365 China Photo: One-A-Day

This morning I left for work while our Yue Sao was reading to Tanya. Every morning she reads to her for at least 20 minutes, while Tanya is transfixed by her voice and stories. However, when I came home after work the Yue Sao was gone. Canthy had a big fight with her and fired her on the spot. I can’t say I was surprised, as Canthy and her have had many fights and tears over the last two months. It wasn’t that the Yue Sao was bad at her job; infact she was very good and professional. But sometimes she was just too tough and her character clashed with Canthy. I felt a bit sad at the situation and I wish Canthy had discussed this with me beforehand. However, I have to side with Canthy and I told her as long as she was happy that she did the right thing, then I was OK with her decision. It just means that Canthy will have much more to do in bringing up our baby. And so will I—at least until we can find another replacement

I’ve passed this fast food shops dozens of time but have yet to try the food. It’s called Kung Fu Fast Food and is a very famous and popular brand in China. It uses the iconic image of Bruce Lee as its logo and has other images of him throughout the interiors. I don’t think there is any official link to Bruce Lee, but he is probably the most famous Chinese movie star ever. Despite the fact he has been dead almost 40 years his image is still very bankable. However, as I haven’t eaten there yet, I have no idea if the food is kick arse or not.

Our Yue Sau has already started to try and toilet train Tanya though she is just a few months old. Apparently they start this process young in China, even though Tanya will continue to wear nappies for long time. Basically this involves holding Tanya over a wastebasket and then making grunting noises, like your going to the loo. So this morning Canthy, Yue Sao and I, were all making grunting sounds but Tanya didn’t go. She just starred back at us looking puzzled, as we all made strange animals grunts.

Everyday our Yue Sao gives Tanya and bath and then an oil rubdown and massage. Tanya seems to loves it especially the massage on her back. When she puts Tanya on her front she is always trying to raise her head and crawl. But she doesn’t have the coordination or strength yet to move. So she just moves her fat little “Michelin Man” arms up and down without going anywhere. It makes me laugh but Canthy always feels 可怜 kělián, “pity” for her. However, I told her to be thankful for now, because when she starts to crawl, we will really have to pay attention on her movements.

Sunday afternoon is turning into a regular swimming day for Tanya. We’ve been taking her for several weeks now and she absolutely loves it. At first she just use to float there and not do much. However now she is kicking her little arms and legs and moving around the pool on her own. We bought her these cute little blue swimming trunks that had sewn on fishtails that make her look like a little mermaid. Then Canthy saw another little girl wearing a pink bikini and wanted to buy one for her. But I told her Tanya is too young to be wearing one of those so maybe when she gets older. Then the other mother told me her daughter was only six months old. Maybe I am old fashioned but it just seems to young for girls to wear bikinis.

I’ve have three iPods over the last three years. One I lost, one suddenly couldn’t be charged and the last one the screen broke. However I have still been using it but you just cant see what your playing. Frustratingly stupid, so I finally decided to buy myself a new one. My friend Neil told me that Apple are bring out a new iPod later this year but I just couldn’t wait. Especially as I had been complaining to Canthy that I couldn’t go to the gym without my iPod. The Apple shop was packed on a Saturday morning as usual with several hundreds people playing with the gadgets. I ended up buying a shiny new blue one, with a built in camera that I’ll probably never use. But now I’ve got one, it’s one less reason that I cant use for not going to the gym.

Tanya’s getting bigger and heavier so she no longer a little baby anymore. We have found a new position for her, which she likes as she can practice standing up. Well she doesn’t have the muscle strength to really stand on her own, but she likes to lean and kick her legs out. I don’t think she will be walking for a long time but our Yue Sao says it is a good exercise for her. Canthy as I both like it too as we can rest Tanya on our legs. Which is more comfortable and less tiring and gives us more freedom to play with Tanya. It also means I can watch TV over the top of her without worrying that I might drop her

Over dinner last night, my potential client was talking about his life in Guangzhou and revealed an amazing fact. That Guangzhou has the tallest TV tower in the world, which is also the third tallest structure in the world. I was amazed and initially in some disbelief, as I have never heard or seen of this since I had been in the city. The next morning I Google searched and he was right. The Guangzhou TV Tower is 620 meters tall and the second tallest structure behind the Burq Khalifa, which I visited last year. More amazing as I looked out of my window I realised I could just see it just hidden behind another building. Well it didn’t look so big, and I am not sure if it is open yet. It’s designed by Information Based Architecture, from Amsterdam, with an interesting lattice design which is suppose to create a “female tower”.  Well it certainly looks interesting so next time I am in Guangzhou I will definitely go and take a closer look.

I flew back to Guangzhou this morning for another series of presentations. We always stay at the Westin Hotel, which is situated conveniently across the road from our client’s office. Mooncake season has arrived, so all the hotels, restaurants and supermarkets are starting to display their goods. Mooncakes are a typical Chinese desert, which is only eaten during the Mid Autumn Festival, which is the 15^th day of the 8^th Month of the Chinese calendar. This year it is on September 22, which is when the moon will be the brightest. Most Mooncake packaging tends to be overtly Chinese, in shades of red and gold and covered in dragons and other Chinese symbols, which can look brash. However, this packaging looks very modern and sophisticated, which I suppose you would expect of the Westin. As Mooncakes are normally given away as gifts the packaging become an important part of the experience. Think I might buy some later and take back to my colleagues in the office.

We bought Tanya this great toy, which Canthy calls a “carnival” toy as it’s like the funfairs she seen on TV. It really cool as it plays different music and all the toys makes different sounds. Some rattle, some honk and other beep, which keeps Tanya’s attention while she lays there kicking her arms and legs about. She has just started to bite her thumb, which according to Chinese superstition means our next baby will be a boy! However, I told Canthy it’s a bit too early to start thinking about another baby as we haven’t even worked out how to look after this one yet

Since our car seat arrived from the UK, we have been taking Tanya out a lot more. It’s easy to fix to the back seat of the car, so make it much safer for travelling around town. Before that our Yue Sao would just hold Tanya on the back seat, but I wasn’t too happy about this. However, the use of baby car seats in China is very rare, so we often get surprised looks we carrying her around in her seat. Sadly there are no regulation or law about the use of child cars seat in China. Infact most drivers don’t even wear seat belts. So it is not uncommon to see young babies sitting or standing in the front seat of the car. If I am not around to drive her, I have told Canthy she has to use the car seat every time. Even if most taxis don’t have seat belts you can use, because they are covered over by car seat covers. For those people who have never been to China you will find this a strange but common phenomenon. And for those of us that live here it can be more than worrying. Anyway, Tanya loves her new Maxi Cosi car seat and fits snugly and safely inside – so it comes highly recommended.

It’s been over two months now and Tanya seems to be growing so fast. Almost everyday she seems to get more “interactive”. I know that word makes her seem like a video game, but in the beginning she didn’t really do much. Now she is smiling all the day and starting to make sounds like she is talking. Every time I hold her I cant help but look at her in wonder and fascination. To be honest I still don’t feel that same love, that Canthy has for Tanya. But I know my feeling are growing everyday which feels good. All my friends tell me that it tales more time for fathers to bond, so I guess the more I interact with Tanya the better.

One of my main jobs at the weekend is teaching Tanya English. I am supposed to (according to Canthy) spend at least 15 minutes a day reading to her. However sometimes with work I just get back too late and then Tanya is already asleep. As I have also been travelling a lot I have to make it for it, mostly at the weekends. Although she is just over two months old, we have started with basic black and white images, which according to our Yue Sao, is perfect when they are so young. Although I am not suppose to talk Chinese to Tanya, as Canthy says it will give her bad habits, as my tones are not always correct. However sometimes I can’t help switching between the two languages, as it a good way for me to learn the basic Chinese words too. This card is a bunny rabbit, which is 小兔 xiǎo tù, in Chinese, but just don’t tell Canthy I’m teaching her bilingual.

My mother always use to tell me we were having fish on Fridays. I am not sure why, but I think it comes from the Catholic religion. However, I was brought up Methodist so that doesn’t quite make sense. Well anyway Canthy eats fish every day as our Yue Sao says it contains a lot of protein and minerals, which are good for making baby milk. The fish are always bought fresh from the market so the quality and taste is really good. Whereas when I was growing up fish on Friday often meant fish fingers, or frozen fish rather than the fresh kind. Canthy never never eats frozen food as she doesn’t think it is healthy. However, I told her that in the UK many people live on frozen food, whether it’s fish, meat vegetables or even ready-made meals. When I told our Yue Sao about this she wrinkled up her face and said “bu hao chi” (not tasty). Then proceeded to cut up the fish into heads and tails cooked and cook it fresh for breakfast.

I am staying at the Radisson Hotel on the People’s Square where I always stay when I am in Shanghai. The hotel is pretty good and it’s central location is an obvious attraction. The People’s Square, is the heart of the business and cultural centre of Huangpu area of the city. In the decadent days of old Shanghai there use to be a racecourse here. However, when the communists came to power in 1949 it was turned into a cultural square. I get a good view of this part of Shanghai from my hotel window, but I never ever seem to get a chance to go out and explore the city. I also haven’t been to the Shanghai Expo yet, but I am planning to do that sometime in September. Hopefully when the heat and the crowds subside from the event.

I flew to Shanghai today for another series of meetings in the Pudong area. The client’s offices are right next door to the new Apple Store so I could resist dropping by to check it out again. Despite being a weekday afternoon the place was busy, so I can only imagine how packed it must be at weekends. It has the largest “Genius Bar” in the world, which is such a great idea. This concept helps build a connection with its customers and gives a face which other technology brands don’t have. An obvious and simple idea—but real genius from Apple.

Canthy brought Tanya into my office today and caused a commotion. My colleagues had been asking me to bring her in for weeks, but without a car seat I didn’t want her travelling in taxi, as it’s just not safe. I don’t know what it is but people in China always seem to get excited whenever a new baby is around. I think it has something to do with the One Child Policy. As most people growing up aren’t use to having younger brothers and sisters around. Therefore everyone wanted to hold her and kiss her but our Yue Sao is very protective so doesn’t normally allow strangers to touch our baby. Although it sounds overprotective, she says that you can’t be too careful with all the germs going around. Still my colleagues got to look and take pictures and maybe next time they can hold her when she gets a bit bigger – but only if they wash their hands first.

Our Yue Sao taught me a new word today “wēixiào” (微笑), which means smile. This was very appropriate as Tanya has just started smiling and can now recognise Canthy and I. It’s really cool when she does this and it’s strange to think how this happens. Smiling must be a human emotion that we are born with, that naturally develops over time. I read somewhere that it only takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown. Luckily for us Tanya has been a very happy baby and rarely cries unless she is hungry or needs her nappy changed. Fingers crossed lets hope she stays that way.

Tanya had her inoculations today, which is never a pleasant experience.  Canthy hates needles, so she can never attend as she gets too upset so its always down to me to take her. However today Tanya had to have a “six in one’” inoculation so Canthy wanted to be there. The nurses told us they would give her two injections simultaneously in her inner thigh. The thought was quite painful and the needles were big, so I knew I would be upsetting for Canthy. As expected Canthy started crying way before Tanya did but it did look pretty painful. Fortunately Tanya’s crying eventually stopped and then Canthy stopped. However we have to go back again next month for the next round of injections. I guess I should get used to it, but when you see you wife and baby both crying it does bring tears to your eyes.

We took Tanya swimming again this weekend, as we are trying to take her at least once a week. Normally she goes in her own little pool, but today we put her in the big pool. At just two months she is always the youngest and smallest baby there, but she really enjoys it. She can kick backwards and forward and it spin herself around which is really cool. Though it will be some time before we can take her rubber ring off and she can swim on her own.

I went to another new business presentation today in the Financial Street area of Beijing. As the name describes, it is where many of the major banks and financial service companies have headquarter offices. The buildings tend to be grand and this particular one had a huge atrium with a bamboo forest in the lobby. It is quite a unique feature but on closer inspection it turned out to be fake. I was disappointed but realised it must be almost impossible to grow bamboo outside it native environment unless you created a temperature controlled hot house. However, the bamboo forest did look good and made the place feel more green and natural, even if it was just made out of plastic

My office on Jinbao Street is the luxury car street in Beijing, where you will find all the world’s top car brands have their flagship showrooms. Consequently seeing Bentleys, Lamborghinis and Rolls Royce’s driving by is an every week common experience. However, now and again you see car that stops the traffic. This afternoon it was Aston Martin’s top of the line DBS, that was parked outside my office. A limited edition in Carbon Black, which was stunningly beautiful. I can only dream of what it is like to drive, but by all reports it drives as amazing as it looks. It costs almost US$300,000, but in China it would be more than double hat price due to the high import tax on luxury goods. So at more than RMB 4,000,000 the car will have to stay as a dream.

Guangzhou celebrated the 100 day countdown to 16^th Asian Games which the city is hosting in December.  Games mascots are a important part of the promotional activity and these “five goats”, which I couldn’t resist snapping at the airport represent Guangzhou. Legend tells the story that the city was suffering with drought and famine and no crops would grow. Five Immortals came down from heaven riding goats, with ears of rice in their mouths. The immortals gave the rice to the people and promised they would be free from famine. The immortals then left and the goats were turned into stone and forever became a symbol of Guangzhou. Not sure if you believe in legends but Guangzhou is probably the third most prosperous city in China after Beijing and Shanghai.

I flew to Guangzhou in Southern China this morning to meet a prospective new client. The project is an amazing 6 star development just outside the city, but that’s all I can say about it for now. I haven’t been to Guangzhou in years, but like many of China’s cities it has developed so rapidly in the last few years. I was staying at the Westin Hotel and the view from my hotel painted a good picture of the new city. Modern buildings, skyscrapers and building cranes is the new skyline image of China’s growing cities.

Tanya is two months old today. Not really a milestone birthday but worth mentioning as she has grown so much in recent weeks. Everybody tells us that babies grow fast especially in the first few months which we have certainly noticed. She is looking very healthy and has fat little arms and legs like the Michelin tyre character. All our friends keep telling us that she looks like me but I just cant see it. Tanya has big eyes, which people say look like mine despite the fact hers are still blue green colour. Canthy joked; or maybe she was serious, that we both have chubby fat cheeks. Well, if that’s the case I can take the hint and it’s time to get down the gym and start my ‘new years’ get fit programme. I know it’s already August, but never too late to start something new.

It’s been a whole month since I last updated my photoblog. So I must apologise to all my regular readers and to those that have sent me emails and messages. The good news is that Canthy, Tanya and myself are perfectly well. However, I have been swamped with work, travel and looking after Tanya who takes all my freetime. Now I have the month of July to update, all 31 photos to edit, upload and write about. I seem to remember losing a whole month last year as well; July I think. That time I blamed it on my holiday, but this time I can blame it on Tanya I hope to catch up soon in the next week or two so fingers crossed I wont get too far behind. The big news is Tanya (who is two months old tomorrow) has just started talking to me. Well, it’s just noises for now but they do come together like she is trying to make a sentence. Canthy told me she started doing this weeks ago, but I have been too busy working to notice. I think Canthy was having a little dig at me. However, I just grunted back in baby speak and carried on playing, as weekends are always Tanya time.

Sorry readers but I have so far missed updating the whole month of July photos and stories. I have been swamped with work, business travel and adapting to being a father, so I blame it mostly on Tanya I will try and get back on schedule and soon as possible and update more frequently. Ideally I should upload and write every evening like a real diary, but I just haven’t been that disciplined about it, though I know I should. However, if I can do it every few days I’ll be happy with that, as it better than being a month behind!

Several times a week Canthy’s mum goes to the wet market to buy fresh food. She leaves around 6am and is back in time for Ayi to cook breakfast. This morning I was greeted in the kitchen by boiled pigs feet. It’s a kind of delicacy, which Canthy loves as she can suck all the meat and cartilage and leaves nothing but a pile of bones. The meat is not too fatty and is very high in protein so it’s good for producing baby milk. China has the largest population of pigs in the world, estimated at around 500,000,000 so it’s a very basic and staple food. Although pigs feet don’t look so appealing pig’s trotters are also a vey old English food and became very fashionable in London in the 80s. More recently they have been promoted as a superfood that helps you stay younger. So I must tell Canthy that and she can save thousands of dollars on her expensive make up.

I was still feeling disappointed from England losing to Germany. The newspapers in the UK were going crazy calling for the sacking of the manager. They were also accusing the England players of not trying hard enough and giving up in the second half. Even Tanya had her hands up today when she was sleeping so maybe she agrees with everybody else. England needs to face the fact we are not good enough and to rebuild the team around the basics, of control, passing and keeping the ball. England Germany is always a crunch match due to our football history and the two world wars. “Hand hoche” means hands up in German, something I learnt from watching to many war films. Anyway, I hope little Tanya’s dreaming of England and her hands are up in celebration, as one day we might win the world cup again.

After watching England have their equalising goal dissolved in the world cup I felt gutted. It would of changed the game if the goal had been allowed and I believe we would of won. However, we just weren’t good enough to come back against a better younger and fitter German team. The morning after I walked into our kitchen to make breakfast I found two dead fish in the kitchen sink. They weren’t too happy either as the Ayi had just gutted them for breakfast. She asked me if I wanted to try her special fish soup she was making for Canthy, but I declined. I couldn’t face eating dead fish in the morning, so opted for my usual peanut butter and toast.

It’s the biggest game tonight in the world cup with England playing our arch rivals Germany. As always I am hopeful for a win, but after seeing Germany play it wont be an easy game. Canthy’s mum went out and bought me some beer, as she knew I would be watching the game. But as it’s on at 2.30am, I don’t think I will be drinking beer at that time of the morning. She bought Yanjing beer, which is one of the most famous beers in China and is actually made in Beijing. The name Yanjing, is the ancient name of Beijing during the Warring States period, before China was unified into one kingdom. Yanjing is a pale beer, which tasted very good, but it has a very Germanic looking label using a black Gothic typeface. I just hope it’s not a bad omen that Germany will win.