Introduction to China 101

I'm blogging now from Zhangjiajie, a city in the province of Hunan.

My arrival was an interesting introduction to China as what greeted me at the end of my 14 hour flight was food poisoning, although the culprit was most probably Air Canada, rather than any local cuisine.

Beijing is blanketed by a dense layer of smog. Somehow I wishfully idea thought it had magically improved or was simply exaggerated. After flying over sandy brown steppes which could be inner Mongolia, the plane descended into a cloud for quite a while, and suddenly the runway was upon us. I could barely see the actual terminal from the plane - a distance of only a few hundred metres. I have a tentative admiration for the pilots' ability to fly in such visibility which resembles snow storms in Toronto. My lungs protested the moment I stepped outside. The expansive airport somehow felt crowded. Welcome to Beijing!

It was a pleasant respite to escape to Hunan province. After ascending into the visibly inpenetrable smog, I left Beijing behind for sunshine and blue sky. Is there sky in Beijing? I wonder if I shall have to go without seeing the sky for eight weeks.

From the sky, Hunan has green hilly ranges sprinkled with lakes and snaking rivers. The sun shines in Changsha, the provincial capital. I knew nothing about Hunan before arriving, other than the extremely spicy food I was warned about, and as the birth place of the beloved Mao Zedong. Neither one attracted me here [although I am curious to see Mao Zedong's home - as his parents were actually petty landlords!]. I'm here in the province whose name translates as "South of the River" to visit a friend who's from Changsha but studies in Toronto, whom I'll call "Genevieve".

After a day in Changsha, we've come to Zhangjiajie, a provincial city near the UNESCO World Site. Yesterday we visited a lake, and today a national park and the mountains that have earned this area its fame. They are essentially mountains in the form of steep horizontal rock jutting thousands of metres into the sky. I won't bother describing the scenery since pictures are required to do it justice. I'll upload those as soon as I am able.

It was pretty incredible because we ascended through an innermountain elevator. There are hundreds of Chinese tourists arriving in busloads - they don't seem very affected by the economic downturn. What I found most entertaining was the resurrection of sedan chairs/palanquins at the tourist sites. A sedan chair is a chair supported by two bamboo poles hoisted on the shoulders of two people, a popular mode of transportation among bourgeoisie in imperialist China. So much for the Cultural Revolution. Mao Zedong must be turning in his grave - that is, if he had one.

I'm trying desperately to grasp proper Chinese etiquette. Genevieve epitomizes generous Chinese hospitality. She has been strictly instructed by her parents to pay for my every whim and desire, even petty costs like water. Unfortunately, it is a losing battle for me, because I haven't been given a chance to exchange money primarily for that reason. I have yet to figure out the best response in such a situation.

Do Chinese people ever expect honest answers? When I'm given food and asked how I like it, I don't mind pretending that it's delicious regardless of how it tastes but that triggers being offered even more, which would be exponentially more enjoyed by my gracious hosts.

Food has definitely provided future conversation topics - last night I was served a special soup which dark flexible blobs which I mistakenly assumed were organs. It was actually coagulated chicken blood. Tonight amongst several delicious albeit spicy dishes, there was pig's tail as well as sucking bone marrow through a straw, (I thought the straws were for drinking juice, but apparently you can stick your straw into the bone and suck out the marrow. Not that I tried.)

Interesting food aside, car rides can be compared to watching thriller movies except that it's infinitely more frightening considering your own life is at stake, as well as the pedestrians and bicyclists who seem to have suicidal wishes. However, the unbelievable explosion in automobiles has necessitated the chaos. As recent as 1999, there were only 5.34 million private automobiles, compared to five million car sales in 2004 alone¹. All the newly empowered capitalists are purchasing cars and producing an urban planner's nightmare so it's no wonder that the roads and traffic system can barely cope. On that note, the police and taxis all drive Volkswagens, rather than some Chinese manufactured automobiles. Go capitalism!

I'm also learning plenty about how China works. At the national park, our personal tour guide snuck us past the crowds to a side entrance with guards. She asked for a favour, then made a phone call and gave her phone to one of the guards, and he waved us past without the appropriate admissions fees. This applies for multiple scenarios.

Other than being impossibly indebted to Genevieve's family, I've been designated a freak by various passerbys who cannot comprehend why on earth anyone who could be Chinese would speak English. Nor have they hesitated to wonder out loud. With the exception of the Beijing airport, I have seen three foreigners since I arrived in China. I don't think people in Hunan are accustomed to tourists, especially Chinese diaspora or anyone with East Asian features.

There is so much to take in and tomorrow I'm being taken to visit a famous aboriginal village so my ramblings will end for now.

1 Charles E Ziegler,“The Energy Factor in China's Foreign Policy.” Journal of Chinese Political Science 11, 1 (2006): 1-23