China: Cold and Communist

(And no, unfortunately we did not see any real Pandas)

Before arriving in China, one of my professors remarked how when he was growing up, his parents told him to eat all of his food because there were starving kids in China. For my generation, the starving kids were almost always in Africa. If Africa in a few decades can achieve the outstanding development that China has recently undergone, it will be another economic miracle! Despite the language barrier, both Beijing and Shanghai reminded me very much of a cosmopolitan city back home. I was truly amazed at the sight of the economic progress that we have read so much about lately. That being said, China was also one of the most culturally shocking countries that we’ve visited. In addition to the extreme language barrier (which we honestly have not encountered yet), the Chinese culture and Communist government make certain facets of Chinese life unrecognizable to what we are used to in the West. Read on, and you’ll see what I mean…

What we did

- - - - - - Hong Kong
Our ship docked first in Hong Kong, and we had the option to either sail with the ship up to Shanghai for two days or meet up with it again after it arrived there. Wanting to make the most of my time in China, I’m so glad that I was able to have those extra two days in Beijing! As part of the independent trip that I had signed up for before coming on Semester at Sea, we had a tour of Hong Kong on our first day in port. Hong Kong is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen – the skyline at night was absolutely magnificent! Although not technically part of main land China, the British returned control of the island to China in 1999 with a 50-year grace period for Hong Kong to maintain a separate political and economic system from the Communist People’s Republic of China. We had a wonderful Cantonese style lunch and saw many sights that afternoon, including the Man Mo Temple, Stanley Market and Repulse Bay, a popular beach in Hong Kong. We also took a small boat ride through the Aberdeen Fishing Village. The highlight of the day was taking the tram up to the top of Victoria’s Peak, where we had an excellent view of the entire harbor! A close runner up for the highlight of my day in Hong Kong was, I hate to say it, the first Starbucks coffee I’ve had since August. Like I said, I hate to say it, but it was a delicious taste of home!

- - - - - - Beijing
After a gorgeous day in tropical Hong Kong (and more than two months of sunshine thus far on the trip), arriving at the Beijing airport was like flying into Logan after spring break in Florida. It was unseasonably cold during our entire visit (go figure) and had snowed the night before we arrived. Needless to say the vest and leather gloves I thought would be sufficient to keep me warm were not. We didn’t arrive to our hotel until dinnertime, so after eating dinner and walking around for a very little bit, we rested up for the next couple of days!

Due to the freezing cold, they changed our itinerary a bit and brought us to the Silk Market the next morning so that we could bargain for everything from fake UGG boots to snow pants, jackets and mittens. We encountered our first Communist snafu while trying to leave – our buses were stopped trying to leave the parking lot for almost an hour because our guides had not informed the government that our itinerary had changed, and we were not supposed to have visited the market that day. Imagine having to notify the government every time you wanted to go shopping! Afterwards, we visited a historic hutong – a Chinese neighborhood comprising of many alleys and courtyard homes shared among many families. We were invited to lunch in one of the homes and had delicious traditional Chinese home cooking…nothing like Lotus Flower back home, let me assure you! We rode rickshaws through the many alleys of the neighborhood and learned about the infamous “One Child Policy.” The name is actually a misnomer today, because families can have a second child if their first child is a girl. Also, you can pay an undisclosed amount, proportional to your income, to have more than one child (our female guide had an older brother). Furthermore, they are beginning to initiate a policy that says if both you and your partner are only children, you can have two children at no extra cost to the government, because you are merely replacing one spot in each of your families. Very nearby the hutong, we visited a famous Drum Tower and got to witness the drumming that occurs there several times a day. We had to climb several very steep stairs to reach the top, but the view over Beijing was just great. It’s been a while since I’ve seen snow lining the tree branches!

From here, we drove about two hours outside of the city to the Great Wall, where we froze watching the sunset. We had dinner at the base of the wall in a small restaurant, and then began the 40-minute evening hike to the spot where we slept that evening. Although many people in our group slept in the guard towers, some of my friends and I decided to really brave the cold (not that the guard towers are heated or even enclosed…just protected from the harsh winds) and sleep under the stars on the wall. We were provided with two sleeping bags, which kept me pretty warm! That, and the umpteen layers of clothing I was wearing! The stars were absolutely amazing to look at – we saw more shooting stars that night than I’ve seen in my life combined. We awoke at sunrise, another beautiful sight, and began the three-hour hike. Because it had recently snowed on the wall, not only was it frigid, but there was a lot of slippery ice, which made the hike all the more interesting. We finally arrived at the end of the path we were taking, and we had the option to zipline across the river or walk for another half hour. Although the zipline did not look like the safest thing to do, I made sure other people made it safely across before getting in line! Getting onto the bus after being cold for nearly 18 hours was one of the best feelings in the world.

We drove back to Beijing that evening and had free time to roam around the city. We were so tired though, so we only went out to dinner for a bit and then just laid low at the hotel. The next morning, our last day in Beijing, we first visited the Forbidden City, which was built between 1406 and 1420. It was enjoyed by emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties and contains 8,707 rooms throughout the many wooden buildings within the city walls. From here, it was only a short walk to Tiananmen Square. Our guide was not allowed to openly talk about the 1989 massacre due to the enormous police presence patrolling Tiananmen. That afternoon we visited the 2008 Olympic Village and got to go inside the Bird’s Nest. The Water Cube was not open for visitors as it is being renovated to be used for other purposes now that the Olympics are over. Our final stop of the day was the Summer Palace, used by emperors since the 18th century when the capital of China was moved to Beijing. Most of the area within the Summer Palace is water, and there are more painted murals there than anywhere else. Although by this point we were freezing and tired from a long day of sightseeing, it was a very beautiful place to walk through. I met a woman who was traveling with a few other American teachers, who is a retired elementary school teacher from Philadelphia. You have no idea how thrilled I was when she had heard of CityStep, the dance-mentor program that I am very involved with at Penn! What a small world, huh?

That night, we took an overnight train from Beijing to Shanghai. I was lucky enough to even make the train – it left at 9:30, so we were upstairs in the train station eating dinner and figured we would head down to the waiting area to meet up with the rest of the group around 9:00. Well, when we got back downstairs, there was NO ONE in sight, and the guard had already closed the gate. I was with two other people, and we pleaded with the guard (who spoke zero English) to let us through. He opened a side door for us that led us down a dark corridor and it was very unclear where we were supposed to go. Never again do I want to run through a Chinese train station (or any train station for that matter) with all of my luggage and souvenirs. It was a very panicky moment, but in the end we made the train and all was good. Compared to our sleeper train experience in India, this train was the Four Seasons. Okay, maybe not – but there was an actual toilet this time, and clean compartments!

- - - - - Shanghai

Jewish Tour
When we woke up the next morning, it was raining as we approached Shanghai. After some trouble with immigration trying to get back on the ship (they had the most backward system of taking our passports and issuing us special copies to carry off the ship with us), I embarked on a tour of the Jewish history in Shanghai with one of my professors, his wife, and a handful of other Jewish students on the ship. Until this voyage, I never knew that there had ever been a significant Jewish population in Shanghai. It was absolutely fascinating, and reaffirmed my belief in the underlying connections Jewish people feel towards other Jews, even if they are complete strangers. An Israeli man named Dvir, who moved to Shanghai about eight years ago as a journalist, led the tour. We learned about the three major waves of Jewish immigration to Shanghai and their many contributions to the city and the entire country of China.

After Britain forced China to open its doors to trade and immigration, a Jewish family named Sassoon from Baghdad seized the business opportunity and opened branches of its firm in Shanghai. Other notable families that followed the Sassoons included the Hardoons and the Kadoories, as well as about 800 to 1000 Sephardic Iraqi Jews. These Baghdadi Jews benefited immensely from import and export trade, real estate and financial investments. For instance, Nanjing Road (the 5th Avenue of China) was developed by Jewish immigrants to Shanghai during this period. Next, many Russian Jews arrived in Shanghai via the Tran-Siberian Railroad during the pogroms of the late-19th and early 20th centuries. These new immigrants did not strike it rich like the Baghdadi Jews did; instead, they opened many small businesses like cafes, grocery stores, markets and barber shops, etc. Then, as the Third Reich assumed power in Germany, many smart Jews fled to Shanghai. Unlike other countries in the world that were reluctant to harbor Jewish refugees, China opened its doors to everyone. It is estimated that between 20,000 and 25,000 Jews made Shanghai their safe haven. The Jews living in Shanghai at this time were not entirely unscathed – the Japanese occupying forces were given orders by their German ally to force the Jews to live in the ghetto, which we were able to visit during the tour. Josef Meisinger, Gestapo representative for the Far East urged the Japanese to adopt a “Final Solution” similar to the one implemented in Europe. However, the Japanese did not harbor the same anti-Semitism that the Germans did, so the worst the Jews of Shanghai faced were close living quarters within the ghetto. Both Dr. Feng Shan Ho and Mr. Sugihara, Japanese consuls in Europe, played an enormous role in saving Jews by issuing visas and transit visa permissions for them to safely arrive in Shanghai. The Jewish story in Shanghai mainly ended after WWII, because the Communists took control in 1949 and forced any foreigners that remained in China out. Dvir did tell us that more and more Jews have been immigrating to Shanghai in recent years, just as he did.

We visited the small museum that commemorates the Holocaust survivors and Righteous Gentiles, as well as one of the two remaining temples in Shanghai today. We also toured a small, shared family home that Jews lived in during this period. Although Chinese people inhabit these neighborhoods today, there are still remnants of Jewish life there. For instance, there are nail holes left in the doorposts from where mezzuzot were once hung, and some of the doors or windows have Stars of David depicted in one way or another. Another fascinating story that Dvir told us about involves a side project that he has taken on since moving to Shanghai. At one time, there were four Jewish cemeteries in Shanghai, where over 4,000 Jews were buried. During the Cultural Revolution, these tombstones were looted to use as building materials, and also because they were not “Chinese.” Dvir, with the help of Chinese people who were involved in destroying the cemeteries, has been working to uncover these stones and to hopefully make a memorial out of them someday. They show up in odd places, such as stone steps up to houses, or buried in the river. So far, he has been able to locate over 85. He is still working to find more, and also battling the government to get permission to build some sort of monument with the stones he can find. This is yet another example of the red tape, corruption and sluggishness of the Communist system in China.

- - - - - -
Due to the inclement weather and rough seas, our departure from Shanghai was delayed until the following day at noon. I was glad to have a bit more time to explore the extremely modern city of Shanghai, despite the wind and rain. We had a delicious final dinner that evening and explored the swanky area around the restaurant a bit.

What we ate

Chinese food, DUH! Some of the meals that we had reminded me a lot of the Chinese food that we can find back home. However, some was so completely unrecognizable! Hopefully my practice using chopsticks will help me in Japan, too! Much of the Chinese food we had was a bit spicier than what is served in the U.S., which I liked a lot. Also, especially in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which are both on the coast, there is a lot of seafood in their dishes. I wish I knew what some of the strange things we ate were called, but oftentimes the menus just had pictures and Chinese characters, so we just pointed to what we wanted to try! Luckily I eat just about anything – the people I traveled with who were picky eaters or vegetarians or had allergies had a lot of trouble communicating this to the waiters. Bari probably would have been stuck eating solely white rice for the week (to which I know she wouldn’t exactly object!) One of the strangest things I tasted was a round, clear jelly ball full of a substance I could only identify as tasting like a salty cookie dough. Very interesting, to say the least. The tea in China was also very different from other tea I’ve had before – it smelled and tasted incredibly fragrant, often like flowers. On those cold days especially in Beijing, there was nothing I wanted more than that hot cup of tea (or the entire pot)!

- - - - - -
According to many of my professors who have traveled to China prior to this tip noted just how much China has changed recently. Although we read about it all the time, it was so fascinating to see the rapid and ongoing adjustments being made right before my eyes. I would have liked to visit rural China for a basis of comparison with the prosperous urban areas, but time only allows for so much! I have a feeling that much of China will be unrecognizable to me if I go back years from now. One night, we went to a coffee shop called Leymo. Other than the name (and the certainly sub-par beverages), you were made to believe you were a Starbucks. The cups, logo, colors, etc. exactly mimicked the Starbucks brand. I think this exemplifies a lot of Chinese culture – many up and coming Chinese people want so badly to have the luxuries that wealthy Westerners have. There are so many knock-off bags, jeans, sweaters, coats, shoes, even coffee shops, in China as a result of this desire– Chinese people can demonstrate to their peers and to the outside world that they are doing well; however, underneath the façade of the designer label or the imitation coffee cup, it’s just not the same thing.

As I said, China was an enormous culture shock, mainly because I think I wasn’t expecting it to be so shocking. I had an enlightening and enjoyable week in China, and am even more fascinated than I was before by the contradictions between the rapid economic growth occurring and the stagnant, interfering Communist government. Unfortunately, seeing these oxymoronic systems firsthand did not clarify much, but rather raised many more issues and questions. We have been exploring this topic in my class on the Economic Development of Asia – the bottom line is that I think only time will tell just how large and powerful China will grow, and in what ways it will do so.

I can’t believe that we arrive in our final foreign destination TOMORROW! More from Japan…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY (in the next few days) KACEY, ALYSSA AND DADDY!