Little Secret Packages of Happiness

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I am always delighted when my consumer goods carry inside them little secret packages of happiness. It doesn't have to be anything complicated - like a free gift - little words of inspiration are more than enough. I remove my new face cream from the box and put it on the counter, musing at the inscription on the inner flap.

“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious.” Albert Einstein

“Indeed,” I think to myself as I play with the box, opening it to see if there are any other beautiful inscriptions hidden inside its depths or if there are any secret layers, almost like one would open a Russian doll - layer by layer.

Unlike the Russian dolls that come apart easily, I have found that peeling away and getting to the core of what Chinese culture is has been more of an arduous task.

I have put the time in.

In the last ten years, I have spent six and a half years here in China. I speak the language, have learned many of the thousand year old customs, understand some of the history and have studied the principles of Taoism and Buddhism. However, I am beginning to suspect that these things may no longer apply to China today. The Americanization of China is happening at a rapid pace as I see the younger generations scoff at those old ideas and stand in long lines to get their latest I-Phone. I suspect that a lot of my current issues with understanding the Chinese people and their culture can be traced back to my reluctance to let go of my romantic eastern philosophical ideals that no longer apply to anyone except the older generation.

Despite, however, my fears that Chinese cities will soon just resemble any large North American city, I still find China to be an incredibly mysterious place. Even after all this time, I am still able to find little surprises in untouched corners. Whenever I find them - or whenever they find me - I always feel like I have unwrapped a secret package of happiness.

Behind our university, just outside the North Gate, there is a shady looking alleyway (which houses a plethora of amazing street food). Every night, at around 7pm, there is an elderly Chinese gentleman that drives a makeshift electric go-cart down the middle of the street playing Michael Jackson at full blast. The first time Sean and I saw him, we were at a loss as to what he was doing, although we were incredibly impressed at the quality of his stereo system and the way that he rode down the middle of the street like he owned it. I know for a fact that M.J. would have liked this guy’s style. We finally figured out that he was a CD seller and that’s why he was always on the move. I have become a big fan and consider myself very lucky to have gotten this picture of him in front of the local Dike bar (which we have yet to visit) on one of his brief stops.

The music food man is another gentleman always on the move. As he does not show up as consistently as the M.J. CD Man, I have yet to figure out what kind of culinary goodness is strapped to his back, but he also wanders around the university drumming out a kind of happy beat wherever he goes.

One day, Sean and I saw him disappear down this tiny little alley.

“Hey, where did the bang-a-song-food guy go?”

“He went down that alley.”

Sean looked around. “Where does that go?”

“I don’t know. Want to follow him?”

Sean hesitated and looked up and down the street.

“Alright, so how about we make this an undercover mission for later tonight? Even if the food dude is not there, we can still find out all about that alley. ” One thing I have learned about Sean, is that if you up the stakes a wee bit by making it a little more dangerous, then he’s in.

So, later that night, we conducted our top secret undercover mission.

“What do you think this place is?” Sean asked.

I adjusted my stylish Monsieur sweatpants and looked at the entrance. “The Chinese character ‘Ba’ just above the doorway, by itself doesn’t mean much... it is just a sound...” All I knew is that it looked creepy, but I didn’t want to let Sean think that I was having second thoughts.

“Do you think we are allowed to go in here?” Sean asked as we entered the dimly lit alleyway.

“Yeah, for sure!” This, I knew from experience. If we weren’t allowed in, we would have already run into guards. As we ventured further down the alley, I gained a new appreciated for the bang-a-song-food guy. “I wonder what kind of illicit transactions that food dude conducts down this alleyway.”

Sean shrugged his shoulders and walked ahead. “We will soon find out.”

And find out we did. The alleyway opened into this huge, underground multi-room computer game center, completely outfitted with huge computer screens and super comfy chairs.

“I would have never guessed this was here.”

“Me neither.” Sean and I turned in slow circles taking in the whole room. There had to be a couple of hundred kids hidden in here.

“Crazy.”



“Yeah that’s China. It’s always been like this.” I laugh. “A million mysteries on every city block. Nothing is ever quite what you expect it to be.”

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Comments

[Samuel david]

Very Good
Another good blog. Enjoyed reading it. So are you teaching English in China?

[Where Did the Real Go]

Hi David, Yes, We are currently guest lecturing in Guangzhou, China until July! Thanks so much for dropping us a note! Where in the world would you happen to be at the moment? Cheers, -Sean

[irene madden]

still with you, guys … stay safe, stay happy