The China Experience

The Current

vol. 8, No. 60 April 2011

Editorial

Where to begin? In nine days 21 people sat on planes for over 24 hours, slept on wooden frames, stayed with host families, experienced the squatty potty, haggled, and went on a six hour hike up and down a decrepit portion of the Great Wall. It is impossible to say that we went on that trip and came away with nothing.

COR 330-09, ChinaMojo, a mobile journalism course taught by Rob Williams met twice a week at 8am. The class consisted of 19 students, mostly juniors, but a few sophomores receiving credit as a communications or writing elective. Unless you were friends with people in the class before the trip, it was hard to get to know anybody. I mean, let’s be honest, how many people are wide awake and in a talkative mood that early on Mondays? Even if I hated the trip, I still would’ve come back with new friends. It’s kind of hard to spend that amount of time with the same people and not bond over one thing or the other.

The trip started Friday, March 4^th at 4am at the Burlington International Airport. Before we even left the city we ran into our first speed bump. Our money transfer was lost for the first portion of the trip and wouldn’t be found until we were in Beijing the following Thursday. Between here and Wuhan, nothing major happened, a quick flight to Newark, a 13 ½ hour flight to Beijing, quick stop at the currency exchange and a two-hour flight to Wuhan. With the time change we basically skipped a day and when our feet hit the ground, it was Saturday night and we were exhausted, but our night didn’t end there. We met our coordinator of the Wuhan portion of the trip, Steve Wilmarth. Steve is a teacher at the HuaZhong Normal University, a high school of 6,000 students. We also met our tour guide, Linda, who was with us for the remainder of our stay in Wuhan. We were told that we weren’t even allowed to use tap water to brush our teeth, and after stopping at the hotel, we went on an excursion, exploring the night life of Wuhan in search of water. Along the way we had our first meals in China- McDonald’s and Starbucks. Stumbling back with sore feet and drooping eyes, most of us had a very unpleasant night’s sleep. The hotel opened our eyes to the Chinese way of sleeping- no heat and on a wooden frame with a thin mattress pad thrown on top.

Our first stop of the morning was breakfast at the Hubuxiang Market. Finally it was time to have some street food. Germophobs would have a panic attack once they stepped under the arch and into the street. The vendors smoked cigarettes and I wouldn’t say everything was completely sanitary, and most of the vendors didn’t speak English. Ordering food was this whole process of pointing to things, and holding up fingers. Everyone order different foods and passed them around because when in China, try everything. The rest of the day was spent driving around Wuhan learning the rules of Chinese law enforcement- there are none, and Uies are normal, even for tour buses. We went to the Yangtze River, the Temple of 500 Buddhas, the Hubei Province Historical Museum, and broke up into our host families. Unfortunately, my host family didn’t show, so my roommate, Ana Dempsey, and I slept in an empty faculty apartment for the night, but everyone had a different experience. That day was also the group’s first experience with the squatty potty. We were told ahead of time to pack a roll of toilet paper, but I don’t think most of us expected to find bathroom stalls with holes in the ground. Granted many of the bathrooms had automatic flushing, but it was hard to get used to.

March 7^th the group spent touring HuaZhong Normal University and Central Chinese Normal University in Wuhan. During the weekly Flag Raising Ceremony, we stood on the steps in front of an audience of 4,000 students, which wasn’t even the whole school. We were supposed to introduce ourselves, saying “Ni Hao, Wuhan, Wo Jiao NAME and I am studying XXXX at Champlain College,” but the student leaders of the ceremony were uninformed and dismissed the group before we got a chance. One of the most interesting parts of the day was seeing the high school’s library, which is off limits to students. We were told that it’s because the books were out of date, but many of the books were literature. How could Phantom of the Opera, Harry Potter, or James Bond ever get old? When the Communist Party representative was not around the group, we were informed that books inspire free-thinking. The university spent most of our time pitching their international masters program to us, in hopes that we would spend our money learning to speak Chinese for a year, and learning only that because most of our majors weren’t offered at the school. That was our last day in the city of Wuhan.

Congregating in front of the school early the following morning, we boarded the bus yet again for a 330km drive to our pick-up destination for the boat cruise. We stopped for a few hours in the city of Yieching where we ate in a cave on the side of a cliff, and climbed through a local cave, before getting back on the road to the Three Gorges Dam. The boat was blasting a CD that would be on repeat for the next two days that would not only play music in the afternoon, but would be the blaring wake-up call at 6am for breakfast. Now, you may be thinking that we were in the land of luxury, drifting down the Yangtze on a cruise boat, but you’d be terribly wrong. We were most likely the first foreigners ever to step foot on that boat or at least, the first US students. People would stare and take photos of us, which happened throughout the trip, especially if you had blonde hair. There were some who even asked to take a group photo with us. The boat was meant as a means of travel for the local citizens to move from city to city. Some of the rooms on the lower deck were four and six to a room, but ours were two, and most of our bathrooms had something wrong, whether it was the sinks didn’t drain, the toilet drained on to the floor, there was no hot water, or in order to flush the toilet, you had to kick the pipe because there wasn’t a lever.

After being woken up at the crack of dawn and witnessing the Chinese pile in to the dining room, shovel food into their mouths, and leave in 15 minutes, we were boarding peapod boats that fit 17 people. We were handed orange life vests and told that only one person could stand at a time, or else the giant canoe would flip. An hour later we were back on dry land and visited the White Imperial Palace. It was 363 steps to the top, and the inside had been turned into a museum, complete with statues depicting historical scenes, and a garden. Junior Maxwell King had the right idea of paying people to carry him down the steps.

March 10^th was spent traveling back to Beijing, where we learned that our hotel reservation was ‘lost.’ That weekend, Beijing was hosting a function for the Communist Party Leaders, and the location of our hotel was more to their liking, kicking us out. The bus ride back to Wuhan, Rob was on the phone with our friend Steve trying to find new sleeping arrangements. Upon arrival in the city we had to run to catch the train, only to find out that it stops at 11pm and we were only halfway to our destination. Luckily, with the help of Junior Andrew Chung, we were able to strike a deal with the cabbies and formed a taxi caravan. (Throughout the trip Andrew was saving our assses, whether it was helping us get from one location to the next, buy gifts, order food, or helping Rob aka Daddy Yak Fat Stacks exchange currency. Thank you, Andrew!) We seemed like we were in typical China, neon and paper lanterns everywhere, lots of big buildings, but then we turned down this sketchy alley, known as a hutong, a traditional Chinese neighborhood, arriving at the Green Tea Inn. By that time it was late, and most of the group passed out, while others went in search of food.

The most epic part of the trip was saved for last. Thursday we spent hiking up the ‘Wild’ Wall, a section of the great wall away from the tourism. Our tour guide was William Lindesay, the first foreigner to hike all 1,600 miles of the Great Wall in 1987. For six mile hike was filled with life trying to reclaim the Great Wall, snow, and ankle deep leaf piles. Friday we wandered through the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square, and were able to do most of our haggling in Pearl Market.

Our journey ended too quickly, with many things that we’d remember. The trip was really what you made it. Some ate chicken feet and coagulated pig’s blood; others ate McDonalds as much as possible. Some had to pay extra to check their luggage from all the stuff that was acquired throughout the trip, and others came home with some extra spending money. Although some things smelled awful, the bathrooms were an experience, and we only had two days of clear skies from the smog, everything sounds better when you add the words ‘in China.’

China, Day 1

March 4-5th



Highlights from my journal entry:

Jam Fiasco of 2011
I had brought blueberry jam for my host family, and was afraid of it breaking in my suitcase, but unbeknown to me jam is a liquid and I had a moment of panic trying to get the airport employees to find my checked bag. I was in suspense for 19 hours until we landed in Beijing to find out what happened to the blueberry jam. Did they find my suitcase and were they able to fit it? Did they even try to find it, or did they just chuck it?

-watching the plane slowly move over Greenland and Russia, down into China, on the flight plan.

-the airports had smoking rooms. If you thought I was surprised about smoking rooms, imagine my face when I saw beer in the vending machines.


the hotel was pretty ghetto. The shower didn't have a divider and the floor flooded, the sink didn't drain, the floor had a huge black stain, the minibar was full of condoms and the bed was a block of wood. The weird part was the key was the power to all electricity, including heat, so at night it was pitch black and freezing.




Other Photos:

Day 16: Li Po

Li Po, or Li Bai, was a wandering poet of China, native of Sichaun. He was born in 701 and died in 762. It is said that he used to be good in martial arts, and before he reached his twenties, he had killed several men. When he was in his twenties, he traveled down the Yangtze River, met his wife, and spent the rest of his life as a traveling poet. Maybe I'll be inspired like Li Po with my own poetry.

Li Po was the major Chinese poet during the Tang Dynasty,and was the poet for the emperor. It is believed that Li Po drowned while drunkenly leaning from a boat to embrace the moon's reflection on the water. Most scholars believe he died from cirrhosis of the liver or from mercury poisoning due to Taoist longevity elixirs.

There's a great movie series on Youtube that goes more in depth on the man behind Li Po:

Here's an example of his poetry:

On a Picture Screen

Whence these twelve peaks of Wu-shan!

Have they flown into the gorgeous screen

From heaven's one corner?

Ah, those lonely pines murmuring in the wind!

Those palaces of Yang-tai, hovering over there—

Oh, the melancholy of it!—

Where the jeweled couch of the king

With brocade covers is desolate,—

His elfin maid voluptuously fair

Still haunting them in vain!

Here a few feet

Seem a thousand miles.

The craggy walls glisten blue and red,

A piece of dazzling embroidery.

How green those distant trees are

Round the river strait of Ching-men!

And those ships—they go on,

Floating on the waters of Pa.

The water sings over the rocks

Between countless hills

Of shining mist and lustrous grass.

How many years since these valley flowers bloomed

To smile in the sun?

And that man traveling on the river,

Does he not for ages hear the monkeys screaming?

Whoever looks on this,

Loses himself in eternity;

And entering the sacred mountains of Sung,

He will dream among the resplendent clouds.

Li Po was not just a famous poet in China, but an inspiration to poets everywhere, particularly Ezra Pound. As a writer, I feel that he heavily contributed to poetry although in at least America he is not well known amongst my peers.

Moos'n Out.

Day 14: History of Rice

It is eaten plain, fried, with pork or soy sauce. It is eaten morning, noon and night. The crop is the second highest worldwide production and is the most important staple food for most of the world's population.

Image Courtesy of wellnessuncovered.com

Rice was first domesticated in the region of the Yangtze River valley, which is where I will be floating down when on a riverboat for a couple days in China. Hopefully, from the river I'll be able to see some rice paddies. Unfortunately it will not be harvest season in nine days.

The majority of rice produced comes from China, Korea, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar,the Philippines and Japan. Overall, Asian farmers account for 92% of the world's total rice production.

During the period before the Qin Dynasty (221 BC – 206 BC), rice was used to brew wines and offered as a sacrifice to the Gods. This rice wine is called sake, and I've never tried it. I've heard it's an acquired taste, but if my family has had it maybe I'll like it. We'll see.

Earlier this month Wellness Uncovered released an article stating that high concentrations of metals have been found in China's rice. The high-paced industrialization of the country has produced a wide-spread contamination, increasing the pollution in cities and waters, which hurts agricultural business, particularly of rice. Rice absorbs metals, particularly cadmium found near the mines and now it is believed up to 10% of the country's produce is contaminated.

As long as it's cooked I'm up for eating it. When I think of how many people in China live in poverty, and that their main food source has become contaminated, I feel bad. I want to do something. The only thing I know of is Freerice.com. Free Rice is a nonprofit organization that helps people learn many subjects by asking multiple choice questions, and whenever someone gets an answer right, 10 grains of rice is donated to third-world countries. What about China? China is the main producer and although it isn't completely a third-world country, the rural farmers need food too.

So when you get bored, play freerice and stop world hunger.

Moos'n Out!

Day 12: Moos'n Out in Mojo

So today we received more detailed information of our trip.

From the 5th through the 10th we will be in the city of Wuhan, doing a home-stay, and taking a river boat cruise down the Yangtze River. Although in March most of the streets in the US are flooded with melting snow, but in China, it is still window. Daily temperatures are reaching up to the 50s, but there is a chance of rain and clouds.

We're advised to wear layers, especially seeing most of Wuhan does not have central heating in the houses.

The boat trip is easy sailing, never more than 100 meters from shore and pretty smooth.The cruise is 2 nights and 1 full day, sandwiched between 2 half-days. There will be plenty of stops along the river for disembarkation and local exploring, plus some time gawking at the Pride of Chinese Engineering (the 3 Gorges Dam).

We also spent part of class watching Part II of the Gates of Heavenly Peace. This part focused on the days before the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Hong Kong sent money and supplies in support of the students, but by the end of May, the leaders were highly considering leaving. Some of the people present didn't truly care about the protest, but were only there to get famous.

On June 2nd, Liu Xiaobo joined the students and began a hunger strike. Xiaobo is a literary critic and human rights activist and was recently arrested after winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Day 11: We Will Rock You

In 1974, people stumbled upon a tomb full of 8,000 clay figurines.
Each person was based on a real soldier, so every horse, chariot, and person is individualized.
The army was made for the first emperor of China, Qin's tomb. The accompaniment of the soldiers is supposed to represent his immortality. By bringing these soldiers to the afterlife, it was believed Qin would rule there as well. The whole tomb is still unexcavated, meaning there are more soldiers to be unearthed. The soldiers were in a 35 sq. mi. vault, but the location of the emperor's burial chamber is still unknown. There is a story written that the emperor is buried with pearls and gems on the ceiling to represent the sky, and an exact replica of China on the chamber floor, including mountains, the great wall, and rivers of mercury!
The army was discovered in 1974 in Xi'an province.

Image Courtesy of Beijing discovery tours

If you can't make the journey across the great Pacific, don't worry! All you need is a passport to visit our friendly neighbors to the north. From February 11 to June 26th at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibit consists of 240 warriors.
ADMISSION FEES
· Age 26 to 64 ............ $20
· Age 65 and more ...... $16
· Age 13 to 25 ............ $12
· Age 0 to 12 .............. Free
· Museum VIP's ............... Free
GROUP:
· Age 26 to 64 .......... $16
· Age 65 and more .... $12
· Age 13 to 25 .......... $10
· Age 0 to 12 ............ $2

I vote that this would be the great end to our China exploration.

Moos'n Out!

Day 10: It's Not White, It's Translucent

Image Courtesy of critteristic.com

The panda bear, known for being friendly bamboo eating creatures that are the sign of China, but what people don't know is they aren't actually black and white.The 'white' hair is actually translucent.

When Giant pandas are born it takes them 40-60 days just to open their eyes and the reach puberty between ages 5 and 7. The life expectancy of these cute bears is only 25 years. And when they are born they are so tiny. They are smaller than a person's finger! The cub is 1/900th the size of its mother. Except for marsupials, like a kangaroo, a giant panda baby is the smallest mammal newborn relative to its mother's size.

What's amazing is these big, lumbering bears, like all bears, can climb trees. Can you imagine a tree holding 165- 286 pounds?

There are a lot of common misconceptions about pandas. Pandas don't just live off bamboo. Skeletons have shown that they eat small prey and birds.

Pandas are protected by the Chinese government, and many instead of living in their natural habitat, the Himalayas, live in wildlife reserves, but are these endangered species safer in reserves, away from snow leopard? China might protect them, but what happens to the pandas when natural disasters happen?

It's still on my bucket list to see a panda in the wild, but maybe my best bet is to go to a reserve. I wonder if I can play with them, or is it like a zoo where there is a huge divide. I want to see a panda in the wild. Aren't they just adorable?