Archive for the ‘Brown’ Category

In 1997, control over Hong Kong was transferred from British to Chinese control. Hong Kong is considered an autonomic Special Administrative Region (SAR), complete with its own currency, immigration, judicial, education, and social welfare systems. China controls foreign affairs and defense systems for the SARs, but Hong Kong is able to control basically everything that happens in Hong Kong.* However, since the handover, Hong Kong’s press has suffered. The freedom of the press is protected, but over 50% of journalists think that it has deteriorated since 1997.* Both the public and the press employees express concern that the government has more control over the press, and that the press practices more self censorship than in the past.

However, I think that the people of Hong Kong have several advantages over those on the mainland in their ability to access information. First of all English is still taught in schools, so the people are able read international reports and decide on which sources they feel give the most accurate information. Also, Hong Kong is free from the Great Firewall. Since coming to Hong Kong I’ve noticed we have access to everything that was blocked in China including Facebook, Youtube, Google Blogspot, several Wikipedia Pages, and several prohibited Google searches (e.g. wegers, Ai Wei Wei, Falun Gong.) Hong Kong also has a tremendous number of iPhone users, so not only do Hong Kongers have access to these sites, they have it wherever they are. It is my impression that the people of Hong Kong are more in touch, interested, and aware of their political lives.

Ok, for clarification level 1 is the least severe typhoon you can come across, it was just a bunch of rain. Yesterday we visited the Tian Tan Buddha, which I was happily surprised to learn is on a mountaintop in the middle of the rain forest. It was very misty when we got there, and when we made it to the top the rain rolled in. We tried to wait it out for a while but gave up and headed down the stairs which had become a waterfall. We made it to a shop that sold ponchos, suited up and waddled around looking for the other member of our group that didn’t come to the top with us. We gave up looking after a while and just headed back on the bus. This really doesn’t sound as awesome as it was, but there was just so much life! There were cows wandering the streets, bullfrogs that sounded like dinosaurs freaking out Rachel, and itty bitty frogs hopping around on the ground everywhere . There’s something about being soaking wet that forces you to laugh at yourself, and there’s something about being so close to nature that makes everything okay.

Click the pictures to enlarge:

I actually heard of Ai Wei Wei on the Colbert Report when we were in Beijing, look for the upcoming documentary on him titled “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry.” Ai Wei Wei is an activist and artist most well known for his work on the bird’s nest, which housed many of the sporting events during Beijing’s 2008 Olympics. He had a well-followed blog, but it was shut down by the Chinese government following the Sichuan earthquake when he tried to use his readership to compile a list of people missing in the disaster. Ironically, the day after learning about Ai we met with an American reporter for the heavily censored CCTV, and he told us that during the Sichuan earthquake the Chinese government allowed unprecedented access for international news media into the disaster area (never mentioning Ai until I asked about him). So it is incredibly refreshing to get to Hong Kong and see some opinions vocalized about the subject. On the subway I even saw a young man wearing a shirt that read “Where is Ai Wei Wei?” I definitely feel more safe to have opinions here, I can even access my personal blog again!

On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month each year, the Chinese celebrate the dragon boat festival. A man from thousands of years ago committed suicide, and his followers raced out on dragon boats to try to save him. They threw rice cakes into the river so the fish would eat them instead of the man’s body. Despite its morbid beginnings, the holiday was actually very festive. A government sponsored tour took our group along with some other foreigners to a small celebration (there were only three boats racing, in major cities dozens of boats race.) It was really nice though, we were fed a HUGE lunch and invited to make some of the wrapped rice cakes.

Shanghai's Skyline

Perhaps the best way to compare the Chinese cities I’ve been to is by evaluating them from my perspective as a tourist. I believe the goal of tourism is to experience a culture different from your own. So what contributes to or hinders this? I believe three main factors determine this: access to areas and/or activities which demonstrate the nature of the culture, insight from members of the culture, and the ability to navigate the city.

While both Beijing and Shanghai have an art district, temples, and museums, Beijing’s age gives it the advantage in cultural areas. Beijing’s Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and Great Wall offer tourists a unique look into the remnants of ancient China. I would also give Beijing the advantage in cultural activities. In both cities cooking classes and traditional medicine clinics are available, but Beijing’s cultural center offered a much wider variety of classes including calligraphy, watercolor painting, paper cutting, majong (board game), and knot tying.

Insight from the populations of these cities is definitely a tossup. In Shanghai, there are more people with experience speaking English, especially in service professions. However, in Beijing, we had a guided tour, two tea ceremonies, and sales clerks who were willing and able to explain the history and significance of the products they were selling. This might simply depend on who we ran into, but I feel I gained more insight and friendly camaraderie in Beijing. It seems that other observers also prefer the people of Beijing to those in Shanghai. Sinosplice Blogger John states, “Beijingers are widely regarded as very friendly, and any sense of superiority is exhibited only subtly. The Shanghainese are not widely regarded as friendly or as subtle in their snobbery.”

The ability to navigate is also a nearly even competition. Shanghai has one huge advantage, which is the air quality. Outside of Beijing is the largest hydro-electric power plant, the Three Gorges Dam. The redirection of water had a huge impact on the surrounding ecosystem and caused desertification which causes sandstorms around Beijing. Coal factories surround Beijing so the sandstorms are accompanied by a thick blanket of smog making it constantly uncomfortable to breathe.

The Forbidden City in Beijing

Beijing nearly evens this out with its superior signage. In preparation for the 2008 Olympics, Beijing overhauled its street and subway signage. Shanghai’s signs are also bilingual, but the subway system is a bit more of a challenge. In Beijing, a one-way ticket to any destination is 2 yuan, but in Shanghai the price varies by destination from 3-6 yuan. The Beijing subways more often have a light-up real time map indicating which stop is approaching, but in Shanghai the maps are usually stationary. Both cities are pretty simple to navigate, but the people in Beijing are much more likely to stop to help a confused looking foreigner, compared to the people in Shanghai who only respond when flagged down.

I love the way blogger Kristin Bair O’Keeffe describes the two cities: “Shanghai is a petulant, hormonal teenager who wants desperately to be a grown-up but who doesn’t quite fit into her high-heels and bustier.” and “Beijing is Shanghai’s somewhat stern grandfather who is full of wonderful stories and history.” The people of Shanghai seem to be striving forward callously, while the people of Beijing seem to be contentedly reflecting on their history. Shanghai is a place to work; Beijing is a place to tour. My advice is to get goggles and a face mask, and head over to Beijing.

— United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

While visiting the Propaganda Museum, I picked up a brochure that looked out-of-place. The cover displayed a Jewish star of David, the only one I had seen in my experiences in China.

The brochure described a Jewish ghetto that existed in Shanghai around the WWII era. It was the largest Jewish population in all of Asia, and at its height it housed around 30,000 people. During this time period Shanghai was controlled by the Japanese, allies of Nazi Germany, so I was very surprised that the Japanese allowed Jewish refugees into Shanghai.

During the rise of Nazi Germany, increasing numbers of Jewish citizens began to seek refuge in other countries. However, they frequently lacked the documentation which would allow them to move internationally. Most countries, including the US, closed their borders to this marginalized group, but the Jews were able to find sympathy with a few influential Japanese leaders, the most important of which was Ho Feng Shan. Ho administered visas against the orders of his superiors and allowed thousands of Jews to escape to Shanghai.

Unfortunately, life in the ghetto was less than ideal. The Jews were only allowed to leave with written permission, housing was overcrowded, and food and supplies were rationed, but they were definitely safer than their European counterparts. They were able to create relatively stable communities equipped with schools, a newspaper, and a theater.

The Germans eventually pressured Japan to release the Jews, which encouraged the Japanese governor to investigate the issue. It is alleged that the sympathy for the Jews was bolstered by a conversation between the governor and the Rabbi Reb Kalish. When the governor asked, “Why do the Germans hate you so much?” The rabbi is said to have replied “They hate us because we are short and dark-haired.” Perhaps, the Japanese found themselves at odds with Nazi Germany’s Aryan idolatry. Whatever the reason, they never released the Shanghai Jews to the Nazis.

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005589

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Ghetto

One of the first things I noticed about the museum was that the dates of the objects were based on dynasties instead of years. Often an object would be classified by a broad time period of over 100 years. While there were 10 different exhibits open during our visit, I found 3 particularly interesting: the ceramics gallery, jade gallery, and minorities’ art gallery.

In high school, ceramics was my favorite class without any close rivals. Because I understand how much practice and work goes into a piece of handmade pottery, I was very interested in seeing this exhibit.

The first thing that impressed me was the age of many of the  pieces. The oldest piece that was still whole was from around 6000 BCE, and they had pottery shards that were even older.

Pottery represents a society’s stability because the time spent harvesting, molding, and firing clay is time not spent protecting oneself, gathering food, or finding shelter. I am amazed that thousands of years ago the Chinese not only created useful vessels, but also put the time into them to make them beautiful and unique.

I was also excited to see and learn more about what is known in America as ‘fine China.’ The trademark vessels are made of porcelain clay, which is known for its white color, high firing temperature, and smooth texture. I learned that the blue glaze is actually an underglaze. A ceramic piece is first thrown and dried and then fired to become ‘greenware,’ after which a glaze is put on and the piece is fired again. However, an underglaze is applied before the first firing.

Throughout our trip, numerous shops have sold jade bangles, pendants, and sculptures, so I was curious about China’s history with jade. The earliest piece I saw was a jade axe head from 3200-2200 BCE pictured below.

The other jade pieces were remarkable for their intricacy. The tiny details were exquisite. I am very impressed that such fragile pieces remain intact from hundreds or thousands of years ago. This solidified my impression that the ancient Chinese culture offered its population the security to explore their artistic abilities, and remained stable enough for these pieces to be preserved. Ornate details are still present in modern Chinese decorations, even our chopsticks often have tiny adornments usually signifying ‘good luck.’

My favorite pieces in the jade gallery were two layered pieces about the size of my palm. I cannot understand how anyone could create the dual layered intricate carvings present here.

Click to enlarge

The last exhibit I found particularly interesting was the minorities’ art gallery. The gallery displayed ceremonial garbs, cloths, masks, boats, and metal figurines. What I found most interesting about this section was its location on the top story of the museum (where the fewest number of visitors are likely to go) and the age of the pieces. Most of the items in this section were from the 1900s, highly contrasting the centuries-old pieces from other exhibits. Were the artistic works of these other cultures destroyed before the 1900s? Did they simply not survive due to the materials used in their construction? Why do the Chinese still display these things in isolation, like they’re not truly part of Chinese history and culture? In any case, these items remained consistent with the Chinese aesthetic of intricate detail and careful craftsmanship.

In the basement of an apartment complex in the French Concession district, a small four-room museum preserves Chinese propaganda posters from the 1940s through the 1970s.  The posters are organized chronologically divided into ‘The Early Years,’ ‘The Great Leap Forward,’ ‘The Cold War Era,’ ‘The Cultural Revolution,’ ‘The anti-Confucianism era,’ and the (post-Mao) ‘Modernization Era.’

The Early Years were those after the formation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, these posters were optimistic and showed great hope for a prosperous future.

Because of my previous blog on The Great Leap Forward, I was particularly interested in this section. The posters showed strong, smiling Chinese people working together on people’s communes, riding a dragon which symbolized steel production, and selling the ‘extra’ grain to the state. Not surprisingly, the posters which told people to eat only two  meals a day (see NYT article in previous blog) were absent. I find it ironic that a propaganda museum is in essence propaganda.

Arabic people unite to stop the war of invasion -1959

During the Cold War Era, posters centered around displaying the greed and inhumanity of Western countries, usually the US and UK. It might be difficult to see, but in the image to the left the bird’s neck has England’s flag and the wolf/dog has US on its helmet. The West was often depicted as a wolf/dog beast, a green goblin creature, or an obese, sickly man, and usually was reaching for some sort of material goods (usually cash or oil.)

The other posters of the Cold War Era accentuated the positive relationship between China and Russia. During this era, Stalin was Russia’s leader and maintained a close relationship with Mao.

The Cultural Revolution period followed. During this time, posters centered around a black, white, and red color scheme. These posters frequently depicted angry, vitalized Chinese people proudly holding up a little red book of Mao’s poetry and quotations. These posters often depicted a giant image of Mao overlooking a small sea of people in red like the image below.

Closely follow Chairman Mao marching forward -1969

The anti-Confucianism movement created posters which displayed people going about their daily work, while reading communist literature. Instead of simply focusing on Mao’s writings, this period encouraged the population to read the Manifestos of previous leaders especially Marx and Lenin.

During this period, Russia’s leader Stalin was replaced by Nikita Khrushchev. Mao respected Stalin as the  premier leader of communism, but felt that because of seniority he deserved that position after Stalin. Khrushchev felt he deserved the position because of Russia’s superior economic and military power, and so the relationship between China and Russia became strained.

Peak of contemporary Marxism and Leninism -1968

The poster to the right depicts Mao’s message that he was the true heir to the communist throne.

After Mao’s death in 1976, the propaganda posters began to center on scientific progress and modernization. They commonly depicted young children on rocket ships, high speed trains, assorted flying machines, and atoms.

The other message of the post-Mao posters was that the new leader, Hua Guofeng, supported Mao’s ideology. These posters often pictured Hua with Mao in the background in the sky or on a flag. This museum was very informative on how the Chinese learned about their government, international relations, and how they viewed communism. Check out their website for more images.

Taijitu a.k.a. Yin-Yang

During our meals in China, most of the group has noticed unexpected flavors in foods. For example, last night Rashieta ordered pork chops and was surprised when the breading was sweet. At McDonald’s, the French fries are bland instead of salty. In my opinion, the most noticeable differences are the lack of salty foods and the high quantity of sweet foods, especially in unexpected places like pork chops, sandwiches, and breads. Chinese food also offers a great deal of spicy foods and bitter, pickled vegetables. I hypothesize that this is a result of traditional Chinese medicine’s interpretation of taste.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the body is seen as a system of complex interacting processes which can become unbalanced. “Traditional Chinese medicine holds that human life is a physiological process in constant motion and change. Under normal conditions, the waxing and waning of yin and yang are kept within certain bounds, reflecting a dynamic equilibrium of the physiological processes. When the balance is broken, disease occurs.” ¹ To realign the unbalanced bodily systems, traditional Chinese medicine often prescribes personalized regiments of acupuncture, qigong exercises, and herbal remedies.

Herbal remedies are classified by warming, neutral, or cooling properties and also by taste. There are five taste classifications: sour, bitter, spicy, sweet, and salty. I theorize that the beliefs surrounding these flavors in herbal medications also translate into beliefs about how food should taste. Each of the five tastes is known to have a different function in the body:

“Sour constricts or consolidates. Herbs of sour taste are often indicated for use in perspiration due to deficiency, protracted cough, chronic diarrhea, seminal and urinary incontinences, leakage or spermatic fluid, and other conditions related to hypo-metabolism (under-performance).”² Sour foods include plums, lemons, and mangoes. While the group has avoided sour foods out of habit, I have noticed more plum, lemon, and mango options, especially in drinks.

“Bitter possesses the function of clearing heat, purging the bowels, lowering the qi, improving appetite and drying dampness or wetness.”² Bitter foods often include vinegar. On the plane trip to Shanghai, we were served pickled vegetables, and since then I have begun noticing their frequency on Chinese menus, usually as a side dish.

“Spicy disperses, circulates qi and vitalizes blood. This group of herbs can stimulate the sweat glands to perspire, circulate qi, activate the function of meridians and organs and vitalize blood to promote blood circulation. As a whole, spicy herbs have the overall effect of activating and enhancing metabolism.”² Spicy foods are nearly impossible to avoid here in China, our professor Chris attributed this to a historical need to hide the rotting flavor in foods, but perhaps spicy foods are also prevalent in modern times because of an interest in weight loss.

“Sweet has the function of toning, improving, moistening and harmonizing many of the important systems of the body, including the digestive, respiratory, immune and endocrine systems. Sweet tastes also relieve urgency and inhibit pain due to the constrictive action of muscles.”² Sweet flavors as I mentioned before are common and often in unexpected foods, I think this is because sweet foods improve many different bodily functions and impact many different systems.

“Salty herbs have the function of softening firm masses and fibrous adhesions. The salty taste purges and opens the bowels. Salty agents are often indicated in sores, inflammatory masses, cysts, and connective tissue proliferation.”² On the contrary to sweet foods, salty foods have the most specific and least common use. I believe this is why the Chinese prefer bland foods (which fall into the sweet category³) to salty ones, as is the case with McDonald’s French fries.

In Western dieting, we are taught to look at calories, fat content, sodium content, and other nutrition facts listed on the packaging of whatever we are eating. I like that Chinese dieting teaches the individual to pay close attention to the flavors of the foods they are eating and to trust their own mouths instead of reading packaging. I also like that it encourages people to eat a variety of different foods, which has also been recommended by Western nutritionists. It seems that traditional Chinese medicine takes into account the entirety of what a person’s body is experiencing to determine what that individual needs. Learning about traditional Chinese medicine gives a whole new perspective to the idea of a ‘balanced’ diet, and I hope to become more open to surprising flavors during the rest of this trip.

¹ http://www.tcmpage.com/yin-yang.html

² http://www.tcmpage.com/herbal_therapy.html

³ http://tcmdiscovery.com/Chinese-Materia-Medica/info/20081002_485_2.html

In one of our assigned readings we learned about a period in China’s history when every mention of sex was considered obscene. People were completely unaware of their own and others sexuality. The paper mentioned that in one mental hospital over 50 girls were hospitalized after their first sexual experience, because of this history I’ve been very curious about how modern Chinese people perceive sex. So today we decided to check out a sex superstore.

It was set up like most indoor markets or swap meets with dozens of small rooms each carrying an array of sex related items, but usually focusing on one. One store carried bulk packages of pregnancy tests, lubricants, and condoms, while another focused on vibrators and lingerie, and yet another carried mostly bondage and other risqué items.

I was surprised by the laid back attitude of the clerks at the stores; most of them were women my mom’s age gesturing to vibrators and lubricants like they were benign pieces of clothing. In one store a clerk even brought her young son with her to work (kids are often brought with to work places here.) They were all very relaxed and willing to demonstrate how different objects functioned, and it seems that in modern China people are very comfortable with and aware of their sexuality.