This weekend we were treated to a rare and special performance by some Beijing rockers. Beijing punk rock is known for its creative, aggressive, gritty, and down to earth sound. A group of bands are currently on tour in the US. The concert stop in Washington DC was a show with Xiao He and PK14 at the Velvet Lounge. Coincidentally, my own band performed at the Velvet Lounge some 10 years prior to just a small audience of friends on a quiet Sunday night. This night was different as the Velvet Lounge was packed to the gills with a curious, young, and preppier than average for a punk concert DC crowd. The first act was Xiao He, performing his solo experimental artsy sound. The place was uncomfortably hot and crowded so we only caught part of the show as we were downstairs trying to stay cool. We got to say hello to Xiao He after the show however and found him to be a friendly pleasant chap. In between sets we also chatted with PK14’s bassist and guitarist. They seemed very down to earth and a bit awestruck by the energy and size of the DC crowd packed into such a cramped upstairs concert space. It turned out that their recent Philadelphia show, similar to their European shows, only drew a fraction of the DC crowd. Perhaps the combination of the Washington Post article about Beijing rock and the new associated photography exhibit featuring portraits of Beijing’s rockers really drummed up quite a bit of publicity. CNN also recently featured this tour as a historic first for mainland Chinese music. Prior to PK14’s performance, we tried to find a suitable spot to stand. We lucked out as we discovered that standing right next to the staircase gave a direct unobstructed view of the stage. With such prime real estate I was able to capture the ENTIRE performance unobstructed on my tiny Flip camera. Thats right, below is the COMPLETE concert footage of this high energy powerful rock group! Check out the videos and notice that at the end of the concert the audience just kind of swarmed the stage with their frenzied dancing causing the band to take cover and try to finish up the set without being shoved off stage. What a night!

Its my pleasure to introduce my latest venture, GCH World LLC. My recently formed company based in Virginia is a trading company offering import-export agent services. As a trade agency, we aim to help US companies source products from overseas as well as sell “Made in the USA” products abroad. We also provide services to Asian buyers and sellers by assisting in sourcing US made products or by selling products made in Asia here in the USA.

My interest in world trade originated from my many travel experiences and witnessing firsthand the interconnectedness of world economies. I’ve met many people from my travels interested in western products and culture who often complain that they can’t find certain products. I’ve also seen just how much of what us Americans consume come from overseas. These experiences helped shape this latest project which I hope can benefit both US and Asian companies.

GCH World LLC fills a need for international trade brokering services between the US and Asia. I’ve heard from many companies things like “I’d like to stick to what I do best, making my product and not dealing with exporting” On the export side, companies need assistance in the export process and finding trading partners. On the import side, its no less challenging to find good reliable sources for materials and products. The distance, language, culture, regulations, and logistics of building a successful trade channel is often too big of a challenge. This is where GCH World LLC comes in. Being an internationally focused company with the connections, cultural understanding, language abilities, and business/technical expertise, we are well positioned to help bridge trade between the US and Asia.

Our product focus currently is in green technologies and manufacturing technologies. On the export side, we currently represent US companies that make green technologies that benefit the environment. On the import side, we have partnered with an overseas plastic mold company that can produce quality plastic molded products at competitive rates. We believe that world trade benefits all parties involved through leveraging each’s strengths. We are actively expanding our portfolio and welcome partnerships from both US and Asian companies interested in buying or selling internationally.

Please visit our website at http://www.gchworld.com for more information. You can contact us at info@gchworld.com.

Our services:

• US Exporters. We can help find distributers and buyers overseas for your products through our overseas partners and connections.
• US Importers. We help companies in need of products or materials from overseas find reliable manufacturing partners in Asia.
• Asian Exporters. We help Asian companies find buyers and distributers in the US
• Asian Importers.Looking for “Made in the USA” products to sell in Asia? We can help source products and act as your liaison to US manufacturers

On Sunday, August 2, 2009, my beautiful pearl cockatiel was lost off the back deck of my townhouse. If anybody has seen her please respond with information to this post. Here is a description and photo.

Name: Squeak

Last seen: Fairfax, Virgina zip code 22031 just south of the Vienna metro station.

Species: Pearl Cockatiel

Description: Stands about 6 inches tall. Yellow and grey pearl pattern on wings and tail. Has bright orange spots on both cheeks. Very friendly and may actually approach humans. Its very likely that she may land on your shoulder or head. Generally, she is kind of quiet but when she does make noise her chirp is distinctive and loud. She doesn’t really sing a song but makes more of a repeated loud and sharp chirp that is meant to get your attention. She may also respond to being called.

My stay in China came to a close at the end of March. I will cherish the memories I’ve collected during my 9 months of living in China. The last few months of my stay included some special events such as a weekend trip to hot springs in Guangdong province, various day trips into Hong Kong, and attending a wedding in Hong Kong. I’ve accumulated enough photos to compile a slideshow for this final chapter in the 2008-2009 China stint. Enjoy!
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Our stay in China came to a close after attending a relative’s wedding in Hong Kong. We thought we were heading directly back to the USA. Not so fast. The day of our departure, there was a fatal airplane crash at Tokyo’s Narita airport. A Fedex cargo plane slammed into the main runway and burst into flames. Its an unfortunate disaster as the pilot and co-pilot were killed in the crash. The result was that Narita was shut down for the entire day. We waited and waited in HK for news. Finally, we boarded our plane and instead of heading for Narita, we headed for Nagoya. Once in Nagoya, we were given a hotel room at the nearby hotel. In the morning, we were able to fly to Narita since one of the minor runways was open. But… once there we had a choice. Get a confirmed flight for later in the week or try to fly standby back to the states. Its understandable that closing the airport for one day is going to wreak havoc on the airline schedules. Most of our fellow passengers chose to roll the dice on getting a standby flight. I, however, decided that its not that often I end up in a major international city like Tokyo and therefore confirmed a flight for two days later. We checked some of our large pieces of luggage into storage at the airport, booked a hostel online, and was on our way to bustling Tokyo!

We stayed in Asakusa which is a historical area in the northeast suburbs of Tokyo. First thing on the to-do list for Tokyo: find out where the local Coco Ichibanya restaurant is. This is my favorite chain restaurant in Japan. Our hostel receptionist was a little taken aback from my request but gave us accurate directions to the sweet spot. Once there, I ordered one of the new items on the menu, baby clams and tomatoes in curry sauce over rice. This chain mainly serves curry over rice. Customers can choose from a variety of toppings from pork cutlet, fish, sausage, squid, etc. After lunch, we toured the Asakusa neighborhood. Among the sites were the Sensoji Temple, the oldest temple in Tokyo. The streets around this area are lined with small traditional styled shops. Later, we rode the train to the neighborhoods of Shibuya and Harajuku. These two places are perfect for people watching and experiencing Tokyo’s youth culture. We walked into a video arcade that was 5 floors tall. I’m always amazed by how technologically forward the Japanese are. Everything is highly engineered; from toilets to mobile phones to the cities themselves. Video games are no exception as some of them are quite sophisticated. It was interesting that you can even see middle aged men in the arcade relaxing after work by playing games. Later we returned to Asakusa for a dinner at a small mom and pop owned traditional restaurant.

The second day was a cold and drizzly day but that did not deter us from visiting some parks. We visited Ueno Park where many of the cherry trees were just beginning to bloom. The walk around the park was nice but we were feeling cold so we needed to find an indoor activity. We rode the train to the Ginza area and bought tickets for one act of a Kabuki show at the Kabukiza Theater. This one act was about and hour and a half. We felt comfortable sitting in the theater and out of the rain even though we didn’t understand any of the show at all. At night we visited the main observatory at Tokyo Tower. Even with the drizzly clouds, the view at night from the observatory was spectacular. Tokyo is the ultimate urban landscape and there’s skyscrapers and lights in all directions. We were also surprised to see that there is a cafe at the observatory that features live music. A J-Pop band took the stage and we were treated to live music modern Japanese style. After the long day of walking around town, we returned to Asakusa for a sushi dinner.

The final day in Tokyo we only had time in the morning for a short trip into town. It was a beautiful day so we visited the Hama-rikyu Gardens which was a peaceful retreat with well manicured trees, a pond, and tea house. For lunch, we visited the Tsukiji Fish Market where there are many sushi restaurants. The restaurants were a little pricy since they are geared towards tourists. I would have loved to walk around the fish market itself but its busiest times are very early in the morning around dawn. My last visit there was about ten years ago and I can remember the bustle and interesting sights of all kinds of seafoods on display; some of which I had never seen before.

We concluded our unintended visit to Tokyo by riding the train to Narita airport. This time the flight left without a hitch. Unfortunately, when arriving in Chicago we found that our connecting flight was delayed a couple of hours. After all we had gone through, this delay just wasn’t any big deal. We set out to return to the US on a Monday, and finally arrived in New Jersey on Friday close to midnight! In between, we had a great time in Japan and hope to visit again sometime. Here are some pics from the Tokyo visit:

My China visa expires but I can’t go back to the states before attending a wedding in Hong Kong. What to do? Well, given the geographically central location of Hong Kong to much of East Asia, how about a trip to the sunny vibrant city of Bangkok?

Bangkok is a huge tourist destination. Just take a look around the airport and there are people from all over the world. Many tourists visit the fabulous beaches and resort areas. We, however, wanted to focus only on Bangkok. Here’s a rundown of our stay.

Day 1

Checked into a hotel in the Khaosan Rd area which is located in the Bangkok old city. This area is a foreigner’s neighborhood with lots of bars, restaurants, and nary a Thai local. The streets were full of party goers, hippies, and tourists. We were able to find a lot of street stalls selling made to order noodles, grilled squid, rice soup, fresh fruit, and stir fried insects. When we saw the insect cart we immediately had to try them. We had the choice of crickets, grasshoppers, scorpions, beetles, or roaches. We tried an assortment of crickets and grasshoppers. To my surprise, they tasted like crunchy shrimp and was not bad at all! In fact, we enjoyed this street snack so much that we had them two more times during our stay in Thailand!

Day 2

Started the day visiting the Jim Thompson house. This is the home of a famous American architect and designer who lived in Bangkok. His home is a traditional Thai style home built along one of the rivers that run through Bangkok. After the visit, we headed to the Jatujak Market. This market is open on the weekends and is a jam packed with people. Its like walking through a labyrinth that goes on and on. You can find everything from noodle vendors to used magazines to clothes and books. It would take days to see it all. While at the market we had a nice meal of chicken and rice and noodle soup. At night we found a street restaurant selling rice soup with pig liver and intestine. It was a tasty treat similar to the Cantonese version except here they crack a raw egg into the rice soup. Of course, we had to have mango sticky rice too for dessert.

Day 3

We took a water taxi today to go to Wat Pho, the temple of the reclining Buddha. Water is all around in Bangkok and traveling by water taxi is common for commuting locals as well as tourists. After our visit to Wat Pho, we visited the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace is the former residence for Thailand’s kings. It includes a large temple and many other interesting buildings on its grounds. At night we made a trip to Rajadamnern Stadium to watch Thai kickboxing. The stadium is a small dingy stadium where the upper section is caged off by metal fencing. Most tourists sit ringside while the locals in the upper section are mainly there to gamble and bet on the fighters. I was amazed by how young some of the fighters were. One set of fighters were only 15 years old! The lighter weight classes were mainly teenagers whereas the heavier weight classes were just slightly older. In any case, the fighting ritual was interesting as the pre-fight routine included a ceremonial walk around the ring and bowing. The main fight proved to be exciting with exceptional speed and skill. However, the losing fighter got bloodied up a bit with a nasty cut above the eye from a vicious elbow. We also witnessed a knockout from another fight that resulted in a crew bringing a stretcher to carry the loser out of the ring. You can make your own judgements about the sport but its well known that there is a darker side as many young fighters get into the sport to try to escape poverty. In any case, the sport is competitive, requires skill and conditioning, and exciting to watch up close.

Day 4

We visited Vinmanmek Teak House which is a colonial style house that King Rama V used to live in. The house is open to tourists and houses many antiques. The design of the house is interesting and includes many Thai elements. The grounds where the house is also has many museums. After our visit, we took the water taxi to Chinatown. Chinatown in Bangkok is a bustling place with narrow streets full of vendors selling all kinds of foods and goods. The look and feel of this Chinatown is similar to Hong Kong but seems stuck in time. Kind of like Hong Kong in the 60s or something. Old classic Chinese tunes can even be heard from shops. Just like other parts of Bangkok, there are many street vendors selling foods from the sidewalks but this area just seems much denser and more crowded.

Day 5

This day was more relaxed since we moved from the Khaosan area to the Sukhumvit area. Our hostel in Sukhumvit was slightly more expensive than in Khaosan but closer to the metro and skytrain. Sukhumvit is more a business district than Khaosan with more modern and newer buildings than Khaosan. From Khaosan, you are sort of forced to ride a tuk-tuk or taxi to get somewhere and being foreign tourists, its easy to be ripped off or scammed by drivers. We did have some time to walk around Sukhumvit and also Lumphini Park today. There are many types of shops and restaurants around Sukhumvit and you can find high end as well as affordable too. Lumphini Park is a popular place for locals to run, walk, and enjoy the greenery and lake.

Day 6

We rode the commuter train to Ayutthaya, which is the old capital of Thailand. The old city was destroyed by the Burmese in the 1700s and the ruins are still standing. The town is full of historical sites which are either temples or ruins. The train ride was about 2 hours and gave us a look at the slower paced countryside. When we arrived, we attempted to visit some sites on foot but realized that things are not that compact. Therefore, we succumbed and hired a tuk-tuk driver. Our driver drove us around in his cute “Finding Nemo” style tuk-tuk and we were then able to see some of the ruins as well as an ancient temple. Later when we went back to Bangkok, we visited the Suan Lum night bazaar. The bazaar is a night market full of shops selling souvenirs and other goods. The place seems more high end compared to Jatujak market and definitely less crowded. There is also a large eatery with many food vendors and a concert stage featuring live music as well. We had dinner there and browsed around the shops.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Thailand. Although I only stayed in the Bangkok area, I feel I experienced a lot of the Thai culture, history, and food. We visited a lot of places but really we only scratched the surface. There’s so much more to do and see all around Bangkok and Thailand. Bangkok is very tourist friendly in general and you can choose to be as adventurous as you’d like. We tended to be on the adventurous side by eating mainly street foods and planning our visit ourselves. If thats not your thing, you can always find nice comfortable restaurants or even planned out tours that offer premium accommodations, shows, and guide service. If I’m living in Asia again, I have a feeling I’ll visit Thailand again and see more of this country! Click on any thumbnail or embedded photo to enlarge. Enjoy the pics!

I now have enough photos for the first slideshow of 2009. This slideshow covers the very end of 2008 up to mid February 2009. I didn’t travel too much during this time period and so the photos include many photos from events I’ve attended. I spent this time period in Behai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Houjie, Guangdong. These were some great times because I had the opportunity to meet a lot of friendly and interesting people along the way. I also had the chance to meet up with friends and relatives during this time too. In addition, I spent Chinese New Year in China for the first time in my life! So now enjoy the slideshow! Oh yeah, and if you can identify all 4 songs you win a prize.
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I recently took a trip to Dafen which is in the suburbs of Shenzhen. This neighborhood is world famous for its production of oil paint replicas. Back in the 90s, a Hong Kong businessman brought 20 artists to what was kind of a peaceful hamlet outside of Shenzhen. They set up shop and started cranking out oil paintings which were replicas of famous paintings by Van Gough, Da Vinci, and others who have been dead more than 70 years (and thus out of copyright). Soon, more and more artists and art workers began locating to Dafen. Today, there are over 5000 artists and art workers. Its no longer a hamlet but more like a gated community surrounded by busy bustling streets. The Dafen Oil Painting Village streets and alleyways, however, are quiet, walkable, and full of art shops selling oil paintings, watercolors, sculptures, and other art. Although the economy here started as studios that produced replicas, there are lots of shops selling original art by artists from all over China. The selling of replica art is still a big business. Hundreds of millions of dollars big, that is. Most of the buyers are from the USA and Europe; many of which are hotel chains. Despite most of the business coming from large orders from abroad, this place is a great place to stroll around and find that special work to put on your wall. The choices are plenty as there are several hundred shops. You can even commission an artist to paint an image of your choosing. How about a self portrait? Want to immortalize your favorite landscape? Just bring a pic and I’m sure any of these talented artists can help you out.

We arrived at Dafen by bus from the Shenzhen city center. Our first order of business was to get some food. So we found a family run restaurant selling “Chang Fen”, a rice noodle dish commonly found at dim sum restaurants. The lady was making her homemade noodle using a special steamer. Everything was made to order and she would spread the noodle in liquid form onto a tray and sprinkle in some green onions, pork meat, and egg. Then the tray was placed into the steamer and after a couple of minutes removed. She would then scrape the noodle out and serve it with a garlic soy sauce. Very tasty indeed.

After breakfast, we went to the Dafen art museum. This museum houses many original works by artists from all over China. Many of them were oil paintings in a western style but with Chinese influences. Others works used traditional Chinese inks and styles. One of the attractions of the museum was the enormous stone carving sitting outside of its doors on the pavement. The carving is a three dimensional replica of a famous Chinese painting called “Along the River During Qingming Festival.” The detail was just incredible and the enormity of this piece of stone was impressive. The scene is an ancient busy Chinese city center with people bustling about their daily business.

After the museum we walked around the streets and alleyways to browse some of the stores. It was a peaceful morning and we could see artists working on new paintings right outside their own shops. Many shops have showrooms which you could spend time browsing. Since we weren’t in the market for any piece of work, we simply strolled around the quiet streets and admired the art. I now know where to go when I need to decorate a new home!

It would be unfortunate if I didn’t make a trip to my mother’s hometown given that its only about 1 hour away from Shenzhen. So I decided to ride the bus to Houjie, Guangdong province. Houjie is a town that has now been absorbed into the metropolis of Dongguan. This area, and all of the Pearl River delta for that matter, is bustling with factories, companies, and trade. Houjie is known as a location with many clothing, shoe, and electronics factories. Given all the wealth and growth in Guangdong, its not surprising to see fancy eateries and hotels all around Houjie. Its also not surprising to see warehouses and factories all around the city as well. We were told that it has kind of a “party town” reputation too with a bar street bustling at night and also popular beach areas nearby. This reputation probably also brings with it “vice elements” as we could see many anti-drug signs posted in public areas. The level of wealth was amazing to see. Just look at the many BMWs, Audis, and Porsches on the streets. Although there is wealth in Guangdong, not everybody is wealthy. The population of Houjie has grown over the years just like many other places. There has been an influx of migrant workers from nearby provinces such as Hunan and Fujian. As a matter of fact, we met a pedicab driver who was from faraway Anhui province! My local relative mentioned that only 1 person out of 7 in Houjie is a native born resident.

I had arranged to meet an uncle who is very familiar with Houjie at the bus station. My uncle had to ride the bus from Guangzhou to Houjie and we arrived at about the same time. When I met up with my uncle I met some distant relatives such as his granddaughter and one of his relatives local to Houjie. We then drove thru the city to the old part of town. Our short drive brought us to Houjie’s old town where there still stands a small stone gazebo next to the tight alleyways and traditional homes. We took a couple of photos and then went on our way to an elementary school located in the older part of town. This school is special to my family because it houses a small memorial to honor my great-grandfather who dedicated his life to education in this town. He served as a school principal for a school in Houjie for 30 plus years. Because his school is not an active school today, my family established a memorial library several years ago at this newer school located near our ancestral home. Speaking of an ancestral home, the actual structure does not exist anymore. China has been developing fast. The land was needed for other developments and so the government had bought it from my family. Therefore, future visits to pay respect to ancestors will be made to the memorial at the elementary school rather than an actual home.

Nevertheless, it was interesting to come into the school and see the enthusiasm and curiosity of the children. I can now understand the pleasure my great-grandfather must have had in teaching and shaping these young minds. We met the current principal who talked about his challenges in bringing traditional Chinese calligraphy and other traditional arts into the curriculum. In today’s world, children are more apt to use computers and watch tv rather than spend time practicing traditional art forms. His philosophy is to ensure the children get at least 15 minutes of calligraphy practice everyday. Over time, that experience can add up to be quite significant thereby contributing to their skill level in such arts.

After our school visit, I spent some time at my relative’s home. We all enjoyed tea and chatted some. Later my relatives treated me to a special lunchtime treat. Houjie is known for its rice noodle soup. It is a true local speciality and really can’t be found anywhere else. It is called “Lai Fen” and the noodles resemble spaghetti but is a form of rice noodle. It is served in soup and topped with some green veggies and pieces of roasted goose or barbeque pork. I was very happy to be treated to an authentic local meal.

After lunch I had a chance to walk around the older streets to experience the local culture. The traditional brick and stone homes reminded me of other older cities. Homes are decorated with red paper decorations and citrus fruit trees. Many of the streets were actually more like narrow windy alleyways. People could be seen sitting outside their homes playing chess, chatting, or drinking tea. Although many of the buildings looked like they were in bad disrepair, you could see very intricate architectural elements such as carvings in the stone. Nearby was a park with many elderly folks sitting, playing chess, or mahjong. Overall, it seemed like a very traditional part of town.

This visit was special to me because I was able to see where my family came from. I love the USA. Its my home and it’s the only place I’ve ever really known. However, being in Houjie is different. Here, my family has history. People know my ancestors and the family name. My family’s culture, customs, and traditions need no explanation here. They just simply ARE. I believe I will come back whenever I have the chance to see the people and places familiar to my family’s past. Now enjoy the photos below. Click on any photo in this posting (including those embedded in the above text) to enlarge: