This is long. And its not done. I decided to make our China trip into a bit of a series. So…an intro to our trip to China:
Some of my expectations of China turned out to be wrong. We didn’t need to wear masks to breath or take allergy pills. It wasn’t as dirty as I expected…in fact, most of the areas that we saw were very clean and they even had trash cans everywhere that people used and were not overflowing (Japan should be jealous of this). The cities themselves were not full of skyscrapers upon skyscrapers the buildings, rather, were spread out over many square kilometers…and the skyline consisted of ubiquitous yellow cranes bringing more metal to even more buildings. We were able to attend an ex-pat church and we could pray and talk about Jesus. These were things we did not expect.
As for things that did not surprise us: we carried our own TP and became proficient at squatty potties…well, all of us except Annabelle. She decided to grow her small bladder and wait for regular ones. Most people did not speak English and we were squashed quite a few times into the subway cars. The traffic was the worst I’ve seen at all times of the day and week, and lanes were just a suggestion determined by honks.
In our family travels, we have learned that learning about the countries culture, economy, and religion has helped us understand what we see and experience on our escapades. So on this trip, our first day consisted of going to Tiananmen Square, the National Museum, and exploring their Performing Arts building that was built in a lake. We learned that Tiananmen Square has always been the place of protest and is guarded heavily. We also determined that if you desire to see the body of Mao, you need to get there early, as he is a relic that most Chinese people take a pilgrimage to see. We then found that China is a proud country that has millenniums of fighting for unity of all her people tribes.
The museum had a two-story story of “The Road of Rejuvenation”. We walked through historical displays, clips, pictures, and artifacts that showed how China overcame many obstacles to be where they are today. And the final thought that is given to the one traveling this journey, is how the CPC (Communist Party of China) which was lead by Mao, should be loved and thanked for making China what is today. Mao is loved…BELOVED because he united China and gave the common people hope while beginning China’s World Power run. Later we learned that most Chinese people didn’t know that to acquire this unity, he killed 40-70 million people. They really only know what the government sanctions the media to share or not share.
In fact, I asked one of our guides who was about 25, if he new what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989 (which was NOT mentioned in “The Road of Rejuvenation”). He said he just found out about it a couple of years ago. The gates were shut during that time and they were told that the blood spilled under them., but they were never told how many students were killed. In fact, another guide who was in his 40’s, only found out about it because one of the students went to that University and came home to his home province and told people about what he saw.
The government blocks Facebook, Google, Gmail, YouTube, Imessage, and any other media outlet that can give the people the wrong idea about China. Often the news is about how bad it is in America and other countries, so China looks good. News of violent crime in China is not shown, even when ISIS just slashed and murdered a group of innocent people just months ago. The government makes sure that they people trust and follow them. Although China has a president that is “elected”, the country is really run by seven men from the communist party, who make all the decisions. This is the second group of leadership since Mao and from what we heard; they are doing a better job than the previous group. Their platform is to cut down on fraud…eh hum. Taxes are huge for those that make a lot of money, but the average worker pays hardly any. Their yearly salary is not enough to rent an apartment in Beijing where many of them work. So they travel for hours to get to their job. We sat next to a young couple one night while eating Hot Pot who were lawyers for the government, they make less than the minimum wage in Seattle.
As far as religion goes, most people follow Confucianism, Taoism, and/or Buddhism. We found that those we asked said they had no religion, but they have heard about Jesus from their history books as a Western idea. There is a minority of people who are Muslim and they actually get special privileges from the government….like being able to have more than one child. As long as no group, religious or not, sticks their head up against the government, the government will let them live peacefully.
One last thing for today. The one child policy is also becoming lax. If the married couple both are the only children of their parents, then they can get a special card that will allow them to have one more child. The abortion practice is still in affect for all babies that come after that quota. We wondered how they kept track or what happens to babies born after the limit? Turns out, all Chinese citizens receive a national number (similar to our SS#) when they are born. This number is put on their national ID card, which they need for EVERYTHING. If a child is born after the 1 or 2 child policy they are not killed, they are simply not given this card. They cannot go to school, ride ANY public transportation, leave the area where they are born or have any rights. They are stripped of any way being involved in society.
Phew. That was a long introduction and I haven’t even told you about what we saw and did! I realize that ten days in not enough to understand China perfectly and I have lots to learn, but I am thankful for all the people that took time to answer our questions and tell us about themselves. More later.