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Published: November 1st 2010
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Dancing under the flyover
Ballroom dancing, and the attendant lessons, are a favorite of young retirees in Guangzhou. With retirement age of 50 for women and 55 for men, there are many years to dance the night away. November 1, 2010 blog
Last Saturday we attended the wedding party of a young colleague of ours. Minyi has been a fixture in the social work office since our arrival over four years ago and when we were making plans to return this fall, she urged us to have our visit coincide with her marriage.
Legal marriages in China occur at a public office, with a perfunctory signing of papers and the like. But marriage parties, and the attendant hoopla, have permeated many levels of Chinese society and the presence of fetishized pomp is one of the consequences of China’s “rise” and the market forces that have been unleashed. The months leading up to the wedding are punctuated with many photo sessions, with dress appropriate to the setting. Softly-focused, dreamy photos at the ocean call for white gowns and business suits, while scenes at shrines and temples call for traditional Chinese dress.
The affair we attended was at a large restaurant in downtown Guangzhou, and it was one of three simultaneous wedding parties. As we entered we were greeted by massive displays of pink, purple and white balloons, romantic photos of the bridal couple, and loud Cantonese pop
A walk in the park
Guangzhou has built many parks the past five years, and this one runs for several miles alongside an elevated highway in the center of the city. It is remarkable how tranquil the ribbon of green really is. music (don’t ask!) on the sound system. We arrived early as Ellen and one of our young Chinese friends (most of our friends here qualify as young, it is one of the aspects of life here that we appreciate, the ability to make friendships across the generations) were to plan a Baroque flute duet, a very un-Chinese aspect to the affair.
Before the festivities commenced, there was the gift giving ritual to get out of the way. The only gift is cash, preferably crisp new notes, and placed in a Double Happiness red envelope. Guests approached the bench where two aunties were seated, both with large open purses in their laps. We handed the envelope to auntie one, she ripped it open, counted the cash and then handed back to you approximately 20% of the gift, as well as your envelope! At the same time, auntie#2 handed us a small ceramic charm, something that you would attach to your cell phone, if that was the kind of thing you did. No recording of who got what, no thought of a thank you note “Thanks so much for the lovely chafing dish, Calvin and I will always treasure it”.
As our friend Wadi'h says, people evolved to ride bikes!
Ah, a man and is bike, it is a beautifyl thing. With the help of our US friend Glenn, I purchased a bike last week and have been putting on the miles exploring the city. As part of the Asia Games beautification, bike lanes have been added to many roads in town and biking is enjoying a resurgence. With it all, the tallish weiguoren does attract a bit of attention, tooling down the road. As more guests arrived, and the noise level increased, we made our way to our seats. The “No Smoking” signs on the wall were matched with packs of cigarettes on the tables and soon many began to light up (although there was a very effective ventilation system on hand). The ceremony commenced and was recognizable to our eyes and ears as the couple exchanged vows of undying and everlasting love; what was different was that throughout the event, the noise level in the hall hardly dimmed. Loud exclamations burst forth from first here and then there and no effort was made to silence the offenders. One table in particular was trapped in a never ending cycle of toasts, Chinese style. A person would stand up, hold his glass (filled with bajio, the rough tasting rice spirits favored here) and be joined by his table mates in a toast, and a draining of the glass. A few minutes later, the scene would be repeated and as the evening wore on, the noise level from our neighboring table grew more raucous and the faces of the genetically alcohol sensitive Chinese men turned bright scarlet. Once the meal was over, as if hearing
A woman and her laundry rack, it's a beautiful thing
One of the delights for some of us, is the laundry drying contraption in the laundry patio. It has two lines and one can hand crank them up and out of the way! Guangzhou is finally ready for Ellen's color coordinated laundry lines!! some high frequency vibration that only Chinese can hear, everyone got up from the tables and headed for the exits. No dancing, no music, and little additional ceremony, with one exception. The groom and his attendants, brought glasses of wine to each table, and toasted the guests, thanking them for coming. This was followed by the bride(now dressed in traditional garb) and her attendants, with small cups of tea and a similar toast. It was a fun evening, short on vegetables but long on the spectacle of hundreds gathering to commemorate the new relationship.
A Political Reflection
I have been reflecting on the harsh reaction of the Chinese government to the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo, news that has been widely suppressed here (yet widely known by college students at least.) Liu has been singled out for his role in circulating a petition in 2008, signed by hundreds of Chinese academics and human rights advocates, calling for greater democracy. He was sentenced to seven years for his role and China threw an international temper tantrum in an effort to forestall the award and, when that was unsuccessful, denounced the award as interference in Chinese
What a dog!
Last weekend I encountered a man and his dog on the promenade along the river. This retriever type was an all-starat catching the tennis balls in the air, and only hesitated briefly before diving 20 feet into the murky Pearl River to retrieve his master's ball affairs.
It seems that in China to speak words that everyone knows to be true can get you in trouble. Recently, Wen Jiabao, the avuncular Premier and one of two top leaders, has been speaking out about the need for democracy. Some months have gone by since his original speech and finally this week in the People’s Daily, the “authoritative” organ of the Communist Party, he was obliquely denounced:
"If our country was to indiscriminately copy the Western way, we would lose the foundational thinking of shared struggle, lose the robustness of core leadership, and the country would turn into a sheet of loose sand," the editorial said, using a traditional term for disunity and chaos.”
In a conversation with a student this week, she essentially agreed with the paper’s sentiment, stating that the Chinese people were not ready for democracy, that chaos would certainly ensue. This mirrors the view of the government and also reflects the hundreds of years of misery and backwardness that China suffered prior to 1949. They look back on an ancient history that is rich, robust and dynamic and see that those eras were also characterized by strong, authoritarian governments and draw
Endangered neighborhood
This neighborhood was likely built in the 1970's and has developed its own bit of charm and sense of removal from the noise and tumult that sits a few meters away on the broad streets. Unfortunately, this one is sure to meet the fate of similar oasis in the city, standing in the way of high rise apartment blocks, further inflating the real estate bubble in Southeast China. the conclusion that this method of governing is a requirement.
I have also been reading the election prognostications from the US and it seems from this distance that if in China saying things that everyone knows are true can get you in trouble, in the US saying things that everyone knows are false, can gain you accolades. Gross distortions of history, not to mention out and out fabrications, are what brings fame and fortune to moronic, self-aggrandized “commentators” in the US. The recent Onion headline, taking note of this trend blared: “Obama denies that he is a cactus”. In the article House Minority Leader Boehner is quoted as saying “I am not saying he is a cactus or that he isn’t, but I have never seen him drink a glass of water, so you might draw your own conclusions.”
China and the US, are they just two sides of the same bad coin? Perhaps, but in China they are getting things done. The pace of construction in the region, some motivated by the Asia Games, is astounding. Metro, commuter rail, highways, output of wind mills and solar panels, shiny new airports and beautiful greenways in the city are
If this is Thursday, we are going out for dumplings
This jiaozi (dumpling) master was putting out a dumpling a second with a fluid, masterful rhythm that was a wonder to observe. We try to eat dumplings at least one night a week, we have several good choices in the neighborhood. but some examples. Of course, there are no environmental impact studies, land is taken without warning or recourse, and there is little ability for Zhong Q. Pudong to influence the process. At a minimum, China has done the world a great favor by overturning the myth that market economies lead, inexorably, to democracy. Next to be discredited is the idea that only market economies can foster democracy.
As to the work… the pace is accelerating, classes are set, seminars are happening and private meetings with students taking on urgency, especially since are visit is so short. Ellen accretes new work by the minute and just today has accepted a weekly out of town (Shenzhen) commitment to lecture at a labor law program in that city. More on all that when we next visit.
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Erica
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Your fabulous blogs are some compensation for losing your and Ellen's company for a few months. I miss, miss, miss you but loved reading about the wedding.