Random Thoughts on China

Well I've been here several days now, and it is starting to sink in. Several themes are appearing in our interactions with the people and place that is China.
The overarching narrative of the country seems to be its desire to prove it is the equal of the Western world. The rush to modernize, to build, to drive, to move forward, and the urgency with which this is taking place, all suggest that China wants to be seen as a modern nation. I haven't seen this much construction in one place since I was a kid in Houston. Everywhere you turn there are bulldozed hutongs, vacant lots full of rubble, waiting to be transformed into another high-rise apartment building. Cranes hover over the city like some giant orange robots, reminiscent of the old Erector sets. The traffic reminds me of Houston in the early 70's when the freeways were 3 lanes wide; everybody weaved in and out, trying to maintain that break-neck speed of a city on the move.

But what is different than the West is that in the rush to prove they are our equals, they forget to pay attention to the details. Several examples: the beautiful plantings along the freeway - they are gorgeous, and really add a nice touch, but the grass between the plantings is long and weedy. The Ethnic Cultures museum today - wonderfully exquisite clothing and cultural relics, but a floor outlet was shut with tape, and the electrical fuse box in each room had to be used to turn on the lights.

Although the halls of the school we toured a couple of days go were freshly painted, and they had marble window sills and beautiful woodwork, a large streak of paint was not cleaned off of a lampshade on one of the chandeliers in the entry way.
There are myriad other examples I have seen, and I am not sure why it is like this. Are they so used to poor conditions that even a little better is something to be joyful about? I guess the majority have never been to a Western country, and don't realize how seedy China looks in comparison. But as they catch up to us, and more people travel abroad, I am sure that will change.

The other main theme is the extraordinary degree of government control over information. I came face to face with it when my VPN was out and I couldn't get anywhere I wanted to go on the Internet. We also hear it daily in our lectures: the government is always right; they want the best for us, the people. Do these people really believe this? Only one lecturer has been even a little critical of the government, and she was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. But then I remember my Internet experience, and realize - if there is only one source of information, what else would you know? The government controls school textbooks, TV, radio, newspapers, the Internet. If they don't want you to know it, you won't. So when you ask a question in the lecture, you get the government line. It's been frustrating at times - what will happen when there are the 33 million men who can't find wives, because of the preference for male children and sex-selective abortion? "That's a problem but the government will have a plan." Since rural young people are moving to cities, where will China get the labor and food to feed it's people in the coming years? "the government has a plan..."

The lecturers talk about the freedoms the people of China have, including the freedom to worship as they please. And then we see this at the Ethnic Cultures Museum today:






So you had better cooperate with the government, and adapt your religion to their goals, or you're out. But it doesn't seem to sink in with our Chinese friends that this is what the statement means.

That's all the blogging for tonight. It's 10:30, and we have a long day tomorrow. I will try to post pics after I am clean, but it may be tomorrow before I get any up.
be safe,
rem