"I Have Not Told Half of What I Saw" - Marco Polo

The air was crisp, dry and clean. Stars shone visibly in the sky. Last night I brushed my teeth and gargled with water from the tap. Yes, I have returned. Nine weeks has come and gone, and with it I have completed my first voyage to the Orient.

Over two odd months in China, I had constantly tried to suppress the temptation to inspire jealousy in the hearts and minds of the Chinese by detailing the many wonders of a democratic government, swimmable rivers, and siblings. However, I was quickly reminded of deficits in the overall condition of society as my cab driver recounted stories of gang violence as we drove through Northeast DC on the way back from the airport.

The great advantage of traveling to China at this point is to observe a society dealing with many of the issues that the United States handled about a century ago, and thus to relive a certain kind of social history. China, with its agricultural population still well above 50%, is struggling to join the list of developed countries. There is of course a significant and growing rich-poor gap, and vast discontinuities between cities and the countryside; but was the United States doing any better sixty years after our country became a nation?

According to me, and that means very little, the great mistake in approaching China is to assume a linear connection with the past. We are told justly of China's four or five thousand years of civilization, and the great inventions that China has contributed, i.e. paper, gun powder, the compass and printing. The difficulty of interpreting this kind of statement, however, is with the word "China". China exists since 1949, and maybe not even. Before the trip, I had envisioned coming face to face with stewards of ancient traditions and cultures. Instead, I found that very few Chinese have any grasp of traditional Chinese history and culture.

The 20th century in China was so tumultuous, that every single Chinese adult I met had a dramatic life story of some sort involving dislocation, starvation, et. The result of this is that the modern generation hardly even connects with the generation immediately preceding it, much less with life a thousand years ago. One of our teachers said that in China, a mere three-year age gap is a generation gap. Compounding this phenomenon, the younger Chinese said the older Chinese are not even willing to discuss the history of their youthful decades.

It is impossible to predict what China will look like in the future. An economic stagnancy, simple to envision, could cause utter chaos. At the same time, the continuation of current conditions could find China competing with the US at every level. I will point out some factors, however, that make it problematic to compare China too closely with the United States:

Population. China has an enormous population with which to contend. They also have very little in the way of a "frontier" into which to expand. Most importantly, they have a one-child policy that has had dramatic effects on the social structure. Women are increasingly underrepresented in rural areas because of illegal pregnancy tests and frequent abortion of females. Because parents rely on only one child for support, adolescent emphasis becomes studying for the college entrance examination which means that the arts, unless they are money-making, receive little emphasis. Single children have less experience sharing with others and a single child essentially has six parents, as grandparents have little to do but dote on their only grandchild.

Government. China is ruled by a government that calls itself socialist but that has become almost entirely capitalist. The government has extremely little power in some circumstances, such as enforcing copyright protection and preventing corruption, and yet unlimited power in other circumstances. Very few people still believe in the idealism of CCP's founding ideology and the statue of Mao Zedong at ECNU meant little or nothing to the college students I spoke with. That is to say, there is not yet a widely-held mythology underpinning China in the way that the US might have believed in the idealism of Jefferson, Washington, manifest destiny, etc. If there is a prevailing belief, it is that well-paying jobs must be pursued.

Religion. A majority of people are not motivated by common religious beliefs. Even though there are certainly many, many religions represented in China, the population as a whole remains detached from a single, organized religious practice.

I hesitate to go further I have probably already gone too far in making generalizations that are applicable to a quarter of the world's population.

I will now make a few comments about the kinds of people I met in China, as three categories seemed to develop over the nine weeks. The first loose category of people are those whom another Westerner explained to me are very difficult to get to know. That is, it is very difficult to become good friends with many Chinese; it takes a long time to win their friendship. For the most part, this group of people was closed off to my access because of the extremely short duration of my trip.

Then there are those who are too friendly. This is because they want something from you. While maybe all human interactions are driven by self-serving ulterior motives, this group of people is primarily in search of money. To have white skin in China is to announce that you have more spendable money than everyone else. Street vendors who befriend you hope that you will then support their business. Talkative college students hope that you will help them practice their English which will allow them to find significantly better jobs. Others will ask you to write letters of recommendation or utilize you for making connections with the Western world. My roommate Ryan and I noticed this category of people about halfway through the trip. One of our most commonly spoken vocabularly phrases became the Chinese translation of "ulterior motive", something like 密密的目的。

Finally, there is a category of wonderful people who are genuinely interested in learning about Western culture and who are willing to become friends in a relatively short period of time. In this group of people are those who will go so far as to spend some of their own money to invite you out to dinner or offer gifts without the promise of recompense.

I am looking forward to my next trip to China. Traveling always helps us appreciate our own worlds more when we return, and also offers us the new perspective necessary for fixing the problems of our own worlds. The thing I already miss most from China is the food. In two days I have gained back any weight I lost from eating the relatively healthier Chinese dishes. My next trip to China will likely involve research for my history major thesis.

The blog has been a selfishly wonderful way to keep a journal and at the same time keep friends informed without having to resort to individual emails. Ryan and I will be starting a new blog next month geared for explaining Western culture to a college-aged Chinese audience. Whent that gets up and running I will post a link from this blogsite. My warm appreciation to anyone who has read this far and who has been kind enough to express interest in my trip.

When We Were Kings

Your buck goes a lot farther in China than in the USA, particularly with regard to labor-intensive products. Such as massages. This evening Ryan, several teachers, and I treated ourselves to a mid-range massage that included a brief back massage followed by intensive foot massaging followed by ginger treatment. Two hours later, as the burning ginger sensation from our legs was wearing off, we paid our 70 kuai ($10) and returned home.

Massages are certainly one of the perks of life in China for foreigners. Next time I plan to experiment with some of the more elaborate massage offerings. I may decide not to bring along Ryan, as his pale and smooth skin attracts all of the compliments from the massage ladies. His masseuse suggested he get an advertising gig that would allow him to model his legs. She did not say, however, whether she thought he would be modeling women's high heels or men's running shoes. Highlights of our little cultural exchange in the massage parlour included trying to explain UVA's mascots (Cavalier and Wahoo) to our teachers and to the masseuses. We didn't get much farther than Oliver Cromwell and drinking beer.

Prior to this outing, I was invited by my earlier homestay-family to the Shanghai Symphony's season closing performance of Mozart and Bizet. In bow tie and my newly made linen jacket I arrived approximately 40 minutes late, though fortunately Mrs. Chen had given me the concert ticket yesterday and I strode in with the late comers during the first intermission. Why so late you ask? I had made the mistake of assuming that Friday evening traffic was better than Friday rush hour traffic. Thus after 30 minutes, I exited my taxi half a mile from where I had started and began jogging to the metro station where I launched my sweaty self onto the next train heading towards Pudong, nearly the opposite side of Shanghai. After arriving at the designated station, I flew up the stairs and was conveniently propositioned by a dozen motorcycle taxi's. As we blazed down the wide boulevard's of Pudong I deftly secured my bow tie around my neck and at long last made it to the Shanghai Art Center's concert hall. The performance was quite enjoyable, although I was certainly the only one in the audience with a buttoned collar, let alone jacket.

Communist Propaganda Art and the Civil Rights Movement

Despite the massive famines of the late fifties and the upheavals of the cultural revolution in the late sixties, Communists did a good job of educating the general public about the terrors of the outer capitalist world. Here is a photo from the Shanghai Propaganda Poster Museum depicting the depravity of the non-Communist world.

Ryan and I managed to locate this strange museum several days ago. Located in a non-descript apartment building with no road signs, this small museum is actually two rented apartments in building 4 of an average looking apartment complex in a residential part of Shanghai. In fact, Ryan and I were the only two patrons, excluding an Australian dermatologist who had spent the entire morning looking for the museum only to leave after about ten minutes.

Look Out Venice!

After spending the night with a Chinese host family, the Chen's, I was taken to one of the water towns outside of Shanghai called Zhujiajiao. Seated next to me is their 18 year-old son Zhang Fan. Saturday night I christened Zhang Fan with a new English name, Francis, on account of his interest in writing essays (Bacon). We are shown in the bow of our formidable boat being powered from the stern by an oarsman.

China's emphasis on restoring its historical heritage is new. The tickets to all of the town's museums are adorned with less than perfect English translations. The museums themselves, while often air-conditioned and housed in nicely renovated houses, offer little in the way of knowledge and less in the way of English translations. Fortunately, my host Mr. Chen, as the CCP Secretary for our district of Shanghai's regional development, told me he would rectify this, as he is friends with the town's administrator.

This particular town contained: lots of little souvenir shops selling reproduction handicrafts; about ten mini-museums relating to silk, rice, postal service, pottery, vases; about forty very nice old stone bridges; a temple complex housing both Buddhist and Daoist altars (?); and some quaint narrow alleys. Apparently China has dozens of these kinds of towns on the historic waterways. As you go about 100 meters inland however, the modern suburbs immediately destroy the notion of historicism.

My host family was very gracious and I was grateful to be assigned to a family with a new car and not one but two well-furnished apartments in a fashionable development. In fact, as they picked me up from the university on Saturday, I experienced my first ride in a private Chinese automobile. This experience of whizzing past all of the dirty sidewalks and street vendors offerred quite a different perspective of China than my usual foot-powered locomotion. While we have significant differences between rich and poor in the US, I found myself awed by the unfamiliar feeling of clean leather seats and the convenience of driving in the city. When the family dropped me off on Sunday afternoon at our dormitory, I felt like a Prince being returned in a golden sedan chair and was actually hoping that some of my classmates might notice my stylish mode of transportation. Such has China affected my consciousness.

Cultural Communication Continues

Here is another photo from the festivities yesterday as I have no pictures to share from today. Our Independence Day celebrations took place, of course, in the pagoda where our expedition first landed, if you will remember to the first entry, on the shores of the LiWa River in a small pagoda, perhaps the only traditional architectural remnant of traditional China within five miles of the university.

The weather continues to humidify, and one can hardly walk to class without feeling like his clothes have been shrink-wrapped around him. The other, more likely, explanation is that my appetite continues unabated as I fit in less and less exercise.

My day is ending as it usually does. I am unsuccessfully trying to remember interesting highlights of the day while sitting at my small desk in our dorm-room sized "hotel" room. I am relatively tired and not looking forward to getting up early to finish the homework I should have done during the day. Ryan is doing strange leg exercises while lying prone on his bed and reviewing his Chinese. The metalic hum of our ventilator drowns out the small noises.

Fourth of July with Chinese Characteristics

We began celebrating the Fourth of July 12 hours before most Americans as today culminated with an "American-style"　BBQ. Unfortunately China lacks most of the essential ingredients, but we provided local passersby with amusement nonetheless. Ryan and I bought out the local grocery's store's entire selection of hot dog buns and all 2 packs of their hot dogs. We then supplemented "Taiwan sausage" for the rest of the meat source and purchased boiled corn on stick in large quantities. It seems the Chinese lack an intermediate between toilet paper and kleenex, so we resorted to toilet paper as the most traditional napkin option. Finally, a case of Budweiser, sweet tea, and Coca Cola confirmed our Western appearances in the check-out line.

Of course one cannot buy ice in China, let alone a cooler, so we had to bribe the kitchen staff of a nearby restaurant with 15 kuai to cool down our drinks in the industrial refrigerator for an hour and a half.

Ryan, ever resourceful, had purchased a 50 kuai ($7) grill at the larger, more distant super-market last week, so we fired it up with great labor and Colin eventually took command of cooking our mini-Asian-size hotdogs. A fireworks screensaver and an album of patriotic American songs from my laptop assuaged our nostalgic feelings for home while our dinner party became more and more crowded. Ryan passed watermelon around while the flags, as usual, hung limply in the thick, humid air.

Finally we sang the National Anthem and our teachers sang the Chinese Anthem with great enthusiasm.

Mind Your Manners, China

Yes, the Chinese have trouble with traditional manners when it comes to public spaces. The most common complaints from foreigners are usually related to forming lines. The Chinese have a tendency to scramble for things instead of lining up. Even older people cut in front of me in the cafeteria to get their breakfast. It takes a lot of patience not to start fights when this sort of effrontery occurs. I have to stop myself and remember that being hostile is not exactly polite either.

That said, spitting and garbage are other big issues. If you want to throw something away, you just drop it, and I think peasants come by later to clean it up, haul it away, and get paid by the waste authority. At the end of every day, the street outside the University's back gate is littered with napkins, used chopsticks, bottles, cups, rotted vegetables, and assorted plastic items.

The advertisement shown above is part of the government's effort to civilize public life by encouraging the orderly use of crosswalks and pedestrian lights, particularly with the influx of tourists arriving next summer for the olympics.

Predestination in China?

Today, the official birthday of the CCP, a group of us metroed downtown to visit the site of the founding of the Communist Party in one of Shanghai's preserved Shikumen ("stone entranceway") houses. The first communists were clever to meet in that particular place in 1921, as now it is the site of Shanghai's most fashionable development project (called XinTianDi) that houses all of Western capitalism's finest shops, restaurants, and bars. We were disappointed to find the museum all but empty of homage-paying citizens, and we were in fact the only people looking at the exhibits.

The exhibits started with the above plaque, tracing the struggles of the working class to overcome foreign imperialism and bourgeois influence and to triumphantly achieve socialist egalitarian utopia. Unfortunately most of the exhibit plaques and photo captions lacked English translations so I was left to assume that they contain a rather slanted portrayal of the century's events.

Forbidden Flag

For some reason I love flags. Here is pictured the UVA flag in Beijing's Forbidden City. By this time the plainclothes policemen had lost interest and I felt safe in proudly swinging this fine emblem of Western pride.

Today we were lectured by a retired UVA professor named John Israel who spoke about China in general, with specific references to disparities between countryside and city. He gave us a slideshow that paired images of this disparity, for example Shanghai advertisements with oxen-powered ploughs in small villages. Apparently Roy Rogers said about the American Depression that it was the first time people drove to the poor house in cars. This is not the case in China, and it will apparently be a long time before these disparities even out.

In addition to the well-known issues of pollution, corruption and education, he told us that China faces a potentially massive AIDS situation as well. Despite the Premier's offer to provide all Chinese with anti-retroviral medications, the Chinese peasants still face bleak medical futures because of the inefficient distribution system and the inconvenience of obtaining these medications. For example, a peasant has to get a full-body checkup before receiving the medication, and the checkup apparently can cost half a year of wages. Furthermore, only 2 months of medication are distributed at a time. A couple of weeks ago we learned that something like 60% of Chinese still live in the countryside. This figure is worrying to the government because the countryside has traditionally been the breeding ground for discontent and the source of revolutionary power.

Pale Skin in China

While in Beijing, Sarah and the other Jefferson Scholars arrived in Shanghai, leaving us with a one day overlap before they returned to the USA on Monday. They concluded their three week tour of Japan, China, and Tibet by absorbing some of Shanghai's air pollution. Sarah's light skin and height attracted considerable praise wherever we went.

We are pictured at the campus' Mao statue, also the site of the bi-weekly "English Corner", where students practice English. Some students also like to roller-blade beside the statue. Interesting. We are going to observe the Communist Party celebrate its birthday on Sunday morning so there will be more to say with respect to Party matters later this weekend.

Today I had dinner with two Chinese friends whose motives for befriending me have yet to become clear. I have become slightly disillusioned by the phenomenon of fast-friendship, as it seems that most Chinese see dollar signs when they see Americans. Even friendship for the sake of friendship can easily be the desire to practice English in disguise. In China, speaking English means making money, and so one can easily attract a following if one is ready to offer English instruction. An American ex-patriot has told me that it takes a very long time to actually befriend native Chinese, and so I remain skeptical that most of my acquaintances here are looking for personal gain. Yet, at the same time I have to admit that I'm also looking out for my own financial future by coming to China in the first place. Nevertheless, it is harder as a foreigner to judge sincerity in this culture.

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

After driving about 45 minutes outside of downtown Beijing to see a section of the Great Wall, I was rather disappointed to overhear a middle-aged American lady ask her friend, "Which side is Mongolia?"

At long last, Moosedung resumes. We spent last week in Beijing seeing all of Beijing's famous sites in the style of "If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium". Beijing is a very large city with lots of tourists, particularly Chinese domestic tourists come to see their esteemed capital. After taking the overnight train from Shanghai, we were led straight to Tiananmen Square by our tourguide. With the UVA flag waving majestically from a bamboo pole, we began parading across the large space brushing aside peddlers left, right and center. Suddenly a police van full of plainsclothes operatives zoomed across the square. It's driver said something quickly, pointed to the flag, and I reluctantly furled it. Plainsclothes police then tailed our group rather conspicuously for the duration of our tour of the Forbidden Palace, and finally became convinced of our peaceful intentions.

We saw lots of things very quickly in Beijing. Unfortunately, Mao's mausoleum has been closed for renovation and we were prevented from seeing his preserved body floating in formaldehyde. Perhaps these special treats are to be unveiled just before the Olympics. As China's capital city under five dynasties, Beijing has a much better selection of traditional sites than Shanghai. Beijing also has a well-deserved reputation for its famous Peking Duck. Well worth trying.

We enjoyed a morning in one of Beijing's more famous parks and observed the typical morning activities of Beijing's older generation. As one strolls around such parks in the early morning, one can find people excercising birds (by swinging their cages), practicing Taiji, ballroom dancing, playing Mahjong, practicing instruments, singing opera, and doing some sort of weird exercise that entails smacking one fist into the palm of the other hand while walking.

I was glad to get back to Shanghai, perhaps because it is most familiar, but not less because there are fewer tour groups. The weather has finally become sticky and oppressive. We have air-conditioned classrooms and bedrooms, but this is certainly not the time to go out and experience life in the rice paddies.

Old Chinese Men

Throughout Shanghai, a careful people-watcher will notice that older men love to strike poses on the side of the street. This phenomenon is particularly visible on a Saturday morning between 8am and 9am as all of Shanghai's retired men escape the confinement of their apartments and stride down the street until they find a good perch, whereupon the goal seems to be to stand as quietly and majestically as possible for about thirty minutes.

After people-watching, I joined a group of students headed towards an enormous fabric market. The girls got fitted for traditional qi pao's (the long silk dresses) and then we went for a surprisingly enjoyable lunch. After a long nap, my roommate Ryan, myself, and several friends soaked in a bit of Shanghai's jazz scene. The evening culminated with the arrival of Sugar Mama, a back up singer for Tina Turner back in the day. Sugar Mama's not insignificant figure and her powerful voice aroused significant admiration amongst our Chinese companions.

West Meets West

The Western Hemisphere met the Western Hemisphere today in the Ritz Carlton's famous Western Grocery Store. Edward Bennett and I needed cheese, port, and coffee. After dropping by the cloth market and continuing our spending spree on tailor-made clothes, we headed for the safe haven that tantalized us with rumors of milk products and aperitifs.

Along the way we learned that many visitors to Shanghai never actually leave the confines of this sprawling hotel complex. Indeed, the Ritz has its own Starbucks, its own pharmacy, Shanghai's only Western grocery store, and God alone knows what else. In every direction, long formations of Americans paraded from their buses to the safety of quality-controlled bars with air-conditioning. And every one of these good old boys sported a large Starbucks drink as their exposed chubby legs reflected the shimmering night lights of the bustling mothership that is this hotel.

With a small picnic in hand, we taxiied to the Bund (Shanghai's old financial district by the water), enjoyed our first course, and I saw Shanghai's nighttime skyline for the first time. A group of four Chinese college students admired our picturesque spread on one of the stone benches and probably thought that we would be an easy target for tea-racketeering. Fortunately, I surprised them with language skills and they realized, of course, that we were in fact old China hands. They had seen Gone with the Wind so I took the opportunity to explain to them how America's plantation life continues to thrive, and that slavse labor was paying for our trip to China.

We then strolled along the large Huangpu River through the crowd of beggars and lovers to our destination, "M on the Bund", recommended by the Venerable Doc. Shurmer. Seated on the terrace, we both reflected that the evening had so far been our most enjoyable in Shanghai. And then we realized that our evening had approximately nothing to do with the Orient. We drank Australian wine, ate Australian lamb, dined in a European colonial building, looked out upon a European trading city built in the style of the West, our delicious bread and cheese had come directly from Europe to the Ritz, and we were both, of course, Americans. I know what you're thinking and I took the liberty of asking - no, they didn't have a single pair of chopsticks in the establishment.

Our waiter, however, provided the tipping point- a Scotsman! On a whim, I asked him his family name. Yes, he was of the clan Fraser from Inverness. Yes, he was a distant cousin of myself and even Edward (whose Grandmother was a Fraser)! Yes, his brother is the current Clan Chief of my people! Yes, this fellow lives in our ancestral home. Yes, he and his brother have just launched the Fraser Clan's new line of Scotch Whisky - "The Old Fox" - in memory of our common ancestor Simon Fraser (the last to be executed at the Tower of London). Shanghai, of all places.

There is much to be said for the colonial approach to Shanghai. Let alone the fact that our dinner cost approximately sixty times the amount that a meal on the street would cost (don't worry Mom - dinner was still reasonable). Order tailored clothes in the morning, dine on lamb in the evening, and speak a little Chinese to the cab driver on the way back to the dormitory.

American Culture for All Chinese!

As I found out today, technologically capable Chinese have full access to American culture. With the help of a website called baidu.com and the lack of copyright enforcement, I have learned how to instantly access everything. Yes, everything. Every American movie, TV show, song, MP3, etc. Over here, a single website can instantly give you access to movies as yet unreleased in the U.S.A.

This phenomenon confused me a bit. On the one hand my computer gets blocked if I search "Falungong Practioner", and on the other I can have access to every vice or virtue of American society within five seconds. Edward's roommate, officially known as Leo Claudius Nimbus (see Edward's Blog - sericus.blogspot.com - for the full story) introduced me to these wonders on his laptop with gleeful joy. He asked me if I knew what "Bit Torrent" meant. Edward and I began explaining about the etymology bits of data and torrents of rain, but he interrupted us excitedly saying: "No, no, no, it means --- unlimited access to American culture!!!" Apparently he back to his parents' home every weekend, as does every normal Chinese college student, and watches American movies on his laptop. And yet the government only officially allows twenty American movies to be introduced to China every year.

Yesterday Leo Claudius Nimbus explained why we have always received free watermelon after every meal. Apparently the unsaid arrangment is that the restaurant gives you fruit instead of giving you a receipt. This way, the restaurant avoids paying taxes and customers get fruit.

I'll share another interesting Chinese oddity. On the bus ride to Hangzhou last weekend we asked our tourguide why every farmhouse had one of two types of towers rising above the second floor. Well, it's rather obvious. If the family's child (remember, China's one child policy) is male, the tower gets to be pointed. If the family's child is female, the tower's roof is flat. Just like the earth.

Musings

It seems I have no picture today. Thus I will take this opportunity to reflect on some of my general impressions from China after having been here nearly three weeks. I must first admit that three weeks cannot do justice to even a small district of Shanghai, let alone China. Furthermore, I understand that Shanghai is in fact very different from the rest of China.

Nevertheless, I think I can safely say this is a godless country. There are, I here, millions of Christians, as well as Buddhists, Muslims, Daoists, etc, but I have yet to meet one personally. I keep intending to make it to a Church and perhaps I will this Sunday. This will no doubt become a later entry as there are sure to be interesting observations. But what does this mean? It's hard to say. You meet the same kinds of people as you do in the United States - friendly people, ethical people, mean people, fair people, kind people, etc. Most college students actually are required to read the bible, but apparently it is read academically and not for evangelical purposes.

China's cultural revolution of the late 1960's and early 1970's seems to have wiped out most of the traditional aspects of China that have made it so appealing to Westerners in the past. In fact, I think China is going to have to reinvent its old customs and traditions if it is going to become a major tourist destination. Cheap clothes and chopsticks can only arouse so much interest. Of course the economic incentives for business and trade remain, but these have little to do with the China we have all mused about. Perhaps I am seventy-five years too late in getting here.

I heard today that Confucianism, or at least Confucius' works, are "hot" right now. That is, they are the thing to be reading. Edward Bennett's roommate here (who is Chinese) believes the government is trying to legitimize itself with the new generation by superficially appealing to Confucianism. They're going to have to do something, because statues of Mao can only arouse so much enthusiasm in people who have no tangible connection to their history.

Things are going to happen here in the future. It was only 18 years ago that China used military force to suppress mass demonstrations of millions of people. Perhaps the spark will come from objections over internet monitoring, or similar filtering of information sources. Perhaps there will be no fighting, perhaps there could be another revolution. The question at hand, I believe, is whether the current government has control of the vast economic investments flowing in from other countries. I'll ask this question to one of our UVA economics professors whose specialty is China and get back to you.

Most of the people are great and they get by on modest lifestyles. But it just takes one visit to the mega grocery store to feel like a meaningless sardine.

Gao Kao

Here are Chinese students coming out of day two of the three day college entrance examination called the gao kao. The pressure is on for this test because it basically determines where a student will go to college, and ultimately how good their career prospects will be. The parents wait anxiously outside the gate to whisk their children away for lunch. You can see one older man fanning his daughter as they walk away.

Apparently Chinese parents are so concerned about this test that the Chinese high school experience is devoted to preparation for this test. Parents get private tutors for children or send their children to after-school schools in order to be competitive. Apparently 10 million or so Chinese students took the test this week, and while most will be able to go to some college, only a small percentage can go to the best colleges.

If you perform badly, you can retake the test the following year, but that's not exactly convenient. Each province administrates its own gao kao, and students qualify to attend colleges within that same province. The system has some inequality because students from poor provinces must outperform students from well-developed provinces in order to place into good colleges.

It seems like the US may be moving in this direction as the College Board grows ever more powerful and as US competition increases. The downsides are the lack of traditional adolescent experiences, parental pressure, and the need to select four potential majors before taking the test.

An Historic Moment

UVA's (departing - hmm) Provost Gene Block and International Affairs mogul Leigh Grossman arrived in Shanghai last night for this morning's breathtakingly well-organized and completely un-awkward opening of UVA's new Center at East China Normal University (where I am right now). After flying some odd 10,000 miles, the UVA delegates graciously spent five minutes with us students before being whisked off by ECNU's president and the University's party secretary for tours of the vicinity, etc.

Fortunately, several patriotic students saved the occasion with flags, school ties, and auspicious (red-colored) shirts. We are featured marching along the lane as bewildered Chinese students assume that Gene Block is George Bush. Coincidentally, perhaps arranged by the party secretary, processional marching music played over the loud speakers as we made our way from the press room to the future UVA in Shanghai Center.

While the Chinese themselves have proven remarkably informal, I fear our own UVA diplomats needed to spend a little more time preparing their own remarks and at least being able to say hello in Chinese. Highlights from the ceremony include an ECNU official reading Leigh Grossman's biography off the internet, particularly his vivid description of her newest book, Controlling Infectious Diseases in Daycare Centers.

A lesson to us all: always carry an American Flag with you. Bamboo poles and foreign flags can be obtained along the way. Another lesson: prepare formal remarks ahead of time.

Xitang: A River Town

上有天堂，下有西塘；不去一趟，实在冤枉。

"Above there is paradise, below there is Xitang; To not go one time, would be very wrong."

We have returned safely from our weekend trip to Hangzhou City and Xitang, both between 2 and 3 hours from our base of operations in Shanghai. Apparently there are numerous such river towns in China, but this one is particularly known. The streets are tiny and there are lots of quality bridges spanning the small rivers. The locals all have road level stores selling knock-offs, beverages, and little odds and ends. I can't say it's paradise on earth. The interesting part is watching the locals go about their daily lives in an old-fashioned setting. The trip inspired me to plan a future boat voyage exploring the waterways of the Yangtze River delta.

Hangzhou is known as China's most beautiful city, as it surrounds a large lake and sits at the base of the mountains. Six of us hired a boatman to row us across the lake Saturday night and we were able to enjoy the many temples lit up like Christmas trees around the lake.

We also visited a tea plantation and sat through a thirty minute lecture/advertisement of green tea's countless healing qualities (you'll lose weight, you won't get cancer, you won't age, it helps digestion, it tightens your skin, it can steam your eyes- see the video link below, and it's all available for sale in four varieties, how much do you all want to buy? Yes, we were suckered into buying a whole boatload of the stuff but it was enjoyable.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YH_QQyvHNWE

What a Confusing Place

It appears the internet police have begun blocking my access to the blog. Fortunately, they have not been thorough enough, although I can no longer access the internet on my own laptop and must now use my roommates. Nevertheless, the cause of freedom demands that I carry forward the noble cause that is Moosedung.

Today two friends and I travelled to one of Shanghai's famous tailor-made clothing districts in search of cheap suits, jackets, and qi pai's. We found all of this and more, although our bargaining skills are apparently quite poor. We failed to actually get fitted for anything because we realized we were not getting fair price quotes. However, we shall certainly return, and we shall prevail, perhaps with the help of a native Shanghainese.

In these places you can get everything from tailor-made tuxedos to corduroy jackets to silk ties, but of course the bargaining process is quite draining and rather perplexing at first.

After this outing, Colin (of racketeering fame) and I took off on foot through the neighboring district. In fact, we were apparently the first white men ever to have discovered this remote district of Shanghai, or so it appeared. With the backdrop of new skyscrapers, this district featured the medieval-looking streets of older Shanghai and lots of little shops beside the road. With cheap cigars in our mouths, Chinese 750ml beers in our hands, and the all-powerful American Dollar in our pockets, we blazed a trail through a fascinating melee of fish mongers, chicken mongers, fruits stands, frog-salesmen, and mongers of all other animals known to the Orient.

Colin braved a large portion of jiaozi's (dumplings) and his stomach-fate is yet to be determined, though he swears I missed the best meal he's had yet in Shanghai. We feasted on man tou's and finally emerged on the other side of the market as changed men.

This city is incredibly perplexing for being so schizophrenic. You step off the main drag and your in the nineteenth century. The police monitor your internet browsing and yet everyone is generally very gracious. Many things to ponder.

Loose in the Kitchen

Wang Laoshi introduced us to China's aboriginal culinary arts today as we made sugary tomatoes, vinegar cucumber, and soy sauce eggs in our weekly cooking class. They were all very tasty and naturally healthy. We are pictured in the kitchen of the LiWa Cafeteria.

Taiji Boxing

Just glance at me, I am looking more than a little bit Chinese after nearly two weeks. Yesterday was our first Taiji lesson with Huang Laoshi, one of the Chinese language teachers who also studies Taiji. This is harder than it looks. It's not exactly what I was hoping for when I saw "Taiji boxing" on the sign-up sheet, but still, I am glad to be able to exercise with such a good looking group of people, even if I won't get the opportunity to fight with them.

Last night another language student and I discovered where all of Shanghai's three Latin Americans hang out, a bar called Mural that was hosting a Salsa band from Puerto Rico. My confidence remained high after seeing the limited dancing abilities of the Chinese men in attendance.

Jefferson Prevails!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n03hSaZro3I

Today I went on another thrilling bike road through the neighboring vicinities of Shanghai. The most remarkable aspect is the immense diversity of people and lifestyles. Within the same block, there is a luxury 20 story apartment building and an old shack with a dozen people sitting out front. Of course the entire city is grungy but you get used to it. Construction looms everywhere as the older two and three story neighborhoods become 20 story apartment buildings.

I watched a man fishing in one of the many inner-city canals using a very clever net. I had forgotten to bring my camera. The net was supported by six long bamboo poles sitting on the bottom of the canal. When he wanted to haul in the large circular net he pulled on a long string that levered up the entire contraption so that he could see whether he had anything in it. Being a Sunday afternoon, about twenty old men stood watching him idly. In my athletic shoes, shorts, and UVA t-shirt I got a lot of stares and felt more than slightly uncomfortable as they spoke rapidly in Shanghainese.

Racketeering on Nanjing Lu

Here is my buddy Colin with Chinese racketeers.

Today Edward Bennett and I taxied to the Bund again in search of authentic antiques, the Chopsticks Store, and a good meal. Nanjing Lu is a pedestrian mall connecting the large People's Park to the Huangpu River and the historic buildings, and it is filled with shopping opportunities for tourists. On the way there, our cab driver displayed a remarkably ignorant understanding of street addresses, taking us first to the wrong end of Nanjing Road and then passing our destination before we got him to stop and let us out. I suspect that the fellow was looking for a way to make a few extra kuai by driving us a longer distance.

We dined briefly on Cantonese style dumplings and negotiated our way to the Chopsticks store. Chopsticks stores are notoriously difficult to pinpoint because they tend to be rather long and narrow. Finally, we left with a couple of pairs of low quality chopsticks and decided to save our big money for something more applicable to Western life.

About every 30 seconds one of Shanghai's many transients from Anhui Province would come up to us trying to attract our attention into out-of-the-way shops that sell cheap watches, DVD's, shoes, clothes, massages, hashish, and other unmentionables (please let me know if anyone needs any watches or DVD's). I nearly lost my voice today dealing with these persistant but ultimately friendly people. I managed to repeatedly throw them for a loop by pre-empting their offers, instead offering to sell them my watch for 1,000 rmb. Edward, not as gifted in the Chinese language, merely waved plastic cards from his wallet saying, "Would you like to buy IP card?" They quickly learned we were old China hands.

Before dinner, we met up with Colin, who seems to attract solicitations even more than Edward and me. Colin had been befriended by three Chinese youths who "happened" to know a good place to go for tea and the traditional "tea ceremony". I will try to get him to post the entire story in length as a comment to this entry, as it is rather amusing when told by him. The above picture is of another group of Chinese who wanted to go out to dinner with Colin. Fortunately, he had his wits about himself.

Ming Dynasty Painting Example

Exotic Dining

Today we were befriended by a Chinese student from Canton who ended up coming to dinner with us. We had been at the Shanghai Museum and then strolled down Nanjing Road to "the Bund", the Shanghai's financial district during colonial times.

Our friend offered to order for us and we ended up with a rather interesting meal. The first dish was roasted squid, followed by a light turnip and jellyfish salad. The waiter then brought out a massive bowl of congealed-blood soup, perhaps more accurately described as blood-jelly soup. As we introduced our Chinese friend to the art of making Yo Mamma jokes, we received dishes of entire salted fish and chicken feet. Being a little less than enthusiastic about filling up on this fare, we were fortunate that pigs fit (heavy on the feet part) emerged next from the kitchen. And of course, we concluded with watermelon.

The waiter cheated us slightly by approaching us while our fluent Chinese friend was away and asking us what kind of tea we preferred. We then ended up with apparently the most expensive tea at 49 rmb, though this is really only about $7.

The museum was very interesting, notably containing exhibits in jade, ancient bronze, all dynasties of painting, and wooden furniture. I decided to focus on just a couple of exhibits and quite enjoyed the Ming Dynasty paintings. The landscapes are remarkably aesthetic. However, I was disappointed with their use of perspective when it came to drawing in people and structures. Hopefully you can make out an example from the posted photo.

Rocks seem to be very important to the Chinese. For example, they like to feature special rocks in gardens. If anyone has any ideas about this, let me know. They are also dominant in these paintings.

The ride of your life

Certainly my most exhilarating experience yet has been my afternoon bike ride through rush hour. A streaming flow of rickshaws, bicycles, motorbikes, Vespas, trucks, cars, buses and carts pours through the roads as all types of people pack up and head home for the day. This picture is meant to demonstrate the diversity, not the density, of Shanghai's traffic flow.

At first glance, this chaotic mass of traffic was the first cultural difference to strike me while we traveled from the airport to the University. Yet somehow, through this entropic nightmare, gilded with strategic honking, one feels remarkably secure, despite the fact that a single miscalculation would end my life. And you also get the feeling that nobody would slow down to remove your body from the road.

But yes, there is a majestic quality to the way people transport themselves. Because it is so amazingly chaotic and dangerous, everyone gives their full attention to the road, averting mishaps when the must be avoided, but otherwise charging straight ahead. Furthermore, people can't ride bikes and talk on cellphones at the same time, and of course most of the vehicles are much smaller.

So far, Shanghai's most interesting activity from my perspective is to sit for a few minutes at an intersection and watch the various kinds of people going by. Some antediluvian men haul large cartloads of trash and preppy business women in expensive clothes scooter by wearing masks and white gloves. And the most interesting part is that the natives don't think anything of it.

Tut-tut, it looks like sun!

It seems that college women will melt if their faces are exposed to the light of day, even with a dense layer of smog shutting the actual sun out of view. Actually, the issue here is the fear of sun tans. Apparently Chinese girls prefer the whitest skin possible so as to more closely resemble the Western girls in advertisements. The question remains, why are the girls in advertisements mostly white-skinned?

My roommate Ryan is studying this anthropological phenomenon. He is not actually enrolled in our language program, but he got a grant from UVA to study the desire to be white. I haven't seen any results yet, but he has said he will post comments to the blog.

Highlights of today include equipping myself with a badminton racquet for future athletic endeavors and taking a long nap.

In the Shadow of Moose Dung himself

Here is some of our group eating dinner under the auspices of Chairman Mao. Apparently I made the error of sitting closest to the window, thus indicating that I was inviting everyone else out to dinner. Our conversation is typically limited because of our language pledge to speak only Chinese while here in Shanghai.

I began the day by finally exercising a little bit, and much to my pleasure I was able to power past the other early morning joggers. So far I've only seen one female jogger, and that was under the cover of darkness. I haven't figured out why women don't run in public, but I'll work on that. As for the men, they don't seem to exceed a slow jog. Please comment if you have any insights about this phenomenon.

Our accomodations are specifically for esteemed international students. The menagerie of foreign students here is considerable. We have one group from Kazakhstan, one from Saudi Arabia, one from New York, and many from other Asian countries. This evening the Muslim call to prayer graced the stairwell as I launched into a rousing version of "Onward Christian Soldiers", cut short by the objections of the more discrete Virginia students.

I'm hoping that as time goes by, some of you loyal readers will comment with suggestions for future outings or with cultural questions that I can investigate. Please feel free to start a dialogue.

Land of Ping Pong Athletes

It seems you're always guaranteed some intense ping pong television programming in this country.

The workload of memorizing 80 new characters a day sets in as I continue to blend in posing as a native Shanghai ren. Walking by a restaurant window this afternoon I saw Edward Bennett and another UVA student at a table contentedly surrounded by food. Because of the very favorable exchange rate, they spared no expense in assuring themselves at least one tasteful dish. Fortunately I was able to help them finish the multitude of tdishes they randomly ordered from a menu of Chinese characters. We passed on the raw, seemingly intact fish. I still haven't found coffee beans for my coffee maker. Someone could make a fortune by getting the Chinese to start drinking coffee.

Standard Items at the Grocery Store

We found these items at the meat counter of our local "Trust Mart". Other notables include chicken "paws" and the specific lack of ground coffee to use with my recently purchased drip coffee machine. It was here that I also purchased a cellphone. This event took about an hour as I had first to decide on the phone with the counter ladies, then I had to take a bill to the payment counter, then I had to return to the display counter, then I had to go downstairs to customer service for a special stamp, then I had to return to the display counter, and finally I could walk downstairs with my purchase where I then had to display everything to a doorman.

48 hours after landing, I am already blending in as a native Han Chinese. Today we bused over to Lujiazui Road where we ascended the world's fourth-highest tower, the "Oriental Pearl TV Tower". If they had built it any higher, smog would have prevented seeing anything at all below. We then crossed the Huangpu River via tunnel and emerged in the 1920's architecture of "the Bund," Shanghai's former European financial district, looking across at the TV Tower and a dozen other skyscrapers. I engaged in my first haggling session with a man peddling roller wheels that can be strapped to sneakers. He started at 30 kuai (about $4) and I got him to 15. This served as an introduction to the feeling of heartless Western exploitation which marks every such transaction. In the end, I still got taken, as one girl got them for 10 kuai.

After lunching in the terribly tourist-ridden Yu Gardens of Old Town, we returned to the special foreign student accomodations at East China Normal University. Apparently we live quite well here, with fresh towels every day and a small air conditioning unit, although UVA's first-year dormitories are seeming luxuriously spacious. I then struck out successfully with a buddy on a bike-purchasing mission. For the mere price of $40 I now have the ability to be flattened by Shanghai's lawless "drivers" while I try merely to locate a cup of coffee in this land of tea drinkers.

One must always pay attention to what one is drinking over here. Last night, for example, my bubble tea turned out to be a snow cone covered with red beans and split peas. Delicious.

There is much to be shared, but I will keep things as brief as possible.

Two miles of visibility from China's highest tower

In the name of Thomas Jefferson, the First Virginia Expeditionary Force today claimed approximately 3.6 million square miles of new territory. The natives call it "China". Landing on the banks of the formidable Li Wa River, our party quickly subdued and befriended nearby inhabitants, namely a middle-aged man named "Old Wang" found lurking in the primeval flora. Our pith helmets made bearable the searing heat and fierce sun. We are proud to say the Old Dominion has gained approximately 1.3 billion loyal new subjects, whose population contains at least 56 recognized minority groups. Conveniently, they all belong to the same political party. Please keep us in your prayers, and stay tuned for daily updates.

Contact Has Been Made

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Imperialism

Greetings!

In the spirit of failed diplomatic missions, and in memory of Brigadier General Patrick J. Hurley, personal envoy of President Roosevelt to "General Shek" and Chairman "Moose Dung," the University of Virginia sends me to Shanghai's East China Normal University. From my outpost in Shanghai, the stranachudes of China, I largesse my thoughts to the civilized world I leave behind.