a short one

We got in a little while ago from Hangzhou, a city about 2 hours away by train that was built around a huge lake. Saturday morning we took a train there, where we enjoyed the beautiful scenery (we rented bikes and explored today--quite fun) and a very nice hotel. It was pretty clear that Hangzhou does not get as many foreigners as Shanghai--we were stared at a lot, and Adrianna was a little bemused when several people wanted their picture taken with her.

On a different subject: It's kind of funny that I'm in China on Memorial Day, and last year I was here on the 4th of July. I've written about this before, but being here really deepens my appreciation of just how blessed I've been being born in the U.S. There are the obvious living standards differences, but also deeper differences about rule of law, coherent administration, and freedom, as corny or canned as it sounds. I get a small dose of those differences every time I'm in the internet bar--I almost always run up against the 'this site is not allowed' message; I've also gotten a sense of the much less trivial aspects of the differences in some of the things our interviewees have said, or sometimes, not said. "My father owned a factory--he was a capitalist roader," said one 80-year-old man. "I never joined the Party, but I dedicated my life to the service of my motherland," he continued. But when we asked him where he was during the late 1960s and early 1970s, the time of the Cultural Revolution, he almost yelled at us that he was always loyal to his country, and changed the subject. It gave me chills. We are blessed indeed.

Interviews and a little frustration

Our interviews have been going well. Some better than others, but overall very good. I'm fascinated by the places we're going and what these people have to say. We interviewed a retired 30-year PLA soldier who talked about his country's leaders (past and present) a lot; he reminded me of a couple of people I've met in the U.S. He also had the nicest apartment that we've been to so far--about 600 sq. meters on 2 floors for himself and his wife. The same day we visited him we met an 81 year old man who likes to surf the internet and climbs a ridiculously steep staircase to get to his apartment. We've also met a couple of people that were 'sent down' during the Cultural Revolution to be 're-educated' by working in the countryside. This isn't the focus of our research, but I am really glad that a couple of the people we've talked to were willing to talk about it. A couple of us went to a neighborhood park one morning to watch people's morning exercises and see if anyone would talk to us; at first they just talked about us, but someone went and found an elderly man who had studied English before 1949 (what the Chinese call "jiefang"--liberation), and then a whole group of people came over to see what we were about. They all complimented Dr. Wilson on his Chinese. I think our whole group is loving these interviews.

I have been a little frustrated lately by difficulties with Chinese. I know that I've only been studying it for 2 years, but I feel like I should be a lot better at it than I am. I hate not being able to read (or if I can read, I'm not able to understand) even dumb things like the error messages on the computer. I hate having to order in a restaurant by pointing to the menu--each time this is necessary it's like surrendering in defeat. I hate knowing a word but not catching it in conversation, and I hate knowing all of the words for a sentence I want to say but not being able to string them together in the right order. I have competent 'survival' Chinese skills, but I would really like to move beyond that. Every once in a while I'll catch a whole answer in one of our interviews, or be able to read and understand an entire storefront advertisement, and these instances are very exciting. But they almost make me more frustrated the other times, when I can't understand someone with a slightly different accent. Ah well. That much more motivation to keep at it.

The first 3 interviews

We went to Fuxing Road today for our first three interviews. After meeting up with the lady from the Academy who was going to translate for us, we headed to the first apartment. Mrs. Li lived in a two-room apartment, maybe 20-25 square meters, with her husband and 14 year-old son. Walking up to the second floor apartment was a little tricky due to rickety stairs and almost no light. Inside the apartment was nicer. The Li family is apparently fairly well off; they had a big tv and computer, and are planning a trip to Singapore this summer. Mrs. Li was laid off from her job at a wool factory 5 years ago. She got a job as a shop assistant, and then two years ago opened her own pizza restaurant in the neighborhood. It was fascinating to hear her talk about how the neighborhood has changed and her hopes for the future. Her main hope for her son is that he get into a famous university. She talked for a good bit about how competitive the education system was, and how important she thinks it is for her son to do well. At the end of our hour she invited us back for pizza; I think we're planning to eat lunch at her restaurant tomorrow.

The next lady we interviewed in an 81-year-old former teacher. Mrs. Xu, in a word, was enchanting. It was apparent, listening to her talk, that she truly has a teacher's heart. She told us about the community, about the activities that are organized for different age groups, and about how she often tutors kids in the neighborhood. One of the other ladies, a leader in the community organization, told us later that she tutored special needs students for free. Mrs. Xu had only good things to say about her community and the state of Shanghai (well, she was a little worried about the immorality of internet bars...). She thanked us for coming, and invited us back anytime.

Our last interview was with Mrs. Ge. She two really enjoys living in her community, saying that people really take care of each other there. When we asked her what she missed from the past she told us she misses Chairman Mao (giving us a slight shock). She said she thought today's leaders have too much power, and there is too much corruption, but she thinks Shanghai will continue to improve.

All three of the ladies we interviewed stressed the importance of education, thought the presence of foreigners in the city was good for Shanghai, and believed there was a lot of opportunity for the younger generation to do well for themselves. Even in what Americans would consider cramped, decrepit housing, everyone we met this afternoon was satisfied with their life and hopeful about the future.

Ultimate Frisbee and the Expat Bubble

Marcus and Christina are both really into ultimate frisbee (a mixture of football and soccer that's played with a frisbee), so when Marcus discovered an ultimate club here in Shanghai they decided to go to a scheduled "pick up" game. I've played a couple of times and really enjoy it, so I decided to tag along since we didn't really have anything planned for the day. We took the subway out to Pudong, and then caught a taxi to the general area of the field. After a few minutes' wandering we found the Shanghai Rugby and Football Club, where the game was supposed to happen. We were still a little early, so we explored the area a little. Across the street from the Rugby club there were soccer fields with kids' matches in progress. The teams were almost entirely made up of non-Chinese; this was our first inkling that we were in some kind of foreign bubble in Shanghai. We stopped at Starbucks (I would say this was another indication of the foreign bubble phenomenon, but they really are everywhere) to use the bathroom then headed back to the Rugby club.

There were still rugby games going on both of the fields at the club, and we were told that the ultimate would start late, so we just tossed the frisbee around on the sidelines. A group of expats (ex-patriots, or foreigners) started to form on the other side of one of the fields, and we watched in amusement/bemusement as they began a structured warm up. OK, this wasn't Sewanee ultimate, it looked like these guys were going to play with rules.

The group was mostly made up of Americans--businessmen and a couple of teachers. The age range was pretty wide, but they all seemed to be involved in the party scene here in Shanghai. During the organized stretching session (led by Jodi, a PE teacher during the week) we listened as they recounted stories from the night before. Or morning, I should say; the most interesting activities took place well after 2 a.m. They expats took their frisbee-playing very seriously. After the organized stretching, we proceeded to run sprints, do lunges down the field, then push-ups, sit-ups, frisbee-handling drills, and more sprints and stretching, all interspersed with mini pep-talks. I enjoyed the workout, but found the whole thing a little bizarre. This was definitely not a pick-up game as I know the term.

To be blunt, we found the expats obnoxious. They talked like China and the Chinese existed for their amusement. I can understand why the expat bubbles exist, but the attitude of these particular expats was seriously irritating. I understand a little better the common stereotype of Westerners here.

(Incidentally, Shanghai today is very open to Western culture. Dr. Wilson was explaining that during the early 1990s there was a big debate about preserving China's culture, and the outcome, especially in Shanghai, was wang qian zou: literally "go forward"--go to the future, but also go to the money, instead of preserving the past.)

Saturday in Shanghai

We don't have a schedule today, which is nice. And I think I'm finally over the jetlag, as I slept until about 8 this morning. We've had a great first week here. The weather has been awesome--in the mid-high 70s and low 80s mostly, which is definitely unseasonably cool for Shanghai this time of year. We've been able to walk through some of the neighborhoods similar to those we'll be conducting interviews in, and have also met some of the people from the Shanghai academy we'll be working with. Two nights ago we crossed the Huangpu River to Pudong, which was farmland until the 1990s, when it was developed and made into an important financial and industry base. We ate at an excellent Korean restaurant there, and then wandered through Century Park. The next morning, one of the Academy people took us to a residential area right outside the campus. Fascinating.

Day 3 (2.5?) in Shanghai

I am starting to recover from jet lag, but if I misspell something I will still blame it on the fact that I'm tired. We've been busily exploring Shanghai since we got here Tuesday afternoon. Yesterday we went to the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, the research organization that is "hosting" our group. I was pleased that I was able to understand most of the conversation between Dr. Wilson and one of the researchers at the university; it seemed like maybe a year of Chinese classes has really helped. At lunch however, with 3 Chinese members of the Academy and with me feeling increasingly tired, I was only able to catch bits and pieces. Especially when the pace of the conversation sped up. Dr. Wilson told me later that for part of the conversation they were speaking Shanghainese, a different dialect of Chinese--I wasn't sure whether to feel vindicated that I hadn't understood or frustrated that I hadn't realized it was a different dialect. Ah well.

I've had a few food firsts here already; I've eaten octopus, jellyfish, and mango pudding for the first time, and had strawberry juice and watermelon juice. The seafood I didn't really care for, although I didn't just hate it, but the fruit products I really liked.

My impression after 2 days is that Shanghai is both more affluent and more Westernized than Beijing. The people here seem more accustomed to foreigners; for example, I'm not stared at as much, have yet to use a squat toilet, and have been given a fork at 2 restaurants. The fashion here seems a little closer to what I'm accustomed to as well. There are a lot more green spaces around the city, which really make walking around more pleasant, and the traffic doesn't seem quite as bad, partly because of an extensive system of highways/overpasses. I still would have no desire to drive here, though.

I'm really looking forward to starting our interviews. We've visited a couple of the streets that we're going to be looking at, and I'm really excited about our work. It promises to be interesting, for sure!

5-17-2005

We arrived in Shanghai this afternoon after a long, but not too terrible plane flight, and checked into the hotel where we'll be staying. It's not bad at all--air conditioned and everything. We had Thai food for dinner--quite tasty, but I was a little disappointed that they gave us forks. My impression so far is that Shanghai is more Westernized than Beijing, but I've only been here a few hours, so we'll see. I'm excited to be back in China!

5 days to unpack, clean, and re-pack...

Finished with school for the semester! I left this morning after a crash course in filming/editing for our trip. Of the five students going, only Marcus and I are not graduating, so we were nominated to learn how to use the camera and the video editing software so we can continue to work on it next semester. Lovely. I have a bad feeling I won’t be much help, especially at first, but I guess I’ll catch on eventually.

Maybe I should “introduce” you to the other members of our group: Marcus is a sophomore (or I guess junior now, since exams are over) from Tennessee. We’ve been in the same Chinese classes for 2 years. Christina is an about-to-be-graduated senior, also from Huntsville, and also a psychology major. Her parents are Chinese, so of the students going her language skills are definitely the best. Adam and Adrianna are also seniors. Adam is from Tennessee, and Adrianna is from Slovakia (I can’t pronounce the name of her hometown, so I won’t even try to spell it). Dr. Wilson applied for and received the grant that’s funding our adventure, and invited us to come and help. I was in his Comparative Politics class last semester, and will be taking his class called “China in the World” next semester. (Should be great!)

So there you have the cast of characters! We’ll be on our way to Shanghai in 5 days!!

Oh, and I had planned to post more about what I did this semester, maybe some snippets of essays and such, but I’ve decided that will bore you. If I feel the urge, I of course reserve the right.

A little about my semester

Exam in Chinese History today. I realized last night that in the past two weeks, I’ve read 4 books about China and written 3 papers on various aspects of Chinese history or politics. My entire semester, actually, has been full of China—it’s been fun (minus exams and all-nighters). Besides Modern Chinese History, I’ve also been taking Chinese 301 (language) and Intelligence and Foreign Policy. For that class I was assigned the China “desk officer” and tasked to prepare a weekly briefing on what’s up in the Middle Kingdom. So anyway, I thought I’d share a little bit. As I have time, I’ll post snippets of things that I’ve read or written—random for the most part I suspect, but we’ll see. Oh, and please leave comments, if you care to!

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So, tonight my brain is fried and I’m not in the mood for serious analysis. Here’s a quotation from Almost A Revolution, written by Shen Tong, one of the organizers of the student movement that resulted in the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989.

“That summer, to make extra money, Qiu was also selling a three-volume collection of poetry, Xinshichao Shiji, or New Age Poetry Collection, which had just been released by one of the publishing houses on campus. I became one of thirty students who sold this collection at Beida. At first I was just helping Qiu, but when I started to read the poetry, I wanted everyone else to read it too.
The book collected the work of a generation of writers who had grown up during the Cultural Revolution. These poets, whose work had first become public during the 1976 movement in Tiananmen Square and had resurfaced on the Democracy Wall in 1978, were now in their late twenties and early thirties. When the government had crushed the Democracy Wall Movement, their poetry, which the Communist Party considered “spiritual pollution,” had gone underground again. Although some of it had been written during the Cultural Revolution, it had never been collected and published.
Chinese poetry written before the Cultural Revolution painted lovely pictures of landscapes and celebrated the beauty of nature. During the 1960s and 1970s, however, poetry became so filled with political slogans and revolutionary imagery that it lost its lyricism. But this group of writers, known as the Misty Poets because their images were impressionistic and full of sorrow, had a style completely unlike that of any Chinese poets I had ever read. The poems, which often expressed the poets’ suffering during the Cultural Revolution and which came to be known as “scar literature,” were beautifully written and also had deep meaning. The poets looked inside themselves for inspiration. They were individualists, a trait I cherished but had seen only in Western poetry.
For the first time I began to learn about contemporary China and about life outside my own sheltered environment. I could feel the pain, the loneliness, and the power in this poetry. […] Before I read the New Age Poetry Collection, I was hooked on Western poetry. But now I was reading pure Chinese poetry that had the same resonance as Byron, Shelley, and Tagore. Western poetry was beautiful, but it had nothing to do with my own world. […]
I proudly brought the books home to show my father. He had always been the one to give me books and introduce me to the writers, but now I had a collection of poems I knew were dear to him, since I had stood with him at the Democracy Wall seven years before as he intently read the works of the Misty Poets. He said very little to me about the collection, perhaps because he was concerned that the poems might still be considered illegal. But I noticed that he kept the books under his pillow for a very long time, which told me that he read them every night before he went to sleep.
That summer I discovered for myself why these poems meant so much to my father. I saw in them the power of ideas. No matter how hard the government had tried to crush them, they kept coming back. I discovered through these poems that art and literature could be active. Through their writing, the Misty Poets told people about themselves and about what was wrong in China. That summer showed me that I was ready to do more than just cultivate myself; I was ready to act, to put my ideas—whenever I figured out what they were—into practice.”


Almost a Revolution