led to the top. On the middle level, there were several chambers with displays, including the story of Sun Mansan, a rich merchant who financed the building of this city wall. He was personally asked by the Ming emperor Zhu Yienzhang, who in keeping with the trend of loyal officials in Chinese history being punished for their service, exiled him years later, supposedly out of jealousy or insecurity. One of the chambers displayed bricks that were used to build the gate, with inscriptions on top of them indicating info such as which region they came from. The displays weren’t exactly in the best of condition, and there were few visitors, but I thought this was an underrated historic attraction.

      
After, we walked from Zhongshan Gate to the Yuhai Pavilion, a giant forest park located to the south of the city gate that had gigantic Communist memorials, pavilions, a tribute to a court official whose heart was cut out, and a pagoda.
We took a bus back to Fuzimiao, the Confucius Temple area, which was also quite large. It’s portrayed in a lot of tourist websites as one of Nanjing’s best tourist attractions and this made me initially skeptical of going there because it might be too touristy and kitschy. In reality, it turned out to be a really nice place. Sure it was touristy, but it also had a historic charm and a lively atmosphere. There’s the Confucius Temple itself, and there were stores, steles, and an imperial test-taking center for prospective court officials. There were brandname chain stores along with individual pet and souvenir shops and restaurants. On the promenade overlooking the litup Qinhuai River and a double dragon wall sculpture, there were rickshaws on land and boats in the water offering rides. The area was like a square maze with several entrances and it was easy to get lost. This is one thing that hit me about China, places here are huge and much bigger than Taiwan. I had thought that Fuzimiao was just the Confucius Temple surrounded by a few shops, but it wasn’t.

In more optimistic news, French striker Nicolas Anelka joined Shanghai Shenhua on a 2-year contract, making him the biggest name in Chinese soccer since… forever. Though I did find out that Carsten Jancker, a former German national and Bayern Munich striker, also played in China for a short time a few years back.

Meanwhile, Batman or rather Christian Bale, caused a stir in China by trying to visit a blind lawyer under house arrest. While admirable in a way, the fact he did it with CNN in tow guaranteed his attempt would fail. Even without CNN, I think Bale wouldn’t have been allowed to come anywhere near the lawyer, but I think it wasn’t a good idea. Maybe he thought that having CNN film his visit would put more pressure and shame on Chinese authorities, but on the other hand, this issue has already received a lot of attention, even from Hillary Clinton.

Mainland Chinese students overseas, such as in the US, often face a lot of anger and criticism from people over China. It’s frustrating for many, to be targeted or caught up in arguments they want no part of simply for their country or government’s actions. It would be like if every American abroad had to face criticism over the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s unfortunate that for many people, whether it be in the US, or Taiwan, China is this huge faceless machine in which every mainland Chinese person is a cog and hence, part of the problem. I wish people could separate their criticisms of governments and people.

Here’s news of another round of global expansion from a Chinese state media agency. This time, China’s CCTV TV broadcaster is expanding globally to launch English TV programs produced overseas in the US and Kenya, while setting up hubs in places like London, South America, and the Asia-Pacific region. This sounds like a good idea, but whether they can establish much credibility and attract viewers is uncertain. It’s kind of hard for a state broadcaster to be successful in running a global network when its operations at home are so restricted and controlled.