...and I'm Back

So yeah, I slacked a bit/a lot in December.  Was a pretty busy month, and I ended up going home for half of it, so for at least that part of it there wasn't much to write about.  I'm back in town now though, and my New Year's Resolution is to update at least three times a week, hopefully more if I'm up for it.  We'll see how long it lasts...and yes, I do realize I already botched the first week.  That's over 200 new posts if I keep it going until the Shanghai Expo (478 days and counting, and someone should tell the Americans).

Some assorted notes from my December meanderings...

• Every time I go to Hong Kong, I can't escape the feeling that it's what Shanghai eventually wants to be.  For a city of 7 million, HK has a lot going on: it's a financial hub and a fashion capital, and it's got a booming entertainment industry that pumps out a disproportionate number of movies and albums each year. In fact, the only Cantonese anyone knows around here is from HK movies or music. The Shanghai/National government keeps pouring money into the city to push it in that direction, but there's just no substitute for the huge head start HK got in opening up and westernizing itself.
• Hong Kong is waaaay expensive, even compared to Shanghai, the most expensive Chinese city.  If you go by the Big Mac Index, the two cities look pretty similar, but the difference is that McDonald's isn't the cheapest meal in Shanghai (you can pay Y5 for noodles on the street); it is in HK (Y18 for noodles). 
• There are as many foreigners in HK as there are Asians in Vancouver.
• The characters for Tokyo are cribbed from Chinese: 东京.  Pronounced dong jing, it means 'Eastern capital', and is named just like Nanjing (Southern capital) and Beijng (Northern capital) are. 
• Vancouver's airport has free wifi, and so does Hong Kong's.  Tokyo (where I had a layover) makes you pay, but it has internet booths set up and desks if you want to pull out your laptop.  Shanghai has nothing. Not a good showing for a city that considers itself world-class.

Back soon with more...