Thirty Yangjiang Scenes

I arrived in Yangjiang (阳江), Guangdong province, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) westward from Zhuhai and Macau along Guandong's coast, with little knowledge about it (map). Some of the upcoming posts will focus on what I found and learned in a fascinating city.

This post includes a set of scenes from the most developed area of Jiangcheng District (江城区). If you take an intercity bus to "Yangjiang" this is likely where you'll end up. The photos were all taken within an approximately 10 square kilometer (4 square mile) area, and I walked to all of the locations. Along with showing some slivers of everyday life, they highlight the area's variety of environments and modes of transportation. It's not difficult to go from a wide road for new apartment complexes to a narrow alley winding by old traditional-style homes.

Many scenes would likely be labeled as mundane by Yangjiangers, and that's fine. The aim is not to provide material for a promotional video like Dongguan's but instead to provide a more down-to-earth look at Yangjiang and some context for later posts.

A Brief Return To Zhuhai and a Longer Return to Mainland China

After arriving in Hong Kong over a month ago, I took advantage of an opportunity to learn more about the city and its people. More than two weeks ago, I departed, and after a hour-plus ferry ride I arrived in Zhuhai, Guangdong province. I continued to blog about Hong Kong since there was still much I wanted to share.

I noticed a few changes in Zhuhai since my previous visit last year, such as my favorite place for Wuhan-style noodles tripling in size ...

The restaurant's name includes "Sichuan" and the name of a another dish, but they still have a decent Wuhan regan mian.

... and the addition of countdown timers for pedestrian crossing signals at an intersection where I previously encountered much noise and dust.

No gravel blowers were in sight this time.

I also returned to one of my favorite places for a late night meal, where the owner continued to display his penchant for mumbling about my taste in beer. My stay in Zhuhai was brief, so I didn't have the opportunity to treat him to one of the craft beers for sale there.

But I didn't come to Zhuhai for beer, and the locally produced Haizhu beer I drank elsewhere was enjoyable in its own way.

The logo is based on a famous statue in Zhuhai.

While more about Hong Kong will likely appear, I don't expect to say much more about Zhuhai, featured in numerous past blog posts. I already left there to visit several Chinese cities which are new to me and unknown to most people outside of China. The journey provides an opportunity to return to several old themes and start some new ones.

Much more soon ...

Food vendor taking a rest in Zhuhai

A Hong Kong Sunset at the Cyberport Waterfront Park

Different Styles in Hong Kong

Near Sai Yeung Choi Street South in Mong Kok

Zhuhai Gets a Little Crafty

Hong Kong was not the only place I have had a positive beer-related experience in Southeast China. One day late last year in in nearby Zhuhai, Guangdong province, I went to a Carrefour, a French hypermarket chain, and saw this in the imported foods section:

Although Zhuhai has an October Beer Street Festival, finding American craft beers from brewers such as North Coast Brewing, Rogue Ales, and Saranac was shocking and a stark difference from anything else I had seen in Zhuhai or any other comparable Chinese city.

I wasn't planning to remain in Zhuhai much longer, so I didn't want to buy too much from the imported foods section. But that didn't stop me from leaving Carrefour with a few select difficult-to-find-in-Zhuhai essentials.

The beer was room temperature, but the staff at my hotel agreed to chill the bottles after they took photos of them. Later that night, I enjoyed a cold Saranac White IPA at a favorite late-night outdoor eating establishment.

It proved to be an excellent mix. Saranac, a beer friends tell me is difficult to find in parts of the U.S., never tasted so good. One side effect, though, was that it left an unintended impression on the owner/cook. To this day he disapprovingly mutters to himself about me thinking American beers are better than Chinese beers if I don't order a Tsingtao beer from him, even though I never again brought my own beer.

Maybe next time I will treat him to a Saranac so he can decide for himself. It might even inspire him to start selling it and save me from making a trip to Carrefour*.



*It would be another surprise, but one can dream.

They Can't Kill Us All: An Attack on an Editor in Hong Kong

In an earlier post about people voicing their desire for democracy at a Hong Kong Lunar New Year fair I wrote "But many Hongkongers are not content with the additional freedoms they enjoy, some of which are deteriorating or are threatened." The last part of the sentence linked to an article about journalists marching "through Hong Kong to oppose to what they say is the 'rapid deterioration' of freedom of speech."

Around the same time I was writing the post, there was darker news:

The former chief editor of a Hong Kong newspaper whose dismissal in January stirred protests about press freedom in the Chinese territory was slashed Wednesday morning, the police said.

Kevin Lau Chun-to, the former chief editor of Ming Pao, was slashed three times by an attacker who fled with an accomplice on a motorbike, said Simon Kwan King-pan, the chief inspector of the Hong Kong police. The attack happened shortly after 10 a.m. as Mr. Lau was walking from his car in the Sai Wan Ho neighborhood. Mr. Lau was listed in critical condition at a local hospital with a wound in his back and two in his legs, and doctors said he faced a long recovery.

Although the attackers remain unidentified, many in Hong Kong believe the target of the attack was not a coincidence. Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported:

Two police sources said the nature of the attack on Lau left little doubt that it was designed as a warning.

One said: "If they had wanted to kill him, they would have." The other added: "It was a classic triad hit. They went for the back and legs to warn him."

Despite concerns the attackers will not be brought to justice, "Hong Kong journalists have vowed not to be intimidated". Journalism educator Yuen Chan documented some of the response from students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Now at CUHK pic.twitter.com/I4DvHS0yar

— Yuen Chan (@xinwenxiaojie) February 27, 2014

Silence today is death tomorrow. Sign made by journalism students at CUHK after attack on their teacher Kevin Lau pic.twitter.com/S0jn08IDYN

— Yuen Chan (@xinwenxiaojie) February 27, 2014

The attack has received attention in Hong Kong, abroad, and to a degree in parts of mainland China, but it's a different story in Hong Kong's neighbor, Guangdong province:

News of the violent attack on former Ming Pao chief editor Kevin Lau Chun-to was conspicuously absent from Guangdong media yesterday because of a gagging order from the party censor, according to several editors.

Lau's condition has stabilized, and hopefully he makes a full recovery. But whether or not police identify the attackers and determine their motive, the vicious assault on Kevin Lau Chun-to has brought yet more uncertainty to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Gets Crafty

After reaching the bottom of Hong Kong's convenient Central–Mid-Levels escalator and walkway system one day, I saw a man holding a sign.

I froze. Although Shanghai and Beijing have seen their craft beer scenes notably improve in recent years with places such as the Boxing Cat Brewery, Hong Kong had seemingly been left behind. This man gave me hope things had changed.

The man confirmed that HK Brewcraft sold craft beer in additional to brewing supplies and said the store was nearby. Having walked around the area on a number of occasions, I was surprised I could have missed it before. It turns out it is not so easy to notice--one of the reasons he was standing there with a sign. So he kindly escorted me to the street underneath the lowest level of the escalators.

And we entered a building.

After walking up one floor of stairs to an elevator (the elevator does not reach the ground floor) and taking it to the fourth floor, I met his son and store founder Christopher Wong.

His Washington Huskies shirt gave me hope our tastes would share some common ground. I took a look at their area for classes.

I also perused their selection of craft beers from around the world.

After enjoying a couple of tasty, hoppy beers I had never tried before, they recommended I visit a not-so-far-away bar to try a locally brewed beer. So I headed back up the escalators and found The Roundhouse - Taproom. Once there, I basked in the sight of their 25 craft beers on tap.

But I had come there for something specific, a beer from a new brewer in Hong Kong--Young Master Ales.

I chose their Island 1842 Imperial IPA and was not disappointed. Good hoppy stuff.

HK Brewcraft, The Roundhouse - Taproom, and Young Master Ales are all relatively new to the Hong Kong scene, and together with some others they mark a significant change that will make my stays in Hong Kong all the more pleasurable. I could opine further, but for more see a recent article on Time Out Hong Kong about "The Rise of Hong Kong's Brewing Scene". Apparently I'm not the only one enjoying the change.

I'm glad I saw Mr. Wong holding that sign.

Voices for Change and Democracy at a Hong Kong Fair

Booths selling flowers, food, stuffed toys, creatively designed bags, spices, and other items filled Hong Kong's Lunar New Year Fairs last month. The fairs I visited shared some similarities with one I visited 3 years ago in nearby Guangzhou. But one category of booths at Hong Kong's Victoria Park left no doubt that I could not be in mainland China.

At many of these booths, people used microphones to loudly express themselves and attract attention.

And volunteers handed out informational literature.

The booths' messages varied in some respects and the people running them ranged from student groups to political parties, but they held in common a belief that a select few unfairly controlled too much power and money in Hong Kong and that democracy could greatly benefit the Hong Kong people. With details for planned elections in 2017 soon to be announced, several weeks earlier people marched in support of full democracy for selecting Hong Kong's leader.

The booths sold items expressing messages in different manners and with varying degrees of explicitness. One notable item was toilet paper with current Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's face printed on it.

The alpaca-like grass-mud horse--a symbol of protest against censorship in mainland China--was a popular offering, even at booths which overall did not appear political in nature.

Shirts with a variety of designs were also available.

For example, a large "Z" in one design represented the idea that people needed to "wake up" if they wanted democracy to take hold in Hong Kong.

One university student explained that the less explicit designs took into consideration the discomfort some in Hong Kong feel expressing themselves directly on such issues. On a related note, as I stood talking to one group of students, I observed a number of older passersby discreetly slipping money into donation boxes without saying a word, stopping, or making direct eye contact. The students made no effort to interact with these people, and there was no sign any acknowledgement was expected.

All of the organizations lead broader efforts, and they don't expect it will be easy. A few people told me they expect a substantial struggle will be required.

Much of what was occurring at these booths would not have been allowed at the Lunar New Year fair I saw in Guangzhou due to greater restrictions on expression, especially when organized, in mainland China. For me, the contrast was unmistakable. But many Hongkongers are not content with the additional freedoms they enjoy, some of which are deteriorating or are threatened. The 2017 election presents a dilemma for China's Communist Party: "shackling the territory’s democracy could pose as much risk to Beijing as agreeing to a truly free vote". It's not just about Hong Kong. People elsewhere are watching as well.

The people I met at Victoria Park face imposing obstacles. It's not clear whether they'll be able to rally the type of support and action that may be required to achieve their goals, if possible at all. It would be easy to bet against them.

But even though they may be unsure of what the future holds, they aren't saying, "I don't know a way to make it happen." They have hope, and they are trying.