April 2005 - Sherrie back from China

From: Sherrie  (Original Message)

Sent: 30/04/2005 10:18 p.m.

Dear Fentons,   Thank you Margret for your welcome call tonight, with birthday wishes for Courtney (now 17!) and updates on Kingi, flatting in Auckland now (and give my love to Aynsley, of course.) Best of luck to Keegan as he begins his new job in Auckland, with home base at your beautiful dwelling on Herald Island. Richard and Margret, your wonderful hospitality comes through again.   Now Margret, a few disjointed and belated impressions of my recent trip to China. And by the way, thank you for asking me to relate them, as I'm so busy with school these days I almost need permission to take time out and relive the wonderful memories. I went with a group of 40 or so students and friends from California State University, Los Angeles, on a trip organized to take place over our Spring Break, from March 19 to March 26, 2005. We arrived in Beijing after an all-night flight, and by the time we checked into the hotel had been up for nearly 30 hours. The hotel in Beijing was the most luxurious of the places we stayed, with down pillows and blankets, and every imaginable Western comfort. The hotel was only two years old, and stood in stark contrast to its bleak surroundings of run-down barracks-like industrial buildings, sporting smokestacks at regular intervals. At night no lights betrayed occupancy, so that you got the impression that these were abandoned buildings, but early in the morning you could see dozens of inhabitants in the common courtyards practicing their yoga poses before beginning the day's work. So militant and communistic, yet the people industrious with labor. Beijing is an ancient city, and we visited the Forbidden City and Summer Palace, both of which need major renovating to be ready for the 2008 Summer Olympics. You would see expansive buildings crumbling into ruin, even while laborers worked with primitive tools to shore up and rebuild.  Much of the demolition work I saw in Beijing was being done by hand. Surprisingly, the bathrooms held a clue to the struggle to catch up with modern society. Luxury hotel bathrooms were modeled on the Western design, yet everywhere else we found the more traditional porcelain hole in the ground, over which you squatted, usually without toilet paper. I learned from our group historian Ping, that there is a 'Toilet Improvement Movement' afoot in Beijing, in order to bridge the cultural gap. The fact that the Chinese are adopting the Western model to emulate is humbling, for I often felt that they took such pains to be like us, that they were more professional, more sincere and enthusiastic and than most western businessmen. In fact, I sometimes felt afraid for thier naivety, as though a shrewd westerner could really exploit such goodwill. For example, I wanted to take the soapdish from my hotel room, and the impeccably dressed doormen, and overall atmosphere of excellence made me ask if I could buy it for a souvenir. The concierge made several phone calls to different levels of management before arriving at an equitable price, about ten yuen ($1.20 U.S.). Then they filled out a couple of forms and packed my trinket in a cloth-covered box worth at least as much as the soap dish. It was as though they had no sense of the value of time in their quest for providing perfect service. My roommate Jae, a cultural anthropologist, remarked that 'this has happened too fast, they have huge gaps in their culture.' The culture does strike me as a study in extremes, like Jurrassic Park meets the Jetsons. Writing based on ancient hieroglyphics combined wtih the latest techno gadgets. We visited the University of Peking, and Ping explained the great emphasis placed on education from the time a child is a year old or so. Competition for a University Education is fierce due to the limited places available to such a large population, and so the weeding out process begins early and doesn't let up. In fact, Ping said that when students are taking exams for admission to the University, family members will often wait outside the exam rooms for the duration of the day-long test. Students will often take oxygen for an extra burst of alertness and mental performance. Given the air pollution problems in Beijing, this made perfect sense to me. On the second day we visited the Great Wall, the only object on earth visible from the moon, and the day was cool and clear, perfect for the steep hiking ahead. Ying (our college coordinator) remarked that if you see the Great Wall, you are proud to be Chinese, it is such an awesome achievement. This day was a personal highlight of the trip for me, for I stood on that Great Wall. I put on an empress costume and headdress, and someone took my picture, and I was on top of the world that day. I met a camel on that wall, and toasted the wall with a Chinese beer. I marvelled at the many vendors (my age and older!) who worked at the little souvenir stalls on the wall, all along the two miles or so that it is maintained and opened to the public. To think of them scaling the steep inclines every day, and to go to the restroom on their break, well it took away any excuses I had for thinking the wall was too hard to climb. I got to know that wall, those ancient and weather-worn bricks painstakingly laid down thousands of years before. Yes, this was a validating and awesome experience. I will forever relish the fact that my feet were on that wall, where so many soldiers kept watch for enemies in bygone eras. That wall witnessed to me, what men and women can do with determination. As it also told that any stronghold, without maintenance, begins to wear down and crumble. We flew from Beijing to Shanghai, and immediately visited the Shanghai Museum, where I bought souvenirs from the gift shop, post cards and tote bags and some black enamel bracelets with abalone inlay. And from there we drove to Hangzou, where the West Lake and Yinling Temple are. They were beautiful to be sure, and at night the West Lake puts on an entirely different face, as pagodas, buildings, bridges and trees are lit up from a constellation of lights and Chinese Lanterns. In Hangzou a handful of our group took advantage of a chance to see a 'historic pageant' for 15.00 U.S., an 8:00 p.m. show when most of us just wanted to crash in our hotel rooms. But I didn't come all this way to miss anything, so Jae and I went with the others and what followed was nearly beyond description. Where we half-suspected this 'pageant' would resemble the interminable Chinese vaudeville of the night before (at the Lao Shea Tea House, home of the bottomless cup and the endless comedy) we were delivered to an actual village, lit up by thousands of paper lanterns and showcasing huge entryways and imposing temples, all part of a theme park that combined the elements of the Renassaince Faire, Midieval Times and Disneyland, so grand was its scale. In the courtyard were dancing men hoisting a bridal coach on their shoulders, playing music and inviting us to take a ride. The most petite among us complied, and they bounced and tipped her mercilously until we were all in stitches with joy. The pageant itself was like the Circe de Soliel and a Broadway Review combined in one, as the cast of hundreds in their incredible costumes reinacted highlights of the dynasties, along with stunning acrobatic performances. We were very close to the front of the auditorium, and after the show were allowed to pose with cast members for pictures. What an extravaganza! We returned to Shanghai and toured a famous statesmans temple, the Wu Temple, and went to a busy marketplace where they still serve quail on a stick, and what truly looked like rat on a stick. I absolutely love Shanghai. That city is un-be-lie-va-ble! In 1991 it was all farmland, but now it is an eclectic mixture of upscale buildings of breathtaking form and diversity. And at night everything is bathed in a rainbow of lights. The airport is new and state of the art, including the maglev train that travels over 300 mph to the airport. Getting a permit to register a car means that first you have to enter a lottery, and if you win, then you can pay the $5,000 U.S. for the permit. Rush hour lasts 4-5 hours, so that people don't get home on Friday night until 9 or 10 at night. That is why the nightclubs in Shanghai are open until 4 or 5 in the morning! We visited the shopping district with its high-end, upscale department stores, and as I predicted the prices were exactly equivalent to U.S. prices after the exchange rate. You had to shop in the alleys between the new buildings to find bargains. And I came up against 'size discrimination' when a clerk wouldn't let me buy a vest that I sorely needed for warmth. 'Not for you!' she stated emphatically while snatching the article out of my hand. Other impressions were the Dragon Well Tea in Hangzou, and the Silk Factory where I bought a beautiful hand-painted silk quilt. I also bought a silk jacket, the largest size they had at XXXL, and I was lucky not to hear the dreaded 'not for you!' as it was still just a bit tight! We also visited a pearl factory and a jade factory. There was definitely something in the Dragon Well tea we were served during our tasting session (at the Longjing Tea Plantation), for I nearly was compelled to spend a large sum of money on a carved wooden peach. I was able to escape the compulsion, and later have noticed that the 'hand picked, hand dried' tea I bought does not seem to have the same effect as the brew we were served during 'tea tasting 101,' which made up for whatever I missed by spending the 70's sober. This stuff gave us a distinct buzz, right down to the junior member of our party, 10 year old Myles, who was positively moonwalking on the bus due to the tea. I must 'ask Alice, when she's 10 feet tall,' if she knows what the other Dragon Well tea was about. And now, before I begin talking like the Mad Hatter himself, I had better sign off and get to bed. If I get my Shady Lady business off the ground, I should like to establish some business contacts in Shanghai, go back and spend the whole time getting to know my city. Oh, and I should perhaps mention the infamous 27th floor of the Shanghai Hotel, where there was a brothel according to our historian's husband Pat, who had visited the floor and admired the many artworks hung in the hallway between the rooms. Well, Jae being a cultural anthropologist wanted to check out this art phenomenon, and okay we were just being nosy, so we visited the 27th floor, but to no avail. The young, polite but naive men in the reception area were truly flustered as they tried to redirect us to the 28th floor, where the hotel discoteque was located. Being California girls, we were not used to prejudice or bias in any form, especially one as archaic as unequal access, so we persisted, but to no avail. The floor was for men only, ah, the dreaded double standard once again! But not to worry, a lady walking the sidewalks of Shanghai will soon enough be approached with an offer of  a foot rub, perhaps to refresh her feet for more shopping soirees! We still do not like the 27th floor! Those are pretty much my impressions of China, and I'm looking forward to going back again sometime. Amazing, phenomenal, incredible. I noticed pockets of housing tracks on the outskirts of Hanzhou in the Western style, and remarked to Jae 'look, America Town!.' Over here, many of our cities have been redesigned in the Asian Style, and of course we have a Chinatown, since the Chinese were such an important part of California's history. Sadly, this incredible trip did not cure my 'travel bug.' I'm afraid it only worsened the condition. I will have to continue trying other remedies, like Europe, for instance. May God bless all of the Fentons, wherever you may be and wherever you may go