The Protest Heard 'Round the World

At this point, most everyone has heard about the mass protests in Egypt that led to the ejection of President Mubarak and inspired similar protests across the African continent. While these protests kept igniting, I continually searched the official Chinese newspaper, The People's Daily, to see just how much the government would allow revealed to their citizens. I admit, I was surprised when I saw some pretty extensive coverage of the Egyptian protests as they reached their zenith. Of course, the articles also painted Mubarak as a horrible person who very much deserved to be ousted. I'm not saying that's false, but it was definitely an effort to craft a distinct separation between Mubarak's Egypt and the CCP's China.

Maybe it worked. I was surprised that I didn't hear much about protests on the news, nor even in the China blogs. But then came the protests across the rest of Africa. I found Tunisia's "Jasmine Revolution," interesting the first time I heard it because it sounded quite a bit like something one would hear from the tumultuous years when China transitioned from a dynasty-driven empire to a party-driven nation. Jasmine, of course, is a popular flower and tea in China, and revolutions... well they were popular for a while too. But this was Tunisia, not China, so I got a bit lax about following every detail of their movement. (However, I do want to stop for a second to acknowledge the many lives that have been lost as people continue to stand up to the tyrannical and oppressive forces in their lives.)

Then, in today's New York Times, the story that I've been waiting for finally broke. A la Egypt, China saw its own national protests coordinated through social networking sites such as (sigh) Twitter. I really do have to congratulate these protesters on finding such an incredible and productive use for Twitter. Anyway, this mass national protest was called, surprise, the Jasmine Revolution. According to the article, one protest was in the middle of Wangfujing, which is like Beijing's Times Square. Also according to the article, according to one Twitter-er (Tweeter?) students at Peking University were warned not to take part in the protests. The Yale students at PKU this semester are so lucky.

I'll be following developments in China as much as possible. It will be very interesting to see if this story progresses at all, or just gets swallowed up by the censored media.

The End (or is it?)

In precisely eight hours, God willing, I will be back on Yale campus for the first time in eight months. In those eight months, I've sent a sister and a cousin off to college, hit up Hong Kong and Shanghai with my mom, watched my dinner be butchered on the plains of Inner Mongolia, hopped in and out of Seoul before things got crazy, explored more parts of China than I ever dreamed I'd see, and gotten to know the city of Beijing almost as well as I know Kearney. I've met so, so many incredible people, from my best friends and co-conspirators in my two programs to my Chinese friends who helped me understand the confusion that is Chinese culture.

This is supposed to be the reflection post, the post where it all comes together in this great big explosion of clarity and wraps up all my experiences in this tight little ending package. But... can you believe it, there is still so much more I want to say about my experiences that I can't bring myself to stop posting! It may be corny, but I feel like my China experience didn't end when the plane left the Beijing tarmac; it still very much colors my everyday experiences back here in America. To any loyal readers out there, no pressure to keep up, but I will continue to post my reflections on China, its people, its culture, and its events, as my junior year progresses. Who knows? I might be back in China sooner than you think. :)

I hate finals.

However I love the fact that my sister is here in Beijing to cheer me on. Now back to work.

Done with this semester in 36 hours!!

Procrastination, An Addendum

To be fair, the previous post characterizing the harmonizing tendency of Chinese society doesn't necessarily cover ALL of Chinese society. After all, trying to characterize any group of 1.3 billion people is a very difficult, if not impossible task. China is slowly assimilating more "Western" values, such as individualism, human rights and free speech. I call them "Western," because they are predominately traits found in the United States and European countries. China was getting along fine without any of those things for a while, at least in their eyes.

No, really. One of my Chinese roommates here at Peking University once told me, "You guys think human rights are really important. Here in China... it's not a big deal." And in terms of the education system, the 高考 Gāo Kǎo, or College Entrance Exam, is actually the most fair way to deal with the millions of high school seniors vying for only a few thousand spots at the nation's top universities; it's just unfortunate that the byproduct of such a fair examination system is an education culture that emphasizes information acquisition over analysis. But free speech holds some promise.

The internet has been an amazing tool for promoting free speech in China. While being over-zealous or over-critical of the government online can still result in exile or imprisonment, people have been able to exercise their voices like never before, partially because they can find strength in numbers. You see, the government has a very real fear of its own people, because, as you can guess, a revolution by the Chinese people would be very, very difficult to suppress. It has actually created a fascinating dynamic between the party in power and the people it "controls." Just look at the move by senior members of the Politburo to promote free speech for the media, or the online movements condemning the corruption among the hierarchy of the Communist Party.

So yes, the attitude of "harmonization," from my experiences in China over the past six months, is definitely the prevalent attitude across the country, but things are changing, and they are changing quickly.

Because I Haven't Procrastinated Enough Yet...

I am now precisely 203 hours away from leaving the tarmac of Beijing Airport bound for the good ol' US of A. Discounting my brief two weeks in Nebraska this August, and my four days in Seoul a couple weeks ago, I have been in China for approximately 170 days. And in 170 days, I have learned more than I ever thought possible about a culture I was clueless about 18 months ago.  At one point I'll make a cute little list of experiences á la Miles Grimshaw, but until then I'm going to wax eloquent on the single most important thing I think I have learned in my time here, and that is that the Chinese mentality is fundamentally different from that of America, or even much of the rest of the world. Not necessarily better or worse, simply... different.

Let me make something clear. Before coming to China, I understood that there were cultural points that were different around the world. The role of the female, for example, varies widely from region to region. Educational practices, as well, differ depending on what country (or even city) you find yourself in. Courtesy and etiquette obviously fit into this little schematic too. But never did I think the role of the individual would be so completely muted as it is in China.

That's it. That's my big revelation. Chinese society places a higher premium on the pursuit of a "harmonious society," than on the pursuit of individual happiness. I know, I know, this is like China 101. I know that it's one of the first things a student of China learns and it's one of the first things any Chinese person will tell you too. But there's a difference between "knowing" something by reading it in a textbook or hearing it second-hand and actually living it every single day. See, when you learn it through a textbook, you think maybe it's just a generalization, maybe in practice people are actually more individualistic and independent than you think. But... that's where you'd be wrong.

红楼梦, or Dream of the Red Chamber

One of the five classes I took as part of the Yale-PKU program this semester was "Dream of the Red Chamber," a class that was literally devoted to the reading and discussion of one book. I'm sure you can guess the title. This book, 红楼梦 Hónglóumèng aka Dream of the Red Chamber aka Story of the Stone, is said to be one of China's greatest and most defining literary works (think of what the Shakespeare canon is to Great Britain).

Growing up in Nebraska and only recently having taken an interest in Chinese culture, I had absolutely no inkling of the importance of this book in China, or to the Chinese people. But now, four months after having started the book, I am officially part of the 红学 hóngxué (Redology) club (Redology being the study of this book).

Just kidding. There IS a club on campus dedicated to the study of this book, but I don't think I'll be joining. Reading this book has been enough. I admit, I skipped some chapters here and there, and maybe some of the longer and less understandable sections of poetry, but still, getting through 120 chapters on the lives of over 400 characters was mentally exhausting. You see, one of the reasons this book is so famous is because it is so incredibly long and complicated.

Halloween in Beijing

Yes, I know, it's December. Yes, I know Halloween is in October. I'm... bad at months, I guess? Anyway...

So... Halloween in Beijing. What to say, what to say? The night was interesting enough, I suppose, but since the Chinese in general don't really subscribe to the holiday, the city was missing the usual excited energy that accompanies Halloween. Also, we weren't even celebrating on October 31st, but rather October 30th as it was a Saturday. A forgivable discrepancy considering the circumstances, I think.

Our little Yale contingent was out in full force, though. Thinking back, I realize I actually devoted the whole of Saturday to Halloween preparation and execution. First, woke up to go shopping for last-minute supplies, including a giant container of glitter. The night before, I had ventured to Yashou Clothing Market in the Sanlitun area to find inspiration. I found it in a black wig, a black pair of angel's wings, and some black shiny boots. Saturday was for last touches.