With less than a month left in my stay here, I’ve been reflecting a bit on life in China, and about going home. Just how different will things be? I don’t really remember, but I do know that China now feels perfectly normal to me. There’s very little here that surprises me or weirds me out. Life here is just life at this point; the days go by like they would anywhere. I’ve been thinking that means I’m pretty well adjusted to life here, which makes me susceptible to reverse culture shock when I get back home.

The piece de resistance came last night when I was helping a Chinese friend with the English application to a summer intercultural program in Beijing. One of the free response prompts she was asked to answer asked her to discuss a cultural issue that’s very different between the US and China. Being more submersed in (and aware) of the politics because of my other blog, my first thought was to address that, but she wanted purely cultural issues, no politics, and damned if I couldn’t think of anything different. At least for a minute or two. Finally I made up something about the importance of family, but the fact that nothing jumped quickly to mind was kind of disturbing.

It’s not because Chinese culture and American culture are all that similar, it’s just that I’m so used to China (at least this part of it) at this point that whatever’s “different” here is no longer different to me. And if I’m used to what’s here, it stands to reason when I get home and things are different from what’s here, it might require some adjustment.

Here’s some footage of the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) madness outside my apartment and the madness they put on TV. I was going to go wander around outside, but I am currently deathly ill, so this is all you get.

[This is a post I just made for ChinaGeeks, but it seems like it might be worth posting here too]

Given that it’s right around the corner and not much else seems to be happening in the Middle Kingdom right now, this seems as good a time as any for a historical detour into the holiday’s origins.

First, the origin myth of Spring Festival (translated and with illustrations from this Chinese site):

Tradition has it that in ancient China there was a monster named “Year” with long tentacles on its head that was extremely ferocious. “Year” generally lived deep down on the ocean floor, climbing to the shore only on the Lunar New Year to devour livestock and people.

Because of this, every year on that day, people of every village, the old and the young alike, would flee to remote mountains to avoid being attacked by the beast.

This New Year’s Day, as the people of Peach Blossom Village were escorting the old and young to the safety of the mountains, an old man with a slivery beard and eyes that seemed to be sparkling came begging, his frame resting on a single walking-stick and his arms carrying a sack.

Some people in the town were sealing up their windows and doors, others were cleaning and preparing for the journey, still others were herding their livestock; the chaotic sounds of bustling, panicked people and horses were everywhere. No one thought to look after this old beggar.

An old granny from the town’s east end was the only person to give the old man a bite to eat and urge him to head up the mountain and avoid the beast. The old man smiled, stroking his beard, and said, “Granny, if you let me stay in this house for one night, I’m sure I can drive this ‘Year’ beast away.”

The old woman was shocked; looking closer she saw the beggar’s frame was hearty, that he looked spirited and poised. But when she continued to advise the man to go up the mountain, he simply smiled, saying nothing. The old lady felt it was hopeless; out of necessity she left her house and took asylum in the mountains.

At midnight, the “Year” monster burst into the village. He discovered that the scene was different than in years past; in the grandmother’s house on the east side of the village red strips of paper were pasted around the doorway, and inside the room a lone fire glowed brightly. The monster trembled, and let out a strange scream.

“Year” glared at the woman’s house for a moment, then screamed madly towards it. When he neared the doorway, the sudden “bang, pow” of explosions filled the air. “Year” quivered and shook, unwilling to approach the house again.

As a matter of fact, the things “Year” feared the most were the color red, bright flames, and the sound of explosions. The door to the old woman’s house burst open, and in the doorway stood a man wrapped in a red cloak, laughing uproariously. “Year” turned pale with fright and helplessly jumped upwards.

The next day was the first of the new year; as the people hiding in the mountains returned to their homes they were shocked to see that everything in the village was safe and sound. Suddenly, the old grandmother realized what had happened, and hastily told the other villagers of the old beggar’s promise.

Everyone crowded towards the old woman’s home, all they could see were the red paper strips, some unburned bamboo still exploding “bang!” in the courtyard, and a red candle still flickering inside the room…

The villagers were wild with joy, to celebrate this auspicious event they put on new clothes and hats and visited the homes of their friends and family to share congratulations. This news spread quickly through the surrounding villages; soon everybody knew the way to banish the “Year” monster.

From then onward, every year on New Year’s Eve every family puts up red scrolls, sets of firecrackers, and keeps candles brightly lit, keeping watch during the night. When dawn comes, they still go to the houses of friends and family and exchange congratulations. This custom continued to spread and grow as it was passed down, and became Chinese people’s most important traditional festival.

There appear to be many versions of this story, and many versions about the origins of Spring Festival (as one would expect for a tradition so old). Although traditions of celebrating the new year through sacrifices to the gods and ancestors may have started as early as the Shang dynasty (roughly 1600 B.C.E.-1000 B.C.E.), when the new year officially began doesn’t appear to have been fixed formally until the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.). The origins of traditions are also difficult to date; the site that the above story is translated from says that the tradition of writing couplets on red paper for the festival began in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 C.E.)and that the tradition of posting 福 (happiness) on the door is from the Song Dynasty (960-1279 C.E.) or earlier, but no evidence is provided. The tradition of spending New Year’s eve with ones family, apparently, comes from the Wei-Jin period (220-420 C.E.)

A good amount of information on current traditions is available at Wikipedia for those outside China, those in-country are welcome to browse the Wikipedia page, but might do better just to go outside and watch the festivities. With all the firecrackers, it’s not like you were going to be resting anyway.

I came across this over at ESWN and figured I’d pass it along. It’s a website created in response to a Chinese internet phenomenon called the “50 Cent Party” (五毛党, no connection to the rapper). This is basically a name for what is allegedly an army of people being paid 50 cents/post by the Chinese government to support and emphasize the official line in topics on internet forums, especially topics about sensitive issues that haven’t yet been “harmonized” (sarcastic Chinese internet slang for what happens to website that threaten China’s harmonious society). I sort of doubt the government is actually paying anyone anything, as Americans know well, nationalism comes free in the face of adversity, and many Chinese perceive foreign countries to be perpetually picking on China, so there you have it.

Anyway, not everyone in China likes the “50 Cent Party”. In fact, someone was apparently nice enough to make them a website, which reads as follows:

50 Cent Party Web

Hello, 50 Cents,
Please give my regards to your mother.

50 Cent Party Web, No copyright, Pirates don’t care [about this].

And yes, the “give my regards to your mother” has exactly the same meaning in Chinese as it has in English.

(Your mom has exactly the same meaning in Chinese as she has in English. Burned!)

For a more thorough discussion of the 50 Cents Party, please see my recent post on ChinaGeeks.

Today as I was leaving school, I happened to be walking out right behind one of my students and his uncle. His uncle asked him what his English name was, and how to spell it, but the kid is so young he doesn’t know how to spell it himself. He turned around and saw me there, so I told him the spelling anyway, and then corrected his uncle several times because he kept repeating it incorrectly.

When we got outside, the student turned to me and said in Chinese “Teacher, I’ve heard you speak Chinese very well.” His uncle, without looking and before I could respond said “Nonsense ["废话," which, incidentally one of my favorite Chinese words]! Look at him!” I figured what the hell, and said to the student (in Chinese), “My Chinese is OK….not good enough, I think, though.”

Needless to say the uncle was pretty floored, but he got over it quickly and during the half-block that we walked together he started asking me about ways to study English. We stopped at the intersection and as we were chatting, the student looked up and me and said “I can’t tell if he is Chinese or a foreigner.” The Chinese he used made it clear that he meant it was clear whether I looked like a Chinese person or a foreigner; although he’s only 6 I think he might have been taking a clever stab at his uncle for having said “Look at him!” earlier (the implication, of course, of his uncle’s sentence was ‘he’s a foreigner so there’s no way he can speak Chinese’).

Ah, sometimes being a foreigner in China is truly amusing.

Anyway, in site news, you may have noticed I have added a category to the menu on the left called Best Posts. These are the posts that, in my opinion, are the funniest, most interesting, most poignant, most original, and/or the posts that took me a long time to write. You may think all of them are crap, but in the future all posts I think are good will be added to this category, and I have already put all previous posts that are good into it, so if you click on it now, you will see the posts I think are the most essential. If you’re new to the site but don’t want to read through the big backlog, start there!

(P.S. Comment! Is anyone still reading this blog?)

As I have previously explained, one of the things that really bothers me about China is the attitude and assumptions most people have about foreigners. It isn’t everybody, though, and today I had one of those moments that reminds me why I shouldn’t let that attitude get to me when it does pop up.

I was at the grocery store stocking up on the things I eat (read: grape juice, peanut butter, chocolate) and, as usual, it was full of old Chinese people. I fought my way through the shuffling geriatric masses to the juice section and reached over a woman who looked about four hundred years old to grab a glass container of Welch’s. She was staring at the same section, pondering what to buy, and when she saw me grab my choice so quickly, she was likely shocked by my manly decisiveness.

She turned around to ask me whether it tasted good, and to her credit, she didn’t skip a beat when she saw I was a foreigner. Her eyes didn’t bug out, she didn’t run away, she didn’t even hesitate to speak Chinese, just asked me anyway just as though I was anyone else.

I probably looked a bit shocked because I’m not used to people doing that, especially not old people who are generally even less used to the idea that foreigners live in China and speak Chinese than younger folks.

Anyway, I told her the juice was good, very good, and then went on my way. I hope she bought it, and I hope she likes it because it’s pretty expensive (a full afternoon on the toilet early in my experience here convinced me it’s worth it to buy the expensive stuff because it tastes good and isn’t poison).

For her it was probably an insignificant moment, but it made me feel pretty good to be honest. I know I’m more sensitive to this stuff than most foreigners in China (and some people like to be singled out anyway), but I really enjoyed being addressed as though I were any other part of the crowd, and not some crazy foreigner.

…”I really enjoyed being addressed as though I were any other part of the crowd”…Christ, this place is turning me into a Chinese person!

Happy 2009 everyone. In honor of the new year, here is some terrifying footage of children in a Chinese school, followed by some hilarious footage of a new “song” created by the Chinese Navy’s Political Art Department (oh yes, that exists) to spur on the navy’s efforts to fight pirates around Somalia. [The translations are stolen from China Digital Times and Black and White Cat, respectively]

2009, Go China!
Lead: Snowstorm, freely falling down to earth, like western values
Lead: Despair fills the sky, ice covers the earth

Lead: Did China retreat?
All: No. The Olympics were a success! We are victorious!
Lead: Hot blood and iron will of Chinese people, lighten up the dark world like burning the holy flame
All: The rivers and mountains, ever more colorful and beautiful

Lead: Earthquakes, shifting back and forth like the positions of Sarkozy, with his dirty tricks, trying to shake the great China
Lead: Did China retreat?
All: No. The Shenzhou-7 launched. We are victorious!
Lead: Pathetic Europe will never stop the insurmountable force of our great dynasty
All: Just the aftershocks from the earthquake would destroy France!

Lead: The happy flowers flourish in the oil fields on Tarim Basin
Lead: The suona [musical instrument] sings aloud in the Tawang district of the Himalayas
Lead: Historically accumulated resentment fill the Ryukyu Trench
All: Smiles in Sun Moon Lake became a miraculous flower in the Pacific Ocean

Lead: Do not waver, do not slow down, do not make big changes
Lead: Do not change the flag, Do not turn back
All: Step ruthlessly over all anti-China forces

Lead: The giant ship full of patches, raise up the brand new sail
All: Spirits are high, crash through the waves, the wind is at our back
Lead: 2009
All: Go China
Lead: 2009
All: China the Greatest

(If the embedded player above doesn’t work, click this link.)
MAKE HASTE TO SOMALIA
Lyrics: Wang Lei
Music: Lei Yu
Make haste to Somalia, cruise the Gulf of Aden
With lofty sentiments, the Chinese navy heads for the deep blue
Braving wind and waves, the warship’s flag flutters,
The Chinese navy, a bright sword to harmonize the ocean.

Chinese warriors, valiant men with iron wills,
Intrepid journey, 600 years after Zheng He.
Heroic sailors, forge bravely ahead,
Bearing heavy responsibility, the motherland will see our triumphant return.

I’ve watched a bunch of movies recently that are related to China in one way or another, so here’s my thoughts on them for those interested.

Nanking. This is a documentary about- -any guesses?- -the Nanjing massacres. It’s an American movie, so it’s all in English and it’s very focused on the experience of the (very) few foreigners who happened to be in Nanjing when the Japanese invaded in 1937. The scope of the film doesn’t move far beyond the foreigners and their “Safety Zone”- -a small area of the city cordoned off for refugees and protected by the foreigners in the hopes that it would stop Japanese soldiers from raping and killing them- -so the name Nankingis perhaps a bit misleading; then again the sheer scope of that tragedy is likely beyond what it’s possible to capture in a feature film. Anyway, what’s different about the film is that they’ve hired real actors- -most notably Woody Harrelson and Mariel Hemingway- -to read the diaries and letters of the foreigners, and interspersed that footage with archival footage from Nanjing and footage of Chinese survivors (although not many) and Japanese soldiers (even fewer: those interested in seeing some horrifying interviews with former Japanese soldiers re: Japanese war atrocities would be better served by the film Japanese Devils). This technique works fairly well- -Harrelson is especially good- -and the subject matter has a power of its own. All in all, it’s pretty moving, even more so for those who know that this kind of thing didn’t just happen in Nanjing.

Red Cliff. This is a John Woo historical epic based on part of the ancientRomance of the Three Kingdoms story (which is very, very long). The film itself doesn’t cover much of the tale (I don’t want to spoil the ending but it leaves plenty of room for a sequel to put it lightly) but what it does cover it does quite well. It must have been extremely expensive to make, and it shows; production values are through the roof, and fight scenes are epic, many probably took months to shoot. Although the ending will probably annoy you, this is worth seeing because you’ll want to see the sequel(s?) when they come out, and because Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu are a pretty badass tag-team of military strategists.

Painted Skin. A supernatural tale of love and evil temptress spirits, this film is bogged down by a terrible soundtrack. It’s not as terrible as the Hitchcock soundtrack, but it’s pretty bad. It’s also pretty melodramatic, which is par for the course with Chinese films, but still, it’s a bit much. I enjoyed it because it’s the first film I watched without English subtitles and I was actually able to understand it (it did have Chinese subtitles), but you aren’t going to get much more out of it than that.

China: A Century of Revolution. This is actually a TV miniseries about the past hundred years or so of Chinese history, and it’s completely indispensable. I think it’s expensive to buy on legitimate DVD, but still probably worth it if you’re interested in modern history at all, and really valuable if you’re teaching it.

That’s it for now, there’s more on the way whenever I get time to watch some more.

Just recently, a group of 300 prominent Chinese intellectuals released Charter 08, a call for sweeping democratic reform in China. This is a fascinating, historic document and rather than prattle on about it here I’ll just link those interested to some relevant stuff.

Read Charter 08 (Translated into English by Perry Link). It’s not very long, worth the read.

LA Times Report that Literary Critic and Charter 08 Signer Liu Xiaobo has been arrested.

Links to some background info from The China Beat.

Commentary from Chinese philosophy blog The Useless Tree (which is great, by the way).

Voice of America Story (Chinese) [appears to be blocked in China]

Original Chinese Text of Charter 08 [零八宪章]–includes the names of all three hundred who signed at the bottom.

The following post is a translation of an email I received from a student. It’s clearly one of those mass emails that he sent out to his whole email list, full of depressing pictures. In the interest of showing something real about Chinese society here, I’m posting some of the pictures as well as the comments that accompany them. The title of the original email is also “Pictures That Will Make You Weep”.
5. For the sake of a few dollars in living expenses…

6. A 17 year old miner. For 1 RMB each time, he carries over 50 kg or coal over 1000 meters.

8. An old grandfather willing to ….. for the sake of subsistence. [The "...." is in the original text, I assume it's there to emphasize that what he has to do is so sad the author would rather not even type it]

10. In Xi’an, at this place, people spend over 30,000 RMB just to eat a meal.

11. Look again at what kind of classrooms our students have class in.

18. Then there’s the poor sweet potato vendor below. Given the choice between worrying about the appearance of the city and his own desire to keep living, what should we choose?

21. Modern man in the rain.

22. A scavenger, this is how this mother has grown old

23. A very poor woman who could not afford traveling expenses herself. After requesting traveling expenses without result from local government, she has finally saved up enough money to visit the grave of her son, who died twenty years ago. This is the first time she has been here, perhaps it will also be her last.

27. This old man who rides through campus every day was once a professor at the university of science and technology. During the cultural revolution, he suffered savage persecution, but after rehabilitation, he had no complaints about his country. Today, he donates his entire salary every month to Project Hope [a charity project that funds rural education initiatives]; as for himself, he lives a ragged existence. Any extra money he comes across he also donates, what a noble man! If he can even begin to enjoy this, he is much better than most people. His son and daughter live internationally; every month they send him some money and he donates that, too. Isn’t this man worthy of our respect and admiration?

30. “Wife, I’m fine. I’m eating and sleeping well, well-clothed as well. The big city is very beautiful…”

32. It’s not that I want to influence the city’s appearance, I’m just hungry… [The references to the city's appearance are referring to complaints and the belief of some that poor people make the cities dirtier and more unsightly...(before you judge, think about the things people say about hobos in America)]

35. This is the sorrow of China’s education system, I hope every Chinese person will see this picture and it will awaken the humanity of a billion Chinese people, we can use our knowledge and abilities to help these people. [The text in the picture itself says: "That day, when the teacher came to class, we were all very unhappy. Actually, we also knew of the pain in our teacher's heart...Can you see it? This is the greatest [most noble] of all professions.”]

37. The most shocking cry, can you hear it? [Text in the photo says: "That day, an English teacher came to the countryside. The first sentence she taught us was 'I want to go to school.' Can you hear it? That is the most shocking/powerful cry of all."]

[The email concludes with this text, presumably by whoever the original author was:] Moving! Depressingly moving! I think this group of pictures power is not just to make people cry, and should awaken those who are still recklessly wasteful. It can make them think about whether or not their money should be spent in a meaningful way. We propose a harmonious [society], today we must create that harmony ourselves.