China 02.09.2013 - 15.09.2013
September 2nd: Ankunft, Kaligrafie und Welcome Dinner
Wir haben uns heute um 13.30 Uhr in der Hotellobby getroffen, nachdem alle früher oder später im Holiday Inn Express Hotel in Shanghai eingetroffen waren. Nach einer Vorstellungsrunde zur Namensauffrischung haben uns Ines und Lee-Shan das aktualisierte Programm für die nächsten Tage verteilt und bald waren wir auch schon auf dem Weg zur Metro. Nach der „Alibi“-Gepäck-Kontrolle bei zwei dünnen Chinesinnen, die wohl niemals alleine einen Bombenleger aufhalten hätten können, ging es hinunter zur Metrostation Longde Road. Dort nahmen wir die Metro Linie 1 zur Caoyang Road und stiegen dort in die Metro Linie 4 zur Dalian Road um. Von da aus ging es mit einer der ca. 3’500(!) Buslinien von Shanghai zu unserem ersten Treffen. Der Kaligrafie-Meister Lu gab uns eine Einführung in die 3'000 jährige Geschichte der Kaligrafie und erzählte uns, dass es fünf verschiedene Kaligrafie-Stile gibt und 8 Linien jeweils ein Zeichen bilden.
Die traditionellen Schriftzeichen werden heute nicht mehr in China verwendet, da sie von Mao Ze Dong zur Zeit der Kulturrevolution aufgrund ihrer Komplexität abgeschafft wurden. Sie werden aber heute noch in Taiwan, Hong Kong und Macao verwendet. Kaligrafie erlernt man, indem man die Schriftzeichen der fünf Stile erlernt und dann seinen eigenen Schreibstil entwickelt.
Die Kaligrafie-Meister waren in betrunkenem Zustand am Besten. Trotzdem haben wir auf den Sake vor den ersten Kaligrafie-Versuchen verzichtet. Den Kaligrafie-Stift haltet man – zum Pech der Linkshändler – immer in der rechten Hand (Daumen und Ringfinger unter dem Stift und Mittelfinger und Zeigefinger über dem Stift). Die Geschwindigkeit der Bewegungen, der Druck und das richtige Gemisch aus Tinte und Wasser sind entscheidend für die Kunst der Kaligrafie. Fleissig habe ich mich an den Worten Ewigkeit, Buddhismus und Daoismus versucht und erkennt, dass meine künstlerischen Fähigkeiten doch sehr begrenzt sind.
Als nächstes sind wir durch die Gassen von Shanghai zum Restaurant „Lynn – Modern Shanghainese Cuisine“ gegangen. Dort gab es an zwei Dreh-Tischen verschiedene Shanghaier Spezialitäten zu geniessen. Von Löwenkopf (Rindfleischbällchen), Seidentofu in Chili-Sauce bis hin zu einer Fisch-Pilz-Sauce gab für jeden Geschmack etwas. Mit einem vollen Bauch und vielen Eindrücken sind wir schlussendlich zum Hotel zurückgegangen...
September 3rd: Besuch bei Swissnex und Austausch mit AHA
Heute Morgen ging es schon um 7.20 Uhr los. Dafür gab es vor dem ersten Treffen einen Kaffee für die Morgenmuffel. Im Konferenzsaal, dem 22. Stockwerk eines riesigen Hochhauses, erzählte uns Frau Mattei, vom Generalkonsulat der Schweiz in Shanghai, von der Bedeutung der Region in und um Shanghai für China und für Schweizer Unternehmen. Shanghai hat im Vergleich zu anderen Regionen in China ein sehr hohes Einkommen pro Einwohner (über 10’000 USD) und ist eines der wichtigsten Wirtschaftszentren Chinas. Die meisten Schweizer Unternehmen in China sind in der Region um Shanghai angesiedelt. Als nächstes stellte uns der Direktor von Swissnex Shanghai, Herr Marmier, die Entstehung von Swissnex und deren Aktivitäten vor. Herr Widmer erzählte daraufhin von seiner Arbeit als Trade Promotion Direktor des Swiss Business Hub – einerseits unterstützt er vor allem kleine und mittlere Schweizer Unternehmen bei Business Entscheidungen in China und fördert andererseits den Standort Schweiz in China bei grösseren chinesischen Unternehmen. Herr Lehmann, Gründer von Selective International Management, einem Beratungsunternehmen, erzählte von seinen persönlichen Erfahrungen in China. Diese lassen sich mit den Worten: “experiment, expensive, expendable und expired am besten zusammenfassen. Zum Wort ‚Experiment’ sagte er folgendes: „Life in China is a daily experiment.“, und „Go with the flow“ als symbolische Bedeutung um mit der Geschwindigkeit des gesellschaftlichen Wandels mitzuhalten. Ausserdem war er der Meinung, dass die Expats und Touristen durchaus lokales Essen probieren sollten. Obwohl dies auch gewisse Gefahren mit sich bringt, wie der Lebensmittelskandal zeigte: Es wurden Hühnerfüsse verkauft, die schon seit 45 Jahren verfallen waren. Damit solche Fälle Ausnahmen bleiben, kontrolliert der chinesische Staat die Unternehmen in China in verschiedenen Bereichen rigoros. Wie uns aber Ding, eine chinesische Mitarbeiterin von ELEVATE mit Harvard-Abschluss mitteilte, funktioniert die Kontrolle in den Bereichen Arbeitsrecht und Umweltschutz noch nicht sehr gut. Deshalb versucht ELEVATE die Corporate Social Responsibility von Unternehmen in China mit verschiedenen Massnahmen zu verbessern. In einer spannenden Diskussion mit den Rednern konnten wir die Thematiken umso mehr vertiefen und verabschiedeten uns dann.
Artikel von Swissnex Shanghai über IFIL
Der Nachmittag war frei, somit entschieden wir uns auf die Dachterasse mit Blick über die Skyline des Shanghaier Finanzdistrikts zu gehen für ein tolles Mittagessen. Danach gingen wir auf den Flaschenöffner, das höchste Gebäude von Shanghai, und „genossen“ (Hallo Höhenangst) den Blick über die ganze Stadt. In Kooperation mit Social Innovation Centers AHA wurde ein Workshop organisiert, bei dem wir uns mit jungen Chinesinnen und Chinesen in einem alternativen, sehr versteckten Kaffee austauschten. Nach dem Workshop gingen wir gemeinsam in einem Strassenrestaurant uigurische Gerichte ausprobieren. Wir konnten dabei zuschauen, wie die uigurischen Nudeln in der Küche gemacht wurden. Voller toller Eindrücke und Erfahrungen kam es uns schon an diesem zweiten Tag vor, als wären wir alle schon seit Tagen auf der China-Reise.
September 4th: Shanghai: Traditional Chinese Medicine, Meetings with Professors of Economics and History, Traditional Chinese Costumes
Since we have planned a very intensive program for today, we had our own bus to go from appointment to appointment. The first meeting was at the University of Traditional Chinese Medicine with a professor of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). On the campus, we saw young Chinese students in military clothing. As we found out, every Chinese, men as well as women, have to serve military service for two weeks before their studies start. Arriving at the appointment, we had the opportunity to ask questions about TCM. TCM is still practiced in China, however Western Medicine is the main way of treatment. TCM serves more as a complementary long-term prevention and rehabilitation practice and is also regarded as a way of living. Afterwards, we went to a hospital that practiced both Western medicine as well as TCM. A doctor showed us around and let us have a look into live treatment of patients, like acupuncture.
After that, we drove to the School of Economics at the Fudan University. Economics professor Zhang gave us a brief introduction of the economic history of China. At the end, we had the opportunity to ask questions ourselves.
After a lunch break, we returned to the Fudan University to meet a professor of Chinese history. She had prepared a powerpoint presentation and gave us interesting insights into the Chinese history to better understand the present situation in China. She shared with us very interesting perspectives of the present and future state of the country.
The fourth meeting was with Hanweiyang, a NGO that maintains and promotes the traditional Chinese costumes, instruments and festivals. After a short video of their work, we had the opportunity to try on costumes from different dynasties in the Chinese history as well as to play traditional instruments. The people from Hanweiyang were very happy to meet us and left us joyfully into our leisure-time.
September 5th: A trip to the outskirts of Shanghai or rather to the countryside
After a very exhausting day 3, a more relaxing day was facing us. We had in mind to visit the biggest container port in the world. Half of the group decided to have a sleep in because of the partying activity of the last night. The others got on the bus and drove to the south west outskirt of Shanghai where we met Mr. Tian. We visited the distribution centre of NRS. NRS is a Japanese logistic company for dangerous goods.
On the way to the restaurant, where we had a Chinese seafood lunch, our bus made very strange noises and stunk to high heaven. During our delicious lunch the bus driver visited a mechanic. The diagnosis was not promising; the mechanic could not fix the vehicle and told the bus driver not to drive any meter further.
We tried to find another car in the little fisher village. Of course this was an impossible undertaking. And although we were still “in Shanghai”, there was no chance to get to the port by public transport. We decided wisely to skip the visit of the port. The 30 km on one of the longest bridges in the world with a smoky bus seemed too risky.
Well, we got on our bus again and with a top speed of 45 km/h we returned to the airport. On the way back to the airport Mr. Tian showed us the highlights of the district.
Although the day turned out differently than we thought, it was interesting to see the quite rural outskirts of Shanghai and the satellite cities. In the evening we took a flight to Guilin.
September 6th:City Walk, Phoenix Project / Guzheng, Chinese-KTV
It's already Friday morning. We woke up in a totally new city "Guilin" located in Guangxi Province. We expected Guilin to be hot and humid, but it was rather cold and rainy. We had freetime in the morning, so some of us decided to explore Guilin city. After being in a city of 27 million inhabitants, Guilin with less than 5 million people, all the sudden seemed to be pretty small and different compared to Shanghai. We walked about 30-40 minutes until we reached the CBD of Guilin. It was difficult to get directions from people, since only few speak English.
The program for the afternoon was to visit a small social enterprise, which was a student café, supported by the Grand Phoenix project at the Guilin Normal University. Two guys from the café were expected to pick us up at the hotel. For some reasons they didn't show up at the Green Tree Inn. After calling them, it turned out that they waited at the wrong hotel. We found out that there are several Hotels in Guilin with the name "Green Tree Inn". Finally gathered, we took a local minibus to the university, which was a great adventure. The bus driver overtook other cars on the right and even on the breakdown lane. No traffic rules! Some of us were scared as the situation was new to us. Arrived at the university, which was located in the outskirt of Guilin, we met the founder of the café together with Chinese students who all spoke impeccable English since most of them were seniors of the major Business English. The founder explained that a lot of female students come from the Chinese countryside with financial difficulties and have never been outside of Guangxi. The goal of the café is to collect money for these students to provide them a chance to study at the university, to send them abroad or to support them in other activities to enlargen their horizon. The café is successful and is expanding to other provinces within China as well. We had the great opportunity to get to know many nice and open-minded students. We got mixed up in pairs of two (1 Chinese- & Swiss student). I had the chance to learn about a student who comes from a farmer family. She said that she would be greatful for her parents, the Chinese government and the café for supporting her to make her dream come true. She's studying business English and wants to be a translator one day. It was her first interaction with a foreigner. The intercultural exchange was a great experience and we all had interesting conversations.
At the end of the meeting the café organized a traditional live performance of a music student who played the Guzheng. It was beautiful and we were all very impressed.
To round off the afternoon some Chinese students managed to arrange a KTV (Karaoke Television) session in the city. It was very funny. In the KTV two people got a microphone and had to sing a song playback. Some people were in the beginning a bit shy but as time flies it change to really funny swiss-chinese playback concert. as we swiss peole use to go out in discos to dance chinese people go out to the local KTV Studio and sing. Everbody returned to the hotel with a day full of new and exciting impressions of Guilin.
September 7th: Arrival in the paradise of the Longgshen rice terraces
For today we’ve set our alarm clocks early to be ready at 8:00 with a small backpack packed for one overnight stay in Longgshen. After an instruction about our today’s program, a bus picked us up and brought as to the Longji Area. The first part of the journey was a good opportunity to catch up some sleep after the short night (KTV). The second part of the journey brought as through a very rural area of China and everyone was looking interested out of the window. When we arrived in Longgshen, we had a short stop to pay the entrance fee for the area. From then on a small and very bumpy road brought us up further to Longgshen, where our bus finally arrived at its destination.
The houses here are all in a very beautiful traditional Chinese style and the life of the people living here is a lot simpler and more traditional than in the urban areas that we have been before. Other western people are very rare and the tourists were mainly Chinese. From another bus with tourists that just arrived, the locals were unloading pigs that were put in small bamboo cages and were then packed on a motorbike to bring them further up the mountain. Many other goods are just carried in a big basket by the local elderly women who then climbed up the mountain. They also offered to carry the luggage of the tourists to generate a small income.
Our hostel for the night was around a one hour hike away up in the Tiantouzhai Village in the middle of the rice terraces on 900m over sea level. The path up there brought us over small bridges through the rice terraces and showed us the fantastic landscape. On the way we passed some very small villages with traditional houses. The inhabitants there are living a simple life, keep their own animals, work on the rice fields, sell their art crafts to tourists or doing some other work in the area in a relaxed way.
Shortly after lunch time we finally arrived at our beautiful hostel, which offered us a stunning scenery over the rice terraces and let us feel to be in a paradise. After the checking we went to a small restaurant just next door for lunch, where we enjoyed a long and for this region very traditional meal of rice and chicken which is cooked in a bamboo in the open fire. The breath-taking panorama on the terraces let us stay there for interesting discussions and just enjoying the landscape.
In the late afternoon we had, back on the terrace of our own hostel, an evaluation and summary about the past days and planned our “Swiss Cultural Open House” that we will be held in Guangzhou for interested students and young professionals. In the evening we completed our work, wrote reports and went to bed early to have the energy to get up for seeing the sunrise tomorrow.
September 8th: Enjoying the views and hiking back to Guilin
Spending the night in such a breathtaking environment as the Longji area basically demands to get up early and enjoy the sunrise. Therefore at about 5.45 a.m. we were surprised by the follows: locals climbed down the hill and passed our hostel, using firecrackers and playing drums. A very loud but epic experience and surely an unique way to start our hiking day.
Before noon we managed to discover the most stunning panorama spots and were simply thrilled by the beautiful views. Hence leaving our hostel and its rural peace was a little saddening, though the owner’s dog accompanied us during our four hours hike through the most inspiring landscape. Surrounded by all shades of green we wandered over perfectly trimmed rice terraces and only stopped once. Some farmers invited us to their home and prepared a meal with their self-produced ingredients.
Back in Guilin we decided to go to the restaurant we tried on our arrival night again. The manager warmly welcomed us and people made us feel like part of the community. Integrated ourselves into the Chinese society only after a few days, that’s China!
September 9th: Xing Ping and social enterpreneurship
Missing China’s unique nature already, we spontaneously decided to go to the charming village Xing Ping and see the karst block formations. Whilst some of us chartered a bamboo boat and floated along the impressive and specially shaped mountains, others climbed to the top of one of them. The view was truly spectacular and it was a great thrill to stand on the very edge, feeling adventurous and alive.
Afterwards we joined Maya at the roof top of Xing Ping’s youth hostel, an innovative woman and initiator of a library, which provides books for local children. It was again a very interesting meeting and a fantastic example for social entrepreneurship.
Even though half of our study trip is over by now, we are excited for the following days! Next stop: Guangzhou.
September 10th: Guanghzhou, PFLAG, City-Walk, School for the Disabled
Leaving the beautiful landscape of Guilin behind was not easy, but looking forward to yet another major city-adventure, we still left in excitement and curiosity for China’s (arguably) third most important city: Guangzhou (“Canton”). The night-train was an adventure of its own, but far more comfortable and pleasant than most would have expected. The so called ‘Hard Sleeper’ bunk beds are far from hard, space is plenty (considering the number of people sleeping in one coach) and the atmosphere relaxed. So we all slept quite nicely and did not arrive grumpy and sleep deprived, but full of energy and motivation.
Leaving Guangxi and getting into Guangdong Province also meant crossing an important language border: in Guangdong and especially Guangzhou, people speak Cantonese. Although most people by now speak Mandarin Chinese as well and although the latter is being pushed forward by the government in public space and official speech, the weird but fascinating sounding Cantonese ‘dialect’ (that actually deserves to be called a language) still dominates the casual speech among the local people. Also the Cantonese have the reputation of being very different from the ‘Northerners’. As it would turn out, even after spending only one day in the city, we all agreed that this is unquestionably true (though it will probably take a bit longer to determine in which ways exactly they are different).
As the first scheduled event today, we visited the organisation PFLAG in the heart of Guangzhou in a small office in the 25th floor of a skyscraper (surprise!). PFLAG stands for ‘Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays”. Although sharing the name with many other organisations of the same or similar purpose, PFLAG China is independent from those. It was founded in 2008 here in Guangzhou and by now spread to many other cities within the country. We were taught about the company’s ideas, ideals and fields of action and, in addition to that, we got an interesting insight into the past and current situation of the LGBT-movement (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) in China. As we have learnt, there is no governmental support at all for organisations like PFLAG (but at least no hindering interference either) and it’s impossible for them to officially register as an NGO. So fund-raising is the most difficult problem they face. Regarding LGBT’s themselves, the biggest issue is not tolerance towards them in general (in fact most Chinese people don’t really care as long as no family-member is involved) but much more acceptance within their social environment, above all, their family. But discussing the topic here goes beyond the scope of this blog. In the end though, the people at PFLAG gave us a feeling of careful optimism rather than pessimism. Well, it’s no surprise to us anymore, but things are changing fast here. Also concerning LGBT. And as it seems, so far it changes mostly for the better.
After leaving PFLAG, we had time to explore the city of Guangzhou a bit. For that, we had help by Brian Timm-Brock, a friend of Lee-Shan, who’s been in and out of Guangzhou for the past 10 years. He impressed us with his knowledge of the city and China in general and especially with his fluency in Mandarin Chinese.
We were all amazed by Guangzhou’s bustling atmosphere, the dynamism, the people’s temper and openness. Guangzhou is a city of trade, the heart of a province of trade, which is often referred to as the factory of the world. It’s modern, but still genuinely Chinese in many ways - more than for example Shanghai, in my opinion. It is a pleasure to just walk through the streets and immerse yourself into the vibe of the city. And to eat - a lot. Guangzhou is home to the world-famous Cantonese cuisine which counts as one of the best of China’s culinary treats. Hence there is no lack of opportunity to taste it in Guangzhou. And we were obliged to do extensive practical investigations into this local cultural aspect.
The city-walk was followed by another scheduled meeting in the evening. Probably one of the most memorable ones so far. In a small labyrinth of narrow alleys, where even Brian, our local friend got lost for a while, we visited the Guangzhou English Training Center for the Handicapped (GETCH). A small school that offers diploma degrees in (Business) English for students with a physical disability. We were warmly welcomed to the school’s only classroom, which opens directly to a dimly lit but peaceful looking courtyard. There were about 30 students waiting for us. We started off with a one-by-one introduction of all attendees. After that it was all about exchange and talk and discussion. Divided into several smaller groups we mainly talked about our countries respectively about clichés that may exist about them, tried to verify or correct them. We shared thoughts and many laughs. The evening was rounded up with an extensive photo-session and exchange of Weixin (WeChat)-IDs and many hugs.
GETCH offers an opportunity for 50 students to study in an environment and under conditions that make it easier to overcome the difficulties they face with their disability. The three years curriculum is offered for free. It’s mainly based on little district-level governmental and foreign consulate’s support as well as support by a university in Guangzhou and other volunteers. It is one of very few projects of its kind within Guangdong province, a region where 100 million people live. We hope the very best for the great young people we met that night. China’s educational system is extremely competitive. But its social Darwinism strikes even harder after graduation. Wendy Liang, a student, sais that she hopes, someday, “she will be able to burst out of the present narrow range for the handicapped people in the society” and that throughout her hard study, “people will no longer fix their eyes on her wounded wings and take off their stained glasses so to let her soar freely in the fields of science and technology”. We hope and firmly believe that the students of GETCH will do great and overcome the difficulties they may face at times. For that we wish them all the best. Eric, one of the students, told us that he will never forget the day with us. Neither will we.
September 11th: One Link Retail Mall & Swiss Culture Open House
Wednesday, 11 Sept. The day began pretty early. After a quick breakfast from a local bakery (dumplings forever!!), we walked straight to the “One Link Retail Mall”. It's a large market spread over eight floors, containing many hundreds or even thousands of different shops. All were mainly specialized in retail. Starting with A for air conditioner till Z for Zebra head masks. You can find anything whether you need it or not. All made in China of course, most of the items were directly produced in Guangdong.
In the afternoon we had time to prepare ourselves for the Swiss Culture Open House presentation. Some of us took the chance to visit the highest building of the city to take breath-taking pictures of the enormous city. Others were inspired by the artist`s quarter called Redtory. And some of us just took a short nap. The Swiss Culture Open House Event took place at a local underground bar with a gallery inside, called the loft. It is kind of similar as the "Rote Fabrik" in Zurich.
More young students than we thought found their way to our small event about Switzerland. All of them were pretty curious about our small country and listened carefully. Our presentation was divided in three parts: First of all the similarities and differences between Switzerland and China, then facts about the economy and finally we also presented the languages spoken in Switzerland. We also had a roundtable with pictures and information on festivals and folklore in Switzerland.
Afterwards we had time to chat with our audience. A big amount of the youngsters had already some knowledge about Switzerland because most of the students are majored in German studies (Germanistik). We used German to communicate with them and gave them the chance to practise. To be frank I was quite impressed about their strong German skills. By talking to them we learned a lot about their view of Switzerland, their life as students and also what it means to learn German in such a globalized world.
September 12th: Panyu Migrant Service Center, Stainless Steel Factory visiting
After a successful self-organized Swiss Culture Open House Event, we had a quite tough schedule. We have rented a private mini bus, but had to notice, that we are not able to carry all our stuff with us, because there was not enough space available.That meant that we had to come back to the hotel before leaving Guangzhou to head towards Hong Kong in the evening. But one after another.
In the morning we got a meeting with Mr. Zeng who is working for the ‘Panyu Migrant Service Center’. After more than 20 years of experience, he got some really interesting stories to tell about, what kind of problems Chinese workers have to face every day. We learned, that often protesting is the only way to improve the work conditions, even though it is forbidden and taking such actions may be risky. Nevertheless they sad that working conditions have improved over the years and decades, it is still lacking behind. To the question whether foreign or local factories were more responsible regarding worker’s treatment he said that foreign companies are often even worse, which shocked us quite a bit. Their organization advices workers on legal issues and facilitates the communication between employers and employees.
After lunch, we got back into our mini bus and drove to the industrial district of Guangzhou called Foshan. We were kindly welcomed by Mr. Chao. The first factory we visited with him was his own, which prepared stainless steel for further processing steps (intermediate goods). Compared to Swiss standards, most of the processing steps were done by human resources instead of machines. In the second company, we saw how these intermediate goods were processed into final goods.
After a pretty tough day we had to rush to the Guangzhou train station to catch the train to Hong Kong. We were all tired but full of exciting impressions.
September 13th: Migrant Mothers in Hong Kong, Finanz & Wirtschaft, Swiss-Hong Kong Alumni Event
On early Friday morning, we travelled by underground to Sham Shui Po, where we split into smaller groups to visit the homes of single immigrant mothers and their child. Together with Lee-Shan and Lukas H., I was in the tiny 4 m^2 room of a 35 year old mother (both are just estimates), who lives on the 6th floor of a building without an elevator in a flat that had been divided into smaller units. She shares the bed with her 10 year old son, who was born in Hong Kong and goes to the primary school. The mother has not yet achieved residence status and is therefore not allowed to work. However, since she submitted her passport to the Hong Kong government, she can also no longer go back to China. She shared her personal story of migration with us which was very touching.
After this touching encounter we had a gathering with the mothers all together at the community center SoCo and met with the local NGO called VICEF that supports mainly immigrant mothers and their children by organising common activities and better integration. Its director, Christine W. gave us an excellent talk with interesting insights into the lives of disadvantaged people living in Hong Kong. In this regard, we want to thank VICEF for the excellent organisation of such an intriguing workshop.
After the noon break we met again at the Yau Ma Tei Station for a discussion about the role of Hong Kong for mainland China with the Swiss journalist Ernst Herb, who writes for the newspaper «Finanz und Wirtschaft». The brother of Simone, who is doing his master degree in Hong Kong, also joined us for this session and had a lot to contribute.
After a short stop at our hostel near Fortress Hill to change to more formal clothing, we crossed the sea again to participate at a networking event - an international alumni of Swiss universities - on the 88th floor of the International Commerce Centre (ICC), which was organized by the General Consulate of Switzerland and Swiss Chamber of Commerce and hosted by Credit Suisse. There was a panel discussion about democracy in Hong Kong followed by an apéro and a stunning view.
How it is expected from a student group, we stayed until nothing was left anymore and they closed the foyer. Being the seventh tallest building of the world, we moved from the 88th floor further up, and continued the party on the rooftop bar of the ICC at around 480 m above ground. As we felt like foreigners among foreigners, we enjoyed the second beer on the opposite side of the harbor on the public rooftop terrace of the International Finance Centre on Hong Kong Island. Having been already well after midnight, some of the group continued to LKF while others preferred the (too) warm bed.
September 14th: Jour à Hong Kong
En premier lieu, le professeur Lee de l'Université de Hong Kong nous a parlé de la politique environnementale et en particulier de la gestion environnementale transfrontalière. Il en ressort que Hong Kong est très active dans les domaines de la préservation de l'eau et de l'air notamment et que la Chine, qui accuse néanmoins du retard, augmente continuellement ses efforts dans ce sens, depuis quelques années.
Ensuite, Mme la prof. assist. Fengshi Wu, de l'Université chinoise de Hong Kong a traité de la société civile et de la relation entre l'Etat et la société de la Chine contemporaine. Elle a notamment souligné le rôle des ONGs et associations en Chine.
Finalement, le prof. franco-américain, Sébastien Veg, dans le cadre de son cours sur la culture sociale et la politique, s'est penché sur la question de la censure et de la propagande touchant p.ex. les livres, le cinéma et Internet. Il en retire que la présence indéniable de censure et la diffusion de propagande n'empêchent pas certains individus ou catégories de la société, comme les étudiants, de les contourner.
Après cet aperçu académique de quelques aspects de la Chine, dès 18h00, la soirée a fait l'objet d'un échange très sympathique avec des étudiants de l'Ecole de Business de l'Université polytechnique de Hong Kong. A travers des jeux fort amusants, il a été possible de faire connaissance et de mémoriser le nom de chacun. La cafétéria de l'université nous a ensuite préparé un excellent repas asiatique, durant lequel de nombreuses discussions ont permis de se connaître encore davantage.
A l'occasion de prochain Festival d'automne, nos hôtes nous ont notamment expliqué la symbolique de cette fête et nous ont fait déguster différents "Mooncakes" traditionnels ou plus contemporains. Les étudiants nous ont encore présenté leur université et Hong Kong. Ils nous ont également fait part de leur représentation de la Suisse basée sur de nombreux clichés. Certes, présentation de nos photos personnelles de la Suisse - en particulier des montagnes - n'a pas balayé cette image commune suisse, mais nous leur avons néanmoins fait découvrir d'autres réalités de ce petit pays, comme p.ex. des transports en communs surchargés.
Les étudiants chinois nous ont encore amenés exceptionnellement sur le toit de leur université pour admirer la superbe vue sur Hong Hong, puis un échange de petits présents a ensuite scellé des liens d'amitié qui ne sont certainement pas prêts de disparaître.
Pour clore la soirée, certains sont allés boire un verre avec une partie de nos hôtes, alors que l'autre groupe s'est rendu sur le Pic Victoria, communément appelé "The Peak" pour apprécier à nouveau la vision nocturne de cette ville magique. Finalement, à nouveau réunis, nous avons encore passé un agréable moment sur la terrasse d'un building, jusqu'à02h00 du matin, soit la fermeture de l'établissement.
Les plus fatigués sont alors rentrés à l'hôtel, tandis que les plus vaillants ont poursuivi la tournée des bars jusqu'à l'aube. Notre ami et hôte américain, Brian, les a alors guidés jusqu'à une plage au Sud de l'île, pour savourer un bain mémorable dans la lueur du soleil levant; une manière symbolique de marquer ce merveilleux voyage qui va s'achever.