We met our guide Tony at the airport. Although he is not the first man, he is the first person over 25 that we have had as a guide. Another first, our driver is a woman, Lucy. Tony is quite the talker and told us inside the car, we can ask him anything we want and he will speak freely but outside not so much. So I asked him how the Cultural Revolution affected his life and family. He was born in 1960 and has no idea of life before. His parents were poor, simple farmers so they were not sent for reeducation during the Cultural Revolution. Their lives really didn’t change much. He regrets that his early life was wasted because he did not receive any formal education. He taught himself English (and he speaks with a British accent); he calls it Chinglish. He has one daughter aged 25 and he hopes she will start to value education, but for now she prefers to work. He freelances a tour guide so that he can book more gigs. He worked every day during December and we are his last. He is also booked starting January 1st for a large group. Tony is quite the hustler.
Also, I follow a Chinese custom and I had no idea. When you ask a Chinese person their age, often they will tell you they are 1 year older than they actually are because on their birthday, they start counting the next year. So although Tony is actually 51, he says he is 52. I do the same, which really annoys friends (especially Patrick) who are my age and I say that we are the same age and I say a year older and my sister who is 2 years older than I am. Funny…
I witnessed my first fight in China. I met a local Chinese tourist in the elevator who was quite concerned that I was going out without a coat. I told him that I was just going to the front desk to change some money. He told me that right next door was a bank. As we stepped out of the lobby so he could point out the bank, these two women in their 20s were going at it to the delight of the gathering crowd. Even the man pointing out the bank was chuckling and commenting on their fight in English so I could understand him. No one tried to stop them. One of the women picked up one of those yellow plastic signs used to warn of wet, slippery surfaces and started thumping the other one with it. Only then did someone intervene, but only to rescue the sign. Robbed of her plastic weapon, she was left an unarmed victim to a good thrashing from the other lady’s purse. It was crazy. Oh and I forgot to mention that a common image seen on the streets is mothers running to the curb and pulling down the pants of their babies or toddlers and holding them over the curb to pee or poop. This place is truly Chintastic!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was so happy to hear that the outdoor theatre was open and I would be able to see the show Zhang Yimou created for Hangzhou called Impression West Lake. The premise is a typical love story (boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and they find each other again), but what makes it extraordinary is the staging. The show started at 7:15pm so it was dark, but we could still make out the dark water of the lake and the surrounding trees lining the far bank. Then suddenly a large round screen rises from the lake and is illuminated by a light from behind. It gives it the effect of the moon and then shadows of birds appear in front. In the background appears a man in a long white robe dancing on top of the water. Just below the surface platforms lift and lower to provide the actors with a moving stag. The entire lake is rigged with these moving platforms creating interconnecting lanes. In addition, archways of lights rise and disappear. There is a huge pagoda that seems to float in and out of scenes. What is most impressive is how the illuminated elements above are reflected in the rippling water below so the double image is breathtaking. This show has 200 performers who often times move in unison carrying lights that look like fish and appears that hundreds of glowing red and yellow carp are jumping and twirling in and out of the lake. I am so glad I got to see this show live and not just on the DVD I purchased. The production value alone makes it a must see.
Many of the Chinese people left before the show ended and Tony told us that that is a common practice in his culture. They feel they have seen enough and there is no need to stay to the end. Well, I stayed and kept my round-eyed Western peepers wide open to see everything, even the covering of seats.
The next morning we met Tony to the West Lake. A beautiful park surrounds the lake and it is a very serene setting of trees, occasional pagodas, Chinese-styled arched bridges that add atmosphere to the tree-lined walkways. We took a 20 minute boat ride to the center of the lake to visit Fairy Island which provides a great view of the lake and the park with the surrounding tall modern building in the background. One section of the view is painted on the 1 Yuan note.
We also visited the Lingyn Temple, which is one of the 10 most famous ancient Buddhist temples in China, and houses stone carvings dating back to the10th through 14th centuries. We then went to the Six Harmonies Pagoda, built in 970 AD during the Song Dynasty and is 13 stories high. Tony and I climbed the stairs to the top. Veta took our picture from down below.
Next was lunch at the Zhi Wei Guan Restaurant, which is over 100 years old. I had read about Hangzhou’s local specialty called Beggar’s Chicken, which is a dish dating back to the Song Dynasty. I was so happy that this restaurant made it. It’s a whole chicken seasoned with tea and herbs. It is then wrapped in Lotus leaves, covered with clay and then roasted in an oven. The chicken comes out perfectly seasoned and fall-off-the-bone tender.
After lunch we toured the museum of Chinese Medicine and saw plants, herbs, and animals used to make various healing concoctions. There were examples of the tools used in ancient times and the original prescriptions that had been written on silk. The museum exit deposits you into an actual pharmacy that still uses the traditional formulas.
The best part of the day was just talking with Tony. He taught us 2 new words: Houmen, which means “back door” and is the expression for under the table dealings and Guanxi, which means connections and relationships – both are required in China to get a houmen.
Tony talked about the Cultural Revolution and how the Red Guard would burst into people’s homes searching for contraband and punishing the people. Sometimes they would target a person and plant forbidden items in their homes. He talked about witnessing the Red Guard smashing and burning Chinese cultural artifacts and writings. Sometimes children who had been completely educated in Mao teachings would turn on their parents. To compete with Russia, Chairman Mao wanted the people to have more children so Tony comes from a large family of 7. After Mao, the 1 child per family rule was adopted and if a woman got pregnant with a second child, she and her husband would lose their jobs and be forced to have an abortion. The people were very poor and communism bread laziness because the people had no incentive to work hard because everyone was paid the same.
Now people in China work hard because they have the chance to become rich. This country is a true example of pure capitalism. Everyone in China wants to show “face” by having the biggest and best of everything. Many rich people have large houses, but inside it is empty because they cannot afford to furnish it after buying such a large home, BUT they have “face.” Many of the young people spend their entire salary and then want to borrow from their parents. Chinese parents spoil their children because they only have one. The kids are spoiled like a happy panda. If the parents are only children, then they are allowed to have a second child 5 years after the first was born. That way if you have a girl, you can have a second chance to try for a boy.
In 1989, Tony gave 5 Yuan (less than 1 dollar) to help the student rebellion in Tiananmen Square and his name went on a blacklist so now he is barred from ever joining the Communist Party. If you are not a member of the Communist Party, you cannot be promoted to a government official position, which is most coveted because you can get your salary and grey money (bribes and gifts). Tony didn’t seem too concerned. He just wants to make money. He feels the 4 biggest problems facing China are: pollution (he is the only person I have met here who admits the grey haze and dingy sky is due to pollution and not foggy weather), huge disparity in wealth (only 20% of the people have 80% of the wealth, the rest are poor), corruption, and the distrust of each other (the latter two are results of Chairman Mao’s rule of terror).
FYI: 2 scoops of ice cream at Haagen-Dazs is 57 Yuan or US $9.00 – makes the 2 pints for $7.00 deals at the supermarket seem like a steal!
Our last day in Hangzhou, we went to the ancient village of Wuzhen, which is just on the outskirts and on the way to Shanghai (we are driving there). It sits along the Grand Canal and is also bordered by the Dong Shi River. The town is now owned by the government, but the older people are allowed to remain. It’s a series of very narrow winding streets lined with small houses. Wuzhen means “black (wu) area (zhen). All the buildings are built with dark wood. The houses are only about 8-9 feet tall with ceramic tiled roofs. In the middle runs the Grand Canal and small boats navigate up and down the winding canal under archway bridges, sort of like a Chinese Venice. The people are all very short, less than 5 ft. The homes do not have any heat so in the winter months it is even colder inside than out because of the stone floors. We got to see an old distillery, still working, and have a sip of the rice wine (really just grain alcohol) — nice eye opener for the morning.
On the ride, I was able to ask Tony about the Yangtze River Project and all the displaced villagers. He said that many were sent by the government to live in the outskirts of larger cities that could afford to take them. The villagers were given homes and some land to farm. They were probably some of the farmers I saw growing their food in the toxic lands near the factories. Others moved further into the hills away from water sources and probably have an even harder existence.
China has an income tax system, but because so much grey money is made not many people pay the full amount. Many people make their money in the stock market cuz it’s a quick way to get rich, but most people who invest have insider information so they know when to get in and when to get out. If you are an official, your life is made. When someone gets rich, he/she will usually leave China because they are uncertain if the gov’t will change and capitalism will end.
The Chinese gov’t like when a Republican is in office because they get better treatment. Tony joked and said his dog, an American Lab, is a Republican. We had so many chuckles on the road the time passed very quickly. Tony was our best guide so far.
We are now in Shanghai and planning to celebrate the New Year at The Glamour Bar, recommended by my friends Chip and Anne. Friends of theirs are the owners and it’s supposed to be a great place. Looks fun from the pictures on the website.
WooooooooooooooooHooooooooooooooooo!!! Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!