SHANGHAI 2018 - DAY FIVE

Ngāti Kahu’s Diplomatic and Cultural Mission to China this year began with a delay of 21 hours as the result of a still-unexplained problem with Air New Zealand’s flight 289.  This was then followed by a similarly unexplained failure in customer service when Air New Zealand said it could not get us to Shanghai until four days later, an untenable delay that would have shortened our Mission so drastically it would have been pointless even going.

After fruitless hours of trying to get Air New Zealand to help us, our Chinese host in Shanghai advised us to meet with the Auckland Airport Manager who had a duty to get us to China with as little delay as possible. 

Thanks to the unflagging efforts of the Manager, Mr Nguyen, we had arrived only one day late, a delay that was manageable for both our host and us.

So here we are on the fifth day, all travelling well together and looking forward to spending time with our host, Gui Zhong, as we cross Huangpu (mother river) to the Pudong (east bank) side of Shanghai where his private club is located. 

Just a little over thirty years ago, Pudong was nothing but rice paddies and farmland.  Then in 1993, the Chinese government created the Pudong New Area.  Now, it is a financial hub of modern China containing several landmark buildings that we have visited in previous years; the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Jin Mao Building, the Shanghai World Financial Centre and Shanghai Tower.

Pudong is also home to more than five million inhabitants, an explosive growth since the turn of the century, thanks mainly to immigrants pouring in from other parts of China seeking broader and better educational, employment and social opportunities.

Nestled in the midst of Pudong is the Belle Wood Club and Villa Estate, a compound of elegant two-storey homes built by Shanghai CRED around a communal clubhouse, gym, indoor and outdoor pools, kids playground, squash and tennis courts, sauna and restaurant.  Some of the homes also come with private swimming pools.

Our time with Gui Zhong is spent talking about the proposed Carrington development on Karikari peninsula which he has owned since 2013.  His cooperation agreement with us supports the determination of the local Karikari marae to protect the ancient burial cave Te Ana o Taite and other waahi tapū from that development.  His agreement with Haititaimarangai, the other local marae, will see them provide him with a Cultural Impact Assessment on the development in due course.  The key take home messages from our meeting are – clarity and harmony are needed.

After lunch, we present him with a signed copy of our book, Ngāti Kahu: Portrait of a Sovereign Nation then participate in the tea ceremony and a calligraphy demonstration before ending our visit with a stroll through the estate. These quiet activities are a nice way to wind down from the hustle and bustle of the preceding week.

To be continued.

SHANGHAI MISSION - DAY FOUR

One of the loveliest aspects of Ngāti Kahu’s annual Missions to China is the strengthening of whanaungatanga (relationships) between the members of each Delegation.  Our first year was an entirely Ngāti Kahu affair, but since 2016, Mr Gui has chosen members of his Carrington staff and their whānau to join us.  Initially, I had wondered how this combination might be affected by the need that arises from time to time for Ngāti Kahu to hui privately. 

Very quickly I got my answer, outside our normal lives and inside a foreign country, we quickly become comfortable enough to know when to hang together and when to diplomatically separate.  And regardless of whether we are selected by Mr Gui or Ngāti Kahu, we bond with and care for each other. 

That caring manifests in many ways. E.g. on day four of the Mission, as we make our way through the Shanghai Museum of Art and Technology surrounded by millions of tamariki mokopuna who weren’t always looking where they were going, one of our younger members says, “Stay close behind me whaea,” then places himself between me and the jostling crowds. 

This museum is one of China’s most visited.  Publicly administered by the government and privately funded by local businesses, including Shanghai CRED, it has 14 permanent exhibitions and 4 science-themed IMAX cinemas.  However, we end up only visiting one exhibition, the Spectrum of Life, which imitates the scenery of Yunnan Province and displays its diversity of creatures.

By the time we finish viewing this exhibition, it is already afternoon and I for one am feeling the strain of the crowds.  So, when our guide gives us a choice of visiting another exhibition or having lunch, the unanimous and immediate response is, “Lunch!”  And on that slightly hasty note we exit stage left for lunch.

That afternoon, we make our way over to the Fake Markets in the massive underground AP Plaza Mall which has more than 1,000 stores selling clothes, suitcases, watches, and other luxury goods that are openly fake but just as good as their branded counterparts.  By the end of the afternoon, and with the help of a couple of our Ngāti Kahu members who are good hagglers, all of us leave with most of our gift shopping done for this year and our thoughts are turning homeward.

That evening, our Carrington members go out to try and buy some KFC as a birthday surprise for one of our Ngāti Kahu members who loves the stuff.  They return emptyhanded an hour later, having learnt that without an interpreter it is really hard to complete any mission in China.  We warmly welcome them back into the fold.

Since 2015, two dozen Ngāti Kahu individuals and seven Carrington members have travelled this road together building relationships and understanding that outlast each Mission and increase our opportunities and capacity as a sovereign people to act locally while thinking globally. 

To be continued.

 

SHANGHAI MISSION - DAY THREE

On day three of the Mission, our Ngāti Kahu Delegation wake up back in Shanghai feeling rested and raring to go.  However, my iPhone from which I have been livestreaming our daily activities, is not in the same state at all. 

Although the hotel has a wall point that fits its New Zealand charger, the phone is not charging.  Luckily though, my power pack has a full charge. 

The Chinese government can block access to facebook, google and other internet addictions, but only if you’re using a Chinese LAN or wi-fi service.  If, like me, you use your own satellite-dependent data roaming service, then you can pretty much carry on as you would at home.  With that, I message all our whānau and friends who have been following my livestreams: 

“HE HAKAHOU (UPDATE): Aroha mai (sorry) whānau but my phone is struggling to charge and so I’ve got it on the power pack and won’t be able to livestream this morning. Us oldies are holding up well – thank you for asking Kui.  In the meantime, aroha tetahi ki tetahi (love one another).”

NB – Kui is one of our many formidable but loving Ngāti Kahu kuia who keep us all on our toes and are there to pick us up if we trip. 

Our first stop for the day, the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art (SIVA) was established in 2005 as part of Fudan University.  Built by a JV that includes our host Mr Gui’s company Shanghai CRED, in 2013 SIVA became completely independent.  Its faculty is made up of full-time and part-time teachers, as well as visiting and honourary professors from home and abroad; three from New Zealand. Guest lecturers and professors include actor Jackie Chan, Beowulf and Spider-Man movie animator Sing-Chong Foo, and Japanese manga artist Makoto Ogino, the creator of the “Peacock King”.  I record as much as I can of this state of the art facility for upload later.

Thankfully, by the time we reach our second stop of the day, the Guang Fu Lin Cultural Heritage Centre, my phone has enough charge to livestream and we’re able to take our whānau with us through an underground archaeological site that covers 6,000 years of history with models that are so lifelike I have to surreptitiously poke one of them to convince me they are only wax. 

Our whānau are also able to get a taste of what it’s like being in Shanghai during the school holidays with millions of kids everywhere accompanied by nannas and papas.  Imagine Te Papa Tongarewa during our school holidays, then multiply by fifty; and that’s being conservative. 

That night we meet to recap the day’s learnings and observations, and all agree that even in this huge population and ancient culture, our Ngāti Kahu kaiwhakapāoho (broadcasters) and ringatoi (artists) would fit right in at SIVA while our tamariki mokopuna would bug out at both SIVA and the museum. 

To be continued.

SHANGHAI MISSION - DAY TWO

On day two of the Mission, our Ngāti Kahu Delegation awake in Zhouzhuang, a 900 year old suburb situated in the heart of Suzhou, itself built 2,500 years ago along a large network of canals.

We start our day with karakia and breakfast, then tour the markets of this ‘water town’ where we experience the fine art of haggling and learn to get it right or else sit down, avoid all eye contact and leave it to the experts. 

The hullabaloo of the markets is replaced with serenity at our next destination, a large and open rectangular courtyard with shaded porticoes on three sides and a raised, roofed stage on the fourth.  Like us, our hosts use music and theatre to tell their stories, and the stage is taken by the renowned Suzhou Opera to tell us two of them. 

First comes the story of a monk and a nun who broke their vows of celibacy to fulfil their dream of living and loving together, going on to become ancestors to many of the people of Suzhou – waimarie rātou (lucky descendants)!

The next story has a single character whose makeup and movements suggest either a monkey, a rat or a cat.  Eventually, we decide he’s a mix of them all because his is the story of a very game thief who risks life and limb to steal from the emperor. He’s the Chinese Maui-Tikitiki-ā-Taranga; nanakia! 

After lunch, our guide Julia introduces us to the elegantly preserved home of Zhou Zhong, the founder of Zhouzhuang.  I am always struck anew when we enter these ancient spaces, first that they have survived so much human history; and second, that some of their classic architecture is so similar to that of our tūpuna. 

Doors and walls are adorned with intricate carvings that tell important stories, while doorsteps are elevated, both as an indicator of status and a protection against ghosts which are traditionally thought to have no knees, so are unable to step over high obstacles.  Ridgepoles are buttressed by rafters, reminiscent of our tāhuhu and heke, while ancestors and guardians are symbolically remembered and represented, as are tūpuna and kaitiaki in our architecture.

We end our time in Suzhou with a gondola ride along the main canals.  Initially we have a rocky start but, encouraged by loud shouting from the kuia (elderly woman) who is our gondolier, we finally get our weight distribution right.

Using a deceptively simple wrist-twisting action on the tiller, the kuia then serenades us throughout.  We nickname her ‘Aunty Suzie’ after one of our late, great kuia who, as occasion demanded, could similarly be commanding, comical, delightful or daunting – the kind of woman you want on your side. To reciprocate, we sing Putiputi Kaneihana and gift her a korari (flax) putiputi (flower) brooch. 

The return journey to Shanghai starts with contemplative tātākī (chatter) about what we’ve experienced and ends in haumūmūtanga (silence) as jetlag catches up on us all. 

To be continued.