Tang Dynasty

 Recently Jeopardy made a pretty silly pun asking about a certain dynasty in Chinese history, something like "Empress Wu Zhao added a little zest to this dynasty, and the answer was "Tang" like the orange fizzy drink. I liked that the clue asked more about Asian history and culture, didn't like that they are just throwing 2 totally different pronounced words together, "Tang" in Chinese has a flat A sound, while "Tang" the American drink they spent into space is an A sound. I took exception to it. But yes, Tang Dynasty ruled China from 618 to 907. It's just one of many dynasties in Chinese history, from Qin, to a Qing (2 different dynasties), Ming, Manchu dynasty also called Song, the Sui Dynasty, and then times of turmoil and unclear power like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (my personal favorite) and the Warring States Period. Unfortunately there have not been a Yan dynasty ever (never too late!) US high schools when I was growing up had an American History class (and the AP exam) and a European History class (with the accompanying AP Test), but no Asian History, or African History, or South American/Latin American History. Very Euro-centric, which I understand due to so many people in the US being descended from the Europeans, and also so many advances in technology and art and consequential battles/changes in power, but as America becomes more and more racially diverse maybe add a little Asian history so we can learn the names of all the Chinese dynasties or the Prime Ministers of India, for example? Kind of big, what those 2 countries are doing, but also Japan, Korea, IndoChina, Kingdom of Thailand, Khmer in Cambodia, etc. Kinda important to a lot of people. 

Visiting China is such a mindblowing experience (my mind was actually blown during my short visit there recently because I was on very little sleep and really didn't know where I was half the time) but right out of the airport was the use of the Shanghai Maglev train with max speed of 300 km/hr (or 186 MPH). Really convenient skipping all the stops the normal subway would have stopped and just flying through the countryside. When asked about the tallest buildings currenlty in the world, most people would be able to come up with the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (you can supposedly see 2 sunsets in one day, one at the bottom of the tower, and then ride up the elevator to the top to see the second sunset), then maybe you can pull the Merdeka Building in Malaysia for 2nd, but 3rd highest is in Shanghai, the Shanghai Tower. They just keep competing to build the highest building in the world because everyone jsut wants to be the best at something I guess (I remember when the Willis Tower in Chicago was the tallest, but now it's like 12th. Shanghai Tower is pretty similar to every tower MJ and I have ever visited like the Shard in London or the CN Tower in Toronto or the Prudential Tower in Boston; you get a nice viewing area at the top with 360 degree views, except Shanghai is extremely hazy, low visibility, and the water is.......brown. That's what happens when there's 26 million people living in the city I guess. 26 million! That's the whole state of Florida packed into one city! Incredible. And When I walk around Shanghai, I definitely get that vibe of 26 million; I'm always reminded just by getting in a subway how many people there truly are, it's like feeling lonely in a huge crowd, just being overwhelmed by the sheer mass, feeling insignificant and just a small fish in a big pond. And in Shanghai I feel like just another Asian-looking face in a sea of other Asians; I don't really think about it in America but I am the minority in America, people will notice that I am Asian. In China, EVERYONE looks like me; I fit right in and feel even more lost in the crowd. That and people assume in Asian countries that I speak the language, which is a blessing in China where I do speak the language, and a curse in Korea where I stare blankly when someone speaks to me too fast in Korea, I can't catch up to what they're saying despite all those years of listening to Korean audiobooks. 

I ate in Shanghai where Bill Clinton ate!