Back in the U. S. of A.

"The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land;it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land."- G. K. Chesterton
"Sailing round the world in a dirty gondola oh, to be back in the land of Coca-Cola!"- Bob Dylan
"It is far easier to travel than to write about it."- David Livingstone

Once again I am back in the USA; a two-month sojourn among family, friends and familiar places. Since I have been unable to access Blogspot, this entry will be an arbitrary recap, primarily through pictures, of my recent months in Yiwu, China.
I have enjoyed my teaching situation at the college, both the schedule and the students. My work week consisted of ten teaching hours spread out over 6 classes. Not too strenuous. Since I am teaching oral English, I have had the opportunity to select a variety of topics for the students to expound upon: What is more important, freedom or security? How do you think the rest of the world views China? How has China changed in the last 50 years? What is the ideal life? Etc… Typically I only comment on their grammar and pronunciation, but it allows me a unique and fascinating view into the student’s values and perspectives.
When I am not working, my time is spent at home, socializing or wandering the streets. At home I am usually on the computer; emailing, watching movies or surfing the web. My social outings are usually with other teachers or students, and each interaction subtly deepens my understanding of the culture and people. When I aimlessly wander, there is a constant barrage of sights, sounds and aromas. Maybe there are in the West as well, but prolonged exposure has relegated them to a less conscious awareness on my part. Whereas here, people working, children playing, vendors, shops…. All possess an arresting quality.
Yiwu is the largest small commodity city in the world, and the business of buying and selling is evidenced everywhere. The actual commodity market itself is made up of about 60,000 small shops selling everything imaginable.
I have had the chance to take a few short trips. The first was when one of my classes asked me to join them on a school-sponsored camping trip. It turns out that ‘camping’ is a relative term. Expecting tents and a campfire, I found myself on an outward-bound type of adventure, Dressed in army fatigues, we crossed rope bridges, scaled climbing walls, and navigated through a variety of obstacles and challenges.
I spent a few days in Huang Shan (Yellow Mountain). These are the craggy peaks one often sees depicted on the walls of Chinese restaurants. Instead of an earthen trail, steps are carved into stone. There are hotels to stay at on top of the mountain, and their supplies are carried in by porters. Tough job.
I also spent a couple of days in Hangzhou with some of my students, and have had a variety of day trips with students or other teachers.
Enjoy the pictures!

Can't Get Through

A wise man distrusts his neighbor. A wiser man distrusts both his neighbor and himself. The wisest man of all distrusts his government. –“The Devil’s Advocate”
If we are allowed to stay free, we must see to it that the right to bear computers becomes as inalienable as the constitutional guarantees of free speech and a free press. -Timothy Leary
Anybody there?
It’s been awhile since my last blog, but I’m still alive and well in the People’s Republic of China. Nothing extraordinary to relate, but it is often the accumulation of smaller things that make up a life.
I am writing this blog on the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. When you can actually read it, well, that’s a different story.* To mute discussions of this event, the Chinese government has blocked a variety of websites including BlogSpot, Hotmail, Twitter and Flickr.
The emphasis of this shutdown seems to be on communication, rather than information. I can still access Google, and read the articles about Tiananmen that are circulating in the western press. The government’s primary concern seems to be that people will engage in active communication and dialogue.
The media in China (television, newspapers, radio) is either State-run or State-controlled. And the Party line has been to ignore the anniversary.
Sounds grim, doesn’t it? But it doesn’t feel grim, and that is the insidiousness of the situation.
Bear with me as I offer my own analysis, keeping in mind that I am limited by scope of my experience.
Today, 20 years after Tiananmen, China is in a different position, both economically and in its relationship with the international world. There is more freedom for the average citizen and more prosperity (relatively speaking) across the country. Thus the severities of the conditions that led to the ’89 protests have lessened. This has resulted in an illusion of freedom without really changing the structural core.
Have you read the book, The Devil’s Advocate? This is not the movie with Keanu Reeves, but a much earlier manuscript written by novelist Taylor Caldwell. It takes place in an America that has evolved into a land without freedom. The people are oppressed, but they are not oppressed quite so much that they are willing to challenge the government. Freedom-loving rebels do not have the numbers for open rebellion, so they work their way into high positions within the system. In their positions of power, they act not to increase freedom but to make the oppression even more unbearable. Eventually, the population rebels and overthrows the government.
In my estimation, the people of China have been given a larger cage. The standard of living has increased, and most of today’s youth are apolitical. They are more concerned with finding a high-paying job than about their degree of freedom. Of course, maybe they are not so much apathetic as they are calculating. It is possible that they have decided the risks of protest are not worth taking. It is possible, but I still lean towards explanation number one.
I think that the young people of China today feel freer than they truly are, and that a bit of the Emperor’s New Clothes phenomena helps to keep that feeling in place. There is also a sense of innocence and naiveté.
At the other end of the spectrum, I look at elderly faces around me and can only imagine what things they have lived through. The cultural revolution, the Great Leap Forward…. Innocence was not a luxury given to this generation in China.
But China has been evolving as a social and political entity for a long, long time. As a newcomer to this country, it is hard to decipher what conditions are blips in time, and which are deeper manifestations of the cultural psyche.
The world as a whole is also evolving. Whether it is embraced or resisted, communication technology is impacting the globe socially, politically and economically. Ultimately, as China’s population becomes increasingly well-informed, it will be the people themselves who determine if freedom is important. They will also have to determine how high a price they are willing to pay for it.
I find the psychological pulse here very interesting, but also very resistant to a definitive grasp. It’s not that the Chinese are inscrutable, but rather that, like all of us, they are complex. And the roots of their complexities are different enough from my own experiences so that understanding is earned slowly.
*Note: As of one week ago, Blogspot was still unaccessible in China. I'm writing this from the States.

New Year New Job New Home!

May you live in interesting times. -old Chinese curse

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. -Douglas Adams

Of course, my only deadlines with this blog are self-imposed. Perhaps that's why my last entry described a trip to Kashgar, and here I am living several thousand miles away in Yiwu. I've only been here for four days though, so cut me some slack.

Imagine that China is a vast banquet comprised of numerous exotic and unique dishes. Now imagine that I am an insect (a further stretch for some than for others). Here I exist, comfortably residing in a dish of moo-goo-gai-pan, getting to know my way around the sauce, veggies and noodles. Suddenly a giant pair of chopsticks pluck me from my dish and drop me into a large plate of duck's feet. Whoa! Whole new world.

OK, admittedly that analogy only goes so far. After all, it was me (the insect) directing those chopsticks. But bottom line, I'm back to square one on the familiarity scale. And I dig it!

My transition was actually quite abrupt. Usually upon leaving a place, I have an interim of weeks (often months) to travel, backpack, visit.... This time, I was checking out of my apartment and being driven to the Korla airport on Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday afternoon, I was being picked up at the Hangzhou airport and checking into my new apartment in Yiwu. I WANT MY TRANSITION PERIOD!

The following are excerpts from http://www.echinacities.com/

Yiwu is a mid-sized city in Zhejiang province, with a population of about 700,000. The city was originally founded around 222 BC, during the Qin Dynasty. Though it is not a big town by Chinese standards, it is disproportionately influential and powerful in China in terms of comprehensive economic strength, due to its status as one of the largest commodity centers in the country. A poster city for China's market economy, Yiwu produces a huge variety of cheap, good quality products that end up all over China and the world.

Yiwu sits almost entirely surrounded by mountains, and it is maybe because of this that it is often overlooked by visitors to China. It is true that this medium-sized city doesn't have the night-life or culture enjoyed in Beijing or Shanghai, but it has its own charms and sights that should provide the casual visitor with more than a few days distraction. It's often said that shopping is nothing less than a sport in Yiwu. If this is true, then the gigantic Yiwu International Trade City is Wembley Stadium and Madison Square Garden combined. Over 15000 stalls and a raft of shops are nestled in this purpose built, multi-story market where shoppers can buy just about anything. Of course the city also has traditional markets and shops including a bustling night market, which opens nightly on Santing Lu.

So, why Yiwu? You can bet it's not to start an import-export company. I accepted a job working at a college here, starting on February 10th. At the moment, I'm just snipping away at red tape and getting settled in at a leisurely pace.

My first full day here I saw the campus, met some of the school officials, got a phone card, set up a bank account.... The last three days have been spent aimlessly wandering. My first impressions are that Yiwu will prove an enjoyable mix of old and new China.

Although there are modern stores selling almost everything (I have cheese and coffee again!), I can turn down a narrow alley and suddenly be in a labyrinth of old shops, residences and food vendors.

Speaking of labyrinths, my apartment building is a 15-minute walk from the campus. It is a five-story structure, set in sea of identical five-story structures. Set me at the outskirts, put some cheese at my doorstep, and see if I can find my way home.

My fifth story apartment comes with computer, printer, television, washing machine, cooking appliances, etc.. It should do me nicely. And my computer was already loaded with software giving me access to current movies and TV series. House, 24, Numbers, Prison Break, Desperate Housewives....nice to see you all again.

Tomorrow I will have a physical examination and receive an official document to procure my new work visa. Then I may catch a two-hour bus to Shanghai and check out that city for a few days. On the 19th I have a flight from Shanghai to Bangkok, and three weeks to do some traveling, visiting and hedonistic living. OK, so I AM getting my transition period. It's just a little delayed.

I regret not being in China on January 26 for Spring Festival (although Thailand is no slouch at celebrating this holiday either). Typically refered to as 'Chinese New Year,' it is the oldest and most important festival in China. Huge numbers of Chinese (millions?) will travel the width and breadth of this country to be with family.

Now, although it doesn't fit the context of this entry, I want to express the appreciation I have for my time in Korla. I met many gracious people, and made some very special friends. And I will miss some of my young students very much.

In case I don't write before the 26th,

Xin Nian Kuai Le! (Happy New Year)

Chu Ru Ping An (May you be blessed with peace and safety wherever you are)

Safe travels all,

Smi Ling (my new Chinese name. Get it?)

When I was very young and the urge to be someplace was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure the itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever ad now that I am 58 perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked... In other words, I don't improve, in further words, once a bum always a bum. I fear the disease is uncurable.
-John Steinbeck

Kashgar and the Karakorum Highway

Where shall I start to describe my trip to Kashgar? I think I will start at the beginning. Not because it's particularly interesting, but because I had over an hour to wait for my train and scribble some notes.

I had left the house early, in anticipation of the unexpected. But, given the circumstances, I was well prepared for this trip. The first hurdle was the taxi, and I had 'train station' written out in both Chinese characters and pinyin. I even had a picture of a train!

Arriving at the station, I passed through security and wandered up the stairs to a large waiting room. My ticket had already been purchased, so I knew the train number, my car number and my sleeping berth. When a large group of people stood up near my departure time, so did I, and there was the train, pulling up outside.

It is approximately a 12-hour ride from Korla to Kashgar, and it was already after midnight when I began. So with few preliminaries, I settled into my berth and click-clacked off to sleep.

In the morning, I alternately read and looked out the window (pretty desolate landscape). A young girl (4 or 5 years old) was in the same compartment, and we amused ourselves by drawing pictures back and and forth on my notepad.

The train reached Kashgar a bit after noon, and I caught a taxi to the Seman Hotel (formerly the site of the Russian Embassy) Hoping the name didn't refer to stained sheets, I checked into a 6-bed dorm room, acquired

a map of Kashgar, and set out.

The vast majority of the population in this city is Uighur, a Muslim minority that bear no physical resemblance to the Chinese. Indeed, wandering through the city it felt as

though a surreal blending had occured between Morocco and China. Signs were written both in the arabic script and in Chinese. An outdoor stand

selling kebabs was overshadowed by a massive statue of Chairman Mao.....

My first stop was the bazzar, one of the largest outdoor markets in Asia. Everywhere I looked, scenes of interest were being enacted.

Smells ranging from spices to goats set the appropriate olfactory background.

Heading back to the hotel, I stopped at the travel agency in the lobby. First, I needed a return ticket to Korla 4 days hence. Second, I wanted to know the cost of arranging a trip to Kurakul Lake (a scenic spot on the Karakoram Highway linking China with

Pakistan).

So, the next morning I checked out of the hotel (no one else had slept in the dorm, so I'd had the 6-bed three-room accomodation to myself). After a couple hours of wandering through Old Town, I returned to the travel agency where a taxi and a fellow-traveler from Korea were waiting.

The itinerary was a drive up the Karakorum Highway to Tashkurgan (near the Pakistan border), and then a return to Kurukul Lake for an overnight stay. As we left Kashgar, the mountains began. First the foothills, and then the towering snowcaps that this highway is famous for. We passed the occasional village of mud and stone, but by and large this was isolated country. We saw more yaks and camels than people.

In Tashkurgan we visited the old stone city, and then began the drive back to Kurukul Lake. Here my non-English-speaking Korean companion I stayed in a one-room stone hut with a Kyrzyk family. And, oh boy, we must

have timed it just right to arrive on Yak Night.

First we were offered yak butter tea with fresh bread. Next, fresh yak yoghurt. And the entree (cooked on a stove fueled by yak dung) was yak meat and noodles. Yak yak yak has a whole new meaning for me.

The altitude at the lake is about the same elevation as the peak of Mount Rainer, so it was a cold evening. But the stars were amazing. And layers of carpet and rugs made for warm sleeping.

In the morning I took a three-hour camel ride around the lake, and we then began our retrun ride to Kashgar.

I picked up my train ticket for the following day (no sleeper was available), and wandered off to a new hotel. There was nothing wrong with Seman's; I just wanted to check out another spot. The Chini Bagh Hotel (formerly the English Embassy) was located near Old Town and right next door to a Western restaurant, the Caravan Cafe. I HAD PIZZA FOR DINNER!!!! They even sold shots of absinthe imported from the Czech Republic. And more exciting still, the Cafe had a shelf of English books. Regretably, they would not sell me the John Irving book I discovered. I was informed that the books were only for reading on the premises. So I returned the next morning, had a coffee, and bought it then. Different staff; different rules.

I wandered through the alleys of Old Town for several hours. At one point a child was playing with a yo-yo. I took her picture, and gave her a thumbs-up for her skills. At her suddenly dismayed look, I remembered that thumbs up has an entirely different meaning in China than it does in Arabic countries. And in Uighur settllements? Who knows...

The train back (from one in the afternoon until one-thirty in the morning) was long ride. But my seat-mate spoke enough English for a 12-hour conversation, and the journey left my new John Irving book undented. For the last half hour before arriving in Korla I did some magic tricks, which entertained about half of the car crowding around my seat.

Arriving at Korla I told the taxi the name of my compound, and hooray he understood. I was prepared to say KFC (and even draw a picture of the Colonel), knowing that that he would have to drive past my home enroute to the chicken franchise.

It was an exotic trip. Just what I wanted. And even if I have been too lazy to properly describe its subtleties, maybe the picures will afford you a glimpse.

Chinese railroad worker: But what will you do?
Kwai Chang Caine: Work. Wander. Rest when I can
-from the television series, 'Kung Fu'

Jules: That's what I've been sitting here contemplating. First, I'm gonna deliver this case to Marcellus. Then, basically, I'm gonna walk the earth.
Vincent: What do you mean, walk the earth?
Jules: You know, like Caine in "Kung Fu." Just walk from town to town, meet people, get in adventures.
Vincent: How long do you intend to walk the earth?
Jules: Until God puts me where he wants me to be.
Vincent: What if he never does?
Jules: If it takes forever, I'll wait forever.
Vincent: So you decided to be a bum?
Jules: I'll just be Jules, VIncent. No more, no less.
-from the movie, 'Pulp Fiction'