New Pictures!

Two new sets of pictures are now up:

Recent Beijing Pictures
Summer Palace Pictures

You Know You’ve Been In Beijing For a Long Time When…

I’m not really going to make one of these lists. I am going to point out one item that I noticed today as being particularly true:

“You know you’ve been in Beijing for a long time when you start to think, ‘wow, there are so many trees here.’”

This thought has occurred to me before, but I started thinking about it today because on two separate occasions I caught myself smiling at how nice the trees were, when in fact I was merely looking at small gardens on the side of the road that barely provide enough shade for a decent nap.

My first feeling of respite from the concrete jungle came on the way home from the Olympic area. I was alone with the cab driver when I saw a mule hauling a cart of watermelons along the side of the road. For a brief moment, Beijing almost looked like a country village: A farmer, under the shade of the road-lining trees, was bringing his produce to the market. The traffic and construction almost faded into the obscurity of the smog. Out of sight, out of mind.

The second incidence of arboreal bliss occurred on the way to the Summer Palace. This time, I pointed out that it was strange to think about how nice the trees are in Beijing. I was surprised when my companions remarked that they had just had the same thought.

The truly bizarre thing about Beijing’s greenery is that it is all artificial. As the capital city of the Chinese Empire, Beijing was not only a thriving economic and cultural center, but also the home turf of the imperial family and elite officials. The dual nature of the city means that in addition to huge centers of commerce, there are also enormous pleasure gardens, palaces and temples that are now generally open to the public.

The largest of these pleasure gardens is undoubtedly the Summer Palace. It is located about thirty minutes from the Forbidden City, and at the end of the Empire it was the playground of royalty. Incidentally, it was a monumental waste of money and a living proof that pleasure has its price: after the Summer palace was destroyed By the British and French in 1860, it was rebuilt for the Empress Dowager Cixi in 1888 with money that was intended to pay for China’s navy. Instead of Battleships, China got a few stationary stone boats on an artificial pond that was, at the time, the private resort of the Empress. In addition to the cash, the Chinese paid for the Summer palace by losing significant territory to the Russians and Japanese a few years later on account of their inferior navy. This is not to mention the fact that while the Empress Dowager whiled away her time in her garden, Sun Yat-Sen and Chiang Kai-Shek were at work bringing down the Empire.

Nevertheless, with enough money to buy a navy, an Empress can build a truly impressive imitation of nature. According to an over-enthusiastic guide who couldn’t tell foreign tourists apart from foreigners who live in Beijing, we needed a guide because the Summer Palace is “four-times the size of the Forbidden City.” She forgot to mention that about three-quarters of it is water, and that there is only one main road around the park. I offered her my services as a guide, but she wasn’t enthusiastic.

Inside the park, the synthetic nature is apparent. The grass is clearly frequently re-planted, and the trees are labeled with plaques that read “古树” or “ancient tree” followed by a number. In theory, the different areas of the park represent architecture and landscape from different parts of China. I don’t doubt that this was the original intent. However, now that Beijing is really a melting pot of people and artifacts from China’s regions, the park’s design variations are barely noticeable. If anything, the Summer Palace truly represents the diversity of the city.

That said, I can understand why Cixi forwent a navy to build herself a garden. In spite of the overwhelming unreality of the place, it’s nice to visit the Summer palace and pretend to be back in nature. There are trees and flowers, water and grass. Instead of reeking of pollution and yesterday’s leftovers, there is a leafy flavor that hangs in the air. And, if you manage to find a secluded corner, it is even possible to go about thirty seconds without seeing or hearing another person.

Beijing’s true nature is humanity—raw life lived every day by people who have no choice but to keep living it. The city never rests. You can feel its tired breath blowing through the Hutongs in panting heaves. The dust that blows through from the cancerous lungs of the factories that have been moved somewhere out of sight is a constant reminder that the city is alive with humanity’s creations.

The parks are also evidence of human production. Yet they are the mirror image of the crowded city streets. The fact that within the walls of the Summer Palace exists a whole world of “nature” that is packed daily with people shows that people seek nature. We seek earth that lives and breathes without daily human resuscitation.

Beijing’s parks may be false, but they are sincere. They are a true effort to create a place in a man-made world that proves man’s place in the world. Ancient trees provide perspective on your own life, and open spaces provide perspective on the scope of your own influence in the world.

And you don’t need an over-ambitious guide to tell you that.

First Installment

Here's a new fun exercise that I'm sure you all will appreciate: Some Chinese prose...get out your on-line translators and have fun!

Actually, this is going to be the first installment in a long piece about our trip to the south. Qu lei, my traveling companion, friend and sometimes-teacher requested that I write about our trip.

I am calling it "nanyouji." This title is a pun on the very famous Ming novel "Xiyouji" or Journey to the West (also called Monkey in the most famous translation). If you don't understand it, have no fear! I plan to post in English later today. Hopefully I will also have some more photos to show you all.

南游记

对中国来说，五月一日是国际劳动节。因为中国是个社会主义的国家，所以它的“国际”只表示世界上的社会主义的国家。于是，西方人都不了解中国的所谓国际节日。除了五一黄金周之外，中国还有“国际儿童节”，“三八国际妇女节”，什么的。不过来到中国之前我从来没听说这些节日，当我开始了我的实习以后才听到很多人商量他们的“五一”的安排。
实际
上，五一不单是一个节日，而且还是一个假期。从五月一日至五月七日，人们放假。一部分人待在家里休息，但是大部分的人去外地旅游。因为我们都想去中国的所有的地方看一看，所以我们打算去南方。我们的一个朋友，Virginie，一个法国女孩听说过一些有意思的地方：南宁，北海，微洲岛，和桂林。这些地方的风景据说都特别漂亮。

去那四个地方旅行并不是一个很好的安排，因为在一个星期中不可能去那么多不同的地方。原来，我们认为不应该整个星期一直待在一个地放，所以决定去四个地方。问题就是这样：这些地方都于在中国的南方离北京很遥远，但是这四个地方也互相离得不很近，所以我们不想在路上花很多时间。于是我就买了飞机票。

买了我的票三，四天以后，另外几个人又决定跟我们一起去，但是他们不要买那么贵的飞机票，所以他们就买了火车票。因为火车票比飞机票便宜得多，所以我也换了票。那是我的第一个错误。因为我们的火车票是硬座的，所以它肯定便宜。

当过节日的时候，中国的每个火车都挤满了人。在过节的一个星期以前，卧铺票已经买不到了，买到了硬座票的第二天就什么票都买不到了。当我们的有的朋友决定跟我们一起去的时候已经买不到火车票，所以去不了。我们的车箱里人山人海，就像沙丁鱼罐头一样。除了坐硬座的人之外车里还有很多的无座的乘客，他们真正体会到了“痛苦”的感觉！但是硬座也特别不舒服。27小时以后我的身体完全疼了，肚子也饿了，脑子也疯了。我们终于到了南宁，我真的羡慕我的坐飞机的朋友，虽然她们花了很多钱，但是她们不必坐那列无聊的火车。

下了车以后，我很高兴地发现中国的南方确实很好玩。天气特别不错——比北京，南宁的空气没有污染，温度也很舒服。然而南宁是个很小的城市。到宾馆以后我们先洗了澡，然后去了夜市，那儿可以吃到各种各样的特色菜。我们在车上差一点饿死了，所以在这个地方我们吃了很多不同的东西。


UPDATE:

Okay, I just ran this through the translator on www.dictionary.com--I highly recommend that you do the same. You will understand what it says for the most part, and it is also really funny. Enjoy!

仁者见仁智者不见智

Which roughly translates as "People from different backgrounds see things differently."

I know I spend a lot of time talking about cultural differences, racism, and equality. Usually these themes are related to the, occasionally strained, relationship between Westerners and Chinese. I'm sure I could talk about that area of expat life for hours. I am even trying to exploit it in order to make some money.

What sometimes goes unnoticed, though, is the occasionally strained relationships between people from the same country.

Of course, I am specifically talking about things that go unnoticed by travelers and expats. At home it is impossible to miss the tensions between people from different parts of the country. It's easy enough to see tensions between people from similar areas. No self-respecting Bostonian will talk about New York without some grief--even if it is just about baseball. But, to be fair, conflicts have been started over lesser things than the World Series.

China is a country full of people with stereotypes ready and waiting for action. There is a stereotype for every type of person whether they are foreigners or Chinese. Not all of them are bad, and to a certain extent they are taken with a grain of salt.

For example: People from Shandong are all good Chinese. People from Henan are all clever. People from Fujian are all traders who want to rip you off. People from Sichuan are all beautiful.

The list goes on.

The fact of the matter is that China is just such a big country that there would be no way to remember facts about different places without such stereotypes. They are not useless. In fact, everyone from Sichuan is probably not good looking, but they garner the reputation because of the climate. Therefore, if you think "everyone from Sichuan is good-looking," then you might remember that they are good-looking because they live at a high altitude where the air is dry and clean, and they have a lot of exposure to the outdoors. I don't know if this is true or not, but stereotypes are essentially a mnemonic. That's what I learned in class anyway.

In real life, I just learned that people don't know what the rest of China is like, and they form their opinions based on hearsay and the media... sound familiar?

So here's a story:

My good friend Meike took a weekend trip to Guangzhou (against all of my good advice--Traveling that much for a weekend is simply unnecessary). When she returned, she had to take the 40 minute cab ride from the airport to her apartment. Being the ambitious Chinese student that she is, she got into a conversation with the cab driver.

Meike is not very good at Chinese because she has only been studying for two months. I don't know what the topic of her conversation was, but from the cab driver's point of view it was probably this: "Pretty blond girl who wants to try to get better at Chinese. All sexy foreigners are easy." From Meike's point of view it was probably "boy, it's great that this cab driver is patient and helpful while I'm trying to speak Chinese."

So, the cab driver told Meike, "我喜欢你." Which means, "I like you." Not understanding that this was a come-on, Meike responded, "I like you too." Clearly this was an invitation for the cab driver to try to kiss the pretty blond girl.

Mainly I wanted to tell that story because it's funny. However, the point is yet to come:

Tonight I went with Meike to shop for Chinese tchotchkies for her to bring home as gifts. We ended up going to a tea shop because buying tchotchkies is in fact quite tedious and tea makes a good gift as well.

Unfortunately for Meike, I like talking to Chinese people about culture. I got into a conversation with the shop attendant, and I told her Meike's story about the cab ride.

She couldn’t believe that the cab driver in question was from Beijing. She thought that I was talking about a cab driver in Guangzhou, and when I made it explicit, she still wasn’t convinced that I was telling the truth. On one hand she was disbelieving, and on the other hand I think she was disappointed. As she put it, Guangzhou is a mess of a city where people come from all kinds of different places, and you can expect problems when you go there. Beijing cab drivers are all from around Beijing, so they should all be good people.

Her locational bias was followed by an explanation that really showed how stereotyping works. Although all Beijingers are good, they have their doubts about people from out of town. This probably explains why the cab driver acted out of character towards Meike. Apparently cab drivers also rip off unsuspecting Chinese who come to the city from the countryside because the “hicks” don’t know what to expect in the city.

So the bottom line is that biases run in every direction. My new theory, though, is that biases really form in layers—not like an onion—but more like layers of winter clothes on a January day in Hanover (to be more colorful). At the outset, we all wear many layers. When one stereotype is not useful anymore, we discard it and try the next layer. If that layer is too strong, then we go down to the next one, and so on until we are naked. Because when we are naked we have no more stereotypes to rely on—no more layers to provide comfort. We must form our own opinions based on the real experiences and information at hand. It’s not always comfortable, but it forces us to generate internal convictions that can be useful in any environment.

It's my Birthday and I can drink if I want to

So it's a little bit of an anticlimax to have your 21st birthday outside of the United States. We had a big party on Friday, and a little get-together last night. All were fun.

It will be pretty ironic to get back to the US and not be able to drink because my license will be expired.

The Post You've All Been Waiting For

Alright, so I'm finally going to write a little bit about my vacation. I have arrived at the decision to write this post based on the fact that over the weekend I finally got around to posting pictures.

SO, first, I want to talk about the difference between Chinese tourism and Western tourism.

We often talk about how bad it is to make broad cultural generalizations. You're not supposed to say "Chinese people are all this way" or "French people are all like this." However, there are some cases where these stereotypes are very true. There is definitely a Chinese style of tourism, and it is very different from Western Tourism.

Paul Theroux aptly describes Chinese tourism as a type of pilgrimage. I don't know if he's correct about Chinese enjoying crowded places, but Chinese tourists definitely like to go to places that are well known for tourism. If a destination is well known, then you can be sure that there will be tons of Chinese tourists there. They don't go to experience a place, they go just to take a look and say that they've been there. Or, if there is some activity associated with the attraction, then they go to participate in that activity--at any cost.

The cost is sometimes a fortune in hard currency, and sometimes a more physical struggle. The problem, of course, is that Chinese don't generally have a lot of money, so corners must be cut in order to save.

Therefore, we took a hard-seat train to Nanning. Twenty-seven hours sitting in cramped quarters surrounded by people who either can't afford or missed their chance to buy a seat at all is not the ideal way to travel. We left Beijing in high spirits and arrived in Nanning unhappy, sore and only semi-sane. The worst part was that there was nothing to do in Nanning, and the friends we were supposed to meet had already moved on to greener pastures.

Unfortunately, we were traveling Chinese style, and half of our party really wanted to go to Weizhou island. This was unfortunate because there is absolutely nothing to do in Weizhou. We already knew that the weather was going to be lousy and that the conditions were not great, but by god it's a tourist attraction! It's as beautiful as Hawaii! You can enjoy the local cuisine! Swim in the clear water!

Well, the brochure did describe Hawaii pretty well, but Weizhou is nothing like Oahu. It's mainly a fishing town, and the interior of the island is blanketed by banana farms. They are even less interesting to look at than the Banana plantations of Hawaii because the farms operate the same as all Chinese farms: small plots are farmed by individual families. Everything about the place is extremely average except for the tourism industry which is extremely sub-par.

As we had nothing to do there for two days, we decided to cave in and spend the RMB 150/person to try scuba diving. I don't know that much about diving, but I know when something is fishy (so to speak). I was handed a wet-suit that would have fit three of me, and some kind of water shoes instead of fins. When I tried to explain that A suit that large would not actually work properly, the 12-year-old in charge of equipment just said "it doesn't matter." Thanks. The "instructors" also had a hard time believing that fins would be a useful piece of equipment. They are probably used to dealing with Chinese people who don't know how to swim.

After being outfitted, we should have known that we were in for a ride. We went along with it, though, because we weren't going very far away from shore. Things only got more ridiculous once we got in the water, though. The Chinese method of "teaching" was to sneak up behind the guests and push them under water. We also weren't allowed to let go of our "instructor."

We finally made it out to the coral by being dragged. Too bad that for all that work, we only got to see a fish and a bunch of dead coral that the very thoughtful guides ripped out of the sand to show us. We got a great look at a destroyed eco-system--thanks to the wonders of Chinese tourism.

***

Luckily, even the Chinese friends I was with realized that the situation in Weizhou was less than ideal. When we finally got off the island, we high-tailed it up to Yangshuo to meet our friends. They had stayed in the same town all week and were having a great time. Yangshuo is well-equiped for Western tourism. From a number of agencies in the town, you can arrange tours on the river, through the mountains and into the farmland. There is world-class rock-climbing with well qualified guides, and plenty of other safe and fun ways to enjoy the small rural town, which has a surprising number of restaurants and bars for a town in the middle of nowhere. The three days we spent in Yangshuo were the only real vacation we had all week.

And the cultural difference in tourism is real. Pierre and I stayed in Yangshuo with our other Western friends, but our Chinese companions fled back to Guilin to see the more well-known sites. They spent another 2 days waiting in crowds and staring at rocks with names, while we spent 2 days relaxing and enjoying nature.

I'm not allowed to say that one style of tourism is better than another, but Western tourism is certainly more pleasant. We may spend a lot of money on vacation, but it gives us the chance to relax and enjoy our time off. Chinese tourism involves to much hustle and too much argument--Things that can easily be found without leaving home and normal life.

Golden Week

In a week off from work, I took the opportunity to travel to the South for the first time. It was grueling, but I have a few things that I do want to write about. I Promise to get on that soon. For now, here's a picture of a hotel that I didn't stay in one night.

On Politics Again

I want to take a minute to talk about politics before I start writing about vacation.

I don't understand what is wrong with the USA. I can't tell if it's the government that keeps causing problems or if it's the people who don't understand the problems who keep causing problems in a truly viscious self-perpetuating cycle.

I have been thinking a lot about Darfur in particular. Today I read about it again in an article from the Boston Globe that must be a few weeks old now (thanks Papa):

"A particularly contentious cause centers on China's support of Sudan as fighting continues in that African nation's devastated Darfur region. Sudan's biggest ally is China, which buys some two-thirds of Sudan's oil. U.S. speed skater Joey Cheek is recruiting athletes to use the 2008 olympics to pressure China to take more action to end the fighting in Darfur."

The way I see it, there are three problems here. One is that there are terrible things going on in Darfur. Two is that the countries with the ability to intervene, China and US in particular, choose to do nothing about it. Three is that a speed skater is taking it on himself to decide who is at fault and how to handle the situation. I have nothing against speed skaters, and Mr. Cheek might be a very intelligent man, but I don't think that a group of athletes will be taken very seriously when they "rally" against China.

I don't feel that I can talk about the actual situation in Sudan because I'm not too sure about it. What worries me most is the reactions of China and America. This situation looks a lot like the Haulocaust. For years, the allies were completely aware of Hitler's plans to execute Jews, but every country tried to wait out the atrocities so that they could avoid getting involved in a war.

Okay, so I can understand not wanting to get involved in a war. I mean, it would be a pretty bad idea for anyone to send soldiers someplace where they might get killed over something that has nothing to do with their own country...

Oh, wait. We're already doing that in the Middle East. Huh, I almost forgot. The only thing is that in the Mid-East we're not worried about what China thinks because they're not getting involved. After all, they can get their oil from Sudan so they don't need Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. American soldiers can freely kill and be killed over there because there's less threat of a real war with a powerful enemy that could have some impact on the prestige that the US holds internationally. Interesting.

So if you pay attention to the situation, it really makes no sense for an American ice skater to point out China as the enemy. In fact, China is not doing anything worse in this situation than the US. Sure, China buys oil from Sudan, but that's not really any different from the US buying oil from nations that have better relations with Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq than they do with the US. We fuel our own war. If these athlete-activists want to make a statement, then they shouldn't target China--a country that is not really interested in fighting anyone at the moment--they should target the US and Sudan itself.

I'm all in favor of activism, but to be effective, activists need to choose the right targets. You can hold up a sign in front of millions of people, but if none of them are listening, then you've wasted your time and effort, ink and paper.

I want to see something change in Darfur. Ideally, I would like America and China to agree to try to put an end to the senseless violence there. Hopefully, someone other than the US will lead the charge because I don't want another endless engagement like the Mid-East situation. Mainly though, I don't want textbooks in fifty years to say that tens of millions of people were killed and everyone sat by and watched. Especially not if those same textbooks (probably published in Texas) also say how heroic the US army was when it finally landed at Normandy...

But mainly my complaint is against activists who don't choose their battle fields well. The Beijing Olympics is not the place to protest a war in Africa. Even the idiots ranting about "Free Tibet" are closer to the mark in this case (at least they have proven that they know Tibet belongs to China). I hope China will do something to end the Darfur problems, but I hope that the entire international community will do something about that. China should not be held accountable for a problem that many nations have the capacity to involve themselves in.

Hard Traveling

I've been havin' some hard travelin', I thought you knowed
I've been havin' some hard travelin', way down the road
I've been havin' some hard travelin', hard ramblin', hard gamblin'
I've been havin' some hard travelin', lord
-Woody Guthrie

Beijing to Nanning- 27 hours (train, hard seats)
Nanning to Beihai- 3 hours (bus, no leg room)
Beihai to Weizhou- 3 hours (slow Boat)
Weizhou to Beihai- 1.5 hours (fast boat)
Beihai to Guilin- 7 hours (midnight bus)
Guilin to Yangshuo- 3 hours (small boat plus small bus)
Yangshuo to Longsheng to Yangshuo- 8 hours round trip (small bus)
Yangshuo to Guilin- 1.5 hours (bus)
Guilin to Beijing- 27 hours (train, hard sleeper)

Total time in transportation over the last week= 81 hours
Total hours of vacation= 216
Hours spent asleep= 72
Hours spent asleep in transportation= 20

Time not spent in transportation or sleeping= 83

In other words, in one week off I had 3 and a half days of vacation. Trains and buses are cheap and they get you where you want to go, but I think that planes are really the way to travel.