Travel Chapter 23- China

Pictures of this trip can be seen at the address below. There are a lot of pictures but they are part of our memory of these days.

http://picasaweb.google.com/akeyserlingk/China2009?feat=directlink

We are now two days away from China and I am going to try and report on our 5 days in China. To start, I must say that I was overwhelmed by what we saw in China on this trip. It had been 5 years since our last trip and the progress noted back then has continued at the usual Chinese breakneck speed. The country is putting masses of resources into building up its own infrastructure and in bringing the country into the 21rst century. New roads, new buildings, new airports, new trains are seen everywhere. One sees now where much of the money earned by China is going. Masses of resources are being expended to ensure the country becomes a long term player in the world. With its own internal market so large, China will be able to compete on the international market for as long as it remains a stable country.

This stability is the one area where I am concerned. It is quite obvious that China is able to do what it is doing because it has a very strong central government which is making the hard decisions. It does not need to consult with the people, with groups or with anyone. What the party decides is done. What the party decides is good for the country is done. The planning and execution of the works one sees throughout China are the result of the power wielded by the Communist Party in Beijing. Works which would take years obtaining the necessary approvals in western democracies are done immediately a decision by the party is made. The build-up of China is only 15 to 20 years old yet the country is on par and exceeds the infrastructures we have in many of our countries. Everything is new in China. Whole airplane fleets are the latest models, airports are built not to meet needs of a decade ago, but to meet the needs of decades in the future. Road systems are in place long before their carrying capacity has been met. Trains run at high speeds all over most of the country on rails which have been laid in recent years. The pollution of Beijing which was legendary has almost be legislated away by means such as moving polluting industries away from the city and banning motorcycles totally from the city. The last time we were in Beijing, traffic and pollution were so bad due to exhausts from millions of motor bikes one could hardly breathe, let alone cross a street with first writing one’s last will. Most of the taxis in Beijing today run on electric motors and there are many hundred thousand of them no long polluting the air. As a result of the Olympics, Beijing has learnt how to improve its quality of air and has put that in place by decree. This is perhaps a weakness in the eyes of some, but from a practical point of view the country is benefiting now and will benefit from the current efforts for many years in the future.

China is so large that we outsiders cannot really grasp its extent. It is not a county as we define it; China is rather a continent which has been unified by force and decree. This is what holds it together. A decree in the late 50’s stated that the national language would be Chinese as spoken in Beijing, which is known in the west as Mandarin. This decree flew in the face of existing languages but was forced on all Chinese people. Bear in mind that in China there are hundreds of dialects or regionalects so that there really is nor has there ever been a Chinese language. The people in Shanghai speak Shanghaiese, those in the south speak Cantonese and neither group understands the other. With decree forcing the Mandarin speak on everybody, one now has 2 generations of Chinese who have been taught and who can speak Mandarin. They still speak their regionalects but they also speak and understand Mandarin. This has unified the country in a big way. Only a powerful central government could enact and enforce this kind of legislation. It has worked to allow all regions to understand each other. This kind of change not only requires a powerful central government but one who has the staying power to ensure that the efforts continue for several generations so that the common language becomes radicated in everyone’s mind.

The worry I have after the few days in China is whether the central government is now isolating itself too much from the people. There is cynicism abounding in China about the central government much of it driven by the obvious abuse of power the politicians show the people. Big fat black limousines circulate with sirens blaring through the traffic, politicians block off huge areas which are forbidden to the people, and corruption of politicians is rampant which then spills down to lower level officials. One effect of this is that there is very little respect for the Party and even more concerning is the inability of the Party to recruit young people. Today I understand that only 1 to 2% of the population belongs to the Party. What will happen when the old folk who run the party die off? Where is the next generation who will continue? One has to worry that this could cause a breakdown in power and a loss of the ability to make the hard and fast decisions China still needs to progress fully into the 21rst century.

But enough on that; let me record what we did and saw during our 5 great days in this fascinating country, or continent to be more precise.

We arrived right on schedule in Kowloon on the morning of March 29th which gave us a few hours before we headed to the airport for our flight to Xi’an. The ship was again parked right beside the Star ferry terminal so as soon as we were cleared we got off the ship and headed through the amazing shopping mall which makes up the passenger terminal on Kowloon. We jumped on the ferry so that Emmett could get a quick view of Hong Kong which is across the water from Kowloon. We had time to amble the streets for an hour or two and even though it was Sunday morning, the stores and shops were all open for business. The people were in the streets and life was open for business.

We then got back on the ferry and returned to our ship to pick up our knapsacks as we were to meet our driver in front of the Marco Polo hotel which is in the same shopping complex. Sure enough, there was Wilson awaiting us at the appointed time and place and we headed out to the new airport of Hong Kong. What is amazing about this airport besides being the most convenient airport in the world is the fact that the entire infrastructure is in place to move people to and from the airport. There is a brand new road system with double decked bridges going from Hong Kong to the airport, there is a high speed train connection the airport to the city and there is a myriad of busses and taxis also available to make the trip of some 35 miles in roughly 40 minutes at most times of day. Once at the airport, we checked in and proceed to go through emigration as one needs to leave the special area of Hong Kong to travel to the mainland. The procedure is the same as leaving for any foreign country and is part of the undertaking of the Chinese government to provide the Hong Kong area with a special status for 50 years from the take back from the UK in the 90’s. We then had a leisurely 20 minute walk to arrive at out gate for the flight to Xi’an. The flight itself was a little over 2 hours with wonderful service of a meal in a brand new airbus 320. On arrival in Xi’an one first goes through a machine which measures one’s temperature as the Chinese are very worried of a new outbreak of Sars. The measurement is done very subtly and most people do not even notice the little machine through which one walks while an infrared light reads the temperature to an agent seated in the booth.

In the airport we met Nichole, one of our fellow travelers who was traveling on her own in China. We found our guide and driver and they agreed to take Nichole to her hotel and to help her book the train to Beijing for her. We checked into our hotel which was a state-owned hotel. I found out a few days later that the agency with which I had done all the bookings was also state-owned. It seems the government has not privatized everything in China.

That evening I went for a long walk around our hotel. It was fun as it was the first time I had been able to use the Chinese I had been studying for the 18 prior to this trip. Not being of a shy nature, I went into to stores seeking more conversation than to buy anything. I started putting meaningful sentences together and I was quite pleased how I was progressing.

The next morning our guide and driver were waiting for us at the hotel and we headed to the Terra Cotta museum. This is an enormous site where excavations of the warriors has now been stopped. Just the size of the building which has been constructed over the dig is impressive as you can see from the pictures on the website. The actual size of this site is hard to fathom without actually going there.

After lunch at a state-owned restaurant which typically consists of a market offering the great assortment of Chinese made products, I spied a North face parka. It was obviously a knock-off given the price I paid but it does give an indication of how lax the Chinese authorities are on blatant Trademark violations. There are so many people who earn their keep making and selling fakes that the government cannot crackdown on them. So rather than cracking down, they sell them in the government shops. Emmett tried his new North face jacket and was quite proud of his new acquisition. You can see him wearing it almost continuously in the pictures of this section.

Next on the agenda was a visit to the Qin dynasty summer palace. Like all ancient objects, this one has undergone a major rehab in recent years in preparation for the Olympics. We had a quick look and then noticed that there was a gondola lift to the top of the mountain. As this was not on our program we had to pay for it but it was worth it. It was particularly fun as our guide Qing had never been on such a machine. She was scared stiff to ride on it but convinced her to come along. Like a good trooper she came and enjoyed the trip very much.

That evening we were booked on a sleeper train (Soft bed) from Xi’an to Beijing. After yet another Chinese meal we were escorted by Qing to the train station. It was teeming with people and it was a good thing we had her with us to guide us through the mass of people. We got to the soft sleeper waiting lounge where she left us. She had been an excellent guide and we thanked her appropriately. The waiting room was quiet and we sat there until our train was called. In a reasonably orderly fashion we went to our platform, found our car and boarded the train. We then found our compartment and settled into the very clean and well appointed cabin. We had the two lower sleepers and Emm had one of the uppers. The second upper was taken by some lady who Emmett thought was from Tibet. She never said a word during the whole time. After a bit of reading we all settled down for a good sleep after a full day of visits.

The next morning after an 11 hour ride on a fast train having covered over a 1000 miles, we awoke in Beijing to be greeted on the platform by Ting, our Beijing guide. She showed us the way out of the Beijing soft sleeper station which was not at all chaotic as had been the station in Xi’an We boarded our bus and headed for a Chinese breakfast as laid out in our program. As there was no toilet in the restaurant we decided to go next door to a McDonald to have a coffee and to use the loo. We found the toilet to be a standing toilet, not a sit-down one. Although the standing toilet is probably more sanitary it does take a bit of training.

We then headed off to visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City which lies behind the square. It was a beautiful morning with blue skies and sun albeit a bit nippy. We walked through this huge square which carries the sad memory of the massacre of protesters back in 1989. It was not an event the Chinese like remembering and the collective memory has been suppressed by the authorities. But those who do remember it still do not forgive the authorities for their action. Not only were several thousand killed, many more witnessed the brutality of that day and even more had friends or relatives who were victims of the near panic of the authorities who had never witnessed the fury of the Chinese people. It scared the authorities to such a point that it was the beginning of the opening of the economy as we now see it. They said, ok, we will open the economy but we will control the politics. It diffused the anger to a point and has led to the economic boom China saw until recently. It remains to be seen if the downturn now going on does not have terrible consequence again.

We walked all the way through the forbidden city which is almost 2 kms long going from one building to the next in a very well maintained series of buildings. Much work had been done to spruce up this palace in the run-up to the Olympics. It is quite amazing how much effort the communist government puts into showing off these relics of the past. I presume it is because it legitimizes their own regime by showing themselves as the continuation or as the improvement over the past. The extent of this palace is astounding not for the height of buildings but for the number of them spread over this 2 mile long and one half mile wide collection of temples, housing etc..

After another state owned restaurant we headed out to visit the summer palace which again is a huge complex of buildings all in pristine condition.

After a long day, we headed home to our hotel to check in and to have dinner. We had invited a friend of our son Nicolas to dinner. Nick had asked us to meet with Brian Watling who is a Canadian based in Beijing. Nick sits on the board of one of Brian’s companies involved in power generation using wind turbines. Brian joined us at a close-by hotpot restaurant and we benefitted from his insights into China where he has lived for the last several years.

Early the next morning we were off to see the Great Wall of China, which the Chinese call the Long Wall. One has to drive about an hour and half out of Beijing including a substantial amount of hill climbing to arrive at the foot of a gondola which takes one to the top. I opted to go for the gondola as it does save considerable energy compared to hoofing it to the wall. Once on the wall we spent over 2 hours as it was again a beautiful day and Emmett could not get enough of it. I walked with him part of the way and then sent him off on his own with instructions to turn around when he was starting to feel tired. He did return somewhat out of breath about 40 minutes later. Brigitte and our guide stayed at the top and awaited our return. It is still a very impressive visit to see the extent of this construction.

In the afternoon we visited an other palace. We then headed to visit my Chinese language school. I had been working with Echineselearning for over a year. This virtual school employs some 60 teachers and does all its teaching using Skype or MSN which are free internet communication tools. A brilliant idea developed by its founder Fred Rao. For me it was quite a visit as I had never seen any of my teachers in real life and had only seen their faces. We arrived at the school and my teacher, Hao Jie came out to the street to receive us and show us back to the school premises. I think we caused quite a stir in the school as I had been taught by many of the teachers whenever Hao Jie was not available so I, Wang Da Wei, was well known to many of the teachers. The CEO of the company came out and greeted us and we had an interesting chat. I told him that I intended to come back to Beijing in October to take a 4 to 5 week intensive course at Echineselearning. Fred was quite interested in the idea and offered to help me find some quarters I could use while in Beijing. Hoa Jie was quite sweet and had brought presents for Brigitte and me. We also had brought her presents for her and her baby which is due later in the year.

After parting our ways from the school, we had a early dinner and we then went straight to the station as we were taking the night train again, this time to Shanghai which is 1900kms to the south. Again, the train proved to be clean and comfortable. The train was a high speed train which can reach 390 kms per hour (over 200 mph) on specially laid tracks which allow these high speeds. During the night the train changed speeds quite often which would indicate that the new track is still not completely in place.

We arrived in Shanghai again after an 11 hour trip and found our Shanghai guide, Tao waiting on the platform. After a breakfast, we headed to our ship to deposit our bags but found that a large group of students had arrived just before us and a long line of people were waiting to board the ship. So we headed back out to visit the Bund area of the city. This is the area where the foreigners lived. It was a concession rung from the Chinese following the opium wars. There is still resentment amongst some Chinese that the authorities at the time gave away these rights to foreigners. This was run as a separate enclave where Chinese law did not prevail and Chinese were not allowed to live unless authorized. The Bund still has most of the main buildings as neither the Chinese nor the Japanese wanted to incite the fury of the foreigners by bombing these buildings. Across from the Bund, on the other side of the river there stand a collection of the most modern skyscrapers in the world, except perhaps in Dubai. These buildings are not only huge but they are beautifully designed. They stand today in what were rice fields 15 years ago. This city is no doubt the showcase city of China and the Chinese are very proud of this.

In the afternoon, we spent time visiting the shopping area of old Shanghai as well as the adjoining Lu gardens. It was a pleasant way to end our stay in China. We went back to this area after lunch again to get a Starbucks coffee and found that the place was teeming with police. When we asked what this was all about we were told that Musharaf, the former president of Pakistan was finishing lunch in the restaurant and was about to come out. So Emmett and I took a strategic position to observe Mr. Musharaf. Sure enough, he came out of the restaurant but instead of heading straight to the street and awaiting limos, he decided to work the crowd which had assembled. He went from side to side talking to people. The Chinese police did not enjoy this as they tried to steer him along. As he approach the end of the passage to his car, he turned towards Emmett and approached him. He asked Emmett where he was from to which Emmett stated “Canada”. Very good said Musharaf and proceeded to get in his car. Why the Chinese were giving him the royal treatment as was after all the deposed head of Pakistan is not clear. Perhaps they had debts to pay to him. Emmett was thrilled.

We boarded our ship and at 8pm we slipped our moorings and headed down the river towards the sea. The city was lit up like I have never seen a city and really looked wonderful. I stayed on deck for over an hour and all along both banks of the river were ships and moorings and factories and more ships. It was a fitting end to our visit to China. I left with a little better understanding of this country and look forward to coming back to learn more.
Cheers