Technology is making this world a whole lot smaller (figuratively of course). This blog is certainly evidence of it, and the fact that I'm writing on it from a computer in Seoul is further evidence. I say this because about five days ago Danthemanstan called me and said, 'you still want to go to Korea?'. I said 'sure' and now we're here. We had thought about going earlier this year, as flights were cheap, but a 'vacation' at school turned out to just be a Friday off. So, he was planning to go to Tibet with Dave and Dave's dad, but Tibet, although a part of China, is both more expensive and more difficult to get to than South Korea (for Americans, at least). No visa for South Korea (there is one for Tibet) and the flights were cheaper, so to South Korea we would go! Now, South Korea is decidingly not a part of China, although given a few years, who knows what China will be claiming. So, with the click of a button (and some typical Chinese red tape) we arrived this morning at Incheon International, the best airport in the world. They had drinking fountains, which was good enough to please both of us.
Getting there wasn't too much fun. We had an 08:00 flight, so we needed to be at the airport in Shanghai at about 06:30. There isn't a really easy way to do this without getting a hotel near the airport, which we didn't really want to spend money on, and because I had obligations last night, couldn't get to Shanghai before 23:00. So we spent the night at the airport. Initially we were in the waiting area, but then discovered that Burger King was open and had padded benches. So we grabbed a late night snack and I fruitlessly tried to sleep, Danthemanstan saw the futility and just read and rested. We ground out the night and rode a nice, short less than two hour plane ride to Seoul this morning. This short journey even included a meal, I love these small Asian airlines!
We took it pretty easy today, due to our lack of sleep last night. We, with absolutely no Korean, were able to get into town and find a hotel. Traveling really is pretty easy if you can follow letters, numbers, and colors on signs. I had some good kimchi dumplings at a small Korean restaurant, and then we went to check out the Korean public bath, which was highly recommended in the guidebook. It was a bit hard to find, but once we got in and settled was very relaxing. I expected it to be a super awkward and thus fantastic bustle of naked Korean guys relaxing. Instead, it was just us and some Japanese tourists, and thus pretty private. The bath we went to was in the second basement, perhaps the reason for its lack of patrons. After the night on a Burger King bench, though, the hot and cold tubs combined with three saunas made for a relaxing afternoon. We walked around some streets and managed to only miss one stop on the massive Seoul metro system. Seoul is the world's second biggest city, and has a metro system to back that up.
After getting back from the bath/sauna, Danthemanstan hit the hay and I went to get some dinner. I managed to do the point and nod at a restaurant and had some very good spicy octopus with kimchi and greens on rice in a simmering stone pot. At dinner, I discovered one bad thing about sitting cross-legged on the floor at the Korean restaurants: the propensity of my leg(s) to fall asleep:) I have noticed some similarities between certain words in Chinese and Korean (or what I think the word should be in Korean). I tried to say this, in Chinese to the restaurant owner, but totally failed. Why I thought it would work, I don't know, but I managed to make a fool of myself, pointing and speaking broken Chinese...which of course made no sense to him. But another patron was able to translate for me, and they all seemed to get a good laugh out of me. I walked out of the restaurant like an idiot, realizing that them knowing that 'eight thousand' in Korean sounds the same as it does in Chinese isn't really that interesting. So, that's my first day in Seoul. *(I will add pictures at some unknown time in the future).
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Ignorance is bliss
I have titled yet another post with an idiom, and don't worry it's not a trend. It just seemed such an appropriate title for my post. Last Thursday was June 4th, the twentieth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing. Now, I am no expert on the issue and be
ing only three years old at the time, don't pretend to have any insight on the event. But, being in China, on the anniversary of such an event, you might think that this day was of importance. You couldn't be more wrong. It is the ignorance, the absence of the event in China that was quite shocking to me last week.
ing only three years old at the time, don't pretend to have any insight on the event. But, being in China, on the anniversary of such an event, you might think that this day was of importance. You couldn't be more wrong. It is the ignorance, the absence of the event in China that was quite shocking to me last week.First of all, it shouldn't have been. I didn't expect it to be in the news or anything, but the absolute ignorance of it still surprised me. Coming up to the anniversary, the Internet was tightened (although this was never 'officially' attributed to the anniversary). In the two or three days coming up to the event, the blocking was extensive, which shows the extent of the government's control (and worry) about what information Chinese can access. Because it controls almost all of the television in the country, and print media isn't close to anonymous, the Internet is the easiest and best way for unapproved material to enter the People's Republic. The control of all the information available to Chinese citizens is the key to the situation that so surprised me.
On the 4th, and the day before it, all of the news sources I read had at least one article on the anniversary of the massacre. BBC News and the world edition of the New York Times dedicated their headline story to it. So, if an American visiting Western news sites was inundated with information about the event, it would seem reasonable that the anniversary was the top topic in China. No. Not at all. Other than in Hong Kong (which is in China but isn't really Chinese) there was barely a whisper of the event. Dissidents were jailed, or moved out of town, websites were blocked, newspapers were warned that mention of it meant certian punishment (there are lots of 'lost' journalists in China) and the state controlled news agency of course didn't mention it.
Here in Changzhou, our friend Steve knew about it, and joked at Thursday night poker that 'oh yeah, today is the day of the June 4th incident' (as it's known here). But Steve has spent a lot of time with foreigners and isn't exactly enamored with the Chinese government. Dave had a chat with one of his more informed and politically conscious students, who had a pretty good amount of knowledge about it. But that was about the extent of the knowledge of the people I talked with. Most students know that something happened on June 4th in the late '80s, and that's it.
A very good of mine, the head of the student branch of the Communist Party for the English department (and member herself) had no idea that anything important happened on June 4th, 1989 in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. I asked her in both English and (broken) Chinese, but she honestly had no idea. I put a related message on QQ, a Chinese chat program, and a few of my students asked me about it. They had the customary response, either no knowledge, or a bit of knowledge that "something" happened. All of my students have very detailed knowledge about the Rape of Nanjing/Nanjing Massacre in 1937, when during the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese ruthlessly killed close to 300,000 residents of Nanjing, most of them unarmed and non-military. When mentioned, they are eager to note that it is important to remember history, and to forget it would be disgraceful and a betrayal.
Yet, when the
government (via the army) opens fire on unarmed demonstrators, killing probably a thousand (maybe more) of its own citizens, this isn't important to remember. It blows my mind that the citizens can passively allow this horrid event, and important marker in modern Chinese history, to simply fade away. I try not to fault my students too much, because the authoritarian Communist Party is very controlling, and it's hard to remember something you have never heard about. But, on the whole, the older generations of Chinese society, as many analysts have pointed out, seem to have made an agreement with the government. It can limit and encroach on human rights, as long as the economy and personal wealth grow. This seems like an unethical bargain to me. But, I have never faced the poverty and instability of life that most middle aged and elderly Chinese have. It's easy to point out the more developed flaws in a country (free press) when I've never had to face food, water, or shelter insecurity. Nonetheless, I feel strongly about this, it is absolutely unacceptable, and not "harmonious" or "democratically reforming", that educated adults like my senior English major friends, are prevented from knowing about the most important events in the last quarter century of China's history. I hope that things will change, and have tried to, considerately, tell as many of my friends here about the importance of knowing and discussing accurate history. But, to be honest, as the above article comments, the future doesn't look to bright for the free press, and thus, free knowledge in China. (Pictures of a much more peaceful-and monitored-Tiananmen Square)
government (via the army) opens fire on unarmed demonstrators, killing probably a thousand (maybe more) of its own citizens, this isn't important to remember. It blows my mind that the citizens can passively allow this horrid event, and important marker in modern Chinese history, to simply fade away. I try not to fault my students too much, because the authoritarian Communist Party is very controlling, and it's hard to remember something you have never heard about. But, on the whole, the older generations of Chinese society, as many analysts have pointed out, seem to have made an agreement with the government. It can limit and encroach on human rights, as long as the economy and personal wealth grow. This seems like an unethical bargain to me. But, I have never faced the poverty and instability of life that most middle aged and elderly Chinese have. It's easy to point out the more developed flaws in a country (free press) when I've never had to face food, water, or shelter insecurity. Nonetheless, I feel strongly about this, it is absolutely unacceptable, and not "harmonious" or "democratically reforming", that educated adults like my senior English major friends, are prevented from knowing about the most important events in the last quarter century of China's history. I hope that things will change, and have tried to, considerately, tell as many of my friends here about the importance of knowing and discussing accurate history. But, to be honest, as the above article comments, the future doesn't look to bright for the free press, and thus, free knowledge in China. (Pictures of a much more peaceful-and monitored-Tiananmen Square)Saturday, June 6, 2009
"Every coin has two sides"-Trains in China
I can't count the number of times I hear the phrase "every coin has two sides" here, but apparently it is taught to all Chinese students sometime in middle or high school, and it's used as the answer to any complaint about anything. So, I will use it to somewhat accurately reflect my feelings about the rail system in China. Anyone who knows me well knows I find it much easier to complain, but I will try to give some praises to the 'heads' side of the Chinese rail system coin first.
In reality, the entire journey on the trains in China is quite enjoyable. China has an outstanding, convenient and seemingly ubiquitous rail system. For short trips to Nanjing or Shanghai, the 'D' trains provide really fast, clean trips for a very reasonable price. Because there are so many people in China (I mean this, because about 97% of Chinese live in less than half of China) there are trains all the time. And lots of trains. All the time. So, getting to any of the cities nearby is really comfortable and fast. For the long distance trips, the sleeper trains are a blast. I have touched on this in other blog posts, and I really mean they are a blast. I prefer the hard sleepers, which offer a similar value to the soft sleepers at a much lower price. The sleepers are awesome, because (for me) they are comfortable enough to catch a pretty good night's sleep. Thus, by always getting the overnight trains, I can pass much of the transportation sleeping, and get a night of lodging for free (I have to get to the places somehow). As an added bonus, normally, some of the other travelers, excited to either talk with a foreigner or to practice English will strike up a conversation. These are often pretty interesting, or if in Chinese, pretty basic, but offer me free Chinese lessons. The bathrooms aren't the cleanest, but they're better than those at all the buildings on our campus (which maybe just reflects poorly on our campus). But, there are vendors selling warm food, useless toys, juice, soda, beer, and baijiu (yes baijiu on the train) constantly coming by, so it's very convenient. Sometimes the Chinese
elevator music gets old, but an iPod solves that problem. Overall, short or long trips, the trains go almost everywhere, are consistently on time, and cheap.
Now for the flip-side. You may think, it sounds like the whole journey is great, so what could be the problem? The thing is, the worst part of the train system here isn't moving. It's the technologically stagnant ticket vending. The trains are fantastically convenient, getting a ticket for them is outrageously difficult. Myriad problems plague any prospective ticket buyer. Chinese language is not one of them.
The first problem is when to buy a ticket. Tickets can only be purchased by a set number of days in advance, which is pretty standard. This number of days is not. It might be seven, maybe ten, maybe eleven, maybe up to twenty or so during Spring Festival, or, as I was told on January 1, only one day. Teddy, our advisor, who due to his job has an acute knowledge of the ticket buying process, told me that in some places the daunting challenge of a new/different (different is not good in China) year prevents them from issuing tickets until the first of the year. I have been told that seven days is normal, but I don't really believe this. It's a problem because this asymmetrical information means that I might miss out on getting the ticket I need if it sells out. If I want to make sure I can get the ticket, it means anywhere from one to three trips to the train station. I am not a big time planner when traveling, but can see how only being able to secure transportation seven days ahead of time could hinder one's planning.
The second problem and bigger problem is that tickets can only be purchased from the city of departure. No round trip train tickets in China. For a huge proportion of Chinese travelers, this is no problem. Migrant workers and students just travel from home to work/school and have plenty of time in each location to buy tickets. How about my students on their frequent weekend trips home, well, they have a family member buy the return ticket for them, so no worries. For me, this system is the most inconvenient and inexcusable organizational mess. I don't have a friend in every city I want to travel to to buy me a return ticket. And multi-city trips are a huge risk, as getting stuck somewhere is incredibly likely (and has happened to me). There are two ticketing offices in Changzhou, and they are connected. Because I know they aren't running a massive 'train ticket office only' wire between the two, I know they are connected by Internet. If teenagers can illegally download trashy South Korean soap operas everywhere in China, the rail system can communicate online. Plane travel isn't too expensive here, but would be totally unappealing to me if train tickets were more easily purchased; (maybe this is a secret ploy to keep up the 8% GDP growth).
The last problem is scalpers or 黄牛 (huang niu) as they are called here. Scalping is certainly not unique to China. But the absolute ignorance or lack of enforcement seems very Chinese. It is illegal, but the police officer mindlessly watching the scalpers work the lines wouldn't suggest it. My students tell me that being a ticket seller is actually a pretty good job because most of them work with the scalpers (thus augmenting the asymmetrical information) and make good commission off this. When Dave was trying to buy tickets for our trip back from the marathon, he was told there were no tickets. While still at the window, a man started trying to sell him the tickets he was just denied. I don't think they are entrepreneurs in the distribution market, I think they're market manipulators. I don't like being manipulated, and like it even less when those ostensibly paid to enforce the law turn a very blind eye.
Well, that's my two cents on the train system, and it's probably not worth much more than that. But, I spend a fair amount of time on the trains, and plenty waiting in train stations, (significantly less clean than the trains), so figured I'd share a bit about it. The guys in the picture don't seem to have been able to get quite the right tickets and are part of the inevitable wait for the ticket procurement process to improve.
***Note: since posting I have realized that D Train tickets can now be purchased round trip (return) and also sometimes outside the city of origin or destination. I think this is due to policy change-but my earlier failed attempts may have been due to misinformation or my abysmal Chinese.
In reality, the entire journey on the trains in China is quite enjoyable. China has an outstanding, convenient and seemingly ubiquitous rail system. For short trips to Nanjing or Shanghai, the 'D' trains provide really fast, clean trips for a very reasonable price. Because there are so many people in China (I mean this, because about 97% of Chinese live in less than half of China) there are trains all the time. And lots of trains. All the time. So, getting to any of the cities nearby is really comfortable and fast. For the long distance trips, the sleeper trains are a blast. I have touched on this in other blog posts, and I really mean they are a blast. I prefer the hard sleepers, which offer a similar value to the soft sleepers at a much lower price. The sleepers are awesome, because (for me) they are comfortable enough to catch a pretty good night's sleep. Thus, by always getting the overnight trains, I can pass much of the transportation sleeping, and get a night of lodging for free (I have to get to the places somehow). As an added bonus, normally, some of the other travelers, excited to either talk with a foreigner or to practice English will strike up a conversation. These are often pretty interesting, or if in Chinese, pretty basic, but offer me free Chinese lessons. The bathrooms aren't the cleanest, but they're better than those at all the buildings on our campus (which maybe just reflects poorly on our campus). But, there are vendors selling warm food, useless toys, juice, soda, beer, and baijiu (yes baijiu on the train) constantly coming by, so it's very convenient. Sometimes the Chinese
elevator music gets old, but an iPod solves that problem. Overall, short or long trips, the trains go almost everywhere, are consistently on time, and cheap.Now for the flip-side. You may think, it sounds like the whole journey is great, so what could be the problem? The thing is, the worst part of the train system here isn't moving. It's the technologically stagnant ticket vending. The trains are fantastically convenient, getting a ticket for them is outrageously difficult. Myriad problems plague any prospective ticket buyer. Chinese language is not one of them.
The first problem is when to buy a ticket. Tickets can only be purchased by a set number of days in advance, which is pretty standard. This number of days is not. It might be seven, maybe ten, maybe eleven, maybe up to twenty or so during Spring Festival, or, as I was told on January 1, only one day. Teddy, our advisor, who due to his job has an acute knowledge of the ticket buying process, told me that in some places the daunting challenge of a new/different (different is not good in China) year prevents them from issuing tickets until the first of the year. I have been told that seven days is normal, but I don't really believe this. It's a problem because this asymmetrical information means that I might miss out on getting the ticket I need if it sells out. If I want to make sure I can get the ticket, it means anywhere from one to three trips to the train station. I am not a big time planner when traveling, but can see how only being able to secure transportation seven days ahead of time could hinder one's planning.
The second problem and bigger problem is that tickets can only be purchased from the city of departure. No round trip train tickets in China. For a huge proportion of Chinese travelers, this is no problem. Migrant workers and students just travel from home to work/school and have plenty of time in each location to buy tickets. How about my students on their frequent weekend trips home, well, they have a family member buy the return ticket for them, so no worries. For me, this system is the most inconvenient and inexcusable organizational mess. I don't have a friend in every city I want to travel to to buy me a return ticket. And multi-city trips are a huge risk, as getting stuck somewhere is incredibly likely (and has happened to me). There are two ticketing offices in Changzhou, and they are connected. Because I know they aren't running a massive 'train ticket office only' wire between the two, I know they are connected by Internet. If teenagers can illegally download trashy South Korean soap operas everywhere in China, the rail system can communicate online. Plane travel isn't too expensive here, but would be totally unappealing to me if train tickets were more easily purchased; (maybe this is a secret ploy to keep up the 8% GDP growth).
The last problem is scalpers or 黄牛 (huang niu) as they are called here. Scalping is certainly not unique to China. But the absolute ignorance or lack of enforcement seems very Chinese. It is illegal, but the police officer mindlessly watching the scalpers work the lines wouldn't suggest it. My students tell me that being a ticket seller is actually a pretty good job because most of them work with the scalpers (thus augmenting the asymmetrical information) and make good commission off this. When Dave was trying to buy tickets for our trip back from the marathon, he was told there were no tickets. While still at the window, a man started trying to sell him the tickets he was just denied. I don't think they are entrepreneurs in the distribution market, I think they're market manipulators. I don't like being manipulated, and like it even less when those ostensibly paid to enforce the law turn a very blind eye.
Well, that's my two cents on the train system, and it's probably not worth much more than that. But, I spend a fair amount of time on the trains, and plenty waiting in train stations, (significantly less clean than the trains), so figured I'd share a bit about it. The guys in the picture don't seem to have been able to get quite the right tickets and are part of the inevitable wait for the ticket procurement process to improve.
***Note: since posting I have realized that D Train tickets can now be purchased round trip (return) and also sometimes outside the city of origin or destination. I think this is due to policy change-but my earlier failed attempts may have been due to misinformation or my abysmal Chinese.
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