Impossible is Nothing
It's kinda crazy that I've been in Shanghai for more than six months now. I've meaning to sit down and write this email since I first got here last December but just never got around to it, so now when I finally buckle down, I don't even know where to start. So the following message will just be a collection of disjointed blog posts that I should have been making had I actually gotten my act together. Excuse the rambling.
The reason my title is "Impossible is Nothing" is that ever since I got to Shanghai, I constantly see or hear about things that seem hard to believe. For example, the most well-known domestic athletic gear brand here is Li Ning, which has a logo that's a stylized version of the letter "L" but looks like a bastardized version of the Nike swoosh (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/70/Liningcompany.gif) and their latest slogan is "Anything is Possible, " which is not that different from, you know, "Impossible is Nothing." Have enough pride to come up with your own slogans, guys. It's embarrassing.
What else is unbelievable? The traffic here I guess. You know how in NYC no matter how crazy the cabbies are, they will give you the right of way when it's your light to walk most of the time even though it feels like they are nipping at your heels? That rule does not apply here. When I attempt to cross the intersection here, I have to get into the mindset of a young wildebeest partaking in the great Serengeti migration. Gotta stick with the herd and cross the road in numbers, or else I might get picked off by an impatient taxi trying to make a right turn, or else a bus. Once my coworker Pete, who's also here for six months and lives a few floors above me, and I were *this* close to getting run over by a taxi making a right turn. When I first moved to Shanghai, I tried playing chicken with a few taxis because god damn it, it's my light and *I* have the right of way! After a few quite close calls, I wised up and just took it easy. I mean, waiting for a couple of more seconds at the intersection for some jack ass to turn is better than getting run over. Most bus drivers here drive like they are in that movie "Speed." They are total maniacs! I have personally witnessed a bus on the right lane swerve onto the left lane to get around a car stopped at the red light and then swerving right at the intersection to turn on to the perpendicular street in one fell swoop, with NO deceleration whatsoever. Even then, Shanghai drivers are still more law-abiding than those in a lot of other Chinese cities I've visited. I wonder what the body count will be during the Olympics, when all these naive foreigners who are more accustomed to, you know, not-crazy drivers, try to get around. I think there should be "Foreigners Crossing" signs in Beijing at major intersections near the Olympics venues come August. I've also been surprised by how few bicycles there are here compared to when I first left China in 1990. I think scooters are much more prevalent now than bicycles because, like Americans, the Chinese have to commute farther and farther to work. The middle class can afford cars while the poor have to get by with scooters.
Speaking of the Olympics, I don't think anyone outside of China really truly understand how important it is to everyone here. Most people here I've spoken to about the Olympics are genuinely excited that China is hosting it. It seems like everything is related to the Olympics in some way, from construction projects to public service announcements to even restaurant menus. At first I was somewhat mystified by all this hoopla over the Olympics since a few years ago many if not most New Yorkers seemed to be vehemently opposed to New York city's bid to hold the 2012 Olympics (maybe New Yorkers are just anti-social weirdos since I noticed the same kind of excitement about the Olympics in Paris and London in 2005, when those cities were also fighting to host the Games). After being here for a while, I think I finally understand why the Chinese people want the Olympics so much. I think pride has a lot to do with it. For that explanation to make sense, you have to understand a little bit of Chinese history: we as a people have always looked back at our most glorious Golden Ages with nostalgia because we've had it hammered into our heads from early on that China used to be the most advanced country in the world. After all, we did invent the paper, the gunpowder, the printing press and the compass. So exalted was our culture that the Japanese and the Koreans had to steal our writing system! And then the shit hit the fan as the foreigners descended on us later like jackals. The Opium Wars with the British in the mid-1800s that led to Hong Kong being taken over by the British (I remember reading in an AP US History text book, I think, that at the time, something like 1 in 10 or 12 Chinese adults was addicted to opium because the British was forcibly exporting so much of the stuff into China). The eight allied countries (US, European countries, and Japan) invaded China in 1900 and did a lot of damage and looting at the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and other places of cultural significance. Then of course, there's the Japanese invasion in the 1930's, with the Rape of Nanking and all the fucked up medical experiments they did in Manchuria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731#Activities). Of course, then there was the Cultural Revolution in the 60's and 70's when millions perished from famines and political persecution. You know how they always say the 20th century was the American Century? Whatever it was, it was sure as hell not the Chinese Century. As you can see, while growing up we are fed all this stuff about how mighty and ancient the Chinese civilization once was and then how all those blasted foreign fucktards came along and heaped one humiliation after another upon us (ok, obviously I'm exaggerating somewhat here since the Chinese are more than aware of the corruption, imperialism, isolationist policies, etc. that led to the eventual decline of China but those seem to pale in comparison in the Chinese psyche to canonical examples of foreign douche-ness like the notorious "No Dogs and Chinese Allowed" sign outside of a park in a foreign concession area in Shanghai in the early 1900's: http://www.apartmentcn.com/en/shparks.html). So there is this feeling among the people here that, after all those upheavals and setbacks, the giant has finally been awoken and the Olympics is the huge party that they want to throw to show the world that, yes, China is back, bitches! Then they find out about all these anti-Olympics protests in London, Paris and San Franciso. For most people it felt like a slap in the face, like these foreign devils are pissing on our parade when we are finally off the mat. "Why do they hate us so much?" One of my relatives actually asked me. They don't hate the Chinese people, I tried to explain, they are just voicing their opposition against the policies of the Chinese government with regards to T***t (just trying to not end up like this dude http://shanghaiist.com/2008/06/26/international_school_teacher_report.php), human rights, Darfur, etc.. I don't think I was very convincing though because I don't think those anti-China posters ever made a distinction between the two; neither did Jack Cafferty, he of the the-Chinese-are-goons notoriety (although I still like the old CNN curmudgeon). "Why do they only report negative news about China?" Another relative asked me. I told them that "they" report negative news about EVERY place most of the time. I mean, I only hear about Nigeria in the US when some oil pipeline blows up and kills hundreds of people. "If it bleeds, it leads," right? Besides, all I hear about America in the Chinese media, other than the recent election news, are the economic woes, the sub-prime debacle, Iraq, natural disasters, etc. Sigh, sometimes it's tiring to try to present balanced views to both sides, Chinese AND American. However, one thing that always vexes me is that when I read about China in the US media, there's always a big deal made about Chinese nationalism, be it from the people celebrating the Olympics or the cheering Chinese fans at athletics events in which Chinese athletes are participating. Of course, flag-waving Americans are just patriotic, right? Give me a break. Off to a slight tangent: If you think the Olympics-related advertising gets tiresome in the States during the Olympics, you ain't seen nothing yet. It seems like every advertisement here has an Olympic tie-in, and I'm not even including those put out by Chinese companies. L'Oreal is sponsoring the Chinese badminton teams, for God's sake!
Natural disasters, right. I have to say that I've been really touched by and, as a Chinese American, definitely proud of the donations, volunteer efforts, and quick government response to the Sichuan earthquake. Wen Jiabao the Chinese premier obviously cares a lot more about Chinese people than George Walker Bush about black people. On a side note, the 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Sichuan caused some 80,000 deaths, but the 7.2 earthquake in a "remote" part of Japan caused **THREE** deaths (according to a news article I read the following day), one of which was the result of a frightened resident running into the street and getting run over by a truck. Go figure. People from the China offices of my company donated $250,000 (yes, that's in USD) towards the relief efforts. That's quite a lot considering that Morgan employees in China definitely number fewer than 1000, AND they are being paid local wages! Even more astounding was the three minutes of silence observed to pay respect to those who perished in the earthquake. First we heard all the horns of cars, ships, and trains along with air raid sirens going off to mark the minute that the earthquake had occurred a week ago. Everyone in the office stopped talking, working, yakking on their phones, etc. We walked over to the window to observe the action below. With the exception of a few asshole bikers, most traffic stopped, even the construction workers stopped. It was a truly beautiful and moving moment that I will always remember.
Then the government cancelled fun for three days.
I'm not shitting you. ALL of my 60-some channels in the apartment broadcasted earthquake coverage 24/7 for 3 days. ALL non-news programming, including entertainment, sports, music, was cancelled. The foreign channels that I watch -- HBO, Cinemax (which sadly does not merit the Skinemax badge of shame here), Discovery Channel, etc. -- turned into black screens with a paragraph in English explaining the ban. ALL popular music was BANNED in the bars that Pete and I went to. Funny thing was that even though Pete couldn't play the dice games downstairs because the cop on the street could see us, there were guys playing pool upstairs! Most bars were closed, and I wouldn't be surprised if people thought we were pricks for going to a bar during a period of mourning. I actually got into slight argument with my uncle because he thought it was inappropriate to be having fun at a time like this. The man obviously never heard of GW Bush telling Americans to "go shopping" after 9/11. Seriously, I explained to him that I'd have no problems donating money (which I did) or blood (which I didn't get around to because on the weekends the blood mobile nearby only collects on Sat morning from 10 am to noon, sigh), but the government should not force the disaster on me. We do live in a free country right? Oh wait.
Speaking of the D-word, I was surprised to hear from my mother's best friend and also from my gf, a journalist (!!), that the Chinese people are not ready for the D to the cy yet. The reason they gave is that too much of the populace is still too uneducated and easily manipulated for there to be social stability if there are free elections today. My mom's bff thinks that if everyone can say whatever he/she wants to say, there'd be chaos. She would rather have the society slowly evolve towards D than some kind of revolution because god knows her generation has suffered enough during the last one. I don't know if she is right but I definitely understand her desire for stability, even if it's at the expense of some freedom. On the other hand, my coworkers do criticize the government without fear sometimes when we talk about politics. They just can't start organizing protests or start online petitions against the government.
Actually, I'm surprised to hear myself say this, but sometimes it can be a good thing if the government has complete control. Those of you (and me soon) living in New York may never ride on the fabled Second Avenue subway line during our life time due to budget problems and community opposition. Well, you know what, at least two new subway lines have opened since I arrived in Shanghai. They were built in only 2 years, or something ridiculous like that, unlike the Second Avenue subway, which was started in the 60's, right? Also, as of June 1, the government banned ALL supermarkets from giving out free plastic bags to customers due to concerns about the environmental impact. Can you imagine the US government being this progressive when the White House does not even agree global warming exists? On the other hand, I do find it really Orwellian when almost every single channel starts broadcasting CCTV (Central China Television) news at 7 PM every day. The first time I saw that I thought my remote was broken because no matter what channel I tried to switch to, the news was on!
Sigh, it's time to go to bed again. I was going to write about all the fun stuff, like the shady barber shops on my street that are fronts for prostitution, going clubbing at a hip hop club called Bling, and taking swimming lessons and then dreaming about being chased by a shark. On land!! And my crazy trip to Hunan, which is where my mom's side of the family from. I guess all that will have to wait for the next email/post.
Let me know how you guys are doing.
Gary
PS: I'll start blogging more frequently at http://gfunknation.posterous.com/ because posterous makes blogging as easy as sending an email! Wow!!! (In my best impersonation of an informercial) also so I won't have to write long emails like this one in the future. It's created by my homie Sachin, a downright coding ninja gangsta. Check out http://www.posterous.com now!!
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