Notes From Xi'an 西安随感

‘Each of these passages has faults of its own, but, quite apart from avoidable ugliness, two qualities are common to all of them. The first is staleness of imagery; the other is lack of precision. The writer either has a meaning and cannot express it, or he inadvertently says something else, or he is almost indifferent as to whether his words mean anything or not. This mixture of vagueness and sheer incompetence is the most marked characteristic of modern English prose, and especially of any kind of political writing… What is above all needed is to let the meaning choose the word, and not the other way around. In prose, the worst thing one can do with words is surrender to them.’

The above extract is taken from George Orwell’s essay Politics and the English Language, it comes after he quotes from 5 examples of English usage that he found, for different reasons, somewhat vexing. This particular Note From Xi’an will break from a recent pattern of Notes and will exist in the category (if there was one) of note-to-self. This will be where I give myself a bit of time to dwell upon thoughts articulated by an historical great, Orwell, as well as ideas expressed by a contemporary man of precise political thought and concern, Timothy Garton-Ash.

The subject matter of this Note was brought on in-part from rediscovering Orwell’s above article over at the marvelous site Arts & Letters Daily; in-part from re-watching a lecture given by Garton-Ash about his book ‘Facts are Subversive’, and in-part from reading Garton-Ash’s own article Orwell’s List, as well as a consequence of briefly reflecting on my own reading, some time ago, of Orwell’s disturbing text, Nineteen Eighty-Four, after a friend of mine was discussing his reading of it with me recently.

painting by fu bao shi

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Image taken from The Guardian Newspaper

As a Chinese gentleman was recently sharing his thoughts with me on the different responses to, and consequences of the quakes in China 2008 and Japan last week, I will add this related article from Ministry of Tofu, entitled: China See Quake Hit Japan As Role Model, Engage In Self-Reflection

This Note may be somewhat symptomatic of these end-of-February days: a bit of a hotchpotch; wet afternoons, holidays over; Winter’s gone but Spring has not yet sprung; a world of potential, and a potential for disorder; a host of things to come, but none yet arrived; good news, bad news and a million comments on the news; damp and dark, leaves amazingly still falling; Arab world, another world; wise people, knowledgeable people and in spite of those people people; disinformation, inspiration and what does the future hold; I can jump, you can jump, what about now those billion Chinese have jumped?

That is by way of an introduction to this slightly more eclectic Note. It will include an extract from Jonathan Watts’ own introduction to his book: When A Billion Chinese Jump, which I have just got a hold of for the first time. I will add to Mr. Watts’ words a few pictures taken by Lu Guang (卢广), a Chinese photographer who captured what are now quite renowned images of ‘Pollution in China’. I will also include a couple of photographs from a photo-journalist mate of mine in Beijing, the pictures he takes always give me pause for thought; as well as often managing to bring a smile to my face.

In addition, I will add to the mix a couple of maps of China and the US that express the GDPs of their respective Provinces and States in comparison with smaller Nation States. To finish, there is an infographic showing the rise in Chinese language usage on the Internet, [Update 08/03: I have also added an infographic on China's Social Media Evolution] as well as links to a couple of good recent articles on the ‘Internet in China’.

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First, a couple of Chris Cherry’s evocative pictures, more of his work can be found over at his Flickr page (elephantonabicycle) or on his own site (christophercherry.net); where his mastery of the written word certainly supports his eye for a resonating picture. As an aside, the lostlaowai flickr page is also worth passing through.

see more of christopher cherry's pictures (flickr)

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As I am becoming ever more embedded in local life here, in part from having lived here for nearly 5 years, in part from having gotten engaged to a great local girl, and now, and certainly somewhat more worryingly, by dipping a proverbial toe in the local housing market, I thought I would note a few of the matters-of-facts that seem to be involved in this close-your-eyes and hope for the best apartment buying process. We’ll kick off with a few of the hopes. There must be a hope that the building you are buying gets built, a hope that once it is built it doesn’t just fall down again, a hope that you will actually end up with the deeds to the flat you paid for so one day you will actually be able to sell it, and a hope that this potentially bubble-bursting market doesn’t lead to an all engulfing civic anarchy.

These are just a few of the concerns that have passed across my recent conscious and sub-conscious states of mind, whether in the early hours of morning or during the darker hours of night. So, it is with trepidatious steps that I continue on along this path today by holding meetings with a few honest, straightforward, salt of the earth, “no worries mate” housing agents.

There is a requirement here for the property developers to get 5 validating certificates before they can legally build and sell a property, the last two specifically giving them permission to actually construct and sell the apartments. However, although a seeming madness to even consider buying a home, with a reasonable deposit being paid in the region of at least 30%, without these certificates, it is not unusual and in fact seemingly quite common for people to take a gamble and pay a low price, per square meter, when the company doesn’t have any certificates at all, or, may be less of a gamble, only a few. But, then the price isn’t even that cheap.

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This Note continues on, in part and/or in spirit, from the one below: ‘Mr. Lǎo Bǎi Xìng, A Bit Of Income Inequality, An Archbishop And Some Social Solidarity’.

I don’t know if it is this time of year, with its cold weather and deep chill, which can enter peoples’ spirits and make life seem that much more difficult, or whether it is bound up in end of year reflection, but certainly, recently, it has been a time to take note of the difficult lives that do face so many people here.

After a long chat with an English friend of mine about the not so good looking prospects for Britain these days, it seemed possible to place this contemporary Chinese scenario in a wider context and to dwell on it a little.

Concerns about Britain’s present day economic realities were compounded somewhat recently when reading an article discussing the increasing number of people paying their rents or mortgages with credit cards. The story may in fact carry slightly more symbolism than empirical weight, but it doesn’t require a trip down to the Yellow River Soup Kitchen in the city here to put a longer-term face to that particular situation for those involved.

And it doesn’t take an exceptionally deep understanding of modern China to see a not too dissimilar scenario emerging here in the not too distant future. It is interesting to note the lǎobǎixìng (common person) realities of these two quite different societies, China’s and Britain’s, which are at different ends of the so-called development cycle.

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I have not experienced it too many times since being in China, but I do find it somewhat disconcerting when I do. And that is when a lǎo bǎi xìng (老百姓), a common person, so classified by themselves and society, shows extreme deference to a point that verges on humiliation.

We had an incident recently where a drunken neighbour made a couple of mistakes. He did though of his own volition rectify the situation by apologizing for his actions. However, he was to end up doing so in a manner that his actions had not deserved or any act for that matter probably does deserve. He was exceptionally deferential, to the point at one stage of wanting to get down on his knees and place his head at my girlfriend’s feet. While also repeatedly showing embarrassment that a person of his low culture, his words not mine, that he just a worker, his words not mine, could have troubled us so much.

What he did however do, once we had gathered him to his feet and made it clear that his simple apology had been enough, was to outline his own circumstance and that of his family and extended family. He seemed to do so for no other reason than through a simple desire to articulate what was inside him, and on the basis that he had some people willing to listen. He had after all been assured his apology was sufficient and that we wouldn’t be taking the money he was trying to give us, on top of the gifts of food he had already given. So he had no need to make us feel sorry for him or earn any more forgiveness, that had been done and we were now just trying to talk with him.

He made a number of points about the life of the lǎo bǎi xìng, who he noted, in this world of plenty for some, are still predominantly living hand to mouth. And that for most it is an exhausted hand to a hungering mouth. He pointed out that the wages were basically just about enough to put food on the table and a roof over ones’ head. We can of course all basically accept that that is indeed enough, but we are also at the same time constantly persuaded that much more is needed. And that what is needed needs to be re-evaluated and repurchased at reasonably frequent intervals.

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Christmas is coming and the geese are getting fat but noodles are still being served and the locals seem less than concerned. However, this will, on Christmas Eve itself, not I am sure stop a mass of celebratory souls gathering down in the shadow of the Bell Tower in the centre of town. If it is a less impromptu event than previously it is because it is now an annual ritual of Chinese proportions.

For those who are unaware, the last few years have seen thousands of locals congregating on Christmas Eve upon the closed-off streets in the centre of the city, in a sort of silent ritual of consent and pseudo-celebration of our own seasonal pursuits. Families, friends and groups of the young just wander around the traffic-less streets with smiles on their faces and good cheer in the air, although they do so as if somewhat in search of a reason for their presence out on what is in fact a cold, late December night. There are no presents or cards shared, tinsel or mistletoe hanging, Hymns or Carols sung, egg nog or mulled wine consumed, let alone drunken kissing of random strangers, but never the less the masses gather. They do though manage to hoist aloft a pretty cool sky lantern or two (pictured above).

It seems to me that this now yearly routine is less a sign of a Chinese desire to grab hold of all that is golden in Western culture but more a chance to begin their own season of good cheer early: “Why not get in the spirit of celebration a few weeks before our own national holidays get going?” The locals may well ask in a rhetorical fashion. It surely gives the next few weeks of work a happier hue with the soon to be holidays brought into sharper focus.

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After deciding to get back to basics and away from those dispirited words of discontent vis-a-vis traffic congestion, inflation and the ever accelerating pace of change going on here in China, I was just going to pick out a few positive pictures of the simple street level life here in Xi’an and make a few positive comments. However, that direction seemed to change slightly during the formulation process. We have ended up with a nod towards the ubiquitous New Year Calendar and a few snapshots of Contemporary China doing their own talking. These images are just a random selection that I have picked up from around the www. Each picture links to the image’s origin.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

A chair is, of course, just a chair but for some reason I like these chairs in more ways than for simply being chairs, or I like them in more ways for the nature in which they are chairs. Ever since I came across an article, some time ago, reviewing Michael Wolf’s book ‘Sitting in China’ I have had a few pictures of these random creations stuck on my wall. But I have just come across his website and these collective images for the first time.

I am not an inactive fellow, I get out and about town and do try to keep a little fit, but I am partial to a good chair, particularly a good comfy armchair, though here in Xi’an they are sadly few and far between. So, first off, I like these chairs from the perspective of a chair lover. I am though also a fan of these chairs because they seem to symbolize to me so much of what is still so good about China and what is increasingly not so great about our world.

I will highlight the former first. A directive here from a wise elder observing a young fellow standing uncomfortably by a number of seated and crouching locals, might go something like: “If you need to sit, find something to sit on, and if you really can’t use anything nearby to sit on, then crouch.” Sadly ‘the crouch’, or ‘the squat’, is becoming an increasingly frowned upon habit within this fast developing nation, even though for many ‘the squat’, once mastered, is actually quite comfortable and also quite conducive to a bit of street side banter, while also allowing a little youthful courting.

Though, of course, crouching, or more specifically squatting, should be cleansed from daily life if this country does want to find representation on the board of great civilized civilizations and certainly if it wants to become its Head. Or, so it might go. However, these chairs, like the crouch or squat, are useful; they are cheap, they are practical, they are full of life and they are varied. And they must have simply evolved out of a communal desire to continue chatting with neighbors, street sellers, local beauties and customers alike, in whatever random location you had found yourself short of a seat. The nature of the chair here in this context is one of pragmatism and utility; with a pronounced nod towards necessity and re-use, though they are also not short of design ingenuity, variety and are a simple representation of the reality of community here. Happy Days.

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[The above image was taken by the Xi'an based photographer Gareth Blackett, click the link to visit his site]

I gotta say that when I pass those people selling “cute” puppies on the corner of Yang Jia Cun, or anywhere else for that matter, I am prone to give them my best look of laowai disgust. I do this first and foremost for what I can see; that they transport these tiny puppies squeezed into one of those rear seated motorbike box cases. Not a good thing.

I also do it for the negative feeling I seem to get from watching the rapid escalation of dog ownership here in Xi’an. It is a concern that a number of new dog owners are just not prepared to care for their pet once it is no longer the cute thing they or their child got excited about on that street corner, or in one of the numerous pet shops that are now being placed beneath many a new apartment block. This is an issue back in the homeland, here in China it doesn’t really bare thinking about. [update] A friend of mine was actually telling me today how her old classmate is now a vet and that many people come to him with their pets just wanting to have them put down, rather than find out how to treat them or pay for medical attention. Also not a good thing.

I also look at them in this way for how I have always imagined these dogs are actually being treated, or not as the case may be, by these sellers. I have pictured their living conditions and do sometimes wonder what happens to them once they have grown a bit too big for the “cute” street side sales pitch. Fortunately, there are a few out there who take these things further than my generally ambivalent, just simply passing-by, comic laowai look of disgust. Sadly however, those that have followed up on this issue have revealed to me that my pre-conceived ideas, my judgments before the fact, were indeed bitterly accurate. I found this story over at the China Smack website, though it does actually originate in Xi’an. I will leave it to their report to continue the story. The images in the article do get worse.

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