Beijing, China: There is no China - Part 1

From Beijing, China

I’ve thought very hard about this post. How do I share the unthinkable contrasts of new & old, rich & poor or flavorful & bland while being neither pessimistic about the China that is, nor overly romantic about the China that could be? Travel in China has made me question some of my beliefs, but solidified many others. All this will take more than one post given our limited medium.

First let me acknowledge that all is not honky dory in the People’s Republic. It is gut-wrenching to see the environmental destruction already realized there. It burns the eyes, fouls your lungs and dampens the soul of the whole community. I liken it to a year-round version of SAD (seasonal affective disorder) which residents of Seattle know from the winter rains. Life in Beijing is a series of smog filled days mixed with partly treeless expanse with a chance of grit from Gobi sand. When this society gave up on their communal environment, how could individuals eventually not give in to the compromise that their personal actions no longer matter with regard to the environment? One dream I have is that outbound tourism will one day affect a solution. When individual Chinese, especially children, can see clean rivers, smell clean air and walk in forested mountains, hopefully they will be inspired to improve water quality, air and land of urban China. As President Obama tries to explain the benefits of green industries on the economy, China has as much potential to test these ideas as anywhere. But it would take a green army.

There is no China. This was the theme to a lecture I attended while cruising with Holland America Line. The professor/speaker was trying to convince us that there is no ONE China, and hence no China at all. The China in your head exists in some places. The China about which the Chinese dream, it is starting to take shape in other places. While the Han people make up the majority of the population, regional races are pronounced – the Tibetans being the easiest for westerners to consider. But there are over 50 different regions, each with their own religions, languages, cultures and politics. Additionally the central government in Beijing governs, but only through regional and municipal communist organizations, each adding their own interpretation to policy. In these ways, China has a chance to be either a federalist America-like melting pot, or perhaps a confederate Europe-like stew. They are still sorting these things out. There is no ONE China.

Our first day in Beijing was overwhelming beyond any travel day I have had. In hindsight I was expecting, indeed seeking, the wrong things. I was so excited to see and walk on the Great Wall. I wanted to be able to SAY “I’ve been there” regarding all the famous sights.

Instead, I found our guide Alan, to be the most important attraction. His story is but one among a billion. But remember, there is no ONE China. Alan was hip. He had spiky hair, jeans, a cell phone in hand and stylish shoes. At 25 years old, he had a good grasp of English, had attended college to be a guide in the tourism industry and worked REALLY hard. His day was hours longer than ours – and we were exhausted. He was the product of the “one child generation” and I bet he was the pride of his small family. His success is one part of China’s story.

Because our cruise coincided with the Olympic Torch Relay in late March, early April of 2008, there were a number of sensitive topics my cousin Rob and I had to navigate with Alan and the others. I’m not sure if we discussed it, or if we were both on the same page without a talk. Never did we actively bring up Tibet, the Dali Lama, the torch relay, the protests of San Francisco, London or Paris, Tiananmen demonstrations, communism etc. We were listeners – not lecturers – and we kept our American mouths shut. This worked out even better than expected because it gave people like Alan a chance to bring some of these topics up on his own, indicating these things were on his mind too. Perhaps because he dealt with westerners in his business, or perhaps because he had a better sense of the world than I gave him credit, he seemed to know we wanted to talk.

I believe it was the first day that we discussed Tibet and the Dali Lama. This hip kid, well educated in the Chinese system, well spoken in English, and quite likable in his personality said of these things: “Those poor Chinese people in Lhasa. It is so unfortunate they are being attacked and killed because of the Dali Lama, that terrorist.” GASP! I remember Rob and me laughing in disbelief about this conversation (out of earshot of our guide). It was as though our new friend Alan had all the sudden turned into a cog in the PRC’s public relations machine. But in hindsight, how could Alan believe anything differently? In 25 years, he’d never once left China. His news was either self-censored or officially censored in all the media to which he’s ever had exposure. He knew what he knew to be true: Tibet=Dali Lama=Terrorist just as the sun rises over the Yellow Sea and sets over the Gobi desert.

The next day, we started in Tiananmen Square, at which I had an even greater sense of place than at the Great Wall. Just to be in that space is remarkable – and an honor to have this simple life experience. It is to China what the mall is in Washington to American. Part way through our walk, Alan mentioned the student demonstrations. It was my opportunity to ask: “Alan, how many people were killed here?” The answer he gave is the greatest hope I have for China. He replied “Oh James, we don’t know these things. Our government doesn’t tell us the truth in these things.” GASP! Of the many soft answers he could have given, he made this statement just as honestly as he did his comment about the Dali Lama. Despite his censored news, his education, his lack of travel abroad and all the short comings of his government, Alan knew enough to know he didn’t know. If there are a half a BILLION Alan’s in China who are young, educated, connected and thinking then China can do nothing but change. In my mind it is a certain fact. I don’t pretend to know what this change will bring, or how fast it will move. But I agree with our lecturer, perhaps from this one simple conversation, that the China we saw will not be forever. Change is more than the slogan we’ve tired of from our political campaign. It is a never ending evolution that has affected all nations, in all countries, since time began on this planet. There is no ONE China and the many versions that there are today will not be in the future. These are exciting times for Alan and his country.

Click here for the next post on Beijing, China related to the actual stuff we saw. I’ll get into the wall, the Ming Tombs, the Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven etc at that time. In the meanwhile, consider yourself lucky to live where you do. And make haste to see the remarkable transformation occurring daily in the former Middle Kingdom.