Made in China

November 17, 2011

China. The land of a billion people. The land of thousands of years of history. The land of the Silk Road origins. The land of a rapidly growing economy. The land of the ‘One Child Only’ policy. The land of the Great Wall of China. The land of America’s biggest economic competitor. The land of all the ‘made in’ products. The land of so much more. And I’m here in China, ready to soak everything into my exhausted and mentally strained brain. For the last couple weeks, I’ve been carrying a notepad around with me everywhere I go. I’ve been writing everything that I’ve seen, done, learned about into my notes. This is been particularly beneficial since right now I’m finally writing about China almost four weeks after my adventure first started (but of course, backdating it so it seems more current to the time). In China, I’m going to need an even larger notepad to walk around with. There is too much here to shorthand any information I jot down. Sorry tiresome readers, if there are any of you out there.

Beijing. Beijing is the capital of China. It is a large city that houses millions of people, thousands of years of culture, politics, and history, and a world-renowned educational system. This city was my first stop. I -was so fascinated by everything around me but I was also worn-out from my previous travel destinations. Nevertheless, I forced myself to go out and explore a more local part of town. I met up with a friend Gina and her brother, who drove me around the city and helped me familiarize myself with my new surroundings. She took me to one of the oldest market streets in the city, Panjiayuan Jiuhuo Shichang (I think). Honestly, this whole night was a blur. I was so tired that I followed them around like a mindless zombie. I attempted to listen to everything they were trying to teach me but I carelessly let all the juicy information escape before it even reached my short term memory. I aimlessly walked around into food and clothing shops, not looking for anything specific. One thing I do remember pretty vividly is the amount of people in the area. There were so many. I also recalled a lot of traffic laws being broken, fog (or more likely, pollution), and the excess use of car horns. I ate some interesting street food before I got to try some authentic Sichuan food, which is supposed to be pretty spicy. It wasn’t too spicy unfortunately. I was also supposed to be on the lookout for pickpocketers too since there is supposed to be a big industry here in China. I wasn’t lucid enough to watch my pockets but it was alright since I didn’t have anything really valuable on me anyways.

I decided to join a tour in China. This tour was going to take me all through the famous historical sights and the ancient ruins all over China. I actually booked my flight and joined the tour just a day or two before leaving Korea. So it was a rather impulsive move and purchase. But after hearing that the tour would take me to Beijing, Xian, the Yangtze River, and Shanghai with accommodations, transportation, and a guide, I was sold. I learned that I would be joining a small group from California (yea-uh!). Upon arriving, I met our tour guide, Soctt (not a typo), in Beijing first. He was at first very shocked by the amount of baggage I brought with me and even exclaimed, “Wow! You didn’t pack light at all” as I struggled to lug four of my bags behind me. I was too tired to explain that I’m traveling for seven months so I just smiled and said, “Uh-huh.” 

The Most Traditional Laundromat. I didn’t bring too many clothes on this trip. Especially since winter clothes are a bit heftier, just a few articles of clothing already filled up my suitcase. So for the last two weeks I’ve been re-wearing the same clothes several times within a week. I have also been walking dozens of miles a day and despite the cold weather, I’ve been sweating all over my back and other crevices of my body. To make things better, I only brought three pairs of socks. I wore those socks every day because of the weather. I know, nasty huh? Things were getting pretty smelly so I knew I needed to do the laundry soon. I kind of figured China would be the best place to do laundry. They own a bunch of laundromats in the States, particularly in California. They have to have a lot here. I told my mom my idea of finding a nearby laundormat. And after I mentioned that it won’t be hard to find, she laughed. She told me that China doesn’t have laundromats. So stereotypes aren’t true? What? So not all Asians have a Honda Civic and a biology degree? So how am I going to do my laundry? The tour started us off at a very nice hotel in the middle of Beijing. This hotel was considered a five star hotel (don’t judge me!). My hotel room became my short term laundromat as I dumped all my clothes into their luxurious tub, threw in a bottle of shower gel, and stomped on my clothes for thirty minutes as if I were making wine from grapes. I hung up all my clothes all over the room. Housekeeping must have been puzzled by this display of flailed clothing and undergarments. I’m just glad I can finally wear clean socks. Unfortunately, I think I’ve already developed some form of fungus.

They have a ton of Chinese laundries stores in California. I just kind of figured.

The next day I met my fellow travelers on the tour. The people I would be spending every wakening day with for the next two weeks. I hoped I liked them and I hoped they liked me. I heard there were a bit older so I didn’t know if we were going to mesh too well. This bunch was actually very interesting. But they were somewhat intimidating. All six of them were all friends and co-workers at one point in their career. They all worked or still work for Disney and they have kept in touch through hiking trips and world travels. So upon meeting all of them, they were cracking inside jokes. I felt a bit uncomfortable and overpowered as most of them were probably some of the loudest people I’ve ever met. They say that Americans are some of the loudest and rowdiest of the foreigners and this group definitely fit that stereotype. I still wasn’t sure how they were going to bond with me. It wasn’t until one woman started rattling off her crazy sexual experiences as an icebreaker when I finally felt at home. But even so, I wasn’t energized and I was envious of how much personality and energy they fueled from each other. It made me miss home. I’m usually a pretty hyper and talkative person. The good friends I’ve met throughout the years help bring out my personality. Hopefully I’ll be able to feed off their energy and contribute something to their conversation.

Heavenly Peace, Divine Massacre. Tiananmen Square is a large city square located in Beijing. The plaza is one of the largest in the world and big enough to accommodate one million people. It is surrounded by some of the most impressive architecture and influential political and imperial buildings such as the Monument to the People’s Heroes, Zhengyangmen Gate, Tiananmen Gate, and the Great Hall of the People. Most of all, it is surrounded by people, a great deal of people. I heard that today was one of the slowest days at the square. But it was the most people I’ve ever seen in just one area. Just picture a packed ice hockey or soccer stadium. That many people in slightly smaller space, just walking around on a day-to-day basis. 

 

The Tiananmen Gate (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) separates the plaza and the Forbidden City. This plaze has had both an eventful and morose history. This includes ...................... ................................................................................
...................................................................... Unfortunately the day that I went to visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, it was the rainiest and coldest. I was bundled up in scarves, gloves, and layers upon layers of clothing. I don’t do too well in the cold and my body still hasn’t gotten used to it. I couldn’t really move and it became difficult to take pictures as my hands were frigid and immobile. It was also difficult to see and take pictures of the ancient buildings. Even the police, guarding the flags and other monuments seemed to have the worst job. All of them were standing out in the freezing weather with nothing else but a trench coat, gloves, and a Communist hat. They didn’t look too happy. Or maybe they didn’t look too happy because they weren’t supposed to show any sort of weakness. They were slightly scary and I avoided any eye contact with any of them. I was worried that I would immediately be jailed or shot if they interpreted my actions or words as unfitting. The only guards that were in a better state than the others were set up in these clear boxes with a heater. It was a trade-off though. The guards could not move their bodies and I think had to maintain the same position from the morning time until sundown. Sounds terrible but this career position is what most kids or prospective policemen aspire to achieve one day. It is a great honor to be this kind of guard.

 

Still tired, cranky, and soaked from the rain, I explored the square by myself, isolating myself from the rest of the wild group. I still couldn’t connect with them. I kept on justifying that I was tired and that I will perk up soon with some time. They were a very loud bunch and despite their several (or numerous) sexual innuendos, it was hard for me to interject my thoughts into their tight niche. I mean they laughed at the word ‘balls’ every single time it was used in a non-sexual reference. It was like they were middle schoolers. But it was definitely in a juvenile and entertaining place I would like to be. The word ‘balls’ was brought up frequently during the trip actually. They had so much energy even with immense puddles of rainwater and their soaked socks and jeans.  I was envious. What was wrong with me?

Trying to fit in with the group...

A Mighty Dictator. Mao Zedong (or Chairman Mao) was an influential leader of the Chinese Communist party from 1949 to 1976. He has revolutionized China and helped the country become the superpower it is becoming today. When Mao died, it was devastating for China as they believed he was a god. Chairman Mao Memorial Hall is located in Tiananmen Square. This building houses Mao’s embalmed body and is available for public viewing. Hundreds of people will line up for this exhibit to see the late chairman in his most peaceful state. I was told that the line would be so long that it would sometimes wrap around the square. The guards only let you see the body for a ten second period and then your time is up. Ten seconds for maybe three hours of waiting in line. But it didn’t matter for most Chinese citizens. They viewed him as a god and still see him as their divine leader. They will wait longer if needed. I met someone who said they noticed something was a bit wrong with Mao’s body when visiting. It’s been 30 years since his death and his body was still in immaculate condition. No deteriation, just like he had just passed. Embalming fluid doesn’t preserve that well. It is believed by very few that they never really preserved his body at the memorial but rather, placed a stand-in dummy instead. This person had to say this in a hush-hush manner since people can get arrested or in serious trouble when denouncing the Chinese government in any way. Oh, China. So many conspiracies.

The Cultural Revolution. ......................................................................................... .............................................................................................................................................................. ........................................................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................. Most Chinese citizens I talked to about the Cultural Revolution did not want to talk about it as they would get in trouble. There were only a few that would provide incomplete details of the movement. But I found out some interesting details. For example, the Cultural Revolution was ............................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................................... .............................................................................................................................................................. .............................* I've probably made my dad so proud for saying all this.

* This series of dots/periods ( .................................................) signifies censorship. It is hiding what I'm not allowed to say out loud. I'll tell you all later when I come back!

Soctt, our tour guide, was trying to inform us of the present Chinese political figures. He asked, “Do you know who is the president of China? We didn’t know so he asked us again in a more aggravated tone, “Who is the president of China?” Again, we still didn’t know. He repeated his question, but more angrily, “Who is the president of China?!?” We were very confused as of why he didn’t get that if we didn’t know the answer before, we probably won’t know if he asks us again. Why didn’t he just tell us? At this point, I didn’t even care to know anymore. Then, he smiled and said, “Get it? Hu is the president of China.” The Chinese name, Hu sounds like ‘who’ in English. It made sense. Next he said, “Do you know who is the prime minister of China?” We were all eager to guess and started blurting out different ‘wh’ words like ‘why’ and ‘what’. Turns out Wen (which sounds like ‘when’) is the prime minister of China. It was pretty funny. It probably doesn’t sound too funny in writing actually.

The Forbidden City. The Forbidden City had five separate gates, a large moat, and tall-standing walls encompassing the imperial vicinity. The gate, that was shown several times during the Beijing Olympics (the large red building with a picture of Chairman Mao), is the main entrance to the Forbidden City. Upon entering the gate, there were these golden ball figures fashioned along the large opening doors. This can be seen in many imperial palaces or buildings. They say that if you rub the balls, it would bring you good luck. Well I got to say, I rubbed a lot of balls on my trip. For good luck, of course. Don’t judge me! It’s been a while.

The Forbidden City was a large area accommodating many ancient structures. Multiple elegantly designed red buildings with yellow-colored roofs covered the Forbidden City. The color red is important to Chinese culture as it can mean blood (as in the blood that the people have shed to create this country) or royalty and honor. The yellow roofs signify the Chinese people as it exemplifies their yellow-looking skin. So racist (joke)! Emperor Zhu Di built the palace during the Ming Dynasty. It was so complicated and intricately designed that it took 15 years to build and over a million workers. The palace encompassed over 900 rooms. The amount of rooms was important as it demonstrated the emperor’s substantial amount of power. But it also showed enough respect to his father since his father’s palace had 1000 rooms. Basically, you don’t show up your elders.

This same emperor was very paranoid though. He built underground walls in the palace ground to prevent unseen attacks. He also seemed pretty stingy about his palace as women were not allowed to be in the palace region of the Forbidden City. There has been one Empress who has been able to walk through the Forbidden City and the meaningful bridges. This only happened once. This was only because she was getting married and she had to get to her sleeping quarters somehow (probably to consummate the marriage). Empress or not, I walked all up, down, and over the bridges in the city and it didn’t require me to marry or sleep with anyone. 

Feng Shui. We walked by several of these large vats next to the palace buildings. These vats can actually be seen at many historical sites in China. We were told that they were used to boil and sacrifice naughty concubines. I was so excited and started taking a lot of pictures, hoping to come up with an interesting topic for my writing. Then, I was let down when we found out it was for Taoism’s Feng Shui, the art of balance and positive energy. Back in the day, the palaces would catch on fire because of lightening. These vats used to be filled with water, which is considered a serene aspect of balance. The water was believed to deter lightening from striking the palace. These vats used to be covered in gold leaves but after several lootings of the Forbidden City, most of the gold was scratched off and most palaces’ treasures were distributed to neighboring countries. You can actually see many of the Forbidden City’s ancient artifacts in Taiwan presently. I guess Taiwan won’t give them back.

The Most Noble Concubines. Again, the concubine quarters are always my favorite of the ancient palaces. It’s just so strange to learn of the culture of concubines. If that were a class in college, it would be first on my list. Right when you walk into the building, there is an enormous crystal rock enclosed in a glass box. This crystal is supposed to be the purest of all crystals and is symbolic for the concubines’ purity (right….). I think it was almost like a daily reminder from the emperor, “Remember your vajaja should be untainted by anyone other than myself.” Even the men who used to work at the palace (servants, caretakers), were forced to become eunuch (males whose entire genitalia has been removed). This is so the emperor was the only appealing gentleman since the other men could not physically perform. 

There is also a hierarchy of concubines and you can recognize the more power a mistress has based on the location of her room. The farther your room is to the left, the more prestigious of a concubine you are. There is also opportunities to move up the ranks and room locations; one of them being the ability to bear the emperor a son, the next heir to the throne. Taking notes, anyone? Sex with the emperor was rather promiscuous. He would have dozens of mistresses and wouldn’t ‘wrap the monkey before doing the funky’. You like that? I have more: Cover your stump, before you hump. No one gets sick if you cover that dick. If you’re not going to sack it, go home and whack it. Because of the sharing of lovers (among many other things) one emperor and other concubines, died of syphilis. Better take a note of that one!

The sleeping quarters of the Chinese harlots

Did you know that the term ‘French letter’ means condom? It’s an old term used by soldiers during World War II. We all were amazed with this term since most of us hadn’t heard before. The specific term didn’t even have any importance in our learning of the Forbidden City but Soctt thought it was important for us to know. We were so baffled by the word that we ended up talking about it for 10 minutes. Anyways, I can go on and on about this particular subject. Next…

Available in a variety of colors and sizes

A Spiritual Garden. The Temple of Heaven is a large garden area in which past emperors would go to relax and pray to the heavens. It was built by the same emperor who built the Forbidden City. The park area and the temple buildings were built to represent heaven and earth. The rounded and highest features signified heaven and the square and lower features signified the earth. Whatever is in between is supposed to represent the people. The roofs were made into a blue color, which was supposed to represent the color of the sky and heaven. Locals will usually arrive at the park shortly after dawn to do some relaxing Tai Chi. While walking through; I saw a variety of people. Of course, there are the tourists. There are the gamblers, who are locals who come to the park to meet up with friends and play cards. And there are the vendors or solicitors, who were so persistent and intrusive. If you give them one glimmer of hope, you basically will have them tailing after you for ten minutes. Never look them straight in the eye or never look at their products. Use your peripherals or else you will be pestered.

 

 
Short, Stubby Legs. Have you ever seen houses or buildings in Asian countries or Chinatown? Have you ever noticed that their front doors usually have an unusually high ledge one would need to step over to get into the building? This extension has a more spiritual purpose actually. Many people believe that this ledge acts as a threshold against devils and evil spirits. At first you may think that evil can just float right through the door without having a problem with the obstruction. But, in fact, the Chinese believe that the devil has short stubby legs and their legs would not be able to fit over the threshold. The threshold prevents evil spirits from entering your house. So every time you have tripped over the door ledge (I have definitely done this too many times), just think if you are tripping imagine what would happen to the short, stubby legged devil.

I Love Tea! I was able to participate in a tea ceremony, which is a very popular activity in China. We were given a tutorial about different Chinese tea, how to brew tea, and what you can gain from drinking different types of tea. We learned how to smell tea and drink tea. There is an important way of holding a tea cup when you drink. Women are supposed to look dainty as their pinky and ring finger should be pointed away from their body. This is supposed to look like the phoenix, which is the animal that represents the Empress. Men are supposed to look fierce as their grip should be strong and their pinky and ring finger tucked into their hand. This is supposed to look like the dragon, which is the animal that represents the Emperor and his ultimate power. I didn’t think either really looked like the animals but I had fun looking prim and proper.

Do I look like a Phoenix?

We tried a variety of tea such as oolong tea, jasmine tea (my favorite back in the States), black tea, fruit tea, and more. Each tea possesses some type of medicinal aid to your body and mind. For example, the jasmine or “the office tea”, is supposed to help tired eyes and dark circles from too much work and studying. Good thing I drank all of that throughout college. I ended up getting the lychee black tea because it was different than what I have had in the past. The appealing medicinal factor for this tea is that it helps to prevent upset stomachs and anemia. I expect a many excruciating stomach aches in Thailand and I bruise too easily. This is definitely something I want to load up on. My favorite part of the ceremony was the PeePee Boy. The PeePee Boy is a small clay figurine that helps to test the temperature of the water. Honestly, I don’t think it actually has a real purpose to the tea making process but it was the most popular purchase within our group. The concept is the hotter the water, the farther he can pee! When back in the States, I will show all of you how far my boy can pee.

Dinner and a Kung Fu Show. We had the famous Peking duck from Beijing. It was delicious and was presented in an elaborate display of food and theatrics. There weren’t any lights and music or anything but it was entertaining watching the chef slice the duck into a hundred thin pieces (I think that is the standard for Peking duck). It was interesting for three minutes actually but it was even more interesting to eat. Afterwards, we went to watch a Kung Fu Show. I was a little hesitant to go since it costs more money than I was expecting to spend on the first day. But everyone in the group was going. So I was peer pressured. It was about 280 yuan ($45). I have spent so much on this trip already and I haven’t even arrived in Thailand. Fortunately, the Kung Fu show was pretty interesting. They had a lot of young boys performing these dangerous and mysterious acts. Some kids were doing back flips onto their heads and others were balancing themselves on vertical swords.

Today was a long day as you can tell by my writing. But we saw so many imperative places and learned so much great information; there wasn’t any way I was going not write about it. Sorry for the censoring. Blame China.