Pictures from Cultural Revolution-themed Lunch and Performance
Every Friday afternoon, my fellow ACC students and I all participate in an extracurrricular language-related activity. Sometimes we're sent out to interview ordinary Chinese people, sometimes we watch a movie. This past Friday we went to a themed restaurant that commemorated the 10 year political period here from 1967 to 1977 known as the "Cultural Revolution."
On our way to the restaurant, I was a little surprised that a place like this even existed. My basic understanding of the Cultural Revolution is that in those 10 years, pro-Communist Party and pro-Mao propaganda saturated Chinese society, to the extent that it even replaced traditioanl educational material. Would-be college students were sent to rural areas to receive a kind of agricultural and propaganda-based education instead. Those who resisted the new all-encompassing Communist ideology were imprisoned or killed, and during those 10 years, it's estimated the acting government killed half a million people. On top of the human catastrophe, ancient art was purged, and it's estimated that almost 90% of pre-1967 Chinese artifacts were destroyed.
When we arrived at the restaurant, as expected, it was filled with propaganda- there were plenty of portraits of Chairman Mao, slogans printed in bright red characters "Communist Party 10,000 years, 1,000,000,000 years!" portraits of Lenin, Marx, Engels, and Stalin, and plenty of smiling workers wielding shovels and bales of wheat. On top of the propaganda, all of the staff at the restaurant were dressed in either the Red Guard's military green outfit or the "Mao Suit" of a blue collared shirt and jean overalls.
The main performance area had a high ceiling and could probably sat about 500 customers. After our food arrived (it was 21st century fare), the performance commenced. The backdrop to the stage was Chairman Mao's gigantic smiling face, and the show was just people singing about how great Chairman Mao and the Communist Party were. During the show, there were about 20 performers among us in the tables dancing around. They gave us all red flags, and the highlight of the show was everyone, foreigners, Chinese, and performers alike waving the flags and chanting "Mao Zhuxi Wan Sui!" (Literally, "Chairman Mao 10,000 years," or "Long Live Chairman Mao").
Considering the aforementioned human rights blunders, I asked one of my teachers (who, on this day, I had taken to calling "Comrade" instead of "Teacher") if regular Chinese would find this kind of performance to be in bad taste. I was surprised when she said that almost everyone who lived through the Cultural Revolution wouldn't be offended, and actually quite enjoy it. Since the show intended to be a true replica of a 1970s era propaganda show, and there were people (employees) dancing in the crowd, I asked her if this was a normal phenomenon. She said, "during the Cultural Revolution, people were a little crazy. When people started singing about Chairman Mao, a lot of people couldn't help but dance."
The next night, I went to a rock concert featuring local Beijing indie rock band. The singers sang standard 2008 apolitical rock fare about love and heartache. And it hit me that only 30 years ago, when the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and the Woodstock festival had come and gone, people in China were wearing Mao suits and singing about how much they loved the Chinese Communist Party. It's hard to think of a more powerful example of short-term cultural change.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
More nongcun (rural) adventures
After another grueling but satisfying week of class, this Saturday I hopped on a bus with a volunteer group of about 40 native Beijingers to head off to the countryside and donate some books, computers, and sports equipment to an elementary school in the rural part of Hebei province.
Our bus led a convoy of mid-sized family cars that snaked behind us on the dirt road leading to the village. When we arrived, this village, called Heituwan, was a genuine Chinese village, and nothing like the one I visited in Sichuan. There were no "tourist attractions" here- it was just one downtrodden building after another lining narrow, unpaved streets. It was no place for a motorcycle joyride like the one I'd had in Sichuan.
The bus parked and I followed the other volunteers towards the elementary school. It was at this point that I realized I was the only white person in the entire group of about 70 volunteers. And as I walked through the welcome reception of 50 or so applauding Chinese elementary students, they were all staring right at me.
And for those few hours we spent at that little village, I was like a rock star. I was pretty much surrounded by at least 20 students at all times. We talked (in Chinese) about sports mostly, especially basketball. I was surprised when I asked them who their favorite professional basketball player was and they all said "Steve Nash!" (coincidentally a Canadian) And then I asked them what they thought about Yao Ming, and the kids all replied "He sucks!" which made all of the older Chinese within earshot aghast at this seeming affront to national pride.
Diplomatic crises aside, according to one of the "village leaders" I'm welcome back any time, so I might head back next weekend for some more fresh air, maybe to climb a nearby mountain, and to experience some low-key village life as a change of pace from busy Beijing.
Photos from the village: http://s256.photobucket.com/albums/hh173/bills_pictures/Hebei%20Nong%20Cun%20Adventure/
Our bus led a convoy of mid-sized family cars that snaked behind us on the dirt road leading to the village. When we arrived, this village, called Heituwan, was a genuine Chinese village, and nothing like the one I visited in Sichuan. There were no "tourist attractions" here- it was just one downtrodden building after another lining narrow, unpaved streets. It was no place for a motorcycle joyride like the one I'd had in Sichuan.
The bus parked and I followed the other volunteers towards the elementary school. It was at this point that I realized I was the only white person in the entire group of about 70 volunteers. And as I walked through the welcome reception of 50 or so applauding Chinese elementary students, they were all staring right at me.
And for those few hours we spent at that little village, I was like a rock star. I was pretty much surrounded by at least 20 students at all times. We talked (in Chinese) about sports mostly, especially basketball. I was surprised when I asked them who their favorite professional basketball player was and they all said "Steve Nash!" (coincidentally a Canadian) And then I asked them what they thought about Yao Ming, and the kids all replied "He sucks!" which made all of the older Chinese within earshot aghast at this seeming affront to national pride.
Diplomatic crises aside, according to one of the "village leaders" I'm welcome back any time, so I might head back next weekend for some more fresh air, maybe to climb a nearby mountain, and to experience some low-key village life as a change of pace from busy Beijing.
Photos from the village: http://s256.photobucket.com/albums/hh173/bills_pictures/Hebei%20Nong%20Cun%20Adventure/
Monday, March 17, 2008
Procrastination's new solution
...is to have what's distracting you banned by the Chinese government. That's what happened yesterday when I tried to visit Youtube. Turns out China's added Youtube.com to their growing list of internet sites that they ban. The list includes Wikipedia, BBC.co.uk, and Blogspot (the site that hosts this blog- I'm allowed to publish but I'm not allowed to view it). Oh well, it's a loss of freedom, but at least my grades should improve.
Speaking of improving grades, after 2 months at ACC I'm now accustomed to the workload and as a result my grades and Chinese proficiency level are improving greatly. My life is so Chinese-oriented right now that it's even tough for me to write this blog post in English. I'm actually thinking most of the sentences in Chinese first, and then translating back.
That's partly because of the effectiveness of ACC's language pledge- it's been two months since I signed away my privilege to speak English. And although I haven't obeyed it 100% of the time, it's remarkable how often my classmates and I do. The language pledge has played a huge part in increasing the ease of speaking Chinese in any situation. The pledge, on top of the huge classwork and homework load, has contributed to what I think is a massive leap in my Chinese ability in only just two months. That being said, I wouldn't call myself “fluent,” and I still feel that taxi drivers, with their thick accents, are almost completely incoherent, but I'm very excited for the progress to come over the net 4 months of language instruction I have left until I come home.
Speaking of improving grades, after 2 months at ACC I'm now accustomed to the workload and as a result my grades and Chinese proficiency level are improving greatly. My life is so Chinese-oriented right now that it's even tough for me to write this blog post in English. I'm actually thinking most of the sentences in Chinese first, and then translating back.
That's partly because of the effectiveness of ACC's language pledge- it's been two months since I signed away my privilege to speak English. And although I haven't obeyed it 100% of the time, it's remarkable how often my classmates and I do. The language pledge has played a huge part in increasing the ease of speaking Chinese in any situation. The pledge, on top of the huge classwork and homework load, has contributed to what I think is a massive leap in my Chinese ability in only just two months. That being said, I wouldn't call myself “fluent,” and I still feel that taxi drivers, with their thick accents, are almost completely incoherent, but I'm very excited for the progress to come over the net 4 months of language instruction I have left until I come home.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
These past two weeks in China have been full of so many amazing experiences that it's really reminded me why I decided to take the semester abroad. Since the last time I posted, I've zoomed around rural China on a motorcycle, seen giant pandas, climbed to the top of Mount Emei, and I've even seen the first ever Major League Baseball game in China.
Chengdu
Two weeks ago, I left for Chengdu, which is in the southern province of Sichuan. The trip was planned by ACC, so I went with about 40 fellow students.
On the first day, we all went to the Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center, which was extremely impressive. The center was a park that stretched over a few dozen acres- it was amazing to stretch our legs after the train around, and to walk through trees and breathe fresh air after over 6 weeks in Beijing's urban sprawl.
Of course, the best part was the pandas. I've posted some pictures to a photobucket account (because posting pictures to this blog directly has been a huge headache), and I hope it works.
Giant Panda Reserve Photos
On the second day, we left for Leshan and saw the Grand Buddha there. This Buddha's toenails are big enough to have a picnic on. Even more impressive is the location- carved into the side of a mountain just metres from the sea. After checking out the Grand Buddha, we got a good night's sleep in order to prepare to climb Mount Emei the next day.
Climbing Mount Emei was a grueling experience- three of my friends and I climbed seemingly neverending stairs for almost 7 hours. And although the weather at the foot of Mount Emei was fairly warm, by the time we were halfway to the top there was a bit of snow, and for the last hour the stairs were coated by a fairly slick layer of hardened snow. After such a grueling day, we decided not to stay in a monastery, partly because they weren't that cool (they just seemed like cheap hotels where the owner wears a robe), and partly because we were too exhausted to deal with all-night chanting.
The next morning we made it to the summit of Mount Emei to take a few pictures. And then we found out you can take a bus to the top of Mount Emei. Our feet blistered and soaked, we decided to take the winding 2 hour return bus back to the bottom of the mountain.
The next day, my friend Jon and I decided we wanted an authentic rural China experience, and took off for Honglongxi. At first, we were a little disappointed- the town seemed like one big tourist trap- although everything was decorated very traditionally, there were lots of restaurants, shops selling DVDs, and many Chinese tourists. However, it turned out we had the best of both worlds- after settling into a comfortable hotel, we crossed over a nearby river and found ourselves in a real rural setting, filled with dingy buildings and fields.
There, we convinced a couple of farmers to let us ride their motorcycles around for an hour. The weather was beautiful and the riverside fields and scenery was incredible. We zoomed past houses and kids getting home from school- it was really an amazing time, and the best part of the Chengdu trip overall.
Photos from the rest of Chengdu
Back to Beijing
All good things must come to an end, and on Sunday, I was back at ACC studying for the next day's dictation all over again. But I had two great events to look forward to at the end of the week. The first was an Incubus concert in a small venue. Incubus is an American rock group whose shows sell out whole arenas in the US... yet we were lucky enough to have the chance to see them in a small club, up close in Beijing.
Then this Saturday afternoon, I had the opportunity to watch the San Diego Padres play the Los Angeles Dodgers in Beijing's brand new Wukesong Baseball stadium. It was the first Major League Baseball game to happen in China.
I found out about the game when I was visiting friends at the Grand Hyatt hotel a few days earlier and ran into hall of fame baseball player Dave Winfield. He told me about the games on the weekend, and even autographed my Chinese homework.
The game itself was so-so, but the experience was totally worth it. They did a great job of imitating the American baseball experience- there were national anthems and hot dogs, and they even played “take me out to the ball game” in the seventh inning. But there were a few additions- including cheerleaders, a dust storm in the bottom of the first inning, and garbage from the stands occasionally blowing onto the field.
The crowd was about 50% expats and 50% local Chinese. I asked a few Chinese after the game what they thought about game. Comments ranged from “not as good as basketball,” “didn't understand the rules,” and “why do the players just stand around most of the time?”
So it might be a while before baseball catches on in Beijing, but at least it was a nice taste of Western culture in a very Eastern city.
Photos from the game:
Chengdu
Two weeks ago, I left for Chengdu, which is in the southern province of Sichuan. The trip was planned by ACC, so I went with about 40 fellow students.
On the first day, we all went to the Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center, which was extremely impressive. The center was a park that stretched over a few dozen acres- it was amazing to stretch our legs after the train around, and to walk through trees and breathe fresh air after over 6 weeks in Beijing's urban sprawl.
Of course, the best part was the pandas. I've posted some pictures to a photobucket account (because posting pictures to this blog directly has been a huge headache), and I hope it works.
Giant Panda Reserve Photos
On the second day, we left for Leshan and saw the Grand Buddha there. This Buddha's toenails are big enough to have a picnic on. Even more impressive is the location- carved into the side of a mountain just metres from the sea. After checking out the Grand Buddha, we got a good night's sleep in order to prepare to climb Mount Emei the next day.
Climbing Mount Emei was a grueling experience- three of my friends and I climbed seemingly neverending stairs for almost 7 hours. And although the weather at the foot of Mount Emei was fairly warm, by the time we were halfway to the top there was a bit of snow, and for the last hour the stairs were coated by a fairly slick layer of hardened snow. After such a grueling day, we decided not to stay in a monastery, partly because they weren't that cool (they just seemed like cheap hotels where the owner wears a robe), and partly because we were too exhausted to deal with all-night chanting.
The next morning we made it to the summit of Mount Emei to take a few pictures. And then we found out you can take a bus to the top of Mount Emei. Our feet blistered and soaked, we decided to take the winding 2 hour return bus back to the bottom of the mountain.
The next day, my friend Jon and I decided we wanted an authentic rural China experience, and took off for Honglongxi. At first, we were a little disappointed- the town seemed like one big tourist trap- although everything was decorated very traditionally, there were lots of restaurants, shops selling DVDs, and many Chinese tourists. However, it turned out we had the best of both worlds- after settling into a comfortable hotel, we crossed over a nearby river and found ourselves in a real rural setting, filled with dingy buildings and fields.
There, we convinced a couple of farmers to let us ride their motorcycles around for an hour. The weather was beautiful and the riverside fields and scenery was incredible. We zoomed past houses and kids getting home from school- it was really an amazing time, and the best part of the Chengdu trip overall.
Photos from the rest of Chengdu
Back to Beijing
All good things must come to an end, and on Sunday, I was back at ACC studying for the next day's dictation all over again. But I had two great events to look forward to at the end of the week. The first was an Incubus concert in a small venue. Incubus is an American rock group whose shows sell out whole arenas in the US... yet we were lucky enough to have the chance to see them in a small club, up close in Beijing.
Then this Saturday afternoon, I had the opportunity to watch the San Diego Padres play the Los Angeles Dodgers in Beijing's brand new Wukesong Baseball stadium. It was the first Major League Baseball game to happen in China.
I found out about the game when I was visiting friends at the Grand Hyatt hotel a few days earlier and ran into hall of fame baseball player Dave Winfield. He told me about the games on the weekend, and even autographed my Chinese homework.
The game itself was so-so, but the experience was totally worth it. They did a great job of imitating the American baseball experience- there were national anthems and hot dogs, and they even played “take me out to the ball game” in the seventh inning. But there were a few additions- including cheerleaders, a dust storm in the bottom of the first inning, and garbage from the stands occasionally blowing onto the field.
The crowd was about 50% expats and 50% local Chinese. I asked a few Chinese after the game what they thought about game. Comments ranged from “not as good as basketball,” “didn't understand the rules,” and “why do the players just stand around most of the time?”
So it might be a while before baseball catches on in Beijing, but at least it was a nice taste of Western culture in a very Eastern city.
Photos from the game:
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