"Smile"

From what i've been able to understand , this guy is a music teacher at a local school . Every night he's playing some traditional chinese tunes in his little outdoor stand in the main pedestrian street of Doumen . Sometimes i catch him playing a kind of violin and some other nights he's jammin' on a kind of dulcimer called Yangqin . It's a string instrument that he plays with two bamboo sticks and he's quite good at it . This guy loves to play for people and even if he sells a few instruments under his little tent , i suspect he's only out there for the love of music . I think he understand i dig his stuff and each time he sees me coming on my bike he starts playing like a mad man . After only a few minutes a big crowd gathers around him and it only stops when he breaks one of his sticks ! We can't communicate with words but hey , "Music makes the people come together" ...
Cheers
Ben Ben
Live From China

"Don't Mess With Mr. Wen"

This is Xiao Wen , he's one of the top worker here . I think plumbing is his main trade , but since he's the only one who seems to be taking decisions around here , he's always assigned to all kind of jobs . When i find something wrong on the boat , Xiao Wen is the guy who's usually going to fix it . When i get tired of having all the workers hiding in the boat (they like the A/C in here ...) , he's the one who's going to let them know this is my home now and that they've got to move on to other things . When we're moving boats to another location , he's always onboard too . He's really a cool guy , with a good sense of humor and he can be trusted to take care of things . He's been quite helpful in the past few days , the weather and the lack of progress almost made me loose faith !!! But things are clearing up now , well just enough that i find the strengh to write a few lines here .
Oops , it's lunchtime now , best part of the day !!! See you soon
Ben Ben

"The diesel buffalo rental shop"

There's two sides to Doumen , the suburb of Zhuhai where my boat is being built : One part , where my hotel is located , is a bustling asian town with a million cellphone shops , appliance stores and non-stop traffic jams . The other side though , where the boat is being finished , looks more like a little rural village with a nice little outdoor market , no modern buildings and a much more quiet lifestyle . All you need to do to feel like jumping in a time machine is to get onboard the ferry for a 4 minutes ride and get across the river . You'll find that people here still ride bikes and tricycles and when they need to transport heavy stuff , they're using my favorite vehicle here : I call it the "Diesel Buffalo" .
The Diesel buffalo looks like it was conceived for a post-apocalyptic movie . i just love it's simplicity , with it's tractor engine directly connected to the handlebar . It must exhausting to drive ... Try to imagine making a turn and having to move the engine too !!! Probably not the best machine for Paris or New York But i though of a really cool concept for a reality show : Buy a few of those , fill them with all the fuel and food you need for a month and get contestants to race across china on those machines : That would look really cool ! So if there's a producer out there who's interested , i know where to buy them , there's a dealership right next door !
Big Kisses to you all from China
Ben Ben

p.s : click here to check my new "download page" , you'll find files for Google earth to check where i am right now and a wallpaper download section . hope you'll like it .

"Sunset over Zhuhai"
click on the picture to see a larger version

Sunsets : Don't have much to say about that , except that if you're going to follow that Blog , you should expect a lot of those shots . I just love that time of the day and when i travel i almost never miss one . Over the years it became a tradition and those who' have been with me on trips know how serious i am about this . Those 20 minutes when the sky looks like a painting .... They' re never the same and they change depending on where you are on the planet . For example , Indian ocean sunsets are purple while the ones in the mediterranean sea are more orange . This one is quite special though : It was the first one onboard and my first Chinese Sunset .
Love
Ben

Only a few people here speak english , and one of them is Henry . Mr. Henry Zheng is about my age , is single and has a young daughter . Apart from being the project manager of the yard , is a movie expert . I started talking to him about movies and suddenly found out that this guy had seen them all . He knows all the chinese directors , loves hollywood flicks and cannot be beaten when you try bluff him about Italian movies (Yes Henry , "La dolce vita" is a great movie) . He's the nicest person you could meet around here and is always helpful .
He asked me to post a picture of himself so he could find a French girlfriend . So girls , send your pictures and love letters to me and i'll transmit ! If you ask me , i think someone should come invest some money here with him and build a Movie Studio .
Henry , I hope you'll get to live your dreams .
a big thanks all of you for your support
Ben Ben
Lost in China

"Brian onboard his boat , "TRAVELLER" "

Got to get away from the yard for a few hours today . I went on a little boat trip on the river with Brian , a canadian citizen who owns the same boat as mine . Brian's been sailing all his life , has more than 250 000 miles logged as a skipper including a cool "around the world" trip . We took the habit of enjoying the sunset together with a cold "Haizu" (the local beer) or a shot of some great Philippino Rhum he brought back from his last trip . We like to call this time of the day "Happy Hour"
Brian's been giving me tons of advice and actually agreed to come help me take my boat down from the Philippines to Bali at the end of June . I'm going to learn a lot with him on this trip and after this leg of the journey i hope i'll be able to handle the boat on my own . I guess that's what the cruising life' s about : unplanned encounters leading to unexpected friendships .
Cheers
Ben

p.s : while we were leaving , i had the chance to snap this picture of my boat from the water . It's all dirty but i still love it !

"Kalakuta at the Yard in Zhuhai"

"The Great Mr. Gong"

Today was a great day . We had an appointment with the Chinese Classification Society , the guys who' re going to check the work done one your boat decide if it is ready to go out in the ocean ... They came around ten this morning , did all kinds of measurements and finally took the boat for a test on the river . Everything went well and it's mostly due to one person : Mr. Gong .
Mr. Gong comes from rural china , he is happily married and has two children . He has an amazing voice and he's always singing beautiful chinese love songs while working . He was installing karaoke systems before coming to work as an electrician for the boatyard , and a few years later he is now , to my opinion , the best worker around . He's not using a computer , draws everything by hand and remembers all that stuff without even taking notes . I owe him everything because if he hadn't been here to help me , i'd still be waiting for who knows what !!!
So now that we have passed this test , the yard has one month to release the boat and get it out of chinese waters . This means i'll be out of here in a month MAX !!! Believe me , after 2 and a half year it feels quite good On top of that , Mr. Gong managed to finish installing the stereo system onboard this afternoon so i was able to listen to some music with him in my new floating home , and that's another thing that made this a great day . I'll really miss this guy when i'll be gone .
All hail the great Mr. Gong !


"Ben Ben & Mr. Gong cruising onboard Kalakuta"

What's this guy gonna do with his boat you may ask reading this blog !!! A while ago there was a show on french T.V called "Lunettes Noires Pour Nuit Blanche" (Sunglasses for a Sleepless Night) , and the part of the show i really liked was the Auto-interview. The best one i ever saw was Serge Gainsbourg' s "Gainsbourg by Gainsbarre" . So instead of explaining to you why i' m doing this trip , i've decided i'd try it myself : Ben by Benjamin.

Benjamin : So Ben , where are you from ?

Ben : I was born in Paris , France . But i've got serious doubts about being from that place ! And call me Ben Ben , that's my chinese name , they don't like names with one syllable here !!!

Benjamin : Ok Ben Ben. About Paris , do you mean you feel you don't belong there ?

Ben Ben : I guess ... too much stress, too many fake people and not enough beaches

Benjamin : Ok , i get your point. Age ?

Ben Ben : Mid thirties on my passport , but about 12 in my mind ! I probably suffer from the Peter Pan Syndrome.

Benjamin : I see ... Straight , Gay , Both ?

Ben Ben : Women only for me please ... But i've got nothing against the way other people live their sex/love life .

Benjamin : God ?

Ben Ben : Who ?

Benjamin : (Laugh) Ok , so when did you decide to go ?

Ben Ben : Always though about going on a boat trip , but if i have to put a date on the decision to go ... about 7 years ago , on a hammock in Puerto Escondido , Mexico. Then it really became obvious i'd be doing it after i started spending a lot of time up in North West Australia . The coast up there is amazing , camping for months in the desert on the edge of the indian ocean ... amazing trips !!!

Benjamin : And why ?

Ben Ben : To live an adventure. To go windsurfing in remote places with my friends. To travel all around the world with my home , Like a turtle... To make friends and while we're at it maybe to find love ... and make babies

Benjamin : Now that's a plan ! Any sailing/cruising experience ?

Ben Ben : Not much, never been on a long crossing. but i've been windsurfing since i was 13 (laughs).

Benjamin : So aren't you afraid to die out there ?

Ben Ben : A little , but i think it's good : More chance to survive when you're a bit scared , makes you think more. And you feel ALIVE ! I'm more afraid to die riding a motorcycle in Paris... I'd be really pissed off to go like that , because an idiot forgot to signal he was making a turn ... What a shitty ending !

Benjamin : About stupid ways of dying , I guess you've seen "Into the Wild". Sean Penn' s movie ?

Ben Ben : Yes , and i loved it. But what i'm doing has absolutely nothing to do with what this guy was after ... well , a little bit maybe. But i have a different method to try to achieve what i think he was looking for . And different reasons !!! By the way I'm reading the book right now , and there's a quote in it from Leo Tolstoy' s "Family Happiness" . It goes like this :
"I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love. I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life." ... I couldn't have explained what i' m feeling in a better way !!!

Benjamin : I get your point !!! Let's get back to the trip then. What are you taking onboard with you ?

Ben Ben : Windsurf gear , surfboards , books , fishing gear , a nice digital camera , tons of songs ... i've loaded my computer with my entire record collection . I hope to be the first one to play a James Brown tune while crossing the equator !!! And i'll be creating music too. I've prepared loads of sounds .

Benjamin : That's cool , I dig J.B too , he's the Funky President ! ... Ok , where will you be going ?

Ben Ben : NorthWest Australia via the Philippines , Malaysia , Bali . Then maybe New Zealand , Fiji ... Who knows , don't really like to make plans , you usually miss a lot of stuff when you plan too much in advance... And on a boat you never know what's going to happen ! I'll go where there's waves and wind !

Benjamin : Sounds great. What do your parents think about this ?

Ben Ben : They think it's great. Couldn't have done it without them. I'm really lucky to have such amazing parental units !!!

Benjamin : Well , thanks for you time , anything you wanna to say to end this interview.

Ben Ben : ... Ok , what about : Keep Dreaming

Benjamin : Thank you for sharing this with me , i hope you'll have a great time out there .

Ben Ben : You're welcome , it was a pleasure. By the way , i think you should come with me

"Barbecue Street"

Yesterday didn't start too well ... the weather was hot and humid and things were going really slowly at the yard . So when the sun went down and the temperature finally dropped a bit , i decided to go for a little trip along the river . First good surprise came when i followed the smell of barbecue to a really nice street market full of little food stands : choose your meat , veggies , find a table under a tree and let the magic happen ! It tasted so good i couldn't resist and ate until i was close to explode : Grilled eggplants with garlic , sausages and shrimp skewers , it was PARADISE !!! The family eating next to me was laughing watching me , the foreigner , enjoy such a simple dinner amongst the local middle-class .

After saying goodbye to my new found culinary friends , i rode my bike a bit further and started hearing music in the distance . I once again followed a promising trail and ended at a big town square . About one hundred people of all ages had gathered and were dancing under the stars to the sound of the local mobile Dj : It was magical . Apparently the chinese love to dance , and not only to local music : they could dance the waltz , the cha cha , tango , salsa and do it really well . They all had huge smiles on their faces and their joy finally made me forget all the little troubles of my day . From our westerner's point of view , we think chinese people have a hard life : it's probably true in some regions but here in Zhuhai , the heart of industrialized China , even if they work in factories and don't earn a lot they are embracing their new lifestyle with a contagious happiness . Probably like what happened to us after the second world war .

Have fun everyone and keep smiling !!!
ben


"The Mobile Love Sound System"

"The low rider is a little higher , Low rider drives a little slower , Low rider is a real goer , Low rider knows every street yeah !"

I've always loved that song by WAR , probably because i've seen Cheech&Chong 's UP IN SMOKE many times ... Anyway , i was on my way to the yard this morning when i decided i needed a vehicle to get around town in STYLE !!! I was getting tired of riding with those crazy chinese Motorcycle Taxis . Sure it doesn't cost much (3 yuan , about 30 cents) but you don't get to wear a helmet and if you've ever been to China or any other Asian countries , you'll know that each ride could be the last ... The traffic here makes going around the "Arc de Triomphe" in Paris looks like a joyride !!!
There's a few bicycle shops on the way , so i had a look in a few of those stores and instantly fell in love with this baby . It's a three-speed , rear suspension beauty and even better , it's a folding bike so i'll be able to take it with me onboard . Can't wait to cruise around Freemantle on it , I'm sure i'll make many people drool over that piece of equipment and best of all , it only cost me 300 yuan , which for you europeans is about 30 euros ... you probably couldn't buy a tire for this price in Paris . LIFE IS GOOD !!!
See you soon
Ben