shanghai grand prix 1/2

yesterday i went to see my first formula one race, the shanghai grand prix. despite having family friends involved in racing and having done some of it myself, i'd never had the opportunity to see a formula one race. the only time i had seen the cars in action was by accident one time when we stopped by the paul ricard circuit in france to find a formula one practice session underway.


our van was stopped some ways outside the track where a security guard told us that we weren't allowed closer without a parking sticker- to get to the track we'd need to take either a bus or taxi. we abandoned the van and queued up for a bus.


the bus picked us up but at first it seemed to be headed in the wrong direction. there weren't any announcements (in english) so we couldn't be sure we were going to the circuit. after a while some foreigners boarded the bus which was reassuring in that if we were lost at least we weren't the only ones.


the bus eventually found its way to the circuit and dropped us off. we were immediately pounced on by a large group of binocular and ear plug salespeople. i had brought binoculars but didn't think it was worth buying ear plugs- later i'd find out why so many people were buying them.


we passed through a quick security check and entered the track area only to find that we were about a 30-minute walk from where we were supposed to be, at turn 13. as there weren't any other stops for our bus and as it was (fortunately) a nice day we walked to the main grandstand.


coca-cola and fosters clearly were the drink sponsors with plenty of opportunities to buy both.


the larger teams had very large booths selling official team and driver merchandise. the ferrari fans were easily spotted, walking around in their bright red gear.


mclaren had probably the nicest selection of clothing, though their booth was incredibly crowded due to the mercedes cars parked inside. it was impossible to stand in one place without constantly being bumped back and forth by people.


we had walked in from the far side of the track, but at the front entrance there were a lot of people milling around near the center of the main grandstand.


at the podium there were several drivers signing autographs though i couldn't recognize who they were. the closest one was wearing a formula bmw hat so i thought they might be part of the supporting races.


between the various shops, booths, and exhibitions there was a huge mass of people walking around. can you spot the ferrari fans?


coca cola had a booth at which a punter could get his or her (mostly his) photo taken with a race queen, holding up a cup.


the photo shoot was proving so popular that a second coca cola girl was brought in.


the toyota booth sported a few interactive exhibits and some cars including this formula one chassis. i'm not 100% sure, but i don't think those are the two 2006 drivers.

shanghai grand prix 2/2

at about 1pm i went to find my seat which turned out to have a very good view of the circuit. click here (950kb) for a 180-degree view of the grandstand.


the opening ceremony featured dancing cars, hands, tires, acrobats, and a lot of singing.


i couldn't believe it until i used my binoculars, but this singer is none other than jackie chan. click here (3.4mb) to hear it for yourself.


before the start of the race an enormous amount of crew from each team came onto the track to prepare the cars.


missing from the track was michael schumacher who had collided with a minardi during the parade lap, knocking them both off the track. he would start from pit row.


the start of the race was incredible. so much anticipation and the noise... unbelievable. my ears were hurting, the vibration shaking the grandstand around me. to experience it for yourself, turn the volume of your speakers all the way up and click here (5.2mb).


alonso immediately took the lead and held it throughout the race.


it wasn't a good day for ferrari, with schumacher eventually spinning out of the race during a lap behind the safety car. click here (1.9mb) to see a ferrari pass the pits at speed.


ralph schumacher's toyota on the front straight. he eventually would finish third.


during the race a piece of the track came loose. montoya was the unlucky person to collide with the debris, deflating his front-right tire and damaging the right side of his car. click here (4.9mb) to see montoya's pit stop to replace the tire.


alonso took first place and sealed the constructors' championship for renault. click here (4.6mb) to hear the last v10 engine running in formula one.


150,000 fans leave the circuit. there were some finnish fans holding a sign in the middle of the photo that read, 'kimi! illala keitolle?'

anyone here speak finnish?


a last look back at the grandstand.

overall it was a very interesting experience and i'm glad i finally saw a race even though there wasn't much passing taking place on the track.

the cars were so loud that i had to use my ipod headphones to block out some of the noise. as such, i couldn't hear the commentary so didn't always know what was going on- even during incidents it wasn't easy to know where to look.

hopefully next year with the various rule changes the racing will be closer. if so i'll almost certainly go to see the formula one race again. until then there are a few other races that might be interesting, including the a1 grand prix race in shanghai in march.

landing on a street near you

i picked up a couple of interesting t-shirts at a department store in thailand earlier this month.


the text reads 'america west airlines offers airfare to destination all over the road'


a new 13yr-old 'massachusetts university' shirt, to be worn only by current and prospective students.

suzhou and zhouzhuang

a few weeks ago i booked a private tour to suzhou and zhouzhuang with a friend of mine visiting from san francisco. suzhou is located about an hour and a half away from shanghai and, along with hangzhou, was considered in chinese history to be one of the most beautiful places in the country.

when i visited hangzhou i was told an old chinese saying, 'in paradise there is heaven, on earth there is suzhou and hangzhou.' fortunately, despite war, internal unheavals, and recent industrial development, much of the history and charm of both places are still intact.

our first stop was suzhou where we visited some historical gardens, then went to see the only remaining section of the old city wall. one of the city gates (both a land and water gate) is still intact and can be explored on foot.


to reach the gate one crosses over a very old stone bridge. it was stepped but cleverly contained grooved tracks running down the center that wheels could slot into. i thought this was a clever ancient invention, possibly made to a standard oxen cart wheelbase but my guide informed me it was put in a few years ago to help people with bicycles cross more easily. oh well....


the land gate was actually two gates in one- an outer gate, courtyard, and an inner gate. the idea was to let people into the courtyard, shut the first gate behind them, and listen to their (hopefully very good) reasons why you shouldn't shoot them full of arrows.

far above the inner gate were holes in the walkway whereby defenders could dump water to stop people from trying to set the inner gate on fire. it reminded me of european castles, though there the gates were made of metal and the holes were to drop boiling oil on invaders. that could be done too, our guide told me.


next and final stop was zhouzhuang, a very pretty town about 30 minutes drive from suzhou. apparently marco polo visited the town (did he visit every town in china?) and called it 'the venice of the east.' zhouzhuang has been around for over a thousand years but only recently became famous because of a painting of a couple of the town's bridges.


the canals that run through the town are very small, so the bridges are too.


boats poled up and down the canals, mostly containing tourists.


zhouzhuang reminded me very much of europe with its small streets, tiny restaurants and houses, and its relatively preserved state- very much unlike anywhere else i've been to in my limited trips around china. i'm not sure how much longer this will be the case as there were large tourist centers under construction, but until that time it's definitely a recommended stop and i wouldn't mind heading back there someday for a more leisurely visit.

thanks!

here's something i never got from the tax department in another country... a receipt with a thank you note.

"thank you for your contribution to china's flourishing and prosperity!"

urban forest

on a clear day the view from the shanghai hyatt is amazing. it's located in what is currently the highest building in shanghai, 88 stories tall.


the hotel is in pudong, the east side of the huangpu river. the area around the hotel is under heavy construction and already another building is being constructed that will eventually be higher, the 101-story shanghai world financial center.

on the opposite side of the river is the bund, brightly lit at night as in the photo below. it becomes easier to understand how shanghai can house its 16 million residents when you see so many tall buildings extending off into the distance.


the opposite side of the aurora building is an enormous television display, visible from the bund and the western side of the river at night.


the oriental pearl is the tallest structure in shanghai (including the antenna) and contains a few observation decks, a restaurant, some shops, and a small hotel. it always reminds me of the atomium in brussels.


at night the oriental pearl is brightly lit like much of shanghai. unfortunately, at night it's difficult to avoid reflections of the hotel interior in the photos. this photo was taken in the cucina italian restaurant.

pest control

the thai government is building a long-needed new airport to the east of bangkok, called suvarnabhumi or 'the new airport' for people who can't remember long thai names.

last week thailand's prime minister thaksin flew into the airport for it's first landing. this was surrounded by more than a bit of controversy due to various delays and alleged corruption. one problem has been the relatively undeveloped location and its teeming wildlife. i found an interesting quote in the pattaya mail newspaper this morning:

"the problem of cobras, water monitor lizards and rats is being resolved by nature itself since we have more than 30,000 workers building the airport. they catch and eat the cobras and lizards," said somchai sawadiphol, the deputy managing director of the new airport.

presumably when the workers leave the duty will be taken up by future passengers.

the mad manicurist

the hong kong airport is definitely one of the nicest airports i've flown through. for departing passengers there's a huge selection of shops and restaurants in which to kill some time and i always stock up on books and magazines before flying back to shanghai.

the only negative i've found is they tend to be extremely strict in terms of carry on luggage. the first problem i had was about a year ago- my trusty samsonite roll-along luggage which had followed me all over the world was found to be too big to be allowed onto the plane as hand luggage. i checked it in and a few months later bought a smaller model so i wouldn't have to face the same issue again in hong kong.

a couple of weeks ago i encountered a new problem- i was found to be smuggling contraband.

i put my luggage onto the x-ray machine and walked through the scanner. the security staff flagged my luggage for inspection which i thought might be due to the large metal dog brushes (don't ask) in there. instead, a woman rifled through my toiletry bag until she found the offending item- nail scissors.


the scissors (shown here in actual size) are 'sharp' and therefore not allowed on the plane. i couldn't be trusted with them on the plane as i might have snapped and decided to give everyone a manicure.

now i know the security standards have tightened in american airports to the point where one has to be stripped of all metal (including tooth fillings and pacemakers) before being allowed onto the plane but in general the security in asia has been a lot more pragmatic, so it was a bit of a surprise to me that the scissors would be confiscated, especially since i had taken them with me around asia for quite a while.

i commented to the security agent that i didn't have any problem bringing nail scissors into the country. she asked me from where i flew- when i told her shanghai she replied that different countries have different standards. at that point i noticed a japanese passenger having a similar discussion next to me. narita airport, apparently, also has lax security standards when it comes to nail grooming implements. potential terrorist manicurists take note!

as i didn't have any check-in luggage there were options for me to take the deadly weapon with me. the airport helpfully had a 14-day claim period where presumably i could fly back to hong kong and pick up my nail scissors. i declined to register the scissors and they were put into a bin with a big pile of others where they will be melted down and used to make a new airport terminal.

now that i'm in thailand i've had to buy a new pair of nail scissors. must be a booming time for nail scissor manufacturers- anyone know of any publicly listed manufacturers? might be a good time to buy some stock.

crazy taxi

looks like the drivers of shanghai's taxis can act like nutcases, but unfortunately the passengers cannot.