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Then and Now, Here and There... 18 August 2007 I have now been in Nantong for three weeks now. It is time to look at what I have gotten myself into... When I first mentioned to a few people in other parts of the world that I was contemplating moving to China, I was a bit surprised at the comments that I received. In general, people were incredulous that I would even contemplate moving to a "communist" country. The general theme of their comments was "Why? Why China of all places?" Some even went so far as to mention all of the negatives aspects of China - ones that I recollect having been told about back when I was in school some 40 years ago, back when the US considered both Russia and China to be a threat. Even one person recently commented: "I'm surprised you're able to communicate so freely by email with the outside world. Thought all communications like that would be carefully monitored by the PRC and U.S. powers that be." Maybe I am an anomaly. Perhaps the Chinese government just hasn't realized yet who I really am. Heavens knows though that I have already made my "mark" in a couple of different establishments and places about the city here already. So, I find it difficult to believe that perhaps I have gone undetected. Actually, I believe that the crux of the problem is that Americans are so insular that they really don't have the slightest clue of what is going on in the rest of the world. The media rarely reports anything positive about China, instead concentrating on how China does not seem to meet America's standards for so many different things. Just the other day I watching an AP reporter attending a news conference with some Chinese officials about natural disaster relief within the country who asked a question along the lines of:
The official answer was somewhat ambiguous, which is normal for politicians around the world, and one could detect the frustration at having to answer that question. To me, I could clearly see the motivation behind the question: an effort to develop a news story that would be negative about China, and even an attempt to impose American standards on another country. In any event, I can understand some of the questions and comments that I have received. I personally had discounted those types of concerns many years ago - but that comes with exposure to news sources outside of the US, from traveling, and from having met numerous other people from China - both citizens and ex-pats who have been there for more than a few days or a couple of weeks. Of course, I can't help but believe that I probably would not have heard those types of comments if I had been coming to China to work as a missionary - to convert the godless (the majority of Chinese appear to be atheist) to the all powerful and only right way of life: Christianity. At times I can't help but believe that it is a strange world that I left some four years ago... When I first contemplated moving to Nantong, I of course did a bit of research on the Internet about the place, and came across only one thing that provided any insight into the city on a website entitled EscapeArtist.com. An article written by Shane Jackson in 1999 described the City of Nantong in less than desirable and less than complimentary terms in some instances, at least according to western standards. Excerpts follow:
Mercy. The description reminded me of the south side of Chicago which I would visit as a child some 45 years ago to visit a great aunt and uncle. It was a filthy place where one could just step outside and feel dirty. I figured that if Nantong was like this it could be a dreary, if not a miserable place to eek out an existence, much less live there. And, in terms of trash, dirty streets and air pollution caused not by factories, but by diesel and motor bike emissions, it couldn't be all that much different than Udon Thani. Much to my surprise, and delight, Nantong has gone through a major transformation in the last six years. I can state this with a reasonable degree of certainty after having talked to Dave, an Australian seaman who is here in Nantong today whilst his steam ship (yes - a steam ship in the 21st Century!) is being retrofitted and repaired. He was here back in the late 1990's and he confirmed what I had read. He relates that even the ship yards - while not having improved as much as the rest of the city have improved at least 400% over what they were. Of course, improvements to an industrial area generally do take longer given the nature of the environment. Today, Nantong is virtually devoid of air pollution - at least according to my unscientific detection abilities which are directly tied into my allergies. The first few days, my allergies kicked up dramatically, but have since subsided substantially. Ten Contac pills took care of that quite well, thank you. Almost daily there is a nice subtle breeze going through the city which of course means that the air is in constant movement; no chance for residues of pollution to hang around stagnantly. Adding to the lack of pollution are fairly modern busses, none of which are spewing black exhaust fumes as they go rumbling past. No, the busses are not brand new - but probably no more than ten years old - and unlike the city busses found in Thailand, seemingly well maintained. Motorcycles, while in evidence, are not the main mode of transport for people. Instead, bicycles are somewhat common, but the most frequently seen mode of transport are electric bicycles. Some look like standard bicycles with a battery pack, whilst others actually look like a typical motorcycle (125 cc) but are electrically powered. Makes for a fairly quiet street, other than the horn sometimes incessant horn blowing - the majority of which, I fear, is actually coming from taxi drivers rather than the majority of the typical drivers. Of course, it must be added that most of the cars are quite new, thus demonstrating an burgeoning economy, or alternatively, like in Thailand, the access to easy credit. The oldest cars on the road, from what I have seen so far, seem to be the taxis. One theory that has been put forth for this phenomenon is that in Shanghai the taxi fleets are continually being upgraded, and the used taxis end up in Nantong and other close by areas. I tend to believe this theory as the majority of the taxis have protective guards around the driver to minimize the risk of their being robbed or mugged. One would not think that this would be a problem in Nantong. One sees a number of street cleaners walking up and down the streets with their brooms and some with carts to dump the trash into. Yet, there seems to be very little trash for them to pick up or dirt to sweep up. Every evening just after dark - around 8:00 PM large trucks, with sirens blaring and lights flashing, can be seen racing down the major streets spewing copious amounts of water on the street, thus washing a lot of the dirt into the sewer system. And, speaking of the sewer system, in my walks about the city, I have yet to detect the smell of sewage that could be so prevalent in different parts of Thailand - such as anyplace there was a "klong" (canal) or the frequent sewer grate. I must add that this is despite having seen local restaurants dumping liquefied food waste down the sewer grate in the street later in the evening. The major streets in Nantong are simply amazing. All of them are 6 lanes - with one lane in each direction being reserved primarily for the bicycle type variety of vehicles and "tuk-tuks" (small, three wheeled 'taxis' that can carry two - maybe three passengers) - some of which are petrol powered, but many of which are electric powered. The occasional car is permitted in these specialized lanes, but only for the purpose of turning into a business or down a side street. The traffic situation is worth mentioning. To the casual observer, it does appear to be chaotic, yet an organized chaos. Chinese drivers, much like Thai drivers appear to be impatient, but they do drive slower and actually seem to know, understand and follow basic rules of the road. The exception of course appears to be the taxi drivers. Still, after so long in Thailand, it is simply amazing to see cars, trucks, busses and motorcycles (all varieties) to actually stop for red lights. The light starts flashing green, then briefly yellow - and people stop! Getting into the mainstream of traffic from a side street isn't all that difficult either. Simply start edging out - be you in a vehicle, on a bike or using shoe leather express - and oncoming traffic, lane by lane, will stop for you. No rude gestures. No blowing of the horn. No cussing you out in Chinese or even using the universal word that begins with the letter "f". No flashing of the head lights - which in Thailand means: "I'm coming through and you damned well better be out of my way because I have [am taking] the right of way and I don't mind running your ass over." Yes, there is a police presence here, much more than I saw in Udon Thani. In the evening, the police are out in force, directing traffic and making sure that it moves orderly, and allowing people to cross the street - only at a cross walk. I tried to cross the street without the benefit of using the cross walk one night and was soundly whistled at by the local cop and pointed to the cross walk. OK. Lesson learned there. This isn't Thailand. Surprisingly, I have yet to see a cop with a gun. Nor handcuffs. Nor a night stick / billy club. Nor mace. Nothing on his belt for so called "self protection." Interestingly, speaking of the local police, the other night I happened to witness an altercation between a citizen and a local police officer. I'm not quite sure what precipitated the altercation, but it appeared to me that the officer had pulled in front of the citizen and his car had bumped into the officer's motorcycle. The conversation between the two was extremely animated, and rather loud and heated It should be noted that the Chinese language can, in general terms, be described as such even when there is no anger involved. However, given the gestures, I suspect that there was a bit, if not considerable, anger involved. They shouted at each other for about three minutes, and then the driver got into his car, backed up a bit, and took off. The officer got back on his bike and took off in a different direction. I couldn't help but think of how different that situation would have been handled in the States. No doubt, the officer would have called for "reinforcements" (an euphemism for 'assistance') and the driver of the car would have been carted off to jail facing a number of misdemeanor charges, and an untold number of fines. I have seen similar occurrences to the Chinese one in Thailand, but never quite as dramatic. Makes one wonder if perhaps the police in the States have been given too much power - or that it has gone to their heads too much. Of course, I can make excuses for the conduct in America based upon so called cultural differences - but in situations like this, I do believe that the Asian culture is much more productive. Obviously, contrary to what we have been led to believe back in Western cultures, the police in China are not so authoritarian, and people do not seem to be afraid of them. Respect them, no doubt, but not afraid to tell a cop that he is wrong - and the cop will accept it. (In fairness - for all that I know, the cop had taken the guys drivers license, and later that evening his house was raided and he was carted off to the local gulag and executed this morning. Trying not to be too cynical, I choose to believe that the bangs that I heard were actually fireworks.) Ah, yes. Fireworks. I loved them as a kid. Back in Texas I spent three years working with a group doing the fireworks show on the 4th of July. What an experience that was! Hot, dirty and a bit of hard work - but interesting to see how it was all done - and participate in the process. Of course, China is known for its fireworks - and one can walk down the street and find a few fireworks stores here and there. Some of those stores also sell cigarettes - but that is none of my concern. But here, virtually every night one can see and hear fireworks being set off around the city. These aren't the fire crackers - but full blown aerial fireworks that go up in the air maybe a thousand feet or so with a wide display of colors and effects. When I was a kid, I remember every once in awhile being able to get some of those types of fireworks and being able to set them off. And then, there were the M-80's that we could buy - some claimed that they were equivalent to a quarter stick of dynamite, though I would cautiously dispute that claim at my advanced age - maybe an eighth of a stick. The fun that we would have with those! It is a shame, from my perspective, that kids today can not experience those types of things anymore back in Western countries. Ah, I can say without hesitation, that I do not miss the "nanny governments" that the Western countries have spawned. To wrap this one up - the China today is not what we were taught it was so many years ago - and which in many respects, is still being portrayed in the American media. (I can't comment on other countries as I don't get too much of a chance to see their media coverage.) It is very modern - and despite reports of censorship, I don't really see any censorship. I have been able to access virtually every web site that I have wanted to access - sometimes through a proxy server - but still able to access without any problems. My e-mails seem to flow back and forth seamlessly and without any censorship. Of course, I don't believe that I say anything that needs to be censored. China is modern and progressive. Yes, the Chinese do seem to be a perturbed at the United States attempts to meddle in their affairs - but I suspect that most countries are perturbed by that as well in their own affairs. Ah well, it is dinner time and of course, happy hour time. So, time to sign off... The Old Codger
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