Golf in China

I was watching the HSBC world challenge throughout the weekend, was held at SheShan Golf And Country Club in Shanghai China. SheShan means west mountain in Chinese, this course location is west of the city next to an old quarry field. It was opened in 2004 and that was the last time when I was in Shanghai, in 2004.

One of Victor's friend from Philadelphia has been living in Shanghai, they live in a villa inside a golf and country club back then, they have 3 children and all are going to international school, I visited them and had dinner with them while I was there alone. They do not play golf but they like the lifestyle of living inside a club and it gives better space to raise a family in a hustling and bustling city. Shanghai house 29 million people, it has more people of California and New York state combined.

I was staying at one of the newest hotel the "Grand Hyatt" back then, it was the tallest building in Shanghai, overlooking the city with gorgeous view, has really good restaurants and clubs on the top floor. I remember I wanted to get a drink after dinner, I had to show my room key in order to get into the club, there were probably many girls try to get in there to meet 'someone special'. A regular room rate was US$ 300 / night and I stayed 4 nights only. I went to the club every night for a drink, had to show my room card every single time. And I could not believe how long that line was, I was amazed. Then a year later the Four Seasons opened, took away a lot of business from Grand Hyatt, I did not go back to Shanghai ever since.

Golf becomes the trendiest sport in China right now, new courses and golf developments are being built every where. Any business owners would join a club for social purpose or try to make their deals on the golf course. Caddies are mostly ladies though, I would say a good 95% of caddies are girls there. I guess business owners are mostly men in China, prefer to be pampered by women on the golf course. Many people have asked me why didn't I considered to move back to China, I like golfing there but the air quality is extremely poor, it isn't funny. The hazy sky you saw on TV this weekend is there all the time, it doesn't go away, that is the smog from all the factories burning something everywhere, Hong Kong is slightly better because it locates on the coastline.

I am not sure if people noticed the background noise from this golf tournament, I am not new to it and it bothered me every time when I had to visit China, it is the drivers love to blow their horn no matter what they do and when is it in China. They blow the horn when cutting the lane, they blow their horn when passing, they blow their horn when they think you drive too slow, they blow their horn when they drive into the alley...etc. It could be 1 am at night, they don't really care, they just love to blow their horn.

The commentators tried to explain this golf club is located next to a very busy road, in fact it is next to a highway. The truth is no matter where you are around the city, you hear the horn ALL THE TIME. That is why I had to pay more money to stay at the Grand Hyatt because they have double window to block road noise, otherwise I could not sleep there. Now 6 years later, double window becomes a standard in all newer hotels in Shanghai, back then Grand Hyatt was the only hotel offered this feature.

This seems like a very nice course, I am sure the professional golfers are used to block out certain distraction such as road noise like this. On the other hand, I am not sure how I would feel during the middle of the swing or putting through my ball, you hear "Beep Beep Beep" from a truck! I guess I should learn how to block out distraction like this too, definitely beneficial.