Pins: The official currency of the 2010 Expo

Here is a two page paper that I wrote for class. It sounds pretty damn close to a blog post so I figure why not put it on the blog.

- muffinman

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Expo pins have to become as valuable and desired as bank notes within the expo and have come to be used as a way to break down barriers between expo workers.

I discovered the pin craze during my second visit to the Expo site while talking to Jennifer, a staff member at the Canadian pavilion. Over wine, Jennifer told me how one of her Canadian pavilion colleagues ran up the bill one night at the restaurant in the Chile pavilion and did not have enough money to pay. The colleague, however, managed to bargain the bill down a couple hundred Yuan using just pins. Later that night, I personally witnessed the use of pins as a form of payment. Jennifer took me to the restaurant in the Mexican pavilion, where she knew Archie, the manager of the restaurant. According to the prices listed on the menu, the meal should have cost a little over 300 RMB. As we approached Archie to pay, he refused to accept the money and told us it was his treat. There was an ulterior motive to this act of generosity, which was revealed when Archie asked Jennifer about acquiring some Peru pins for her, stating that he had promised some Peru pins to members of his kitchen staff.

To learn more about this pin craze, I interviewed Doris, a Fudan student and an Expo volunteer since August. Doris told me about how pin trading is extremely prevalent among all the Expo workers and that it was present when she started volunteering. The intensity of pin collecting and trading varies from individual to individual, but Doris thinks that it is the more intense among Expo staff and volunteers than among visitors. Doris herself has thirty pins, which she considers to be average among the volunteers. Doris mentioned how one of her friends had spent over 3000 RMB on pins and that such a large investment in pins was not too uncommon.

A handful of pins in exchange for a 300 RMB meal alerted me to the high value of these pins. Through Doris, I learned that the price of an Expo pin bought at the Expo ranges from twenty to sixty Yuan and she also told me that these same pins are being resold on Taobao, an online marketplace similar to Ebay, for twice the price. Stories have been floating around the expo of foreigners trading high value items for pins; Doris told me she heard someone traded his SLR camera for a pin. The most valuable pins are the limited edition ones which are distributed by Expo organizers. China Daily reported that the price of the Saudi Arabia pin distributed to VIP, reached 10,000 RMB on Taobao . City Weekend states that Canadian and South African pins were most favored by the market . Volunteer pins which have a unique number are also in high demand according to Doris. The practice of trading pins for VIP access was revealed to me by Jennifer, who told me she was going to trade a pin for VIP access to the Saudi Arabia pavilion, the most popular pavilion at the expo. Doris further highlighted the prevalence of this practice by telling me that pins are routinely traded by volunteers for VIP access.

When I asked Jennifer about why people placed such a high value on pins, she told me she was just as puzzled by the craze as I was. Doris thought that the pins were valued highly by volunteers because they are objects of interest and intrigue and offered a break from the grind of volunteer work. To Doris, the increased chance of acquiring pins was the reward for volunteering.

In addition to being used as a form of currency, staff and volunteers use the pins to as a social tool. Doris explained that there are divides between the volunteers and staff due to differences in age, authority and culture, but what brings everybody together is the want for pins. The trading of pins provides a common topic among everybody at the Expo and is often used as an ice breaker to start a conversation. Doris herself has met many people and even created some friendships, just through the act of trading pins.

The usage of Expo pins as a currency and social bonding tool shows the development of a subculture among the Expo staff and volunteers. In a relatively short time, the diverse Expo community has found a way to bond with each other.

Loving my camera

I just got ditched this afternoon, I suddenly have a lot of free time, which I am going to use to express my love for my camera. 

When I first came to Shanghai, I met Rue, a UCLA student who had just gotten her first SLR a few months back and she was absolutely in love with it, going so far as to tell me laughingly that it was her boyfriend.  At the time, I thought it was just a silly comment, but after two months in Shanghai, I see where she is coming from. 

In many ways, my relationship with my camera has many of the same characteristics as a relationship with a significant other.  I think I am starting to understand what people mean when they talk about how the objects of their hobbies have feelings and souls.     

My camera punishes me with terrible photographs when I try to shortcut and in the process miss steps.  This is especially true when my pictures come out blurry because I forgot to check whether autofocus was on. When my pictures come out exposed completely wrong, my camera is telling me that I should have paid more attention to the ISO setting and that just because something worked the first time AT NIGHT does not mean it will work later during THE DAY.  Most importantly, it tells me when I am not being assertive enough.  When I relent and am too shy to tell people how I want them to arrange themselves for the photo or too scared to go after a particular shot because it might be awkward, my camera inevitably gives me a terrible photograph telling me it is not pleased. 

Just like a proper girlfriend, my camera makes me worry every time I mistreat it.  When I throw my bag down just a little too hard, I cannot help but rush in and check up on it to make sure it is alright.  After all the money and emotions that I have invested in my camera, the thought of losing my camera is one of my worst fears, the stuff of nightmares.   

Of course, this relationship is not all negative.  My camera rewards me all the time with photographs that leave me proud.  The portraits it gives me, help me remember those amazing people in my life.  The beautiful landscape shots remind me of all the places that I have been and the stories associated with them.  Each click of the shutter brings a little bit of joy to my heart.  And of course there is nothing like the pride of having your picture complimented by a friend or stranger.    

Most importantly, it helps me understand the world around me by giving me different perspectives.  Sometimes when I use my dad’s lenses, I feel that I begin to understand this man who I am very distant with.  The lenses are in many ways like my dad, they are incredibly difficult and frustrating to use because everything on the lenses being manual due to their age.  When shooting with my dad’s lenses, there is a lot of trial and error involved, with almost everything being an error.  However, when things do work out the result are quite marvelous.  Something about viewing the world through the same lenses as my dad did, helps me feel closer to him. 

Maybe I should name my camera, so it know how much it means to me?

-muffinman

National Week: Rough beginnings

National week is a week long holiday celebrating the founding of the People’s Republic of China.  For my week off, I decided to travel with Crystal and Brendan, exchange students from New York.  After the disastrous trip with UC students, I really wanted to travel in a small group and with people outside of the UC program. 

Things started off well, even great!  Crystal and Brendan took the planning very serious and before we left, they had created a fairly comprehensive itinerary of what would be doing over the next six days.  However, there was just one piece of the puzzle missing, the transportation.  We were unable to get bus tickets to Huangshan at the travel agency the day before we left, so we hedged our bets on being able to get tickets the day of our departure. 

On our departure day, we were unable to get bus tickets, they were all sold out.  And that was how our problems began.  We bought bus tickets for the next day as insurance in case our plan B which was to get train tickets failed.  The first ticket attendant that we went to told us all the train tickets to Huangshan were sold out.  Dejected, we tried to think of a plan C because Crystal and I had too much pride to go back to Tonghe after we told everyone that we were leaving.  Plan C was to get train tickets to a city close to Huangshan and then bus the rest of the way.  We went to another ticket attendant this time and she proposed what at the time seemed an even better idea.  The attendant told us to buy tickets to a station near Shanghai, and then instead of getting off, to just stay on till we reached Huangshan where the additional fare would be added upon exit.  This was the sort of news we were hoping for.

We bought the tickets, which only cost 12 RMB (about $2) and took the subway to another train station.  Somewhere along the way to the train station, we realized that we had purchased hard seats, the lowliest of tickets.  I worried about this a little because I vaguely recalled that the train took twice as long as the bus which meant it would be a 16 hour ride.  Of course, none of this mattered because we were too excited to be going. 

Sitting in the Chinese hard seats was an experience in of itself.  The whole car was cramped, dirty and worst of all wet, however, I got to see elements of Chinese society that I normally did not see and that was quite eye opening.  Once again I saw that the people of China were quite kind people, as strangers immediately started bonding on the train and offered each other food.  Far from the moral less people that I have been told inhabited every corner of China, what I saw on the train was heartwarming.  Sadly, Crystal was too embarrassed to join in the conversation with strangers and many of the questions that I wanted her to translate were frustratingly left untranslated. 

Sorry! Best picture I could pull off with Crystal's camera. Sort of shows how cramped everything is.

After some convincing I finally managed to force Crystal to translate the most important question of all, “how long does it take to get to Huangshan?”  The answer turned out to be fifteen hours, and after hearing that, I immediately began to think of a plan D, or whatever alternate plan we were on at that point.  After some thought, I suggested that we stop at Nanjing and spend a day or two there because there was no way that I could stand for fifteen hours.  There was some debate over this plan, but after a few more hours of standing, everybody came onboard with the Nanjing idea.

And so began our national week adventures.

-muffinman

A 266 RMB Lesson

I just recently discovered that I got scammed by a young couple in People’s square.  I had heard of these tea ceremony scams before but I was disarmed by the fact that these two young college age kids who spoke decent English.  There was something off about these kids though, because they seemed supremely interested in me.  It was a bit different from some of the other local university students I had met, but at the time I thought nothing of it.

They told me they were from Beijing and the guy told me that he was showing around his high school friend around who was visiting.  I totally bought into the story, and I soon found myself following them to a ceremony that they invited me to.  The tea ceremony was incredibly expensive at 50 rmb a tea and the teas were not even good!  Throughout the time, the pair played their part of tourist very well and I was thoroughly convinced.  At the end of the day I even gave them my card with my email, thinking I had made new friends!

Just recently I had recalled about hearing about the scam, I knew I had been scammed but at least I thought I was scammed along with the pair I was with.  However, after reading a few blog posts about the scam, I realized that the pair of kids were part of the scam from the beginning.

Yes, I feel fucking stupid but I cannot help but laugh at myself a little and am glad the worst thing that happened to me was losing some money.  Going to wisen up this next time.

-muffinman

Second interview in Shanghai

Right after visiting M50, Jeanni and I decided to go to Ikea, which resided across the city. In exchange for my company, we detoured to check out the site of my second interview, which was to be at what I thought was either the company office or one of the brick and mortar company supermarkets. The address that was given to me led me straight into a food mall and after asking a waiter at one of the restaurants, we were directed to a corner on the first floor. That is where I found the pitiful restaurant that bore the name of the company I was interviewing for. Puzzled, shocked and feeling duped, I stared at the tiny restaurant in disbelief. That is when the staff of the restaurant noticed Jeanni and I just staring and approached us. In broken English, one of the staff explained to us that the food was healthy and very good. I thought perhaps the restaurant was a chain, but the staff was puzzled by that question and replied that this was the only restaurant.

I left the food mall extremely confused with what exactly I had gotten myself into. Jeanni wondered aloud why such a small restaurant would need such an educated intern. She seemed to be angry over the discovery, and strongly suggested that I not go to the interview because she thought it would be nothing but a waste of time. However, I was too intrigued about what I had seen to not go. After all, what could such a small restaurant want with a foreign college intern? I was missing a piece of the puzzle and I was most definitely going to the interview to find it.

The interview turned out to be not much of an interview at all, but more of a “you are in and this is what we do” info session. I was surprised to run into Kelly, another UC student upon my arrival at the restaurant. Good thing she was there too, because some serious translating was necessary due to the fact that the interviewer’s English was insufficient to adequately explain what the company did. Halfway through the interview, I grew impatient with the interviewer because I was the one asking all the questions and it seemed that our roles were switched. So I asked the interviewer if he had any questions for me about my resume. To which he replied “no” and stated that my resume was quite impressive. He even said that he thought it was fated that we met. A little taken aback, I laughingly told him that he might be right because I had previously turned down an internship offer to be at the interview.

So what exactly does this company do? It turns out that the restaurant we were conducting the interview in had only been open for two months and was only a small part of their business. The company’s main business was catering for large companies and offices. The restaurant I was sitting in was meant to be a testing site for the food, but they were planning to open fifteen more restaurants over the next two years in Shanghai. Currently, the company has eight contracts with various offices, including a bank. The interviewer spoke repeatedly about wanting to standardize Chinese food and told me about how the company had a factory just outside of Shanghai that they ship the food from. Their competitive advantage, the interviewer claimed, was that their food was healthy, as in low in sodium and with no MSG. The reason the company wanted foreign interns was because it wanted to target multinational corporations and foreign companies. To lend legitimacy to all of this, the interview told Kelly and me how this was his second start up and that his first company, which was also a restaurant chain, was going to IPO in Shenzhen in two months.

This internship has got me extremely excited for the next couple of months. I was getting tired of not doing anything productive the past month in Shanghai. In short, I actually miss work. The chance to work in a Chinese start up is simply too exciting. However improbable, I have visions of sealing catering deals over business dinners with representatives from foreign companies more than twice my age. The interviewer heavily stressed that because the company was so young, Kelly and I would be able to do actual and significant work, so my vision could come true.

I am still awaiting my marching orders, but I was told two weeks ago that I would be starting soon after national week. Cannot wait.

-muffinman

My favorite place in Shanghai: Moganshan Lu

When Jeanni asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I told her I really wanted her to accompany me to Moganshan Lu. After a postponed date, I finally got around to going a couple of weeks ago (Yes, this entry is that old). I came to Moganshan Lu with extremely high expectations because I was getting sick of the over the top commercialism of Shanghai and I really just wanted find something that was more “real.” Needless to say, Moganshan Lu did not disappoint, it was everything I hoped for and more.

When Jeanni and I got off the subway, we found ourselves in a residential area. Knowing that I was terrible with directions, Jeanni questioned whether we were in the right place and to be honest, even I doubted myself a little, but I just smiled and replied with a confident “of course!” Interestingly, the area around the subway station reminded Jeanni of Korea while it reminded me strongly of Hong Kong. Perhaps, these east Asian countries are not too different after all.

Finding the street came with some difficulties because the street sign read M50 and not Moganshan, but once we entered the street, there was no mistaking that we had arrived. This was not because there was a large amount of galleries right at the mouth of the street, on the contrary there was nothing but rundown warehouses. However, on the wall that ran along the street, was the some of the best graffiti that I have seen and the first time I had seen graffiti in Shanghai. There was something strange about the graffiti in Moganshan Lu though, everything was just too organized. Unlike the graffiti that I had seen in LA, which was a mess of overlapping pieces, the graffiti artists of Moganshan Lu seemed to respect each other’s space. Very little of the graffiti overlapped and it was almost as if the artists were allotted a portion of the wall. Not sure if I like the “organized” style because it makes the whole graffiti wall seem staged and runs counter to my perception of graffiti being a chaotic art form.


Graffiti Wall

My initial impression of the galleries was quite negative. The first few galleries that I stepped into displayed very abstract art that did not suit me at all. At that point in time, it was all very disappointing and I felt that Moganshan Lu was quickly becoming another disappointment in Shanghai. Besides maybe one gallery, all the galleries at the beginning of the street were terrible. I remember at one gallery, I found the paint job on the walls more interesting than the art pieces.

Then I arrived at M50 and was blown away. M50 is the area where the galleries all reside. The address for the group of galleries is 50 Moganshan Lu, hence the name M50. The galleries are housed in a giant renovated warehouse, where long dark hallways and bare brick walls were the norm. Everything you see in the galleries can be bought for the right price. Original art pieces ran from just under a thousand to tens of thousands of US dollars. As I looked at canvas after canvas, all I could think was “maybe one day,” I think I have found what to hang on the wall of my coffee shop.

After two hours of gallery hopping, Jeanni and I were oversaturated with art, by that I mean piece after piece was starting to look the same and I had ceased to appreciate what I was seeing. Sitting in the nearby extremely overpriced (and bad) coffee shop with Jeanni, I mulled over what I had seen. I noticed that in many of the pieces, Communism and Buddhism were prevalent themes, which is to be expected. In addition, many of the pieces dealt with the conflict of modern China with its ancient roots. If M50 is truly representative of Chinese modern art, then I am very excited for the future.


Hallway of galleries

A few days later, I went back to Moganshan Lu with Crystal and it seems that the magic just does not wear off. I repeated some galleries and found some pieces that I had missed the first time around, as well as visited many new galleries. This time around, I was a bit bolder about taking photographs where I was not supposed to and; Crystal and I had a lot of fun with that. At the end of two hours of gallery hopping with Crystal, I realized that Jeanni and I had not covered the majority of galleries at all. Even after a second day at M50, there was still a great deal to see.


One of my favorite pieces at M50


Crystal posing next to a sad star

I wonder when my third M50 trip will be.

-muffinman

Moganshan Lu Photos