Weekend Trip: Wuzhen

Last weekend I took a trip to Wuzhen in Zhejiang Province. This is about 80 miles southwest of Shanghai and is a city along the Grand Canal in China.

Like many places of interest in China, the government has taken the opportunity to make money on it. This use to be just a sleepy village along the canal, but now the government has renovated it into a tourist destination. The old houses along the canal has renovated interiors while leaving the exterior in its original state. It is hard to tell how much of the town is the original structure and how much is actually replicas of the original architecture.

The entry fee for this "park" or village is 120RMB ($17) and the renovated hotels cost 268RMB ($38) for single room, 468RMB for a double($67) and 528RMB for a triple($76). Once you enter the village, if you wish to stay overnight, you must stay in one of these hotels. These prices might sound reasonable in US dollar terms, but for the locals it is a large sum of money. The people who can afford to stay in these hotels tend to be white collar types.

The scenery in this village is quite nice, especially at night when the banks along the canal are illuminated.

Overall, this town is a quite relaxing place to spend a quiet weekend.

Charity

There has been an incredible amount of sympathy from Chinese citizens showered upon their compatriots who have suffered through this earthquake. People have found many ways to help out the victims. The government has dispatched upwards of 150000 troops to the region to help in the rescue effort. There has been stories of regular citizens who have made their way into the area to help in the rescue effort. For the vast majority of the people, going into the earthquake region to help is not a realistic option so many have donate money to various charitable organizations.

During this period of time, there are inevitably certain expectations made of the rich and famous to do their part. What has surprised me is the close attention the Chinese has paid the the contribution of the wealthy. There has been lists made of famous Chinese and their contributions on the internet, The ones who made contribution that seem small has been roundly criticized on internet BBS and forums. This has led to the practice of people dissecting every celebrity's contribution in comparison to their perceived wealth. I understand that human beings love to gossip like this, but I don't ever remembering discussions about this topic to the extent that they do here in China compared to the US. Some celebrities like Yao Ming who initially contributed 500,000RMB ($71500) changed his contribution to 2,000,000RMB ($290,000) after a shower of criticism from netizens. After all, Yao makes about $10,000,000 right?

I find this type of behavior very counterproductive and petty. The extent of the peer pressure in Chinese society has exceeded my expectations. Even though I did not live through the Cultural Revolution (1960's - 1970's), I am starting to get an idea as to the mentality of the Chinese mass that let to it. Even though Mao was the instigator of the whole episode, it was the mass who exacerbated the situation. If it wasn't for regular people reporting "counter-revolutionaries" to the government, the Cultural Revolution would not have gone to the extent that it did.

So now if a person like Yao Ming does not contribute his "fair" share, he is branded a traitor. People were declaring that Yao is not Chinese anymore, he has become American. I have heard instances where workers of American companies being angry because they believe their employer's contributions were too low.

In some regards even though I grew up there, I sometimes feel like an outsider in America. But in many more regards, I am relieved that I am not an insider in China.

How to rebuild

The topic I am about to write about is a sensitive one - how does a government, and in this case China rebuild an area ravaged by natural disaster? I must emphasize that I will be writing about this topic from the perspective of the government, not from the perspective of any individual who may have suffered through the catastrophe.

The area that has been ravaged by the earthquake in central China in Sichuan, Gansu and Shanxi province are earthquake-prone areas which will inevitably suffer through another one sometime down the road. This area has seismic activity due to the Indian plate colliding with the Eurasian plate. The result of this collision is the Tibetan plateau (and the Himalayan mountain range) of which this area is a part of. The next big earthquake is not a matter of if, but when (although that could be hundreds if not thousands of year away).

The areas that were especially affected are mountainous regions that were relatively heavily populated. It seems in China places that one might not think would be heavily populated actually are. This part of the country has not take part in the economic boom as extensively as the eastern coast of China and is relatively undeveloped due to the tough terrain. The part of the population who are in the prime working years have already migrated to the large cities for better prospects. There is a disproportionate amount of the elderly and children in these areas.

I think the Chinese government is in a tough position because a few of these towns has been completely destroyed. I am sure if you were to ask the citizens of these towns if they want their hometown to be rebuild, the answer would be yes. But as the government who is in charge of the best interest of the entire country as a whole it is difficult to put the kind of resources necessary to an area that is not very productive and prone to earthquakes. Perhaps it would be better to put the resources to relocate the people to safer areas.

Of course I think where and how to rebuild has to be on a case by case basis. This is a complex issue, and I am just suggesting that this is an option rather than the emotional, defiant reaction of rebuilding the area as good as before because an unwillingness to admit defeat.

Chinese solidarity

When a nation suffers through a tragedy, national unity usually follows. This is what is going on in China. Scenes of unspeakable tragedies are being transmitted into people's home via various medium. Massive outpouring of sympathy has been showered upon the citizens of the earthquake affected areas in China.

Today there was a 3 minute moment of silence throughout the country on the 1 week anniversary of the earthquake at 2:28PM. Anybody in control of a horn were encouraged to use it during this 3 minute period. Cars stopped on the streets, people stopped what they were doing, trains stopped running. For 3 minutes sounds of car horns and air raid sirens were ubiquitous. I guess it had the affect of a country wailing.

I don't think I have observed people in China so emotional about any other subject before. I observed and felt a similar experience on 9/11/2001. I think human beings are all the same everywhere. We all may have different ways of doing things but ultimately people want the same things out of life and when certain things happen to take that away, we react in the same way.

Earthquake update

The situation in the Sichuan and Gansu province is growing more grim. The primary earthquake and the numerous aftershocks have cause massive damage to many parts of the region especially the towns in the mountains which were close to the epicenter. There were many towns that were developed in the valleys of this mountainous region. Unfortunately, while the valleys were perfect for habitation during normal time has proven to be a death trap after a massive earthquake. Roads leading into the towns have been blocked by landslides and much of the stones that were jarred loose from the earthquake have dropped into these valleys. These factors have exacerbated the initial problems of the earthquake. The people who were not killed during the initial quake are now either buried but alive or free but injured. Rescuers are having a very tough time getting into these towns and the equipment necessary to dig out the buried are even tougher to get into these areas. So far over 20,000 are confirmed dead with another 30,000 buried or unaccounted for. The death rate is sure to be higher than 20,000.

This is the latest in a series of unfortunate events in China during 2008, the Olympic year:

1. The collapse of the stock market. Even though the market has recovered a bit lately after some government action it is still 40% below its high.

2. The Tibetan uprising and the subsequent world-wide protests including the embarrassing reception (or lack thereof) of the Olympic torch.

3. The snowstorm of the century affecting much of the country including areas in the south which were severely ill-equipped to handle it.

4. The highest inflation rates in many years (over 8%). This was exacerbated by the snowstorm which disrupted much of the food production in China for a good period of time.

5. The outbreak of the Hand, Foot and Mouth disease which has killed over 30 children. While the casualties have been low, this is an embarrassment for the government since the outbreak was covered up by local officials in the area where the outbreak initially occurred. This is especially embarrassing since the country will be welcoming thousands of people from around the world for the Olympics.

6. There was a suspicious bombing of a bus in Shanghai.

7. The biggest earthquake to hit China in a populated area in over 30 years and casualties will be well into 5 figures.

Some of these problems were just tragic events that no government could prepare for but some were problems that the country created.

Lets just hope the rest of the year will turn out better. I also hope China learns from their mistakes and emerge stronger and better equipped to handle problems faced by a world superpower.

earthquake in Wenchuan

Yesterday, 5/12 a powerful earthquake registering 7.9 on the Richter scale struck the town of Wenchuan. This is 55 miles away from Chengdu, the hub of western China with a population of 12 million. The earthquake inflicted massive damage to the region with estimates of 10,000 casualties thus far. That figure could go much higher. Chengdu city itself was spared of major damage. Had the epicenter of an earthquake of that magnitude occurred in Chengdu the casualties would be exponentially higher.

The effects of this earthquake was even felt by Shanghai residents. I work in a building of only 2 floors so I did not feel the tremors at all. However many office workers who work in skyscrapers felt the effects and many of them emptied out onto the streets in the late afternoon. I was out of the office in transit to a meeting and I saw many people milling around the plazas of office buildings.

There was basically no damage to the Shanghai as it is 1100 miles away from the epicenter the equivalent of the distance between New York and New Orleans.

I think it is safe to say that the planet has its own way of taking control.

Sean Bell and Guns

During my trip back to the NY, the biggest news item to come out of the city was the Sean Bell trial. Since I have been away from the city for two years now, I had to read up on the story to find out what had happened.

It seems like a typical American police tragedy. Bell, an African-American attended a bachelor party at a strip club and got into an argument. He then proceeded to leave the strip club and said he was going to get his gun to resolve the dispute. Undercover police were at the strip club to look for prostitution activities which was unrelated to Bell's party. Bell got into his car and drove away where it crashed into the undercover police car. The police who overheard Bell's threat proceeded to shoot Bell over 50 times, Bell dies at the scene but was found to be unarmed. The trial concluded last week and found the 3 officers doing the shooting to be not guilty. The African-American community is up in arms and is calling this a racial issue. The media coverage of this events focuses on the race issue.

What the media and the government does not address is the more important issue - guns. Yes, guns don't kill people, people kill people. While that statement is true, what is missing is that guns make it extremely easy for people to kill people and very often people are not in the right state of mind when the gun is used. Once a life is taken, it will never return so there is a finality that should not be reached especially in the heat of the moment.

Should 3 police officers have take over 50 shots at an unarmed man? Absolutely not. There is an environment in America where guns are everywhere. Americans have by far the highest gun ownership rates in the world (http://www.mibazaar.com/gunownership.html) This breeds a very tense environment.
Therefore if the police officers operate in an environment where they potentially encounter citizens with guns it is understandable how they could be quick with the trigger. Especially when they have already overheard a person say that he is getting his gun to settle a dispute. If somebody has a gun in his hand and believes that they are facing somebody who is also armed, don't you think it is possible that they will shoot first and ask questions later? He certainly does not want to be killed by the other person.

Is it possible that these police officers were incompetent to be working the beat? Absolutely. If people put themselves in that position, I am sure that many would have reacted the same way that these officers reacted regardless of their race. Does that mean that these officers should not be disciplined? Absolutely not. These officers should probably be off the street and be working behind a desk, but I don't think they deserve to go to jail. These officer are doing work that most of us would not be willing to do. The problem for them is that if they make a mistake at their job lives could be lost. How is that for accountability? How many of us want to take on that kind of responsibility? The action of these officers is a symptom of the gun culture/problem in America.

Growing up in the US, I was not aware that the gun environment is not the same throughout the world. One of my former co-workers who is from England told one day that he was shocked at how heavily armed the New York City police officers were - that they carry guns. I thought at the time it was a strange question, thinking to myself "don't all law enforcement personnel carry guns?" He informs me that the police in England just carry sticks and they don't carry guns. Judging by the murder rates in England compared to the US, I say that they don't carry guns because they don't need to.

Here in China, the police also does not carry guns. The police are armed but they are not the personnel who patrol the streets. The guns are back in the police station and when there is a need for them, they will be called upon. Gun ownership and murder rates are extremely low in China.

The NRA and their proponents always say that gun ownership is a right protected by the constitution. The constitution was written over 200 years ago in a very different environment. Do people seriously think that they still need guns to protect themselves? From whom? I think they are protecting themselves from other gun owners. So take the guns out of the hands of all civilians and people would not think they need guns to protect themselves.

shopping

During our trip back to NY we spent quite a bit of money on shopping. Even though we have been here in China for almost two years, there are still things that we cannot get over here that are available in America.

My wife is a tall woman by Chinese standards (5'8") and with that type of build come large feet. She wears a size 8 and she has a lot of problems finding shoes of that size in China. Usually if there are shoes of that size in a store (that is rare) they are very often only available for one or two styles. Women seem to be inherently addicted to buying shoes and my wife is no exception so this was a very troubling problem for her. She compensated for that by buying herself 4 pairs of shoes during this visit back to the states.

There is another good reason for buying shoes in the US. Even though about 70% of the shoes being sold in the US are made in China the shoes being sold in China is not subject to the quality standard of their trans-pacific counterparts. Shoes that I have purchased in China have felt very thin with very minimal support for my feet. I had to throw out one pair of sneakers because the lack of support caused a pulling sensation on the bottom of my feet when I was wearing them. I am not too picky with how I am dressed but I feel that the comfort of shoes are very important to the well being of a person as the entire weight of a person's body is being supported by them.

Believe it or not, electronics are more expensive in China than they are in the US. This statement is true if you are purchasing electronics that is made outside of China. China has a fairly high tariff on imported items so it is actually better to buy electronics in the US than it is in China unless you want to buy the mediocre stuff that China makes. Of course if you are satisfied with China made electronics then you are all set over here.

Outside of shoes, clothes and a new Nikon DSLR we also purchase some things like salad dressing and cereal. Yes, salad dressing. In China, if you were to go to a restaurant and order a salad the default and only dressing you will get is thousand island. Therefore, I had to get a few bottles of Italian dressing for the days that I need to get a break from the greasy local fare. And of course cereal, have to have my Honey Bunches of Oats that I cannot find over here.

I think to summarize the shopping situation in Shanghai is that if you want to get high quality imported goods you very often might not find them in China and if you do you will be paying a higher price due to the heavy tariffs. But if you are looking for Chinese made goods then you will be in paradise.

I am back!!

Well, its been a long hiatus for me on this blog. I guess it was a combination of being lazy and our two week return to NYC in the past month.

Our trip back to NYC was a hectic one. Its amazing how short two weeks can be when the time are filled with reunions with friends and family. I think I had nearly every lunch and dinner in a restaurant with various friends and family members. I think this is probably the thing that I missed most about living abroad is the companionship of friends and family.

We have made some friends over here in China, but I think once a person reaches a certain point in life it becomes difficult to make real friends. Perhaps there are too many other reasons to be acquaint with someone at this age that might have very little to do with true friendship. Perhaps because at this age, we have the lost the innocence and cannot truly open yourself up to new acquaintances.

In any case, I really enjoyed our time back in NY. There were moments that I thought "it would be nice to come back and live here again" and there were other moments I thought "now I remember why I left in the first place" and other moments I thought "Wow, this is something that I can't get/do in Shanghai" and then there were other moments I thought "Man, I can get/do that in Shanghai but not here".

Well, whatever we do in the future, the one thing that I can always say that NY is my home.