Chinalogue Epilogue

A few more thoughts: it is quite amazing how steeped in symbolism the Chinese are. Let's talk numbers. Note the 2008 Olympics begin on August 8, 2008. Apparently numbers are huge in China. Thus, the lucky number 8-8-8 was chosen for the beginning of the games; they had to get a waiver to start the games on that date. The number eight is extremely prized, with a wealthy Chinese businessman having paid millions of Yuan for a license number with all eights.

One sees it too even in names of restaurants in the US with numbers in them--Three Happiness, Three Harmony, Sixty Five Asian, Nine Restaurant, etc. What you will not see is the number four. That is anathema. I did not see one auto with a number four at the end.

Next of course is the reverence to animals, real and mythological. From the ever present dragon to the ferocious beast that cannot defecate--no doubt the source of the joke about the meanest animal in the world. So much of daily life seems to be hinged on numbers and animals or beasts.

Every important building has a menagerie on the roof; the building's importance is denoted by the number of carved animals following the emperor. Only the emperor's residences may have as many as eleven figures--under penalty of death, or worse. There, the melding of animals and numbers.

To a lesser degree is the importance of color. Everyone is familiar with the brilliant reds in the society. I understand that only the emperor could wear or display yellow. Buddhism is supposed to be the most prominent religion and we all know about the saffron colored robes.

And then, there are flowers. As Portland is to the rose, Beijing is the magnolia. All sorts of flowers are significant.

Fellow rhino expeditioner who suggested "-logue" said she would not like to be among the masses of people in China. Well folks, this cannot be avoided. Bear in mind that the Chinese walk they way they drive. There is constant jostling no matter where one goes. There is no right or left lane. Physical contact is inescapable. The paranoid would have to constantly be feeling for their billfold.

Furthermore, we were advised by our guides to never carry our passport and to carry a minimum amount of money. Of course no one had an incident among our group. China is not the place to get away from it all.

Our Guides: they reminded me of the pre-perestroika Soviet Union. They seemed to emphasize the extremes--the largest KFC in the world, a three story fat producing edifice. Three Gorges Dam. The Pearl of Orient, the highest structure in the world that is a communications tower in Shanghai containing the most expensive hotel room in the world (more than Dubai?). The tallest building in the world under construction.

All of this seeming to emphasize "The New China." That phrase was used over and over again. Of course New China also means one child per couple. Our guide in Xian, a beautiful young woman of 31 who looked to be 21, spent a lot of time rationalizing the wisdom of that governmental decree. She seemed very distressed that her mother-in-law hated and blamed her because her one and only child is a girl. We all volunteered to instruct her in X and Y genes.

Nevertheless, there are loopholes in everything. The wealthy can buy the right to have more than one child. Chinese can have a dog in the city, not more than 35 centimeters, for a heavy, heavy price relative to wages. You can have a moped, but the cost is so prohibitive that a car would make more sense.

All our guides and experts have English names. We tried valiantly to get Chinese equivalents, but there was none. They just picked names they liked. Robert, Ivy, Rose--just anything they liked. There was no transliteration.

Chairman Mao: several days went by before Mao was mentioned in spite of the fact that we often drove past a huge picture across from Tian An Men at the exit of The Forbidden City. Finally. The Cultural Revolution (never mentioned explicitly) was put down to Mao having grown old. End of discussion. Significantly, there was never any other evidence of The Chairman (other than my wagging arm watch). And of course there was no mention ever of Tibet, the demonstrations at TAM, and, except for the Taipei 101, no mention of Taiwan.

Chinalogue, April 2008

Ni Hao everyone.

We arrived home on Sunday night, April 27; we were en route, door-to-door, for about 30 hours. Perhaps all trips home are more painful than the reverse. We flew from San Francisco to Beijing, then to Xian and ended up in Shanghai.

BEIJING
The new air terminal was finished in April and it is beautiful. There is a vast system of freeways, but never mind, at 10pm on a Sunday night it took almost two hours to make it to town--bumper to bumper, stop and go all the way.

If you have seen Soviet architecture in Eastern Europe, you have seen Maoist architecture in Beijing. Each of these buildings is pock marked with outside air conditioners It consists of thousands and thousands of boring rectangular 25-story apartment buildings. The construction goes on 24/7--there seems to be no end in sight.

Olympic preparations has apparently transformed the city in many ways. Later I will post pictures to my Picasa site, but I will also attach one photo I took in the Beijing airport that displays China's insistence on hitting gold. Otherwise, here are some measures taken by the government: factories will be closed for at least two months to cut down on pollution. Coal burning has been banned. Mopeds are banned. Licenses for electric bikes are extremely expensive. It appears to me that bicycles have been limited (based on the numbers seen in Shanghai).

Our guide told us that there are numerous commercials on tv each day asking (ordering?) citizens to be polite and considerate to tourists and guests--and stop spitting!! This seems to have been working (unlike Shanghai). The streets are constantly swept with motorized and traditional cleaning (with brooms).

We went to the usual tourist haunts: Forbidden City, Ming Tombs, Temple of Heaven, Great Wall, Tian An Men Square, Summer Palace. We also had a fascinating tour of a Hutong which included a harrowing rickshaw ride through narrow streets (alleys). Perhaps the highlight was having lunch with a family in the Hutong. A wonderfully charming older couple and a great meal.

Most of the Hutongs have been demolished. Those that remain have been walled and fixed up for the Olympics--they are rather quaint. Those that have not been restored look pretty wretched, but they are not along the usual tourist routes.

Anti pollution measures have helped a lot it seems. But what saved us was some rain followed by strong winds. The city was as clean as any place whilst we were there. Our guide told us that reforestation that has gone on for quite a while has apparently helped and for the first time for years there were no dust storms. A government English language newspaper suggested that there is no pollution but they have to take measure because of the CO2 created by the Olympics. So they will alternate day bans on motor vehicles during the Olympics.

We were only able to drive by the Olympic stadium (The Birds Nest).

For some reason, all our guides inflated population numbers, at least based on numbers I have dug up on the Internet. We were given these numbers: Beijing, 17 million; Xian, 7 million; Shanghai 20 million. I think we were told that Beijing increases by 1000 per day--or was that autos? Maybe they know better because with those numbers it could be possible--and you cannot keep them down on the farm.

Our guide in Xian asked us to guess the most popular religions. I know Confucianism is not a religion, but I have always understood that it is the most pervasive belief system in China--I was quickly upbraided by the guide that it is a philosophy. Maybe I was politically incorrect. On the return trip we sat next to a young Chinese woman living in the US whose father is a Baptist minister. She allowed as how all her family in China are pretty much closet Christians. Otherwise, it seems that Buddhism and Taoism are one and two--but it did not seem as though the government is thrilled with that--opiate of the masses and all.

XIAN
Our favorite city. Much more pollution than Beijing but the same kind of traffic jams. I swear that we must have spent most of our time on buses going hither and yon. Here, freeways were swept by an army of whisk broom folks. Nevertheless the people have a joie de vivre that is superior to Beijing and Shanghai. Perhaps having no more than two million people more than all of Cook County, Illinois makes people a little less up tight--but not the drivers.

The Terracotta warriors was an amazing experience. We also went to the Big Wild Goose (Buddhist) Temple. There was also an ancient (Banpo) 6000 year old excavated village that was pretty fascinating. Finally there is the (not so great) Wall by the same dude who brought you the Great Wall. But it was wonderful. It surrounds the entire city (eight Ks) and is completely walkable or bicyled. It is about five meters wide and nicely restored. It is fronted by a moat. Between the moat and the wall is an unending park. At night the wall is lit up, people congregate there, play badminton, do Tai Chi, exercise, dance, play music and backgammon and anything else you can imagine. There are lots of young people hugging and kissing--all very charming.

Terracotta Army
Shortly after the discovery in 1974, there was a huge exhibit that toured the world. The current tour is much more limited. The Chinese have discontinued excavation until they can figure out how to avoid deterioration of the warriors from exposure. Most of us were unaware that there had been a peasant uprising against the Qin emperor that resulted in the vandalizing and burning of the tomb. Only one warrior was not damaged, and it is now a Chinese national treasure--The Archer. All the pieces one sees now are those that have been restored; the restorations continue.

We were also unaware how colorful they are. Each figure had been clothed and painted. Exposure to air had eradicated the color. One can see the original colors in photos at the site; no color is discernible except in pictures taken at first exposure. Note that this photo is of a replica; the original is under glass and it is difficult to capture--I will try some photo editing tools to add or replace this one.

SHANGHAI
Oy, what pollution--they are champs. The drivers are nuttier, the jams are worse and the weather is a lot warmer. There are not as many ancient sites, but what a remarkable city. We did go on a night time boat ride on the Hangpu River (tributary of the Yangtze near the South China Sea). The tour company wanted us to go to a Cirque du Soleil type show but we refused. Fortunately our tour guide realized there was no way and we got great seats on a boat. We did not have to wait the two hours she promised we would endure.


Shanghai makes Las Vegas look like Peoria. Everything is lit up in neon. Some buildings are entirely covered by a jumbo trons with pictures of Mona Lisa or moving pictures or whatever. Two buildings side by side seem to compete. Every building seems to feel it must be lit. It is garish and spectacular; it is jaw dropping. They speak of the Bund to be Old China and New China. The former consists of colonial, but spectacular buildings--they are simply modestly lit with flood lights. This is an amazing spectacle.


The Hangpu is a busy shipping route. There are these spectacularly lit tour boats running up and down along side a seemingly endless parade of barges (loaded to the water line with coal) and other cargo carrying ships. These ships and barges float silently, ominously and black blobs along with the garishly decorated tour boats (one a paddle wheel).

PS. Shanghai's Pudong airport seems new and is rather spectacular as well.

FOOD
...uniformly and consistently excellent. Problem is, I do not want to see or think of Chinese food for at least the next year. Every day, two meals a day, the same Chinese food. Dumplings, pork, rice, typical soups, incredible and delicious vegetables, tofu, and every Chinese dish you can name. A couple of special meals with 15 kinds of dumplings, or Peking duck or Mongolian. Every restaurant the same--government approved for tourists. Huge intimate settings for a thousand people. A giant lazy susan in the middle of the table for 12 that is four feet in diameter and weighing at least 50 pounds.

Each table has from two to six servers waiting to spy an empty plate, whereupon they bring another dish to the table. It is not until there is something left on each plate do they then bring slices of orange, or in one case, some delicious ice cream.

Breakfast in hotels was western and uniformly very good.

SHOPPING
Yes. Everywhere. I guess the quid pro quo for the ridiculously cheap cost of the trip is that everywhere we went there was an associated "factory." Silk, silk rugs, jade, pearl, cashmere, cloisonné, Terracotta warrior factory, lacquer--there have been more but I didn't have time to journal because we were so busy every day. Not that they werent interesting, especially the rug weaving and the lacquer factory. Some folks bought thousands of dollars in pearls, jade and silk. Apparently China Airlines does not care much about weight when you leave.

Then of course there are the street merchants. Everywhere there is a tourist bus, there are street merchants. I was most amused that the genuine fake Rolex et al are not contained in a metal suitcase. TIP: if you buy late at night when the bus reaches the hotel "two dolla" becomes "one dolla" or maybe less if you want to haggle some more. A favorite tick is to insist that you shorted them a dollar or so, therefore you must count them out in order to avoid further hassle.

We went to "China Town" where apparently the selling of genuine fake Rolex, Piaget, Omega, etc is banned. So you have to go into an alley with a door where there is something akin to a jewelry store inside. Unfortunately, this upscale venue is very inflated in price. You can also purchase an Osama bin Laden t-shirt but I wanted a watch to pair with my Mao watch but none was available. However I did ask enough merchants that by now there must be some there.

TRAFFIC
I mentioned the jams, but you must know that the Chinese in all three cities have absolutely no regard for their own safety. Imagine taxis and others cutting off these honking tour buses with impunity. They will squeeze into the smallest space with no regard whether the driver is alert enough to slam on the brakes. Traffic lights are routinely ignored and so are those places where there are traffic cops. Pedestrians ignore the lights and will j-walk unless there are barriers preventing it. They also cross the streets without ever looking.

We did find that in those few cases where we ventured into traffic as pedestrians that we were safest walking against the lights. The reason being that if you walked after most of the traffic had passed the intersection there was less likelihood that something would be in your path. If you walked with the light then traffic turning right or left would head right for you and there was no chance they would stop or yield. In fact those turning left would do so without regard to yielding to oncoming traffic--this happened time and again by vehicles as small as Messerschmidt-like three wheelers. Absolutely no fear and no regard. There is no way that I would ever consider driving in China for any reason whatsoever.

Often, our drivers would take up two lanes when turning or exiting otherwise bikes, scooters or other vehicles would just cut them off. Sometimes they would squeeze in despite of a lack of space. I finally decided to sit in the front seat so I could observe the madness--it was wild. My favorite observation would be (usually) a women holding a child's hand, j-walking and waiting in a center lane where all vehicles have no compunction to drive over the line--frightening.

On most streets there had to be jersey barriers so that traffic would not cross over the yellow center line. Also common was vehicles going the wrong way on a one way street. On those very wide streets with four divided lanes, bikes would always drive the wrong way.

HOTELS
All were great and five star. Joy City in Beijing was best. All were spotlessly clean and suite-like. The Hyatt in Xian was a little worn but quite nice as well. The Ambassador in Shanghai was the least pleasant with a musty odor and a barely adequate a/c system. Beijing had no CNN nor could I find it in Shanghai. Xian had it but it was apparently sanitized. There were big demonstrations against Jack Cafferty who apparently insulted the government--death penalty for that in China. All the remotes were in Chinese so it was difficult to negotiate.

MISCELLANEOUS
Alternative medicine in Beijing: read my pulse and prescribed $134 worth of herbs to cool the fire in my liver--I demurred. This took place in one of the nicest buildings in Beijing--all very slick. They were supposed to diagnose on the pulse reading alone but actually asked questions that would make the diagnoses obvious for a person my age.

Foot and neck massage in Beijing--not to be missed, especially after the Great Wall.

Tang Style Dancing in Beijing: Las Vegas show like with dinner at long tables. Kind of interesting especially the drums and instruments and amazing costumes.

Xian: Chinese tea house ceremony.

Great Wall: American expert (Waldron--who even Chinese accept as foremost authority) claims it's really not visible from space.

Summer Palace: a very long corridor is populated with throngs of retirees every day who play games, sing boisterously, dance, play kick birds, do tai chi etc.

China Airlines: except for Shanghai to Beijing, always on time and efficient. Entertainment sucks. Something to eat or drink all the time.

Time: although the distance from east to west is 3100 miles (5200 kilometers), China has one time zone. It would otherwise support at least four time zones (15 degrees per zone). Although not exact, this would mean that sunrise in the western most cities would be at 9am and sunset at about midnight.

Zai Jian.
Hank.

Post Election Trouble In Kenya

Odinga and Kibaki seem to have toned down their rhetoric and seem to have agreed to some sort of accommodation after the elections on December 27, 2007. Now, after 12 days dislocation and fear of violence is still very real.

A friend received this message from a Kenyan artist who deals with her in African art:

Dear N....,

Thanks for praying for us. My family was in Nairobi, I was in Kitale near Eldoret reporting for KBC radio when the violence broke out. The situation is horror terrible. In Nairobi it is calm in the city center but there is tension everywhere. I passed at eldoret yesterday and what Isaw was terrible burnt shops, houses, poeple in their thousands in church compounds without water and food. Along the Nairobi Eldoret road burnt houses, shops, burnt maizefields and hundreds of people walking along the highway in terrible situation. My family is trapped in the outskirts without food and other basics. I cant reach them but am still trying. We are NOT sure whether the situation is going to improve or worsen.

Thanx.

B.......

Earthwatch In Kenya

Earthwatch Press Release:

"There are no Earthwatch volunteers in the field at this time, although research is due to commence in mid-February. The safety of our volunteers is paramount and so we will be watching the situation very closely and making a decision over the next couple of weeks about how to proceed."

http://www.earthwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=dsJSK6PFJnH&b=692025&ct=4894225

Kenya Elections

So much has happened since my first post here. First there were the elections in Kenya. The State Department had warned about going to Kenya during the election season, but we had gone in September--and there were no problems. Kenyans spoke about the impending elections but calmly and confidently, and we offered no opinions.

Unfortunately, a quick inauguration of Kibaki for a second term caused an eruption of what must have been long seething tribal resentments. It happened here as it had happened in Rwanda and Nigeria. The imperialists favored the Ibo in Nigeria, the Tutsi in Rwanda and the Kikuyu in Kenya.

Just three months passed and one of Africa's most promising democracies seems to have fallen apart. But this time something happened where we have friends--people we had just worked with and broken bread with. In some cases we know their tribe because of where they are from or perhaps they proudly had told us their tribal connection.

On our Earthwatch expeditions we met Kikuyu and Luhya, and many, many from the region of Barack Obama's father who are Luo. From our viewpoint no animosity was visible. But oh my, how things have changed. Today I received an email from our Principal Investigator on the black rhino project. I don't know his tribe, but I do know that he fled his home in Eldoret where he is a professor at Moi University. He said that the two homes beside his own were burned. He and his family spent the night "in the cathedral" which obviously was not the one that was burned and where up to 50 people died. He and his family left on a chartered flight to Nairobi.

Our PI from Wamba teaches at Kenyata University near Nairobi. He said that he actually went into town without incident. His "Mum" is fine in Embu. He said the trouble in Nairobi seemed to be confined to the two large slums--Kibera and Mathare. He is Kikuyu and does not expect difficulties. I certainly hope that is the case. Another friend is Luyha from Eldoret but she is visiting in the US. No word on how her family may be getting along.

Another disturbing fact is that recently I read a dispatch from Kenya--long before the election--that contains a sense of outrage that touched on our conservation efforts. It was in the sense that so many of the conservancies are converted farms that were previously owned by Brits who came to Africa to make their fortunes. Many of them failed, some enterprises waned and were then turned into conservancies to capitalize on the huge tourism that is attracted to Kenya.

Perhaps I will update this as things develop in Kenya. But for the moment the more pressing issue is the horrible situation that may get a lot worse. Of course the other amazing event is the fact that Barack Obama, the first African American with a chance to become president of the United States has swamped all competitors in the Iowa caucuses. What an astounding development.

Bobama's father was from the west of Kenya in the Great Lakes Region. But it is south of Eldoret where the worse abuses have happened.

As yet I have not heard from friends in the Lake District. As was true in the Illinois primary for senator of Illinois, Bobama polling was huge. Democratic voters in Iowa were double that of Republicans so it is possible that he out-polled the entire Republican party. In Illinois' primary he received more votes that all the other candidates, Democratic and Republican combined; then he won the senate in a landslide that was probably the biggest margin ever in an Illinois federal election.

So here we are at what I had hoped would be my light hearted journal about this trip to Kenya on an Earthwatch expedition working to help scientists in an effort to save black rhinos and I start out with the outrageous story of Bush torture, and now this about Kenyan elections. There is just a little good news in that maybe now we can elect a woman or an African American. What an accomplishment that would be. Chances are better now that Bush is no longer governor of Florida and Diebold seems to have been drummed out of Ohio.

I will forge ahead anyway.

Excelsior!!