Contemporary Culture and Classical Chinese Philosophy at a Cross-Roads

I just read an article this morning that really revved me up.  You can read the whole article here.

The article addresses the response of some Chinese to recent newspaper articles criticizing the new ambassador from the U.S. to China, Gary Locke.  A Communist party newspaper, Guangming Daily, accusing the U.S. of using Locke's Chinese-American identity to seduce the Chinese people and subvert the government.  But online response to the newspaper article turned the critique in an unexpected direction.

Two quotes from the web summarize an attitude I am quite sure was not the intended response of the newspaper:

"To be honest, I’m looking forward to being colonized," a user of China’s popular Sina Weibo microblogging service writing under the name Yan Lu’antong commented Tuesday. "We welcome this kind of ‘neo-colonialism’ with open arms!!!" added another user, Liu Xiaodong.

 There is an interesting parallel in Mengzi (Mencius) (you can read the text at the bottom of this entry). The main gist is this:  King Hsuan saw the tyranny of Yen over his people and decided to overthrow his power and relieve the people of their suffering.  Then, after King Hsuan had done so, he proceeded to inflict his own oppression on the people.  The feudal lords of that area decided to stop King Hsuan.  He asks Mengzi what he should do in this situation.

As an advisor to the king, Mengzi tells a story of one T’ang.  He was so virtuous and practiced such benevolent leadership over his people that, when he went to war against a tyrannical king in the east, the people in the west complained that he did not come to them first and relieve them of their oppression.  And when he went south, the people in the north complained that he did not come to them first.

The point is, when people are suffering under a bad government, they long for someone to relieve them of their suffering, and might even be willing to accept it from an outsider, a foreigner.  They don’t mind if he invades their country, and they even welcome it with open arms, offering gifts with gladness.

If there are some here who would welcome with open arms the ambassador of another country, what does that say about the situation here, and the people's sentiments about their rulers?  It would seem there are some (and I would not say even a majority, just some) in this country would would echo the words of the western and northern barbarians, "Why don't you come to us first?".  I would add, though, that they are more than likely being sarcastic, and if the U.S. were to actually send men in uniform there would be quite a different reaction, even from these Weibo-ers (Weibo is the Chinese version of Twitter; for an interesting commentary on Chinese social media and I think social media in general, check out this bit o’ journalism on the world’s second most influential person of 2010, according to Time magazine).

This passage in Mengzi also has interesting implications for the U.S. government, as it pursues its international policy of invasion and reform in other countries like Iraq and Afghanistan.  Perhaps many people initially welcomed them with open arms, and many have found relief.  But what is the response of the people in those countries now?  Certainly the U.S. has done many good things like built schools, hospitals, and other humanitarian projects, and the issue of carrying out reform while fighting violent insurgents is complicated, but what legacy will be left behind?  How will the people remember these past 10+ years?  And what is the ideological foundation for such an international policy?

Here is the text of the Mengzi passage, found in Mengzi 1B.11:

The men of Ch’i attacked and annexed Yen.  The feudal lords deliberated how they might go to the aid of Yen.  King Hsuan said, "Most of the feudal lords are thinking of going to war with me.  In what way can I stop this from happening?"

"I have heard," answered Mencius, "of one who gained ascendency over the Empire from the modest beginning of seventy li square.  Such a one was T’ang.  I have never heard of anyone ruling over a thousand li square being afraid of others."

[Mengzi continued,] "The Book of History says,

T’ang began his punitive expeditions with Ke..

With this he gained the trust of the Empire, and when he marched on the east, the western barbarians complained, and when he marched on the south, the northern barbarians complained.  They all said, “Why does he not come to us first?”  The people longed for his coming as they longed for a rainbow in time of severe drought. Those who were going to market did not stop; those who were ploughing went on ploughing.  He punished the rulers and comforted the people, like a fall of timely rain, and the people greatly rejoiced."

[Again, Mengzi said,] "The Book of History says,

We await our Lord.  When he comes we will be revived.

"Now when you went to punish Yen which practiced tyranny over its people, the people thought you were trying to rescue them from water and fire, and they came to meet your army, bringing baskets of rice and bottles of drink.  How can it be right for you to kill the old and bind the young, destroy the ancestral temples and appropriate the valuable vessels?  Even before this, the whole Empire was afraid of the power of Ch’i.  Now you double your territory without practicing benevolent government.  This is to provoke the armies of the whole Empire.  If you hasten to order the release of the captives, old and young, leave the valuable vessels where they are, and take your army out after setting up a ruler in consultation with the men of Yen, it is still not too late to halt the armies of the Empire."

translation by D.C. Lau

A Dream of Chinese Mansions

What is the Chinese dream? What are they aiming for?

My good friend Jason's comment on an earlier post got me thinking about this question. He wrote:

China has a great manufacturing sector, many may soon look to China as an example in business and life. That is scary to me.

What kind of an example might the Chinese life be for the 'people of the future', your kids and grand-kids? I'll avoid the business example question, as that's another bear to wrestle with for another time.

There have been a lot of online articles writing on the Chinese dream, and even a book with the same title that came out last year. Here's a little of what I found:

- The Family Planning Policy ('One Child' Policy is a huge misnomer, for another post) has created a large segment of young people without brother or sister. And for those who can find a decent job straight out of college or even six months later, many of them seek to model themselves after their "big brother", Americans. You can find them sipping a latte in Starbucks while they surf the Chinese web, wearing the latest fashions, hitting the karaoke bars every week, eating at "Western" restaurants, and doing things that young kids like to do with the disposable income. ("Western" restaurants are those that serve non-Chinese food, with greater and lesser degrees of accuracy, and almost across the board higher prices, thus higher status to be seen eating there)

However, that leaves out a large segment of this same 'young people' population who don't live like there's no tomorrow. They are frugal, wear the same outfits every week, send a significant portion of their paycheck home to their parents, and choose the cheap restaurants or even cook for themselves (my friend cooked a meal for three on less than 2 U.S. Dollars, and we had enough left over for lunch the next day; yay for local markets!).

- Many Chinese have learned to dream from Americans. An article written by the same woman who wrote the book, The Chinese Dream, gave these two quotes as examples:

As a Chinese magazine editor told me bluntly, “The Chinese Dream is a copy of the American Dream.”
Many middle class Chinese are influenced by the American way of life. They are bombarded by many material temptations and proliferating choices. TV commercials, the Internet, and Hollywood movies give them a rosy picture of the American middle class.
One Chinese blog described it this way: “American middle class people live in a villa with a two-car garage in the suburbs. In front of the house, there is a green lawn. They have 2-3 children, and a dog. The husband goes out to work, and the wife stays at home taking care of the children. On weekends, they drive their SUVs to the countryside for barbecues and camping.”

Without addressing the whole copying problem in China, the magazine editor's comment gives me pause. What DO they see in the American dream? Certainly its a picture somewhat rosied by Hollywood. But despite accusations that their replication of the American dream is lopsided and incomplete, I would argue that it's not untrue. Even if they only emphasize certain aspects of it, they are emphasizing true aspects of it. This forces me to question some basic assumptions about life, wealth, and the American dream. What dream to I communicate by my actions, choices, purchases (or not purchasing)? What is really most valuable to me? And do my friends see that in how I live? Or are my deepest dreams obscured by the American habits and patterns of living I so easily fall into without a second thought?

The perception of the Chinese blogger may not represent MY life, but by virtue of being American I represent that life to them, unless I demonstrate otherwise.

- There's another aspect of 'the Chinese dream' I should have, but did not anticipate, that of non-Chinese coming to China in search of their dream. A lengthy article in the Washington Post highlights the fast growing number of foreigners in China (particularly Muslim), and the benefits that come with it. It reminded me of a 'friend' I have run into irregularly. He's Iraqi, and has lived in Wuhan for 10-15 years now. He did an MA and PhD at Wuhan University, and continued on as a faculty member. He had not once returned to his home country. I asked him why once, and to my embarrassment, he said something to the effect of, "After the U.S. invaded my country there was nothing to go back to."

- Lastly, as some of the articles I read said as well, it's hard to really pin down one 'Chinese dream'. Some are dreaming of leaving behind the mud-brick shack in the countryside for a small place in the big city. Some are hoping to graduate and find a job good enough to make ends meet. Some are hoping to trade in their Buick (it's a luxury car in China) for a BMW. The size , history and diversity of China makes it difficult to pin down one Chinese dream.

But, like Americans, I'd say they all have the dream of bigger, better, faster, flashier, happier, and hopeful. As one Chinese blog wrote:

So what’s the difference between the American dream and the Chinese dream? I think it is more likely a human dream comparatively. Everyone first wants to have a full belly, a warm home and a happy family. Of course some other people pursue love and happiness. However, what is happiness? It is only a kind of feeling. Like I mentioned earlier, different people have different feeling. When you have one coin, you must be eager for another.

I think it is fair to say that those with one coin, do, generally, want another.

In response to Jason's honest statement, do we have anything to fear? From Chinese? Perhaps. But no more than those who call the United States a foreign country have to fear from Americans.

A Graphic for Thought: Learning Chinese

Here's a little pic I found online. Gives at least some impression of our backwardness as Americans. Remind me again why we don't really study foreign languages in America?

http://asiasociety.org/files/infographic-learnchinese.png

The note at the bottom kills me too. Although you can learn a language and do better, learning a language and learning a culture are not coterminous. It helps, and it's a great start, but you need much more than vocab and grammar to know a culture.

History is History, Honesty is Honesty

I haven't posted in 8 months. That's a long time. I won't try to summarize or bless you with little sound bites from the past semester. Just a little story from recent experience.

A couple of nights ago Emily and I went for a walk with a friend of ours. We hadn't seen each other for a while so we caught up on all kinds of things. One of the topics we covered was child raising. There were lots of little tots running around the little park we were walking about in, and our friend had brought her own 20 month old daughter as well, and we are hopeful for children soon, so it seemed like a great topic.

Our friend expressed her concern about raising her daughter according to good ethical boundaries. She used the example of honesty. She said, 'If I teach my daughter to be honest I'm afraid that when she grows up she will be disillusioned about society.'

I share this story to highlight two things. First, a great need in Chinese society for an ethical overhaul. Our friend is not the only one who feels this ethical vacuum. You can talk with any man-in-the-street and they would confirm the same sense, that there is no standard that people generally look to when deciding right and wrong. They all agree there is a need for one, but no one can point to something definite that guides their life. Many Chinese today are struggling for hope in a world where ethical relativism rules the day. What is most important is what is most expedient.

The second thing is a conflict of interest. Generally I think American's would agree that if you're an honest person you can make your way and do well in the world. You don't have an overwhelming sense that you must construct your own reality (i.e. lie) in order to see success, or at least avoid being taken advantage of. This doesn't require you to tell everything to everyone all the time, discretion is acceptable. But you don't have a fear your honesty will bring you sorrow and suffering. We work on the assumption that truth will ultimately win the day.

Can you imagine what life would be like walking out the door each day with your guard up, not knowing if someone was going to take you for a ride, where the stakes were as high as 'lie or lose'?

Perhaps I've lived too long outside the States. I may be naive. Maybe American life is as much an ethical vacuum as Chinese.

What do you think?

Exams and Memorizing

In the spirit of the season (end of the semester finals season) I will have a final exam in my Chinese Philosophy class. Part of the exam is 11 passages I have to be able to recite from memory. I just started last week, thinking I was ahead of the game, since final exams are not until mid-January.

Last night I received a text message from a classmate. The reciting part of the exam will be next Thursday. Now, in the spirit of last-minute cramming, here's 10 of the 11 passages. We can work on them together...

洪犯
无偏无陂，遵王之义；无有作好，遵王之道；无有作恶，尊王之路。无偏无党，王道荡荡；无党无偏，王道平平；无反无侧，王道正直。会其有极，归其有极。

乾卦经传 1
君子以成德为行，日可见之行也。潜之为言也，隐而未见，行而未成，是以君子弗用也。君子学以聚之，问以辩之，宽以居之，仁以行之。《易》曰“见龙在田，利见大人”，君德也。九三重刚而不中，上不在天，下不在田，故乾乾因其时而惕，虽危无咎矣。九四重刚而不中，上不在天，下不在田，中不在人，故或之。或之者，疑之也，故无咎。

乾卦经传 2
夫大人者，与天地合其德，与日月合其明，与四时合其序，与鬼神合其吉凶。先天下而天弗违，后天而奉天时。天且弗违，而况于人乎？况于鬼神乎？亢之为言也，知进而不知退，知存而不知亡，知得而不知丧。其唯圣人乎！知进退存亡，而不失其正者，其唯圣人乎！

论语 学而第一
有子曰：其为人也孝弟，而好犯上者，鲜矣；不好犯上，而好作乱者，未之有也。君子务本，本立而道生。孝弟也者，其为仁之本与？”

论语 里仁第四
子曰：富与贵是人之所欲也，不以其道得之，不处也；贫与贱是人之所恶也，不以其道得之，不去也。君子去仁，恶乎成名？君子无终食之间违仁，造次必于是，颠沛必于是。”

孟子 公孙丑上
曰：“难言也。其为气也，至大至刚，以直养而无害，则塞于天地之间。其为气也，配义与道；无是，馁也。是集义所生者，非义袭而取之也。行有不慊于心，则馁矣。

孟子 卷十三 尽心上 一
孟子曰：“尽其心者，知其性也。知其性，则知天矣。存其心，养其性，所以事天也。夭寿不贰，修身以俟之，所以立命也。”

大学
大学之道，在明明德，在亲民，在止于至善。知止而后有定，定而后能静，静而后能安，安而后能虑，虑而后能得。物有本末，事有终始。知所先后，则近道矣。

中庸 1
天命之谓性，率性之谓道，修道之谓教。道也者，不可须臾离也，可离非道也。是故君子戒慎乎其所不睹，恐惧乎其所不闻。莫见乎隐，莫显乎微，故君子慎其独也。

喜怒哀乐之未发，谓之中；发而皆中节，谓之和。中也者，天下之大本也；和也者，天下之达道也。致中和，天地位焉，万物育焉。

中庸 2
自诚明谓之性，自明诚谓之教。诚则明矣，明则诚矣。唯天下至诚，为能尽其性。能尽其性，则能尽人之性。能尽人之性，则能尽物之性。能尽物之性，则可以赞天地之化育。可以赞天地之化育，则可以与天地参矣。

Mostly on Modesty

Does it bother you when you can see a woman's bra through her blouse? Or a dude's underwear or 'crack' when he bends over (or when he's just standing there)?

Language can be a funny thing, especially when translating something from one language and culture to another. Just one of the many idiosyncrasies between Chinese and English is the word Modesty.

In English one of the first things I think of when I hear modesty is physical appearance in relation to clothing (and, I would add, more often in relation to women's clothing). It can certainly take the form of behavior or attitude as well (as a synonym for humble). For example:

"Is this dress modest?"
"What about this swim suit?"
"That guy is really immodest, he's always talking about how great he is."

However, when speaking with Chinese students about modesty (in English) the first thing they usually think of is humble/not humble. The root word 谦 (qian) is translated 'modest', but the basic meaning is humble. Here's a few examples drawn from my little iPod Pleco dictionary:

谦卑 - qianbei: humble, modest

谦虚 - qianxu: modest, self-effacing; make modest remarks

谦逊 - qianxun: modest, unassuming

And not one of the 36 entries for 'modest' had any connotation to physical appearance. It makes me wonder what word(s) my Chinese friends would use to describe 'humble attire'.

Fashion can be a big deal among college students in China. This is encouraged by the proliferation of fake goods that give an impression of wealth and status (not to mention that popular brands often make attractive clothing). Traditional Chinese culture is usually recognized as being modest, both in the unassuming sense and the 'not flaunting of physical features' sense. However, students have begun to experiment with fashion since China began to open up to external influences in the 80s.

Today it is not unusual to find students, particularly girls, wearing some really racy things, and usually below the waist. It is less common to see chest-skin, and I have heard others note that this is more typical in Asia generally. But that doesn't stop the issue altogether. Very thin, light colored sweaters or shirts over off-color or dark bras is very common. Skirts that work better as belts (maybe that's a slight exaggeration), tights worn as pants.

Once, five years ago, I was walking with a friend to the soccer field to kick the ball around and we were dumbfounded to see a girl standing at a phone booth (yes, they still have them in China) wearing a skirt made of that netting normally worn under a dress to make it more poofy. It was like wearing a saran-wrap skirt!

Add to that, there's an extreme issue of not knowing how to wear a skirt, long or short. You can regularly see girls and old ladies squatting down in a skirt, giving full view to everyone what color underwear she's wearing. Once, in class I was trapped in the far corner of the room while teaching because a girl was sitting in a skirt with her legs spread apart. I was so embarrassed, but I couldn't say anything or she would have been mortified.

However, I will stand up for many young girls in China. Many of them still dress with healthy modesty. And, I would argue that many of them really don't know the difference between modest and not, because they've never been taught. Their mother's never wore anything like what's offered in the stores today, and their fathers probably don't care as long as they get married off before they're 30. (There's a saying in China, particularly in rural areas, that girls are like spilt water. I'll blog about that some other day)

This morning I was reading a blog by Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing House, and he was talking about his surprise at the lack of modesty on TV, the MTV VMA awards in particular. He gave four guidelines that I hope can be proliferated among the young, in America and China.

Here they are: “Four Guidelines for Modesty”:

1. If you have trouble getting into it or out of it, it is probably not modest.
2. If you have to be careful when you sit down or bend over, it is probably not modest.
3. If people look at any part of your body before looking at your face, it is probably not modest.
4. If you can see your most private body parts or an outline of those parts under the fabric, it is probably not modest.

Not rules, but good guidelines. Thanks Michael.


What about you? What does modesty mean to you?

From the Classroom: Lying

Here's my latest translation, less commentary - more comments below.

他和她是在一个晚会上认识的。那时的她又年轻又美丽，有很多的追求者，而他却是一个穷大学生。可是他却一下子爱上了她，尽管他明明知道自己配不上她。晚会结束的时候，他勇敢的邀请她一块去喝咖啡，她呢，尽管很吃惊，然而出于礼貌，还是答应了。
They met at a party. At that time she was young and beautiful, and she had many pursuers. But he was a poor college student. But after a short while he fell in love with her, even though he clearly knew he was not a good match for her. As the party came to an end he bravely asked her to go with him to a coffee shop. She, although surprised, was very polite, and accepted.

[Good start to a story. Boy, girl, meet at a party, and he's a stud! Although he knows he's only a 3 on the scale and she's a 9, he goes for it...]

坐在咖啡馆里，两人之间的气氛分明很不自然，没有什么话题，咖啡还没上来，她就希望快点二结束。
Sitting in the coffee shop, the atmosphere between them was unnatural, with nothing to talk about and the coffee had not yet come. She desperately hoped that the time would end.

[Things look a little grim for our poor, homely college student...*dramatic rise in music*]

正在这时，服务小姐把咖啡端上来了，他结结巴巴的对服务小姐说：“麻﹑麻，麻烦您那点儿盐过来。”她和那位服务小姐一样大吃一惊，别的客人的目光也一下子集中到了他的身上，他的脸一下子红了，小声说：“我﹑我喝咖啡习惯放点儿盐。”小姐把盐拿过来，他在咖啡里放了点儿盐，慢慢的喝着。她很好奇地问：“你为什么要放盐呢？”他沉默了一会儿，然后红着脸结结巴巴的说：“小﹑小时候，我家住在海边，我老是在海里泡着，海浪打过来，海水进到嘴里，又苦又咸。我已经很久没回家了，真怀念那里的一切，包括那又苦又咸的海水。之所以喜欢在咖啡里放盐，可能是因为想家吧。
Right at that time, the waitress came carrying the coffee, and he stammeringly said to her, "puh-puh-please bring me some salt." The girl and the waitress were quite surprised, and everyone else in the coffee shop turned their gaze to him. His face turned red, and he quietly explained, "I, I, it's my habit to drink coffee with salt." The waitress brought the salt, and he put some in his coffee, drinking it slowly. She was very curious and asked, "Why do you put salt in your coffee?" He sat silent for a while, then stammering, and with a red face said, "When, when I was small, I lived by the sea, and I would always walk along the shore, and when waves would come the spray would get on my mouth, it was so bitter and salty. I haven't been home in a very long time, I really miss it, including the bitter and salty sea water. So when I put salt in my coffee, it's because I miss my home."

[The story reaches a climax. He's bungled his way through things so far, and just at this moment it seems all hope is lost.]

太令人感动了，因为这是她第一次听到男人在她面前说自己想家。她认为想家的男人肯定是爱家的男人，爱家的男人一定是有责任心的男人。她忽然觉得两个人的距离一下子拉近了。于是她也跟他说起了远方的故乡......两个人聊了很久很久，越聊越高兴，不知不觉到了咖啡馆关门的时间。当他提出送她回家时，她竟然没有拒绝。
She was so moved, because this was the first time she had ever witnessed a guy saying he missed his home. She believed that a guy who misses his home is a guy who loves his home, and a guy who loves his home is a responsible man. She suddenly thought these two distant people could be pulled close together. Then she told him a story from a distant place......Two people talked for a long long time, and the more they talked the happier they were. Without hardly noticing, closing time for the cafe arrived. He proposed they return to his apartment, and she unexpectedly did not refuse.

[But somehow he pulls it off and she falls for him! Unfortunately, the story seems to take a disappointing turn, as she follows him like a lamb to the slaughter, to his apartment. And if he's a college student it's his dorm room. Doubly lame.]

从那以后，两个人频繁的约会，她发现他真的是一个很好的男人，大度﹑细心﹑体贴，有很多优点。她暗暗的想：幸亏当时的礼貌，才没有和他错过。后来他们去过了城里的许多咖啡馆，每次她都对服务员说：“请拿点儿盐来好吗？我的朋友喜欢在咖啡里放盐。”
From then on these two frequently met together. She discovered that he really was a very good guy, magnanimous, careful and attentive, and considerate, with many 'advantages.' She secretly thought to herself, 'Thanks to my politeness at that first meeting I didn't miss out meeting him. They went to a great many coffee shops in the city, every time she would ask the waitress, "Please bring some salt. My friend likes salt in his coffee."

[We see that things seem to turn out well for these two.]

再后来，就像童话书里写的一样，“王子和公主结了婚，从此过着幸福的生活。”他们确实过得很幸福，而且幸福地过了四十多年。尽管四十多年中发生了很多变化，但是他们之间的爱从来没有变过，不管是富有还是贫穷，始终相爱，一直到他得病去世。
After that things went just like in the story books, "The prince and princess were married, and lived happily ever after." They were truly happy, and happy for more than 40 years. Although through the 40 years many things changed, the love between them never changed, whether they were rich or poor, from beginning to end, until the day he got sick and died.

[And, the story book ending...or middle part. And, like so many Chinese movies it has a very strange ending. Things seem SO good--and then he dies! What!?]

故事似乎应该结束了，如果没有那封信的话。
It would seem that the story should end there, but that would leave out what the letter said.

[But! It doesn't end there. He wrote a letter from his death bed.]

那封信是他写给她的遗言：“亲爱的，原惊我欺骗了你四十多年。还记得第一次请你喝咖啡吗？当时我太紧张了，不知为什么，竟然对小姐说拿些盐来，其实我喝咖啡从来不放盐。当时既然说出来了，就只好把盐放进去，没想到竟然引起了你的好奇心。这一来，让我喝了半辈子加盐的咖啡。好多次我都想告诉你，可是我怕你不原谅我说谎。我必须用一生去实践这个谎言，不然你可能会离开我，但是我不能没有你。可是，我现在不怕了，因为我就要死了，死人总是很容易被人原谅的，对不对？今生得到你是我最大的幸福，如果有来生，我还希望娶到你，即使再喝几十年加盐的咖啡，也没关系。不过说实话，咖啡放盐简直太难喝了。咖啡里放盐，当时我是怎么想出来的呢？”
The letter he gave her were his last words: "My dear Love, forgive me for deceiving you more than 40 years ago. Do you remember the first time we met? I was so nervous then! I don't know why, but I even surprised myself when I asked the waitress to bring salt. I actually have never liked salt in my coffee. At that time I would never have imagined it would lead to your curiosity. I only drank half the cup. Many times I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid you would not forgive my lie. My whole life I have had to perpetuate this lie, otherwise you would leave me, but I can't live without you! However, now I am not afraid, because I will soon die, and dying people are easy to forgive, right? In this life you have been my greatest blessing, and when I enter the next life, I hope marry you. And even if I have to drink salty coffee for another 40 years, it doesn't matter. To tell you the truth, salty coffee is really hard to drink! Salty coffee, how could I think of something like that?!

[It reads...blah blah blah. "I'm a liar, have been my whole life. And I didn't trust you enough to share my deepest longings and fears. But now that I'm dying I can spill everything. It might leave you miserable, but at least I'll feel good about myself, having spilled it all. Then I can die and leave you." (this is my sarcastic voice, can you hear it?) "And I'm an idiot for drinking salty coffee for more than 40 years."]

信的内容令她大吃一惊，她多想流着泪告诉他：“她是世界上最幸福的人，因为有人为了她，能够用一辈子去实践一个谎言。”
The contents of the letter really surprised her, and she cried very much, telling him: "'She' is the most blessed woman in the whole world, because for her sake a man would perpetuate a lie for his whole life."

[This is the part that got me the most. She was the most blessed person in the whole world because he was so insecure that he would perpetuate a stupid lie for his whole life. Are you kidding me? How is that a good thing?]

The end.


Comments. I was annoyed when I read this story. When I was teaching English, every year I would prepare at least one lesson on lying. It's epidemic here. It goes hand in hand with cheating and plagiarism. And it seems only a few people bat an eye at it. Many times students would say, "what's wrong with a little white lie?"

One of the more interesting 'white lies' that continues to circulate is the melamine in milk issue. The initial 'outbreak' was years ago. But it continue to crop up. How is that possible?

At the same time, I am constantly reminding myself that this is not isolated to China. Just read the news from Capitol Hill, or watch a sitcom, or (I dare you) look at your own life. How often do we just cover up our goofs with our bluffs. It's part of American culture too. It would be all too easy to read this story and my past experiences, and start pointing fingers at 'them'. But that would be a lie.

The only antidote is an encounter with the Truth, the Light that brings all things out in the open.

Lost and Not Found

It's always comforting to hear things like this, especially years after the initial 'outbreak'.

No Melamine-tainted yoghurt found in Hubei

Authorities in Hubei said that they have not found any corn-flavored yoghurt, produced by a company in Hunan, that reportedly contains excessive amount of melamine, the Beijing News said Monday.

Melamine killed six babies and sickened nearly 300,000 others in 2008, after the chemical had been added to powdered milk to make its protein content seem higher.

The Hubei provincial industry and commercial bureau said on Sunday that the Yuanshan dairy company had produced yoghurt containing 4.8 milligram of melamine in every kilogram - far above the legal limit.

The company had apparently bought milk powder as a raw material from a supplier - without knowing that it was tainted with melamine, according to AFP.

Wang Qunzhang, a spokesman for the Xiangfan city's industry and commercial bureau in Hubei, was quoted in Chinese media as saying that the authorities had feared that 50 packages of the yoghurt had entered the Xiangfan market.

click here to read more of the article

My favorite quote from the article comes later in the article, so I'll quote it here:

He also said the yoghurt was produced in June this year, and the company has recalled part of it. Some more was recalled by the quality supervision bureau after they learned of the allegations.

"The rest has probably been drunk by consumers", said Li, "and there should be no such yoghurt on the market now".

Haha. It was probably drunk by consumers. Oh well. A little doesn't hurt that much, right?

I'm also comforted by the thought that I'm lactose intolerant (as of my college years), so I rarely drink milk...

Lest You Forget

-- WARNING: DON'T VIEW BEFORE DINNER, OR JUST AFTER --

Emily roasted a chicken for dinner tonight. First time for us to get a chicken with head and feet attached. It was a helpful reminder that we often 'sanitize' things in the States. When you buy chickens in the market they come with heads and feet attached. Only...not in America. So, by way of reminder how the rest of the world does things:

Mysteries

When you live cross-culturally you discover many mysteries. Some remain so, others are eventually uncovered, sometimes only partially so. Yesterday my wife had one of those mysterious conversations that made us laugh, sort of. I'll try to uncover it for you as much as I can.

A teacher at Emily's school working in the Kindergarten very recently had her baby. Emily saw the head teacher yesterday in the hallway and asked how this woman and the baby were doing and how the birth went. The head teacher replied (something like this, I'm relaying third hand here), "oh, it went very well, though her water broke so they had to do a C-section."

Uh....really? Because her water broke?.....

Emily I are discussing the possibility of having a baby next year, and up to this point we're thinking we'll have it in China, and we're doing groundwork and research to understand the situation here a little bit better before jumping in. We know of some of the potential 'issues' with this. One is the extremely high rate of C-sections. Of course we're aware that it is necessary sometimes. But we've heard numbers as high as 50% in China. Even if you don't know ANYTHING about birthing, I'm sure you can deduce that 50% is just a little bit high.

You may be surprised to hear such a high number, but we've heard some explanations for it. One, that also occurs in the States, is that doctors get paid a hefty amount for doing one, and not as much if they don't. That's a strong incentive to do them. And in China there's much less 'common' knowledge about things, so when a doctor says so you just do it.

Two, it is also not uncommon, because of the so-called "One Child Policy", that the doctors will also tie the woman's tubes while they have her open - sometimes upon request, sometimes without knowledge of it. We're not at all afraid this would happen to us, it only applies to Chinese. But, it partially accounts for the higher rate.

But, back to the story. We've answered the question as to C-sections in general. But why was it the solution to her water breaking. This is a greater (cultural) mystery. Here are a few options. Unless you really dig you may never really know the real reason. And digging can sometimes be painful. You never know what you may dig up.

Option 1: She didn't want to go through all the work of pushing the baby out, so she opted for a C-section. This is possible, though in my opinion less likely. And her telling everyone that her water broke so she needed a C-section might be her way of avoiding telling people she just didn't want to do it and losing Face.

Option 2: She couldn't push the baby out, so the doctor said she needed a C-section. Perhaps more likely than Option 1. And her "my water broke" reason is a way of saving Face and not having to tell people she couldn't do it.

Option 3: The doctor wanted more money, so he told her that because her water broke she needed a C-section. Emily said that she has heard of some people who believe that if your water breaks there's more potential for infection. I suppose there's some truth to that, like if you never ever push the baby out you just might have problems. But the doctor giving such advice is more likely because he/she wanted the cash that comes from the cut. But, you might say, wouldn't she know that the water must break if the baby is going to come out? Maybe. Though I wouldn't be surprised to find many women (and men) who don't know a thing about birthing here. Medicine is a very very interesting thing in China. Medical questions can be responded to with numerous answers, some that near making sense and some, like this one, that are wildly ridiculous. Which leads to our final option (though we're certainly not limited to this selection. There may be a huge, complicated story that we'll never know. And that's the mystery).

Option 4: There is much to the story we will never know. But, we know she had the baby and they're both healthy, and we know she had a C-section. That's the important material to the story. Why is 'not relevant'.

Conclusion: Here's my final thought on this situation. There are some fishy things in the story. The fact that her water broke does not mean she needed a C-section. The doctor wanting the money is likely. There's possibly more medical issues that we, and perhaps the mother, don't know, and it was merely the doctor's way of avoiding the explanation, and worrying the mom might feel. Very, very likely there's some Face-saving going on. You can't underestimate the importance of Face in China. America has Face too, it just looks a lot different in context, and its based on different factors.

Small digression on Face. For example. One day, several years ago when I was teaching English, I saw several guys shooting a couple basketballs on a court. I watched as I walked and noticed that no one was making any shots. I decided to stop and watch a little longer. For several minutes. NO ONE made ONE shot. For several minutes!! For an American, MAJOR Face loss. If we're not good at something we usually avoid doing it to avoid embarrassment (which amounts to loss of Face). In China, they value doing something together, rather than the skill with which you do it. So, they were all buddies, shooting the ball. THAT was the point, not making baskets.

So, for this woman who had the baby, she saved Face by not telling us why she had a C-section. She might not even know the real reason. And Emily, in good Chinese cultural form, didn't ask. She didn't need to. Option 4. Good Office Politics, Emily. Way to go!

Ups and Downs

Wow! It's hard to put into words the ups and downs you can feel in language study, and living cross-culturally in general. Here's a snippet.

Monday and yesterday I was feeling pretty bummed about my Chinese. Really, quite DOWN. It's not uncommon on days like those to think, "Am I just wasting my time here? What if I completely stop remembering characters, and I fail all my classes? I'll return to the States with my tail between my legs and go to flipping burgers or something..." I felt like my Chinese is just so-so after more than a year studying (Chinese has a great word-phrase for so-so: mamahuhu 马马虎虎, which, when translated literally, comes out horse-horse-tiger-tiger).

Here's how the day went. I had Comprehensive for two periods (a period being 45 min), then Oral for two periods; and my morning is spent. Comprehensive went well enough, just kind of went through it. Oral, we had a kind of mock midterm exam. We were supposed to have previewed two texts by reading and listening to an audio of them, and have done all the practice work for chapter seven so that we can speak the chapter problems and texts very fluidly. I listened to the first text a few times and read along, and listened a few more times on my way to class early this morning. No fluidity happening here.

In Oral class the teacher took attendance on the media projector, and then proceeded to have students read parts of either one of the two texts or the practice problems. He would then write the score he thought the student should have, based on their speaking. Some students whom I think generally better than me scored 60s. I was...a little bit nervous. He came to me and asked me to read from the second text (which I had not even glanced at). Thankfully it was not full of a whole bunch of new words. I, along with my North Korean neighbor (I'll definitely blog about him another time, so stay tuned), and the only other American in the class all read from the second text, and we all scored 95s. That felt very good. Very very good. [the text that I HAD studied was one of the more funny and interesting ones; I'll be posting it with my translation and commentary as soon as I can get it done]

The weather being INCREDIBLY beautiful today, my tutor and I walked around campus, attempting to work out a couple of things-a library card for me, and a question for a friend-and we sat on the grass in the warm sun and just talked for over an hour. Nearly all in Chinese. That felt good too.

As I said before, I had my first midterm today, in writing class. I hardly prepared, but I reviewed a few characters that I knew would be important. Three parts: writing a note, an email, and an introduction of a friend I am familiar with. I chose my N. Korean neighbor, and he chose me. It worked out well, and I feel good about it.

Then I walked home to a blazing orange sunset. I walked along a paved path through a large grassy area (there are not really very many of these in China, so its exceptionally enjoyable); people sitting on benches, roller bladers, little babies in split-pants, and four old men flying kites. There are almost always old men flying kites in the Quad (so-called because it's somewhat of rectangular area). These old men had their kites waaaaay waaaaaay out there--little specks in the distance--I would guess a half-mile away, maybe even more. And as I walked in the sun, with awesome blue sky above (also somewhat rare), I looked at one of the old men with his kite way off in the distance, and he looked at me. He wasn't smiling, not grumpy, not sad, just kind of a blank stare. I busted out my biggest grin for him, and he smiled back! And my heart was warmed.

And even once more, after I crossed the heinous intersection at the main gate of our school and on past all the various construction projects that are going on right now, I smiled at a worker pushing a wheelbarrow of sand, and he gave me a nice big smile too.

And...I'm up again.

A Taste of Chinese Class

Here’s a little taste of Chinese class for your enjoyment. You can really learn a lot about a culture by studying it’s language textbooks. What do you gather from this?.....
[and I have commentary in brackets like these]

小林：爸爸，有朋友请我参加平安夜舞会，今天晚上我就不回家了。

Little Lin [pronounced: Leen]: Baba, my friend invited me to celebrate a Christmas Eve Ball, so tonight I won't becoming home.

[Christmas Eve in China is a KAY-RAZY time. Imagine a carnival on steroids, all up and down the streets. All kinds of street food, balloons, flowers, and one BILLION of your closest friends all jammed together on the streets and sidewalks.]

爸爸：什么？一晚上不回家？这些洋节有什么好？我真是不明白你们这些年轻人。

Baba [means Dad; but I like the 'flavor' of Baba better]: What?! You won't come home tonight? What is good about these foreign holidays? I really don't understand you young people.

[in China the age-gap between generations is enormous. I've heard that every five years is considered a new generation, especially among the younger crowds. Students who graduated five years ago can hardly make sense of college students today, their worldviews and experiences are so far apart.]

小林：我也说不清楚，只要是节我就过，反正就是高兴，可以乘机放松放松。

LL: I'm not too clear about it either, only I like to celebrate these holidays, they're really fun, and I want to seize the chance to relax a little bit!

爸爸：放松？那为什么过春节，中秋节没见你这么高兴？传统节日不也挺热闹吗？

BB: Relax?! Why doesn't celebrating Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival make you happy? Traditional holidays aren't lively enough?

[Spring Festival, usually in February and based on a lunar calendar, and Mid-Autumn Festival, also lunar, are traditional Chinese holidays.]

小林：传统节日也不错，不过，传统节日净讲究“团圆”，全家人在一起不是吃饭就是看电视，没什么意思。

LL: Traditional holidays aren't bad, but, traditional holidays merely focus on "family reunion", getting the whole family together to eat food or watch T.V.

[This is really quite true. When my wife and I visited a friends home for Spring Festival pretty much all we did was eat food and watch T.V. For Spring Festival there is the obligatory house cleaning and a few other small things, but not much else.]

爸爸：什么节你不也一样玩吗？再说，一家人团圆有什么不好？

BB: Are there any holidays that are not equally as fun? Besides, what's so bad about family reunions?

[Family is huge in China. It can be a huge insult to dislike family reunions, not to mention a turning from literally thousands of years of history]

小林：可能洋节更接近年轻人的性格吧，向干什么就干什么，什么规矩都没有，什么情人节，圣诞节，万圣节，都浪漫，都刺激啊！

LL: Maybe foreign holidays are more close to young people's disposition? If we want to do something, we do it, and there's no rules. Valentines Day, Christmas, Halloween, they're all romantic and stimulating!

[Word choice here was a little tricky, the last word in particular. It really literally "stimulating", but I think the idea conveyed is exciting. And, there's a very strong "foreign/Chinese" aspect at play through the whole dialogue, as in Chinese culture in general. The older people defending the traditions and the younger people accepting...well, pretty much anything, and often without much consideration. As he says, if we want to do something, we do it, and there's no rules! I've never heard of a holiday anywhere that had NO rules. Ridiculous!]

爸爸：这倒也是，洋节的过法和传统节日的过法还真不一样，连商场的气氛都不一样。

BB: I see your point. Foreign holiday celebrations and traditional holiday celebrations are very different, even the atmosphere in the markets is different.

[Here Baba is conceding a point, that there is something to those foreign holidays.]

小林：是啊，您在看看报纸，电视，广播，能不吸引人吗？

LL: Yeah! When you read the paper, watch T.V. and listen to radio broadcasts, you can't help but be influenced, can you?

[It is interesting to note that, although the Little Lin is incredibly rebellious throughout the dialogue, he continues to address Baba with the more respectful term, nin 您, rather than the casual ni 你.]

爸爸：热闹是热闹，不过，你知道这些洋节是怎么来的吗？

BB: Excitement is excitement, however, do you know where these foreign holidays come from?

[A little Chinese grammar: the first five characters are an admission of something, agreeing that it's true, but indicating that you have some reservation. You can see it's followed by 'however'... The more direct translation comes out a little wooden, but I thought you might enjoy a little 'Chinese flavor'.]

小林：不知道，我也不想知道，我就想好好玩儿玩儿，还有情人节，母亲节什么的，大家都过，我也凑凑热闹。就好像没有情人也可以过情人节一样，我管它是情人节还是愚人节呢，过节就是给自己找一个快乐的理由。

LL: I don't know. And I don't wanna know! I just want to have fun, and Valentines Day, Mother's Day, etc., I celebrate them all, and join in all the fun! Even if I don't have a girlfriend I can still celebrate Valentines Day. Whether it's Valentines Day, April Fools Day, they all give me a reason to look for happiness!

[Here our little friend shows a little more color. Not only does he not know where the holidays come from, he doesn't care. And we see again, nothing matters but having fun.]

爸爸：其实，咱中国也有情人节啊，还不止一个呢，三月三，七月七不都是吗？我觉得那洋情人节就不怎么样，咱中国活里头“情人”就不是个好词，我还看见，2月14日那天，有个饭店门口竟然立了块牌子，写着“非情人莫入”，也太过分了!

BB: Actually, Our China also has Valentines day, and not only one! March 3rd, July 7th, both are, aren't they? I think that foreign Valentines Day is not even worth talking about. In Our China lives "lover" is not a good word. AND! On February 14th, quite to my surprise, I saw a restaurant with a sign on it's door, that read "No Lover No Enter"! So uncalled for!

[I really got a kick out of translating this one. A few notes:

1. As foreign teachers talking with students, or just when you talk with anyone in English, unless they are pretty good with their English skills, will say Our China, which is a direct translation from the Chinese. It's an aspect of Chinese culture that is a little far removed from "Our American" lives. But it's Chinese culture. They find a healthy sense of identity in the group. So they use the plural.

2. And yes, China does have two Valentines Days. The first one is on March 3rd, the second on July 7th. And the dates aren't random either. In Chinese the months don't have names, they're just in order by number. So March is sanyue 三月, literally Three Month, and July is the same, qiyue 七月, Seven Month. So the date comes out 3.3 and 7.7. Chinese culture is particularly bonkers about numbers. Eight is also a very 'lucky' number. That's why the Beijing Olympics started on 8.8.2008 at 8:08pm. Pretty cool, huh? If you're bored you can learn more about the two different Valentines Days here and here.

3. I made the sign on the restaurant door a little Chinglishy, just because I can see it happening like that. Call it translators prerogative. It's also how the Chinese comes out, very very directly. But it wouldn't sound like that to Chinese ears.

4. "Lover" was also a funny translation. It's not uncommon for students to talk about their 'lover'. It's far far too late to try and correct the issue, though we attempt it from time to time with friends, explaining that 'lover' is usually used when referring to the woman a man or woman is sleeping with other than the man or woman's spouse. Then they go, "OH!!!!!". Yeah. And, one time Emily got an email from someone at the company asking if she could take her 'lover's' passport to the office for something. We got a kick out of that. And, yes, she is my lover, my only lover. Emily and I also thought it was funny that Baba says it's not a good word in China. But people use it here ALL THE TIME. All the time. Though, perhaps not among the older folks. I need to talk with them more, and find out.]

小林：哎呀，您那么认真干吗呀！我倒觉得节是越多越好，传统节咱也过，那是属于咱们全家的，外国节，我也过，那是属于我自己的，您看怎么样啊？

LL: Aiya! Why do you care about this so much?! I admit, celebrations are getting better and better -- traditional holidays we all celebrate, they're for the whole family; foreign holidays I also celebrate, they're for myself. OK?

[Aiya! - a very common expression, usually of exasperation. And more sass from Little Lin. He gives into Baba's pressure to include the traditional holidays in his effort at 'self-expression'. And he ends it with a question that is polite in form, but shows his frustration. It comes out more literally, 'How do you see that?', but it's basically saying, "see, I give in a little, so get off my back!", and he again uses the more polite nin, 您]

I hope you have enjoyed this tour through a Chinese text and culture today. If you have questions, please refer to my Contact Me page on this blog... :p

In the News

As much as I like to watch China news, it can sometimes be helpful to read about what's happening on the periphery, yet still related to China. Here's an interesting article on Vietnam's recent comings and goings. It helps broaden one's perspective, and divides an often myopic a U.S. perspective of China's relations with the world.

China's rise prompts Vietnam to strengthen ties to other nations
That change of perception has led Vietnam to embark on an extraordinary undertaking to befriend the world as a hedge against China. And prominent among its new intimates is the United States, which is equally eager for partners to help it cope with Beijing.

"It is always good to have a new friend," mused Vice Minister of Defense Nguyen Chi Vinh in an interview. "It is even better when that friend used to be our foe."

Among the various issues that Vietnam is looking at are sovereignty over the South China Sea (all of which China claims as it's own, and other smaller nations dispute the claim), and the Mekong River (China possesses the upper region and has built a large network of dams, and the waterflow to the lower regions possessed by Southeast Asia is gradually diminishing).

Sometimes the most important developments occur, not at the center, but at the periphery.

Maps for the geographically challenged. The first is of the South China Sea dispute. China claims the territory in the red dotted line. The blue lines indicate the United Nations international agreement on territorial waters, which basically says, a country bordering water has special economic rights to an area that extends 200 nautical miles straight out from its coast. China has signed and ratified this agreement. Ironically, the U.S., who helped shape the agreement, has signed it but not ratified it, due to internal disagreement. See the Wikipedia articles on UNCLOS and why the U.S. has not ratified it for helpful information.


The second map is of the Mekong river. You can see that it begins in China (for a long long ways, all the way up into Tibet), and comes down between Myanmar and Laos, through Laos, between Laos and Thailand, passes through Cambodia and then Vietnam before dumping into the ocean.

In The News

I like reading news on China. Here's two stories of bizarre things:

China to embark on Yeti expedition
A group of Chinese scientists and explorers is to embark on a £1m-expedition in search of the country's equivalent of the Yeti, or Bigfoot, which is said to stalk the high mountains and forests of the central province of Hubei.

Yes, it's true. Yeti :: Bigfoot. And they want to spend a million Pounds looking for it.

Suspended disbelief: the amazing art of Li Wei
Chinese artist Li Wei creates images of himself and his friends being thrown off buildings, dangling from bridges and hanging off cars, all in the name of art. Li's photos can take up to six months to set up and involve huge crews organising props such as smoke, mirrors, wires and cranes. After the photographs are taken the father of one removes traces of the wires with a computer.

This one was way cool. If you like pictures that make you go, "huh?" this is a good one for you. And his quotes were revealing too. For example:

He said: "I like to achieve the impossible. I have hurtled to the earth like a meteorite and flown through the air. My pictures show the unstable, there's a lot of danger and I love to create that feeling in my work"

I think this says something about Chinese society in general. There is always a sense of instability, things could come crashing down at any moment. But there's also a sense of normalcy to it all. You don't walk around wringing your hands or fretting about it, at least most of the time.

"Sometimes I am in real danger - I have to hang myself high with steel wires and people do get a little worried for me - but I am fine"

I think this is just funny. "Sometimes I am in real danger...but I am fine." It's also true. When things are unstable there IS real danger. But, "I am fine." The danger may be immanent, but it's not quite here yet and we feel quite comfortable.

America is in real danger, but it's fine. Your life is in real danger, but you're fine. It's not until things come crashing down all around you, and inside you, that you realize things are not fine; and upon reflection, that they weren't fine before - you were in real danger.

Li has a website too, with a lot more pictures. Though I would add, viewer discretion is advised. You can tell by the thumbnails that not all the pictures are good for your soul.

Police Action, Part Deux

So, I was sitting in listening class, and we were waiting for students to get settled when the 老师laoshi says, "We have a famous person in our class." We're all looking around, wondering who it is. Then he says, "It's an American." Well, there's only two of us in our class, so I look at the other guy. He's looking at me. I'm like, "肯定不是我!" (It's certainly not me!). He says the same.

It's me.

All through class I chuckled to myself. Picked up a few papers on my way home, keep one for myself and send a few home to folks.

I have a front page photo, and a second, only slightly smaller, on A4.

I read through the article. It was fun. It was pretty general, about China's MEGA-census, counting everyone in the country, including 外国人 (foreigners). I've been census-ized. I'm accounted for.

I'm happy to be in the paper, and I try to tone down my criticism of things that bother me since I'm a guest here and all and it can be really easy to find things you don't like about another country and culture, but I'm pretty ticked about the article. They put our whole address in the article, down to the door number (which, humorously, doesn't actually exist; when we moved in we asked the owner for the door number to receive packages and he said, "left").

So tomorrow I'm going to go down to our little police office and have a talk, to see what we might do about it. Obviously there's really not much that can be done, and it wasn't even their fault, it was the newspaper's. Maybe we'll see about getting some kind of alarm system put in or something, as long as it's cheap. Or maybe a BIG dog (I'd like that). Or I could hire someone to guard our house, or get my own gang of thugs organized...wait, I can't do that here.

We'll see how it pans out. I know the Lord is in control, and there's nothing I can do to change the fact that our address is all over Wuhan. We have decent locks on the doors. And we really don't have that much stuff worth stealing (unless they like dirty Western laundry that won't fit a Chinese person, or American cooking utensils which are also usually dirty...). We don't keep any money in the house.

Well, there's my rant. Here's a few pictures for your enjoyment.

This is the front page

Close up; don't I look happy! And our friend Officer Liu is also enjoying himself a good deal.

A4, with article

Close up

Police Action

It's been a long time since I last wrote. My wife and I are quite in the thick of routine, and it doesn't include much time for anything but work, study, seeing a few friends, and us two being together. But I have a moment this afternoon so I'll write a couple of interesting things.

First, I just experienced my first "police raid". Don't get all antsy. It wasn't quite like what you're thinking. Here's what happened.

I was eating lunch with a former student who's applying to grad schools in the States, helping him with some writing. I get a call from a number not in my phone, so it could be anyone. I answer and the lady asks me if I'm home right now, or if I'll be home sometime this afternoon. Normally I have a grueling 4 hr Chinese Philosophy tutor session, but this week there's a guest lecturer for my tutor's major, so we're off. (I may still go to the lecture, it sounds interesting; a Brit is lecturing on various Bible books, today is Acts; it starts in a little over an hour) I say I could be home later, say 1 or 2pm. She says ok, and that's that.

I get a call a few minutes later from a guy saying that 1 or 2 is too late, and can I be there now. Well, obviously I can't be there now, because I'm not there now! But I said I could be there in thirty minutes.

I finish off my food, and the conversation with the student, walk back to the teaching building and grab my bike for a quick ride home. No one is there when I get home, so I call and they say they'll be there soon (in Chinese, mashanglai 马上来; literally it means horse-on-come, but in vernacular it means we'll be there soon - this could mean anywhere from a few minutes to several hours; I'm non-plussed, I still don't know who it is or what they want...).

Just a few minutes later I hear them coming up the stairs. I open the door to see two younger women, two younger dudes with nice cameras, and a very smiley police officer. I recognize him as the officer who oversees our little xiaoqu (小区 'community'). I warmly welcome them in and they crowd into our very very small 'living room' (we still haven't put up pictures or the promised video. My apologies. We don't have the correct equipment to get video off the camera onto the computer, and we haven't gotten around to doing a little grainy photo-camera video - some day...).

He asks to see my wife and I's passports, residence permits, our apartment contract, and our local police registration. I'm very thankful to a friend, Joann, who lives in Beijing and posted a description of a similar experience on her blog. She had all the documents prepared for just such a moment which inspired me to get ours in order. This was done just a couple of weeks ago, and I am SO thankful that it was! I knew where everything was, so I grabbed documents, handing them to Officer Liu.

He proceeded to examine them, one by one, asking me very innane questions like, is this your name, is this your date of birth, where's your residency permit (pretending he couldn't find it himself), is this what you pay for your apartment per month (it's a little expensive!), etc. etc.

With every new document I handed him the photographers were clicking away like mad. They had the full-auto shutters working overtime (out of the corner of my eye I think I saw one of them cameras smoking......)!!! They would hold the camera above our heads, close ups, wide shots, all over. I tried to put on my handsomest smile, and Officer Liu was quite pleased to have his picture taken with me. One of the young women had a clipboard and asked me a few questions like, what's your highest earned degree, and your wife's? and date of birth, etc.

It's the first time I've ever been asked for documents (it's also the first time I've lived in the 'general public'; i.e. - not on school or company campus) and I would have to give two thumbs up.

And I'm so thankful I was prepared. *Thanks Joann!*