Notes From Xi'an 西安随感

[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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With the Summer most certainly now with us and holiday fever beginning to break out around the city this week, helped of course by the Dragon Boat Festival gliding onto the calendar, it was nice to start off on a Monday with a siesta and a picnic. There is a good spot in Qu Jiang that has a Ma Jiang table housed within a Chinese Style gazebo, surrounded by trees, a pond and a boardwalk, and very few people: perfect for a take-away (dàizǒu-带走) picnic. It does always amaze me actually that it is often so quiet and peaceful there, given the intensity of the masses gathered in most other areas of town at the same time, but hey, happy days.

Tuesday was a bit more active, with a Yellow River Soup Kitchen trip to a mountain village in Lantian to distribute donated clothes, toys and Zòng Zi (粽子). With these trips occurring a bit more frequently recently, due to the increased levels of donations and contacts on the ground, the process is getting smoother, though it is of course still reliant on the good will of a number of volunteers to supply vehicles, drivers, friendly faces and helpful hands.

The weather was great, the people in the villages appreciative and welcoming, and the landscape really quite beautiful. What is maybe lacking in material items and income is certainly not lacking in nature, whether the environmental kind, or that related to character and spirit. Those good contacts that have now been made in this particular area mean that another trip will soon be forthcoming, and this time it is going to include a sports day program of fun and games at one of the local schools. All is well.

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I am about to break Elmore Leonard’s 1^st golden rule of his

Elmore's 10 Rules

10 rules for writing fiction: “Never open a book with weather. If it’s only to create atmosphere, and not a character’s reaction to the weather, you don’t want to go on too long. The reader is apt to leaf ahead looking for people.”

However, I suppose as one, this isn’t fiction, two, I am English and the weather holds a place dear to my heart, three, that this will indeed involve my reaction to the weather, and four, that people will be along shortly, it may be ok to kick off with a bit of a weather report. Although now I have gone and begun with a quote from Elmore Leonard, my concerns about the weather really are unfounded. Thank Leonard for that. (more…)

These pictures represent a small glimpse into the workings, projects and characters of The Yellow River Soup Kitchen. Below this gallery are a couple of brief extracts and opportunities to continue reading, first, the founder’s enlightening thoughts on his and the projects motivations and growth, and second, some thoughtful observations from a visitor’s chance encounter. The Yellow River Soup Kitchen was established here in Xi’an in December 2005, it was the first Soup Kitchen in China.

*Each picture can be clicked through individually or a slideshow can be created by pressing the PicLens tab below. (The 3D link just goes to the designer’s site.)

[View with PicLens]

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We are gathered here today to mark the passing of James. D. Lloyd (aka. Jimmy-Lad or 罗玄德) into the afterlife. This is not though the afterlife that some of you maybe thinking of. No, this is not a pathway towards the showering light of heaven but a passing, from the light to the dark, from the glowing streets of Xi’an to the darkest depths of Bolton, England. This is the after-Xi’an-life. After four years in this little planetary oasis of peace and tranquillity, James and his ever present companion 朱宇 (aka. Flora or Big F), have decided to head towards the fresh green pastures of northern England.

James will be missed by all those who have walked Side-by-Side with him over these last few years. There were those students at Aston English School who were delighted to find playground capers had made their way into the classroom. As well as those who initially had faces of sadness, who only wanted to learn vocabulary and grammar the way they knew best, by having it beaten and drilled remorselessly into them, but who were later surprised to realise they were actually learning English and that it was exciting and fun doing so. Even if some did find themselves unwittingly saddled with the names of Bolton FC players, none more afflicted than a 10 year old boy I discovered one day with the name Jussi Jaaskelainen, after the great Bolton shot stopper. (more…)

I recently have been looking around at voluntary projects in Xi’an and came across these two companies, i-to-i and Global Volunteers. All I can say is never, never do these things, never. Now, I understand if one does not have experience of doing these kinds of projects or have any knowledge of the host country and that they need some help with organizing such work, however I still find these projects absolutely unacceptable in terms of cost and more often than not in terms of the value of the work undertaken.

All I can say to you is think long and hard about what it is you want to do because in my opinion you are most certainly wasting your money paying what is £800-$1,176 (8000 RMB) and £1,600-$2,495 (16,000 RMB) for 2 weeks voluntary work. These costs are a disgrace and I write this having reflected on the note I began a few days ago. When I first discovered these projects and accordant fees I felt my response may have been a little too impassioned, but it was not and I am not. It makes me so angry to even think of it. This note continues and some of the issues arising from this are discussed below.

(Update: May 2010- see the Xi’an Links & Listings Page for Charities and some Voluntary Opportunities in Xi’an- I obviously cannot take responsibility for any of these projects, these are pointers hopefully in the right direction)

First, i-to-i are asking you to pay £800 ($1,176) for 2 weeks voluntary work, to pay for your own flight, to organize your own visa, and then you do your voluntary work. For every week you want to continue, you have to pay another £150/ $220 (1496RMB), meantime you are living in a dorm room and eating food that probably would only cost about $3.00 a meal here. So, for two weeks teaching you will pay $1,176 as well as flights and a visa, that is 8000 RMB plus the not inconsiderable additional costs. I cannot believe it.

Global Volunteers is even worse, their project for two weeks costs a staggering £1696 ($2,495) or £1,832 ($2695) for three weeks, 16,966RMB and 18,326RMB. The i-to-i project includes dormitory accommodation, three meals a day and transportation to and from site, as well as a local programme of support. The Global Volunteers fee includes ‘tourist class hotel’, all meals, on-the-ground support, $200 towards materials and administration.

All I ask is that anyone thinking about these projects does so very carefully. This is not because I do not believe in voluntary work; I have done a variety of voluntary projects in my time. I just cannot believe how appalling these organizations are. Doing voluntary work is doing voluntary work; paying to do voluntary work, get over it.

Of course, the costs of your placement must be covered but it seems to me these organizations should have a moral responsibility to keep these costs as low as possible, the volunteer is volunteering that is their contribution, surely any well structured organization will have other revenue streams in place to offset the financial burden on the volunteer, or micro-managing the project well enough on the ground, so fees do not reach these levels.

Volunteering is not about wealth it is about somebody giving up their own time to help someone else. These fees are phenomenal, no matter what these organizations might say, they are not doing a good enough job of respecting the nature of the project, and they should not be trusted in any way to offer a valuable voluntary experience.(*With regard to this point see an additional comment at the bottom)

Now, let us consider the cost of renting a luxury flat here in Xi’an. It would cost between 2000RMB ($294) – 3000RMB ($441) per month to have a 2-3 bedroom, furnished, great flat here in Xi’an (My 3 bed roomed flat costs 1000 RMB). That is about $73 and $110 a week respectively. So, the cost for living here in the centre of the city, at the most expensive rates, would be a maximum of $220 for a fortnight.

This figure could then be divided by 4 or 6 depending on whether it is a 2 or 3 bedroom flat, on the basis that both companies offer only shared accommodation as standard, i-to-i in a dormitory. The final figures per person for a two or three bed roomed luxury flat for a fortnight would be $55 and $36 respectively. A volunteer is paying $1,176 or $2,495 over that period.

This might seem a little of a false comparison but I just want to offer people an idea of the cost of life here and really the costs that an organized and established organization should be aiming at, at the very top end. The additional tariffs allow us to see roughly the cost of the project for a week for one person, though even they are a little expensive. Let us look again very closely at the figure that is being charged per week over and above that weekly figure.

For i-to-i it is $388 a week and for Global Volunteers it is $1027. These figures may, depending on your own financial circumstances not seem so bad, but in China, they are astronomical in terms of any sort of logistical/ transportation/ staffing costs. These are aspects that should also be to a large degree already managed on a macro-financial level, not simply on a volunteer by volunteer basis.

Global Volunteers talks about $200 of this going on materials, but what materials, $200 per person in China on materials is a lot of materials. They are not needed when you are teaching a bit of English for a couple of weeks. Moreover, a volunteer is offering their time free, why should a large donation also be formally attached to that commitment. Global Volunteers note:

‘The Global Volunteers service program fee reflects the actual costs of establishing and maintaining the program in each country. Eighty-five percent of the fee pays for program costs such as food, lodging, ground transportation, team leader expenses, project materials, volunteer coordination, program development and coordination, volunteer materials and communication, and on-site consultants. The balance is used for organizational overhead.’

They are saying that all the above will cost 14, 421RMB for two weeks. I actually, after being here in Xi’an for nearly three years, cannot quite comprehend that figure. Surely doing voluntary work is not about six star* living!

All I can say is find your own work and/ or think very carefully about the value of the work you are about to undertake. If you are going to do voluntary work here, then get yourself into the village communities of China, where most foreign teachers are not. If you want to do voluntary work here, you maybe need to be a little more proactive. There are a number of options. First, I would suggest getting into contact with any charities that already work in a region of China you are interested in, not one already organizing expensive placements, just one that has some contacts on the ground.

Secondly, I suggest you contact both the Yellow River Soup Kitchen and the Library Project in Xi’an, as they already have contacts with various insufficiently resourced schools around Shaanxi and may be able to put you in the right direction. Third, if you have more time and you want to make a slightly longer commitment I suggest first finding a paid placement here, this will offer you an easy route into establishing yourself in Xi’an. You can then choose to work limited hours and discover valuable voluntary projects yourself.

Get real and get it done yourself, you do not need these companies, or maybe you do but you need one that recognizes its moral responsibility in that role. The process of taking a little more time and responsibility for your choice of voluntary work will probably make the whole thing more rewarding in the end.

*See the first comment below for an important additional note.

The conversion rate was based on $1 to 6.8RMB and £1 to 10RMB.

[This comment has been manually transferred from my previous site:

Mark (markschinablog) May 10th 2009 said:

This is a nice write-up, Ricardo.

You give thoroughly convincing arguments for not doing these programs.

You didn’t touch on one of the most questionable parts of the program though: the students that these teaching “opportunities” are for.

If a person participating in one of these programs is expecting to work with poor or under-privileged students, he or she will most likely be disappointed. Often, voluteer teachers are assigned to work with middle and upper class urban Chinese students.

I imagine that the foreigners who do these programs aren’t really interested in spending so much money just so that they can teach well-off Chinese kids. But that’s what these programs are.

I know that this is the case from experience. I haven’t participated in any of these programs, but I’ve met several people in Xi’an who’ve come over here to volunteer with these programs and ended up being placed at local colleges or wealthy boarding schools.

This kind of placement just adds insult to injury when combined with the astronomical costs you’ve just outlined.

I 100% agree with this post. Don’t come over here through the above-mentioned voluntourism programs.