Ken C.K. Ngan: 2024

Thursday, August 15, 2024

Which place would be better for you to live permanently in the last ten and twenty years of your retirement?

I'll put China as the first choice and Thailand as the second one if I have to rank the 1st and 2nd, it is not hard to have my best choice because of my experiences. In China, you can spend not much money a day because it is really not expensive for each meal as long as you haven't taken too special or some famous native dishes from your daily manual.

Mainland China is my second home now, by increasingly progressing to higher, I still observe a lot of growth and potential in China, which is an adequate and good place definitely to retire, and I think it would be easy to retire there. I have ever lived on RMB 60-something a day there for two weeks before and I could choose to spend more when I wanted a better standard of living. A big plate of fried rice with small slices of porks and two fried eggs didn't cost much, merely renminbi 15 dollars, and it looked bigger than that in Hong Kong. Different regions in China have different breakfasts, everything from noodles, dumplings, and Lanzhou beef fried rice you can find everywhere. Additionally, you may find it surprising and happy upon activating a battery-electric bicycle through the rental steps on WeChat, you may choose through a list of rental rates for 2 hours, 4 hours, and even a day to rent, by just paying renminbi 4 dollars, 6 dollars, and 12 dollars respectively. Riding on it you may go anywhere as long as you obey the driving notes strictly, and don't drink (say wines or too alcoholic beverages) before you drive.

To me, I can choose another cheaper roadside restaurant and pay for a less expensive meal a day if I find it too expensive. Chinese friends are the most friendly I recognized them in mainland China when I was traveling there, so China is currently my first choice as this place where I can choose to both retire when I want to and work hard for the best I want.

Thailand is the second choice, I'm somewhat familiar with it as I stay there for a few weeks every year. Thai people are friendly and nice, they always like to live with peacefulness and you'll see so many smiling faces around, regardless of whether you're a native Thai or not. Except for the greasy fried and spices foods, I shall be relatively less reluctant to Thai food. Most of the food at roadside restaurants is extremely cheap and delicious, with merely 60 Thai Bahts for a dish of seafood fried rice and a cold drink, and the rent in Thailand is not high.

As for Hong Kong, I think the standard of living when in China I was is currently low in comparison with the same in Hong Kong here. Costs on rental and daily expenses are fairly high, it is not the best place or the finish end for anyone choosing to retire due to the above-mentioned expenses and medical needs that would cost so much in light of the needs over retirement years. The economy is still reasonably strong as of today I can see, that though China provides huge support to Hong Kong endlessly, also it has its main piles to withstand the development of the current economy, it is not worse than other GBA cities in China, yet Shenzhen its annual GPA has gone beyond Hong Kong several years ago.

Hong Kong is my hometown, I have been growing up here since I was born. I am familiar with it and also familiarity makes life easy and easier in other places. People here are still able to look for opportunities because we all know that as long as we work hard and don't give up, we can do what we want by the spirit of Lion Stone, but people here require more smiling faces and are friendly to our tourists.. say those Dark public car drivers, much to our tourists' disappointment!!!

Best Regards

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Is China full of the smartest people?

China has undergone great changes in the past two decades, without supplying food and living necessities from China will become incredible worries to certain countries which require China-made products and foods to access their lands. As a Chinese, I don’t know why the foreign media smears China so much, most of the Western media consistently report China’s poverty, and backwardness. Now I want, in this article, to say something concrete:

1. China’s infrastructure is the first in the world, which means that China’s buildings are very spectacular, atmospheric, and beautiful, showing the style of a great country, which should be due to China’s large population, and other countries’ completely different styles.

Under the policy, the broad networks and long-term planning on high-speed rail HSR system are very mature and relatively modern in comparison with many other countries, it prevails on the same system operated by any of other Western or Asia countries of nowadays. According to historical records, the first several batches of HSR systems were imported to mainland China in the early 20^th Century (2004 to 2006) from Germany, Japan, Canada, and France. Since then the HSR’s systems have been increasingly upgraded by China itself to achieve the highest standard on both safety and ride-comfort of all passengers no matter how fast it reaches. I remember I once put a cup of water on the dining basin (you may know it is a plastic tray equipped behind the high-speed-rail seat) to test, it turned only a little ripple when it ran at 312 km/h, didn’t feel any vibration and uncomfortable with the ride. Today, China’s high-speed rail has been exported to many friendly countries through the “Belt and Road” interoperable projects, those countries do benefit from the newly installed HSR system nowadays. In addition, the recent test of China's new ultra-high-speed maglev train in Shanxi province has been successful, capable of reaching speeds up to 621 miles per hour or (1000 km/h), the train demonstrated controlled navigation, stable suspension, and safe stopping, even on curved sections of the route, some people said it is faster than a plane!.

I don’t think it’s right that some people say that China likes to plunder other countries’ technology and knowledge, but I think that people born in China are often very hard-working and willing to know and learn the latest things from the West and Europe, for example, in the recent Paris Olympics, the Chinese synchronized swimming team and another rhythmic gymnastics team won two Olympic gold medals with the help of a Spanish coach and a Russian coach respectively who taught the teams a lot of techniques. I would say Chinese people are the second smartest people in the world, not the smartest ones because I believe China's leader will let others compete for the top spot and take the hits for China. Mr. Ren Zhengfei (Director of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.) once said that Huawei is like a hyena on the grassland, always be and will never mind being a hyena. Only by letting the United States be a lion can we make progress!

2. China was declared in the year 2000 to be fully out of poverty, into a comprehensive well-off life, these data are real, the internet is so advanced today, each person owns at least one cell phone, and even the village grandpa and grandma know how to open live broadcasting money, these outside the media will not report. Its native app “WeChat” has become a powerful tool for all life needs, no matter what you want to find or order, such as high-speed rail tickets, movie tickets or taxis to take you anywhere, or join a travel group and pay bills…etc. that makes it convenient for China users.

3. Electric vehicles and unmanned aerial objects are clear examples that prove that Chinese people have become the second smartest people (never say ourselves to be the smartest ones) in the world. BYD was not a native Chinese vehicle company in the beginning to make EVs but carried out Chinese-style management and reforms after acquisitions. Besides, the newly invented blade-type battery has helped BYD stand at the top of China’s electric vehicle field. Through unremitting efforts, it has delivered cheap and durable electric vehicles made in China to foreign lands. With the great help of the 5G network supplied by Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd, unmanned vehicles and multifunctional aerial objects can be operated safely and systematically, all are very highly credible in the inland and outland markets.

4. If you say backward, China’s education is not the same, which is derived from the imperial examination system, there are very deep-rooted historical reasons, and not too much innovation, which is the most fundamental reason for a country, in short, still need to continue to work hard.

I have to say some things which you might not know…

In the late 80s, you may not know some unfortunate incidents happened, China had opened the labor-based market to all foreign countries and let worldwide investors access the world-biggest manufacturing hub which turned considerable population into valuable manpower under the lowest wages and costs. Most of the businessmen had only built humble factory facilities there but lacked proper protective guards to safeguard their workers, someone lost fingers or unfortunately, a palm, even a lower arm when required to catch up with deadline under the operation of those dangerous machinery, they wouldn’t report any injury case to the superiors or employers of their working factory as it might lose job accordingly (this was talked by a friend’s father). Those older ministers (now 50 to 60 years old) who had given outstanding service in late 19^th Century of China were the base to help thrive today’s China.

All in all, China is full of hard-working and wise people. We, Chinese, know very well that “if a bird sticks out its head, it will be shot”, so we always claim to be the world’s second or even third smartest people, never mind be the fourth.. or fifth. We did many incredible things and experienced a lot of hard stories beforehand.

Best Regards

Monday, July 22, 2024

Ma Chao or Zhao Yun 2.0?

My younger brother recently gave me a lion model, which was a traditional Chinese lion head used for lion dance. Its proportion is smaller than a real paper-crafted lion head, approximately 1:10. I loved it very much because its processing technique was so meticulous and beautiful.

As far as I knew, it looked like the "Ma Chao" lion, and I had once learned from some articles that certain types of lions could be identified by their headdresses and unique colors; for example, the three famous lion types represented 3 characters below from Chinese history which was recorded in the martial classic, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms":

(1st) Liu Bei (yellow-based face, white fur and beard);

(2nd) Guan Gong (red-based face, black bristles and a long black beard) and

(3rd) Zhang Fei (has a black-based face with short black beard, small ears and black bristles).

Except above three heroic lions, the additional three lions were then added to the lions’ family, of which the green-faced lion with black beard represented (4th) Zhao Yun, the yellow/orange face with white beard represented (5th) Huang Zhong and the last one had a white-based face and white beard and fur, some blue grains painted on the head was known as (6th) Ma Chao. I knew and was familiar with all about these lions before.

The reason why Ma Chao lion was given this color is because Ma Chao always wore white armbands when he fought against the Emperor of Wei - Cao Cao to express his condolences for his father and brothers who were killed by Cao Cao in the war before. Generally speaking, people rarely give white lions to others unless they don't know it. That's why I was surprised when I got a white lion.

The salesperson of the souvenir store in Guangzhou had told my younger brother that it was not a Ma Chao lion (hereinafter called "MC" or "MC lion") but the new generation of Zhao Yun lion (hereinafter called "ZY" or "ZY lion") and claimed that patterns for the lions in Guangzhou had undergone some variations in recent years. Though my brother did not believe what the salesperson said, yet he finally bought it because ZY(1.0) had been sold out.

Personally, I didn't mind having the Lion because the name by which it was known after everyone had read Ma Chao's story was Righteous Lion, and it had some good story from behind. In case you haven't heard, you can search his story on the website for information.

Let's look at the head from above, there is a steel plate like a mirror attached to the lion's forehead, many lions do have the same thing as I know, it is said that it can drive away negative energy, because negative energy would be reflected backward, and evil spirits would be frightened by their own appearance and run away when they look in the mirror.

Additionally, the lion’s eyelids, ears, and mouth pad are all able to be manipulated as desired. The head is made from a lightweight but sturdy plastic with some blue strips and textures printed on it. I have ever seen a video, which said, "If the strip on the head is the form of a knife (like a knife-shaped grain), then it is an original texture created by masters of Hong Kong paper crafting art".

Thanks

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

What's up Diejiao's Dragon Boat!

June 8, 2024

Men on the Dragon

It was nearly 15:00 hrs when I arrived at the venue for the dragon boat drifting competition in Nanhai of Foshan China - Kong Dazong Ancestral Waterway in Shengtang Village, Dienan Community, Guicheng.

Millions of tourists from other urban areas in Foshan also came to Diejiao to watch the unique dragon boat drafting competitions. I was honored to be a witness in Diejiao this year for the special and exciting dragon boat competitions.

The highlight of the competition in this village is the L-shaped bend, the trained paddlers have to control the dragon boat to enter the 90-degree bend twice throughout the entire track. To be honest, it is not easy for the paddlers to drive a 25-meter-long dragon boat into the right-angle bend at a fast speed. You may probably see or play the car drifting exercises, but do you know about the dragon boat drifting race here? The answer lies in Diejiao Foshan!

This is a heart-pounding "fast and furious" boat race in Foshan's Diejiao. More than 40 paddlers on a dragon who are well-trained with amazing boat drifting skills. By the way, on the side of the dragon's head, three paddlers take the lead in turning the dragon's head before the bend, and the other three sit on the dragon's tail to drift the tail's portion of the boat toward the bend safely. These six paddlers are experienced and key to shifting the boat's tail sideward and avoiding hitting the wall around turns.

The dragon boat drifting race has a history of over 500 years in Diejiao Foshan (佛山疊滘) and is held every year around the Dragon Boat Festival. There are several types of racing tracks, including L-shaped (held on 8 Jun), C-shaped (on 9 Jun), S-shaped (10 Jun this year), and straight ones (11 Jun) with narrow turns and waterways, and during the race in which the boat’s paddlers need to make sudden turns based on the track's condition. Actually, the drifting dragon boat has been a scenic spot in Diejiao by the effect of TikTok's heat wave, the event is attractive and definitely exciting you would feel so long as you have ever seen it.

L-shaped Track

Due to the large number of tourists, many entrances to the village had been temporarily blocked with water-filled barriers started at 13:00hrs. It was for the sake of all the tourists' safety considered by the organiser of the event so that nobody could get in after 13:00hrs except the paddlers and authorised staff of the event.

I got the spot at 15:00hrs which seemed too late, and I had really no way to get in as the fences were formed since 13:00hrs (it was the start time of the event); however, there were also places worth visiting near the event place. Undoubtedly, number of the tourists (including foreigners) visiting these villages has greatly increased because of the annual dragon boat drifting race. Tourists and native residents stand on both sides along the waterways to cheer for the dragon boat teams, and the warm and lively atmosphere must be. If you don’t experience it personally, you can’t describe it in words.

There were also competitions in the other two villages respectively on June 9 and 10, 2024 at Tantou Village (潭頭村) see C track and Dongsheng Village (東勝村) see S track, so June 8’s sad experience was an excuse to comfort me and to look forward to the June 9’s competition!

KEN NGAN

8/6/2024 (Saturday)

Location: Shengtang Village, Diejiaonan Nanhai (L-shaped track)

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June 9, 2024 (Sunday)

Early Bird catches the Worm

I realized the principle of "the early bird catches the worm". We set out at 11:30hrs in the morning and arrived at Diebei’s Tantou Village (疊滘潭頭村) at noon at which the early birds had already the vantage point there.

Then at 13:00hrs, the urban management of Tantou Village began to block the entrances. The purpose they did was to ensure the visitors' safety and avoid accidents caused by large crowds on the riverside. I saw the people who couldn’t get in just standing outside the fences, just like I was outside there yesterday.

The race point in Tantou Village (潭頭村) was more lively than June 8's race. In Hong Kong, dragon boat racing involves multiple teams racing together, the winner is the one who reaches the finish line fastest. But in Tantou, the river here is narrow, and the 25-meter-long dragon boat cannot sail into the bend unless it is with a team of skilled paddlers on. Therefore, Diejiao’s dragon boat race is a single-dragon battle with speed (racing against time….), and there are other exciting points involved in each race. Both sides of the river were crowded with tourists and photographers who enjoyed the exciting dragon boat races these days.

C-shaped Track

At the competition site, there were occasional sounds of firecrackers, billboards of major brands such as BYD cars, children riding on their father's shoulders and croaking, mothers fanning to create wind for their sons, and the native hawkers who were selling iced oolong and black tea (three bottles for 10RMB), an uncle from Hong Kong (say me) quickly lifted his mobile phone to shoot videos while hearing the coming sound of drums, village management staff persuaded tourists to give way to the persons in need, and...a lot of, good things happened at which I was seeing and feeling.

I had heard about this lively dragon boat racing event last year, and I only thought a good memory would be kept then if I could experience it in person and in place. The gold rule in human life from which you may know, there are some things in the world that money cannot buy, such as health and physical strength, but you can achieve the life goals you set previously by implementing both a healthy body and a good psychological mindset. On June 9, 2024 (it was the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival 2024), I have fulfilled the wish I made last year. As for this year, I really stood at the scene with tourists, paddlers, and hawkers to watch a wonderful dragon boat drifting.

KEN NGAN

09/06/2024 (Sunday)

Location: Tantou Village, Diejiaobei Nanhai (C-shaped track)

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June 11, 2024 (Monday)

Enjoy the TV Show

Nothing better and more comfortable than watching the dragon boat competition in front of the television in home. On the first day of the event, I experienced being late and not being allowed to enter, and on the second day I was able to watch the live race at the spot, and the three day on which I could watch the dragon boat battle from the TV programme.