China page 9

On the Road to China
with George... page 9

On more than one occasion, I found myself turning on the T.V.,
Aug 13, 2006 4:33 PM

usually out of boredom or a nervous habit that most of us have cultivated over a lifetime. Every hotel room I was in had a T.V. and a wall air conditioner, both controlled by remote. I would be tired of writing or playing my flute and I'd reach for the switch. In an instant the sound of Chinese chatter would fill the room. I would flip through the channels and find a soccer game. Most nights between 7:30 and 10 there was a game to watch. And for those few nights that I didn't go out, soccer was a real treat. I could mute or turn down the sound and understand the goings on. The Chinese teams were sprinkled with a few westerners, who, because I lacked sound and language, I was unable to determine their countries of origin. There was one game, where most all the players were oriental, until the camera picks up this guy who looks like he's from Southern Mississippi, an oversized black guy who looks as out of place as a speck of pepper in a salt shaker. A few times I found ESPN sharing a local channel, but I never figured out when ESPN would be on and the programming was generally not what one might expect in the United States. Often, I would tune in hoping for a soccer game and find a big table tennis match.
Table tennis is a big sport here, space is a problem, and for the average person table tennis doesn't take up much room. Another big sport is badminton, I found people walking down the street with badminton nets and racquets on the way to the park. They would string the nets up between two trees and have matches among themselves. Fortunately, badminton didn't preempt any of the soccer games. I tried to watch table tennis, but I'll tell you, there wasn't much to it. One guy would serve, there be a couple of quick exchanges, somebody would score a point, then they would both reach for a towel, and wipe their hands and faces (how they worked up a sweat is beyond me), and they would repeat the process. But, the Chinese seemed to like it, there appeared to be a couple of thousand people in the stands. Everyone would quiet for the serve and with each point there would be polite appose. After about 10 minutes of table tennis, I invariably started channel surfing. From what I could tell, their Television wasn't much different that what we Americans have to watch. It appears that they have borrowed quite a few of our programming ideas.
There were some shows there that were definitely soap operas. There was tension in the background music and a look of high drama on the faces of each actor, and who could miss that adulterous stare and treacherous glare that can only be found in great soap opera. And the commercials were strait out of old Madison Avenue, except they were very high Tec, with the sound level jumping decibel or two higher. Advertisements included, Pepsi Coke, KFC, Ford, soap, toothpaste, and skin care, to name only a few.
There were game show, though they did not appear to be popular, magic show, several, musical and comic variety shows, with lot of stand up comics. There was a history channel and a few talk shows, and several different news shows at the news hour between 6 and 7 P.M. And I saw a couple of news discussion forums. And, of course there were movies of all types. There were two types of movies that appeared to be most popular. Any night that I flipped through the channels,
I could find a World War II movie. The movie would pit the Chinese against the Japanese. There is still great hatred of the Japanese here and their films reflect that feeling. There is still talk to the terrible atrocities that took place over 65 years ago, particularly the terrible things that happened in NanJing, where 200 thousand civilians were slaughtered in 1937 (more than once I heard the Chinese speak of that atrocity. So that, even today, the Japanese and Japanese products are not all that welcome in China. In the Chinese press, there is quite an uproar over the fact that the Japanese Prime Minister has gone to the Japanese National Shrine to honor the war dead. (It sure didn't seem all that important to me, but its front page news here). All this might explain why Fords and Volkswagens are so popular, and why Americans are welcome so much more than their oriental neighbors. I might ad that none of these movies have a short supply of violence. The World War II movies were particularly graphic. They all seem to portray either children or woman who struggle against their terrible oppressor, with the men hiding out waiting for the right moment to strike revenge. Then through terrible odds and great heroism, (usually from the woman or the children) they suddenly overthrow the terrible Japanese, to through some dramatic violent end. Scripts and story lines right from the back rooms of Hollywood.
The other movie favorite, are the Mongol Westerns. Where the Mongol's ride in from the west, (like the American Indians) blazing into the Chinese villages causing mayhem and havoc with their horses, shooting up everything with their bows and arrows. All the characters are dressed up in Thirteen Century Mongol outfits and have the look of Gangus Kahn. John Wayne, no doubt, would be proud, as the Chinese fight back valiantly to defend their way of life. One of the channels was Ted Turner's movies. The movie that I caught, was a Anti-bellum movie (unfortunately I didn't recognize or remember the film) of the south as the south moved into the Civil War. There was a Scarlet O'Hara who spoke dubbed in Mandarin, and the Confederate soldiers were all running around yelling at each other in Chinese. I didn't watch much of the film, I knew the outcome. There were some show in English, every morning from 6 to 8 in YanAn there was an English business news show, I never watched it, but the teacher from New Zealand tuned it in to get the international Rugby scores (New Zealand got drubbed by South Africa 55-3, which he was reminded of several times by the Englishman and the South Africa teachers, after that blew over, he didn't mention rugby too much) In Beijing, there was a regular English speaking channel, it was 24 hours of business news presented by heavily accented Chinese moderators. It was English, but it was rather dry information. On the Sunday before I left Xian,
I was flipping through the Channels at 7:30 in the morning, and I stumbled on to ESPN, where low and behold, I found the Red Sox playing the Devil Rays in live action. I couldn't believe it, there before my eyes was Big Fat old David Wells pitching in the second inning, leading one to nothing. The commentary was in Chinese, but it was American Baseball. Unfortunately, I had a breakfast at 7:45 with Horton, so after 10 minutes I had to leave. Breakfast was around the corner, as soon as I met Horton, I explained that this was going to be a short breakfast, (no way I was going to miss the end of this game) I told him I had something very important (I left things rather vague) that I had to take care of back in my room. Obviously, I wasn't going to try to explain to Horton about a baseball game. Since Horton already thinks my ways are rather peculiar, I had no trouble leaving him after breakfast. When I got back, I snapped on the T.V. and to my disappointment, there before me was a very shapely young woman demonstrating the latest in Yoga positions.
I flipped through all the channels, the game was gone. As sometimes happens, the local channel will preempt the network, and that appears to be what had happened. As pleasant and as good looking as the Yoga Lady was, big fat old David Well would have been a much more welcome sight. So, for 10 minutes I got to see the Red Sox in China.

The last week I was in Xian, there was a beer festival in Revolutionary Park.
Aug 13, 2006 7:06 PM

Along with living several years in YanAn, Mao, also lived in Xian for a short period of time, very close to a small park that is now named Revolutionary Park. So named, because it was used by Mao and his associates as a meeting and gathering place. Mao lived a couple of blocks away in a compound near my hotel and close to Horton's family home. I had gone to visit the historic site, which was a former army barracks, but the site was closed for the summer, the half that was open is now a beautiful Youth Hostel filled with foreigners.For the week of the Beer Festival, the park is dominated with the activities and the goings on of the festival. What had been a quiet and peaceful haven in a busy city was for that week a hectic and busy place in and of itself. Where a handful of people had mingled the first week I had been in China, the area was now filled with people by the thousands, especially in the evening hours. The two beer companies that sponsored the event were Hans Beer and Tsing Tao. These were the dominate beers in China, but Budweiser and Heineken were available. Bud was made in China and was the cheapest brand, and the merchants seemed to assume that if you were American, you would most certainly want Budweiser, so when ordering beer it was always best to be specific. Although the festival was huge (3 or 4 thousand people every night), it had the feeling of a small town carnival.

There were several places scattered about for the purchase of beer, and lined up in a semi-circle around the stage, were dozens of local food merchants, similar to the food court at the mall. The foods were as varied as the restaurants that were in the neighborhoods, far to many to begin to describe, each being prepared before the customer, very much like the foods that were prepared in the open market on the streets of YanAn. I had the barbecue mutton on a stick, which Horton said was a traditional western Chinese food, from the Mongolian region. After we ate there was a show with three men on bicycles, doing tricks on stage. We left before the Rock Concert began, so I can't say what the music was like.

But, I did meet a Canadian who had great things to say about it, he was a musician who got to go up on stage and played with the local band. As we left, we went to anther part of the park where the games were taking place. Nothing sophisticated, simple hand made games of chance for stuff animals and small prizes. I won a deck of cards for throwing two out of three softballs (the first softballs I had seen in China) into a peach basket. Another game included knocking over soda cans with a basketball, fishing for goldfish (with live bait and hooks). There was also a fashion show with teenage girls walking down a makeshift ramp, in this case, the sidewalk, wearing long traditional Chinese dresses. People were lined up on the sides two and three deep to watch.

The entire scene was unpretentious and unsophisticated, to the point of innocence. It reminded me of the small ethnic festivals in Pennsylvania or Portuguese festivals I grew up with in Massachusetts.

China trip doc
Tuesday, August 15, 2006 2:37 PM

A week before I was scheduled to return home, I decided to pack my bags and head back to the United Stares. There were two main reasons; the coming school year was weighing heavy on my mind. There are so many things that need to be done before school starts, clothes need to be bought; school supplies need to be replenished, the yard needed to be taken care of, and one needs to be psychologically prepared before starting the School year, coming in one day before the start of school could be more than a little daunting. And the second factor was the way I had been feeling.
I was still nursing a cold and I felt rundown. People have asked me if the food was good in China, and for the most part the food was quite good, but like anywhere else, eating on the road (as a former truck driver I can readily attest to this) can ware you down. There is nothing as good as home cooking. Any one who knows me will tell you, I eat as healthily as I can, with lots of fruits and vegetables. Eating on the road and eating in China made that kind of lifestyle difficult to maintain. Although the Chinese do not eat many sweets or consume much fat, they do take in a lot of Carbohydrates, noodles and breads. After four weeks, I was beginning to feel rather lethargic. I was buying fruits from the local merchants, but it didn?t seem to be enough. When I spoke to the English teacher in YanAn, Rebecca, she indicated she had to cook most of her meals in her apartment for the same reason. So I told Horton on Sunday morning that I intended to leave. Since the train took a reservation 3 days in advance, I had Horton purchase a plane ticket over the phone for the next morning. For the cost of about 900 rmb?s or a little more than $100 I had a flight the next morning at 11 A.M. About an hour and a half after Horton made the phone call, a courier arrived at the hotel with the ticket, apparently the passenger doesn?t or can?t pick up the ticket at the gate. Horton couldn't get through to United on a Sunday night; the message said they would be open at 8 A.M. on Monday.
That evening I had the finest food I had had in China; Horton's mother had made us a spicy chicken dish. My room was next to a beautiful balcony that overlooked the street, so we took out the small coffee table and a couple of chairs and sat outside. I went down the restaurant beside the hotel and had them deliver some drinks and a vegetable dish to go with the chicken. We sat and watched the sun go down and the bustle below in the street. The next morning Horton met me for breakfast at the western restaurant and called United, changing the ticket was no problem, the cost was $15 American, but I couldn't leave until Tuesday, which meant I would be spending one night in Beijing. I wanted to take a taxi, but Horton assured me that the bus was the best route to the airport, and as usual, he was right (there was a major traffic accident that the bus dispatcher rerouted us around). Horton came with me to the Airport, as I recall it was $3.00 each way, and having Horton with me seemed worth the price. As it turned out, when I got to the Airport, I knew more about airport travel than he did. The tickets were marked clearly, enough so, that I knew where and when to be.
I did have a bit of a scare though, I was at the boarding gate 20 mins. before departure and no one as manning the departure desk and there was no sign of a plane. I had trouble finding an employee who spoke English, but I did find the waiting passengers whose tickets matched mine. Five minutes later an official was manning the post and a shuttle bus was loading us for a ride into the tarmac. It seems the local planes are loaded on the runway; I haven't done that since I was in my twenties. About tree busfuls and they had the plane loaded, about 90% full. And, we left on time. On the three hour flight, we were served a full meal, with plastic knife fork and spoon, no chopsticks to be found. We had an uneventful arrival into Beijing . To be continued. Love to all, George.

The hotel had a pickup service,
Sunday, August 20, 2006 1:16 PM

I was the only passenger, and as it turned out, I was about the only guest too. The Hotel was about 15 minutes from the airport; we turned off a main road onto a small dirt road, about a quarter of a mile down the road with and auto-body shop on the left, and we turned into the Hotel on the right. The hotel was surrounded by a six foot masonry wall, the hotel turned out to be a compound of buildings, with several different residents, but those that looked west had the view of the car repair shop. In China, it is not unusual to see the beautiful and the ugly side by side. The Hotel was beautiful and expansive, with a magnificent fountain.

There were more staff that there were guests. The place appeared to have just opened and the English skills of the staff reflected their lack of experience. The first order of business was to find an internet café, to tell my parents the details of my arrival. This is where the language barrier can be an obstacle. After a lot of sign language and frustration, I made my wishes known. They arranged for a cab, the café turned out to be a long trip, but I got my message through, wrote a short piece and returned. Fortunately, I had a card from the hotel and a cab driver who knew where the place was. On the way, I had paid close attention to the route, but it was a complicated ride. I was relieved to see the driver heading in the proper direction. I had dinner at the hotel (there was no other place near by) and I spent the evening reading and watching the English Channel, which was all business news, more like an informercial than a new program. The next morning I left for the airport at 7 a.m., about 3 hours before the gate opened.

I was anxious to get through the process; there are so many ways for things to go wrong, and getting there ahead of time tends to relieve the stress. Checking in the bags is also a physical relief, that?s about 100 things I didn?t have to worry about again until SanFrancisco. From the point of check in, there is a re-acclimation to western culture. For one thing, the airline attendants all speak understandable, though accented, English. As I entered the international terminal, with each step, I seemed to move gradually into a comfort zone. It was like going through a decompression chamber. All the pressure of trying to negotiate through a complex foreign culture began to be relieved. The bathrooms were both clean and flushed properly. And, the food was beginning to become westernized. After I found my gate, I was able to order a tuna fish sandwich, I had a ginger ale and a snickers bar. And, the closer I got to the gate; the more westernized faces became.

Boarding the plane was uneventful, I had an isle seat with two middle age Chinese men. Both spoke a small amount of English so the conversation was short. My re-assimilation continued as the two movies were in English, although I could have selected the Chinese dubbed version. And, each meal had a choice of either Chinese or American cuisine. In mid-flight I discovered that my reading light did not work, so I switched seats and found myself next to a speech therapist from Seattle, She had been in Mongolia for a speech convention, who would have figured that they have a convention in Mongolia. After speaking to her, I realized, I had spoken to very few Americans in the past month. Almost all the English that I had heard for the past month was accented; it was nice to feast my ears on an easy and familiar sound. With some quick footwork, I was the first to disembark the plane; I managed to out maneuver even the first class customers. Being an American national, I whizzed through the first phase of Customs without delay. I crossed the baggage pick up area and was checked out by the final customs official who mentioned it was unusual for an international traveler to travel with only carry on bags. I explained to him that I was connecting in Orlando and I would pick up my bags there. He had a good laugh, and told me it didn't work that way, the first point of entry required baggage pickup.

So much for my quick and fancy footwork. Being the first person to check-in, in Beijing, resulted in my being the last person to collect my bags in San Francisco. I retrieved my bags and passed by the same customs official I had encountered earlier, now an hour later. I wheeled my baggage, a backpack full of gifts and a green suitcase, about one hundred yards, and rechecked them both. The domestic terminal was only a short distance, but required another security check, off with the shoes and empty the pockets, then on with the shoes and stuff the pockets. And there it was, no less than 30 feet from the check in, Burger King. The Seattle speech therapist was chowing down along with a half dozen Americans who had been on the plane, my first real hamburger in over a month. I was back in America.
Love to all, George

Aug 15, 2006 3:32 AM

from minds that are afflicted
war is a wound that's self inflicted

we all lose
when conflict is the choice we choose

war and destruction are the tools
of political minds and ignorant fools

that create the false illusion
that we can exist within seclusion

war is a man creation
for those that think in separation

but war becomes obsolete and rejected
when we recognize we're all connected

universal harmony is mans reception
when the universal is his conception

So ends the journey for now.

I'm back,

I have spent the entire morning working on the yard and have only
gotten the back yard under control, the rest of the day I'll work on the
front, and I still won't be done. School starts Tuesday. I sent an email today, did you get
it? I have a couple more to send, stuff I wrote in my notebook that I need
to include. So in the next few days I'll send them on. I talked to people,
they seemed to have enjoyed the web site, thank you, With love always, George

Welcome back George, we are all happy to have you back in the good old USA. I have received the e-mails, it has been a pleasure working on your China story. Watch where you eat, we are still recovering from the hurricanes and you are just in time for the next season, you might want to keep some peanut butter handy.
Love and gratitude for your wonderful story, Cynthia Becklund