Trip to Tanjung Pinang

Graphic from Wikipedia
Tanjung Pinang简称TG Pinang。中文音译“丹戎槟榔”或“丹戎宾南”。它是印尼廖内群岛省（Riau islands，见上图的红圈标识）的省会（Capital，位于上图靠下的红圈）。从新加坡的Tanan Merah码头买60块新元的来回票坐船过去只要两个小时就到了。

Foreigners, including Chinese, Indian, American, British, and Australian, can get a Visa-on-Arrival at the custom of TG. Pinang. (See the picture above)

The Visa fee is US$ 10 for 7 days and US$ 25 for 30 days.

That’s much more convenient for travellers. I had to pay 70 Singapore dollars and queue twice to get a visa before I came to Indonesia one year ago.

拿中国护照的可以到了印尼海关再办落地签证。10美元7天，25美元30天。挺方便的。

码头（Port）

The two buildings in front are bird nest houses, houses for swallow. Local Chinese people build the houses for swallow and collect the nests. Swallow’s nest is an expensive invigorant in Chinese society.

前面两座是燕屋，用来养燕子收燕窝的。

还是燕屋(Bird nest house 2)

TG Pinang说是一个省会，但看起来跟中国的一个小县城差不多。

市中心街道1（Downtown Street 1）

市中心街道2（Downtown Street 2）

市中心街道3（Downtown Street 3）

路牌（Guidepost）

Interestingly, the street name is written in Indonesian and Arabic, though I did not see one single Arab there.

大商场（The Mall）

超市（Supermarket）

超市2（Supermarket 2）

很多地方都能看到中国商品。

Chinese products are penestrating the Indoesian market. Though the reputation of the Chinese products are not so good there, I have seen Chinese electronic appliances, motorcycles, packaged snacks, etc. selling on in TG. Pinang.

当地报纸1（Local news paper 1）

当地报纸2（Local news paper 2）

仅有的有关中国的新闻，上海国际摩托车赛。
That is the only news about China I could found on the news paper.

富人家(Some rich families’ houses)

中等人家（A middle class)

穷人家1(A poor family 1)

穷人家2(Poor family 2)

穷人家3(Poor family 3)

The Indonesian Gini coefficient is around 0.33, which is lower than many Chinese cities. But the wealth inequality is much more obvious than that in China.

In TG Pinang, a maid’s (domesitc worker) salary ranges from 30 to 60 Singapore dollar(S$). (US$20 ~40) Much lower than that in China. A man working in a factory can bring home S$100 every month. An experienced degree holder can earn S$400 to S$1000 a month.

表面看印尼的贫富差距比中国要明显，虽然它的基尼指数跟中国比并不高。

TG Pinang是位于明丹岛（Bintan Island）上的一个镇。明丹岛的面积两倍于新加坡。它有很漂亮的海滩，也有一个很不错的度假村和高尔夫球场。不过我这一次没有去。

TG Pinang sits in the south of the Bintan island. It has some beautiful beaches and a nice resort.