Peking Opera

This Sunday I'm finally getting to see some Peking opera. (I guess I really should start calling it Beijing opera.)

Here's the story:

"Xianglian Qin"

Qin Xianglian's husband Shimei Chen left for Beijing to attend the national examination which is held once a year for emperor to pick up the new officers nationwide. However there hasn't be any news from him since he left. While hometown has been suffering from years drought, mother-in-law and father-in-law both died from hunger. So Xianglian took her son and daughter to beijing to find her husband. When she arrived Beijing, she heard that Shimei Chen her husband won examination champion and he was asked to marry the princess by emperor. On the date of his birthday, Xianlian sneak into the palace to meet Shimei. However he pretended that he didn't know her at all, even evict her and the son and daughter out of the palace.

The vizir of three dynasties Yanling Wang heard about this. He advise Xianglian to pretend as a countryside lady to sing the lyrics about their story in the banquet feast in front of Shimei Chen. Still Chen didn't admit that he knew her. He evicted Xianglian out of the Beijing city and gave a order to his general Qi Han to secretly kill Xianglian and the children so that no one will know his past anymore. Qi Han followed Xianglian to the temple, where Xianglian told the truth to him with tears, Qi Han couldn't have the heart to kill them. He decided to let them go. But he felt he didn't fulfill the order, he suicided after they left.

With too much grief and indignation, Xianglian went to Zheng Bao (Who is a national judge very famous for incorruptibility and fairness). Zheng Bao accepted the case and requested Shimei and Xianglian to attend the court. Shimei thinks that he is royal, so he chop logic to defend himself. Also his imperial aunt, mothers in law all came to thread Zheng Bao. However Zhengbao didn't listen to them while insist to sentence Shimei death by hay cutter.

This is a traditional repertoire which artists in every generations often perform. In the 1950s, Beijing Opera Troupe in Beijing has been sensational performances, because several arts masters have participated in the performance. One such as Mr. Ma Lianliang played by Wang Yanling, Chen Shimei played by Mr. Tan Fuying, Bao Zheng, played by Qiu Shengrong, Qin Xianglian played by Mr. Zhang Junqiu,imperial grandmother by Mr. Li Duokui, shopkeepers played by Mr. Ma Fulu, Hanqi by Mr. Tan Yuanshou play , imperial aunt played by Miss Zhao Liqiu. It was a huge blast with all those famous Peking opera masters as well as shinning stars.It was one big successful event in Beijing opera circles. Each performance, the applause continued unprecedentedly. It not only displayed the charm of a powerful national art and improve the Chinese Beijing Opera's international reputation, but also set a brilliant example for the great corporations between acting crew, which is still the much-told story of Beijing Opera circle.

I will try to take pictures :-)

The Olympics, The Number 8, and Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda has taken China by storm. Seriously. Everyone I talk to says it's the best China-related movie they've seen, even counting Chinese movies. Everyone feels that it really portrays Chinese culture and society very accurately. Themes in the movie are traditional themes from Chinese life. And it's just a well-done film. Citizens are now pointing fingers at Chinese moviemakers and saying things like "Why can't you make a movie this good! You're Chinese, for Pete's sake!" (Okay they probably don't use that idiom.) They're amazed that Americans could do this good of a job. (As am I!)

I've seen it twice myself and think it's really good. But from my point of view I was like "Oh this is terrible, so stereotypical China, with the pagodas and the martial arts and the mysticism and the dragons and the animal characters and what have you. I can't believe Americans have the nerve to put this stuff out." So elitist. But it turns out that these stereotypes are accepted and embraced by native Chinese, as detailed above. So does that mean they're really stereotypes? After all, that word has a pejorative connotation.

Sooo many interesting things going on there.

***

After years of hype and speculation, the 2008 Beijing Olympic games are finally upon us. The opening ceremony is tonight at 8 PM. For those who don't know, 8 is a lucky number in Chinese culture. Its pronunciation (ba) sounds like another character (fa) which means to get rich, to be prosperous. That's why the most prominent buildings have 8s in their addresses. The Jin Mao Tower is at 88 Century Ave. The glitzy Radisson New World hotel is at 88 Nanjing Xi Lu. The more 8s your phone number has, the more money you will pay for that SIM card. The hotel that my relatives are staying at has a phone number that ends in 8888. I shudder to think what they must have paid for that.

Thus it was inevitable that the Chinese would bid for the games in the summer of 2008. Not only that, because of the year, but because the summer games start in August, the 8th month. And it's beginning on Friday the 8th. Starting at 8 PM.

The Olympics will start on 8/8/08 at 8:08 PM. This is not an accident.

The Games are China's coming-out party. The unveiling. The dropping of all pretense that China is still the China of the past 150 years, the China of the Opium Wars and concessions to foreign governments and the fall of dynasties. China is using the Games say to the world "We are a new world power; before this century is out, we will be the world power. Recognize us. Accept us. Our prominence is inevitable."

It's not in a threatening way. It's not in an intimidating way. It's in a factual way. 1.3 billion people. An economy with a double-digit annual growth rate. Cars. Oil. Internet. Cell phones. Plastic packaging. More skyscrapers in Shanghai than on the entire West Coast of the US. A projected population in this city alone of 40 - 60 million during the next century. If so many people still have an image of China as a backwater, they will soon drop it in favor of the glitz and modernity, the glamour and pomp, that the games will showcase.

At least, that is the hope of the Chinese government, that the world will recognize it must come to terms with what's going on over here. That the US no longer will stand as the world's unquestioned superpower. It can't. There's no way. 300 million people? Pshaw. That's nothing. A drop in the bucket. That isn't even enough people to ensure the quality of the English language. Yes, our standard of living is higher. But it won't be for long. It can't be, given the trajectories of both economies. This isn't malicious or spiteful or aggressive. Again -- it's just a fact: death, taxes, and China has a shitload of people who collectively will soon wield unheralded economic influence.

This isn't the decline of Western civilization. It's important that nobody see if this way. Because that line of thinking lends itself towards grasping, clutching, clawing attempts to hang on to perceived place in the world. That line of thinking leads to violence, which is a nothing more than an outward manifestation of deep-seated insecurity and other fears. We're better than that.

Rather, it is the rise of Eastern civilization, which was well on its way at the turn of the century but was derailed by WWII (as was much of the world outside the US). In the modern age, this rise started 30 years ago with Deng Xiaoping opening up the Chinese economy to foreign investment and a capitalist way of thought. That's why he's revered here. But in another sense, it really starts tonight. Tonight, the world will begin to see what the Chinese have known for quite awhile now. And you can even watch it on TV. How post-modern.

***

Here in Shangers, we feel the Olympics personally. One of my favorite music venues has been shut down until the games are over, actually, until September 6th. (The music will simply move to another venue.) People's flights (including mine to Macau!) are being randomly canceled or moved. I would not even want to THINK about flying to Beijing for the next two weeks. It will be bad enough flying to Macau and Tunxi. Restaurants and other venues near the Shanghai Stadium, which is hosting the soccer portion of the Olympics, also have been shut down. I see uniformed police officers much more than before, especially in the metro and along well-traveled streets like Huaihai Zhong Lu and Hengshan Lu. If you're carrying a large bag or package, expect to be searched as you enter the metro turnstile. And don't even think about shopping at any of Shanghai's 1,080 metro station stores. They're closed for a month. People are acting up. There was an attack in Xinjiang last week, and there was some nutcase with a knife out on Nanjing Dong Lu.

Here's hoping we all get through the craziness of August in one piece.

Haha

Two of my favorite blogs have just realized they're banned in China. It's amusing to me since, well, I've been living with this fact for quite some time now :-)

Ordering Food is a Spectator Sport

Songs I Sung

• "All the Small Things" - Blink 182
• "Two Princes" - Spin Doctors (remember that one?)
• "Sweet Home Alabama" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
• "Brown Eyed Girl" - Van Morrison
• "Seasons in the Sun" - Terry Jacks, but covered by some crappy European boy band
  

Trades

Internally, I'm not the best person in the world in dealing with change. I could cite numerous examples, but we'll leave it at that.

So that's why it's freaky to see Manny Ramirez in a Dodger uniform, Ken Griffey Jr. in a White Sox uniform, Pudge in a Yankees uniform, and Jason Bay in a Red Sox uniform. Mark Teixeira in an Angels uniform is a little easier to take, as he just joined the Braves last year. The CC and Rich Harden trades were a little easier still, since I don't pay attention to the Indians or A's that much.

MLB, you are upsetting my consistently-ordered and neatly-arranged universe. Thankfully, for the health of not only my sanity but also the team, the O's did not trade Markakis or Roberts.

Pregnant Aliens

First things first: having chocolate chip cookies for Saturday breakfast kicks ass. 'Nuff said.

I really like explaining things to people, answering questions, and helping them understand things. (On various occasions when I was younger, I have contemplated being a high school teacher.) I've found that, here in China, I get a chance to do this a lot more than I did back in the States. A couple times a week I get a chance to explain American culture, grammar, idioms, customs, viewpoints, etc. On the subway home I was talking to a co-worker about how the wedding registry system in America works (because he's getting married next year). I talked about how it's sort of a no-no to give cash as a gift (which is the custom in China, cash in red envelopes called hongbao), because the recipients might feel hurt that you don't know them well enough to pick out something specific, so the registry system is a good go-between.

Also here in China I've occasionally seen co-workers coming around and giving small treats or candies to everyone in the office. This is the custom when someone gets engaged.

That's just one example. I remember the hour spent in the cafeteria going over the checks & balances system and the various levels of government (local, state, federal, etc.) And of course that meeting I held to explain the rules of baseball. I spend the most time explaining various custom/culture things to my tutor, who I think has less formal education than my co-workers (where a Master's is the norm) but who paradoxically, because she works in an international school, has more exposure to expats (mostly young British and German kids though) here than even I do. Last week I drew her a small map of Austin to explain where my pictures were taken.

And if I like explaining things, I really love hearing:

1. How customs/cultures/attitudes are different in China vs. the US. This one is obviously a separate post on its own. One of the biggest differences is that Americans/Westerners are so much more individualistic than Chinese/Asians. Yes that's a cliche that I'm sure you're all aware of, but it really hits home when you live in China and see the ways that people act here.

That's why it freaks me out to see a Chinese guy with facial hair (!) Yes, that is an extreme rarity here. I've actually started seeing it more and more among my immediate co-workers, like, some of them will go 2 - 3 days without shaving, whereas when I got here, they were clean-shaven all the time (like most of the men in China or at least Shanghai). I like to think this is a result of how I do things, like I'm rubbing off on them, because I definitely don't shave every day :-) But I don't know if they did that before I got here.

Another example comes to us by way of the Olympics. Chinese are being instructed on things not to ask Western visitors, such as:

• Age
• Weight
• Salary
• Political preferences
• Religious preferences
• Physical ailments/health
• Marital status
  
• ...etc...
  

In the US, these topics are taboo among strangers. Imagine striking up a conversation with someone and, 5 minutes later, they ask you how much money you make or if you're a Christian. I dunno about you, but I'd find that a tad odd. I'd think my interrogator was either selling something or recently returned from living under a rock.

We have our bubbles of polite interactions, dammit, and we don't like it when someone intrudes on that. Just talk about the weather and be done with it! I'm going back to my hobbit hole ...

But in China, these topics are par for the course among strangers/recent non-strangers. They serve as a way to show someone that we're interested in them and what's going on in their life. People I know only slightly will ask me how much I paid for my shoes. Taxi drivers ask me if I'm married or have a girlfriend. It's a little strange, but I know what I'm dealing with. If that happened in America, I'd be a little weirded out. And I am here also -- but I know where I am. I'm in a country that regards these questions as, like I said, expressions of interest. Plus I'm an outsider (an alien, as I'll explain later), so I don't mind. I have to expand my bubble a little bit here, or, just not mind so much when someone else comes in uninvited.

Another example is pregnant women. My first tutor (and mutual acquaintance of my current tutor) is pregnant, which is why she's not my tutor anymore. Eh? Because apparently Chinese husbands like to exert control over their pregnant wives, you know, keeping them safe and out of harm's way and what not. So traveling on the bus or taxi or metro, breathing in all those fumes and risking accidents in traffic each step of the way, in order to increase some white kid's knowledge of Chinese is out of the question.

Now notice I say "exert control". That's how I, as an individualistic (and reasonably progressive-minded) American, see it. But her husband probably wouldn't see it that way. They would see it as the latter -- keeping their wife and unborn child safe. Now I'm not saying that he keeps his wife locked in a closet -- far from it. I'm just saying that in that situation, maybe he wanted her to cut down on extraneous, unnecessary, and potentially harmful activities, like traversing Shanghai during rush hour in order to teach a white boy Chinese. But to me, with my Western individualistic/progressive attitude of everyone having a right to their own opinion, it seems like control. After all, I see pregnant women in America out all the time, doing normal things like everybody else. But of course I understand wanting to keep your loved ones out of harm's way.

Which viewpoint is right? Is there an answer to that question? Probably not. How does my former tutor feel about this? I have no idea -- I haven't talked to her but once since she quit (although I did exhort her to play my demo CD for the baby. Years of research have proven unequivocally that techno helps fetuses grow and develop.) But it's interesting to learn about, and that's really my point here. There are tons of other things like this.

2. What people think about the US, from the outside. Yes, most of it comes about as a result of America's foreign policy. I had a great discussion last night with 2 Scottish guys and a Danish guy about the upcoming elections. They said that Europeans in general are ecstatic over the fact that Obama is the nominee and might win. (Of course, I am only talking to expats who, by nature, are brave (or "something") enough to journey to Shanghai for whatever reason, so they have an international perspective/"broadened horizons" in the first place, and I'm sure that's definitely skewing what I hear. But still. The point remains.)

I talk about this and other things about the US a lot. And in return, expats (and even native Chinese) will offer opinions/examinations about their own country for me. It's really great. I feel like I'm getting to see the US through the eyes of others, which is a fun experience. Definitely don't get to do that much in Austin. Unfortunately though, because I don't drink that much, I contribute to the perception that Americans can't drink for shit. So, to all you American alcoholics that are reading this: I apologize for of lowering our national image in the eyes of others :-)

It's a lot of fun. And it balances out the amount of time that my co-workers and others spend explaining Chinese grammar, like the difference between 都 and 所有.

Luckily I get to explain things for a living, too :-)

In other news, I got my residence/employment permit yesterday. So I am officially a 外国人 (wai guo ren, "foreign person", although on the cover slip it says "alien").

And in other-other news, my team and I are going to karaoke today. These places are open 24 freaking hours a day!! And because they have private rooms, they definitely have a tawdry reputation here, too, at least some places do. But of course we're going during the day, so it's all on the up-and-up. I knew I couldn't escape China without doing this at least once, so, I'm kinda resigned to my fate! Hahaha. If I see anyone in there with a camera though, I'm going to politely kick it across the room for them ;-)