Yan'an Revolutions

Welcome to Yan'an

The Nursery of Chinese Revolutions

Last weekend, the headmaster of the school invited me to join him and some other teachers from the school on a trip to Yan'an. The trip aimed to combine sightseeing, food tourism, and meet-n-greets with schools in Yan'an Prefecture. Now find your maps and guide your eyes to northern Shaanxi Province. Yan'an will be not too, too far to the north of Xi'an. Yan'an is important enough to be on your map.

.

On the map, it would appear that Yan'an is not far from my HuaiYa neighborhood. Six-hour drive by car, maybe. But in every way, Yan'an is a different world. The geography is dramatically different. I hope to have an entry on that in the near future. The food is different. They have a wide variety of mutton/lamb/goat entrees (including lamb hoof meat and goat head meat served in the cracked-open and hollowed skull of an adult goat), a potato'y local special food, and squash (in April!). The Yan'an folk have never heard of our local special food (mianpi'er). And their best chefs attempt to imitate saozi mian (our local, China-wide famous noodle), but the word "dud" comes to mind when I think of it. HuaiYa and Yan'an may be in the same province, but they are different worlds.

.

Anyways, talking about food has pushed us to the brink of eternal aimlessness. Let's return to planet earth. Yan'an is famous as the site of revolution. One revolution changed China 70 years ago. A contemporary revolution may change China in the decades to come.

.

Revolution #1:

I am by no means an expert on China's communist revolution. To be honest, reading about this critical period of modern Chinese history makes my eyelids heavy. You know what I mean? Let me explain: it bores the life out of me. In fact, I did not even want to go to Yan'an, but I sensed the headmaster's "offer" was something of a request.

.

Old ideas, new ideas, merging and pounding of ideologies, propaganda, legends of godly men, blah, blah, blah. I don't know why, but it bores me. And I suspect it bores you too. So let's condense the history and make it colorful.

Communist thought arrived in China and evolved in China and was ultimately accepted in China as the antidote to the toxic 'poisons' of feudalism, capitalism, and imperialism. In the infant years, an assortment of Chinese intellectuals created a rainbow of communist thought. This rainbow was the backdrop of a dark foreground: corruption, drugs, warlords, civil war, foreign exploitation, and bold aggression at the barrel tips of the Japanese military. The conservative leaders in China despised communism (and the associated threats against their leadership) and therefore attempted to purge the country of communist thought. They shot from the hip and killed many people. But although the surviving Chinese communists dwindled in number, they strengthed in unity. Facing the threat of extermination, this nugget of revolutionary diehards went on a long, long march across China to escape persecution.

At long last, these fleeing communists arrived and found safety in Yan'an. They unpacked their rainbow and put in the skies over China once again. But this particular rainbow coming from Yan'an began to lose its colors. Soon there was no more violet in the rainbow of Chinese communist thought. They next day no more blue. No more green. No more yellow. No more orange! The variety of ideologies and policies that once existed were being streamlined into one pure thought at the hands of a small group of increasingly influential communist leaders in Yan'an. By the mid1940s, the rainbow of Chinese communist thought shining from Yan'an cast a single, pure shade of red. And by the end of the 1940s, the Chinese communists defeated the Chinese nationalists and so cast Mao Zedong's red rainbow all over mainland China.

The point is that the political revolution, which began as a hundred schools of thought from places all over the world, was molded into a focused vision there in Yan'an. Afterwards, this vision was applied across China and hence profoundly changed Chinese society and culture.

After a long day of scheming about how to take the future of China into his hands, Mao Zedong ate dinner and slept here.

Important decisions about the future of Chinese communism and China in general were discussed and debated here. In the beginning they were probably genuine discussions and debates. In the end, maybe not so much. I imagine scenes of yes-men praising and rubber stamping everything Mao Zedong says. Maybe I'm unfairly critical of Mao?

.

.
Revolution #2

Well another revolution may be brewing in Yan'an these days. And it could be very, very influential. This revolution is not political. It is a revolution in education methodology.

Get this! The students at Yichuan Junior Middle School arrange their desks in formations that put the students face-to-face! The teachers give students assignments, projects, and opportunities to practice what they have learned during class! Students create things. Students discuss things. Students even give speaches and attempt to teach things! And students get to display their creations inside and outside of the classroom. What else but a revolution?!!!! Have a look:

In this classroom, students sit face-to-face in groups of 4 or 5. They work as a group. They help each other. They are responsible for each other. When the water rises, the entire boat floats.

In this classroom, the students sit in long rows of desks that face each other. Although not as cohesive as the groups described above, the students still have better opportunities to discuss things with each other, ask questions of each other, help each other, participate in class activities together, etc.

All the classrooms are decorated inside and outside with students' projects. I have toured so many middle and high schools in China that I had begun to think white walls were natural. But then when I saw these classrooms with the color of pride and achievement everywhere, I re-awakened to the reality of what a classroom should be. A forest without trees is not a forest. A classroom without stimulating materials everywhere is not a classroom.

If you have forgotten, please go back to my September and October entries and remind yourself of what the classrooms at my school look like. All desks face forward. Barely any room to move around. Mostly white walls. Few if any students' projects on display. A different world here at Yichuan Middle School! If you could have seen the shock and excitement of the student who accompanied us from my school as he entered the realm of student-centered learning, oh then you would understand why this is a revolution.

In some ways, this is hardly new. America has many, MANY classroom environments like this. And indeed there are classrooms like this all over the world. There have already been classrooms like this even in China. Indeed the school leaders modeled their recent change after a school from Shandong Province that has been using this method for quite some time. So how is this a Yan'an revolution?

Well, generally speaking, this method is new to most of China. This method, imagined in the minds of distant educators worldwide, has arrived in China. Now the method needs to be defined, refined, and studied. And then the method needs to spread far and wide. Yan'an did it before. Yan'an can do it again.

Imitation is the way of life in China. If something is successful, there is a stampede to imitate. Last weekend, our school leaders went to Yan'an to observe the method at Yichuan Middle School. Because Yichuan school leaders had only just introduced the new classroom environment policy in February 2009, right now the method is only a curiosity. Our school leaders are merely observing and asking questions at this point. I guess other school leaders will do the same. At first, only the schools from Shaanxi will be interested. But if this school is truly successful, school leaders will come from all over China to study the method. If this school can send more and more students to top-tier universities, there will be school leaders begging to apply it all over China.

Side story: there is a famous high school in Hebei Province that last year sent 40 students to BeiDa, China's most esteemed university. Most schools are thrilled if they can send one student to BeiDa. So 40 students is incredible! Now administrators flock to this school in Hebei to learn the method. Unfortunately, the secret to their success at that particular school is to have the students always studying. The students at that school never have P.E. and are encouraged to eat lunch for 5 minutes... and to read their textbooks as they eat their lunches. Creepy, eh?


Needless to say, I hope Yichuan Middle School will be successful. It will send a ripple that will change China's education system profoundly. The quality of education will improve. The productivity of the labor force will improve. Fate has given Yan'an a second chance to deliver a "great leap forward."

March Madness

Where have I been for the last month?! No, it's not writer's block. It's called China block! For whatever reason, on March 1st I lost access to all Google-brand blogger blogs including my own. I was blocked. And my "internet behavior" was being monitored. Then today, March 24... for whatever reason... the forces that be decided I'm not a threat. So I'm back! And I pretty excited about it!!!

So I've been watched for a month, but I don't get a creepy feeling about having been spied on. Instead, I hope (if my internet behavior really was being monitored by humans) that:
-They have enjoyed my sense of humor... who else can lead them to hilarious Sarah Palin jokes, videos of puppets making prank phone calls, and video clips of Dan Quayle being an intellectual lightweight;
-They don't think I'm a lazy slob just because I have over 3,000 unopened emails in my inbox... I just have a 5 year running tradition of not opening spam... and not deleting it either!;
-They appreciate the level of random detail that I provide in my facebook status updates;
-They have acquired my fascination with 1980s nostalgia
-They didn't get irked by my internet habit of refreshing Yahoo! news to see if there is any new news
-They have updated themselves on important news items from the US, Asia, South America, Africa, and the bizarro world
-They share my interest in learning about economics, alternative energy, medical breakthroughs, chimpanzee social behavior,....
-They are excited by all the upcoming video game release dates that I have made them aware of -They have memorized the lyrics to all the 80s songs I looked up to sing along with on youtube

In the end, I think it must have been my mind-numbingly boring journeys through the streets of Belvidere, Rockford, Chicago, DeKalb, Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach, and New York City on Google Earth-Street View that must have driven them to the brink of exhaustion of watching my internet behavior... and to the conclusion that my internet behavior is any other adjective but dangerous! :-)

And so now I and my IP address are back in the world of blogging!


UPDATE (3/25): On the very same day I regained access to my blog, thegovernmentofthecountryinwhichIcurrentlylive (tGotCiwICL) blocked Youtube. At first I thought it was just a random Youtube problem. These little Youtube accessibility hiccups happen all the time, including in the U.S. But when minutes turned into hours turned into a day, I suspected Papa Panda might be responsible. Great, I traded access to my blog for access to Youtube. And to honest, Youtube is actually more important because I use it for lessons... yeah, yeah... and as the most entertaining time suck of my life.

Anyways, I just finished reading an article on Yahoo! News that confirms that Youtube has been blocked by tGotCiwICL. Why? Apparently some video of tGotCiwICL police forces beating to death a protester from a certain hotbed province of tGotCiwICL. The English name of this particular province begins with the letter T, ends with the letter T, and rhymes with "the bet." You do know the place I'm talking about, don't you? Well anyways, tGotCiwICL says the video is faked. And in light of the shoddy reporting and yellow journalism of CNN and BBC from last year, I say there's a darn good chance it is faked. Come on, it was posted by some random guy on Youtube!!! But Papa Panda doesn't want anyone to have a look to see for himself. Which means I can't say either way. And it also means I can't get videos to make good set inductions for my classes. And it also means I can't spend my weeknights reliving the 1980s.

... for now....

A Catch-up Effect Anomaly

A 'Catch-Up Effect' Anomaly:

How Do Cassette Tapes Survive in China in 2009?

Rock Valley College. Fall 2004. Macroeconomics with Professor Youngblood. The lesson: the Catch-up Effect. A lesson grounded in economics, flowing with uplifting and optimistic predictions for the potential futures of the developing countries of the world.

.

Here's the lesson in summary. The lesser and least developing countries of the world have problems. Maybe the problems are health-related--malaria, AIDs, tuberculosis, etc. Maybe the problems are conflict related--war, terrorism, sanctions. Maybe the problems are money-related--deficits, government debt, inflation, etc. Maybe the problems are infrastructure-related--roads, plumbing, electricity, etc. Maybe the problems are resource-related--lack of freshwater, poor soil, uneducated labor force, etc. In most cases, such countries likely have a combination of all these problems. They are stuck in a poverty trap.

.

By that point in the semester, the professor had lectured how with sound government and economic policies, such countries could escape from the poverty trap. That's uplifting, right? But then there's the catch-up effect.

.

The professor explained that in it's initial stages of economic growth coming out of the poverty trap, the economic growth of developing countries is often steep and exponential. In other words, people's standards of living can increase rapidly... doubling in less than a decade... the developing countries catch-up with the developing countries like the hare spotting the tortoise in front of him.

.

How? Technology! They get all the most recent and productive technology all at once.

Imagine that one surving caveman forever unaware of the modern world around him lives somewhere on this planet. He lives by hunting animals with his club. Maybe he only manages a kill once every two days. One day some NRA activists find him and show him how to use an AK47. Takes a few hours to teach him, but he gets the hang of it after awhile. Now he can get a kill every hour. Look at the growth of his productivity!!!!

.

The cavemen-to-neocon line who developed separately from him developed more slowly and gradually. They innovated and adopted the arrowhead, then the arrow, then Zhuge Liang's rapid-fire crossbow, then the rifle, then the rifle that actually hits the target, then the sniper rifle, then the nuclear weapon, then the weaponized virus in Season Three of the tv show 24. These innovations happend over thousands of years... growth was slow... but this caveman instantly accessed them and his growth was NOW!

.

This is something like what happens to developing countries that break out of the poverty trap. Suddenly they get cellular phones, satellite TV, mp4 players, PS3s, George Forman Grills, the Magic Bullet with EZ smoothie accessories... oh, and sliced bread. Together, these things enhance productivity tremendously... the people in the countries can do more with less time... their economy runs like the Gingerbread Man.

.

Another advantage is that they eliminate a lot of waste. They have PS3s, so there are no Ataris, SNESs, Dreamcasts, or PS1s sitting around unused. They don't have to build landlines if they only need to build cell phone towers. It saves resources.

.

The catch-up effect is the invisible hand's little miracle. It makes people lives better faster, and it happens all the time. Sometimes the country merely catches up. Sometimes the country catches up and then takes the lead. I think it's fair to say that colonial and infant America 'caught up' using technology initially developed in Europe--particulary England--and then took the lead in the 20th Century. And China's economic growth in the last few decades is nothing if not a model of how well the catch-up effect works. Who knows if China will catch-up or take the lead? But that's not my question. I want to know...

.

Why are there cassette tapes in China in 2009?

.

My memory stretches back to the late 1980s, so I remember the retirement years of the cassette tape era. I remember buying them. I remember listening to them... having to flip them over to the other side. I remember the painful rewinding and fastforwarding process. I remember those unique sounds of an aging or damaged cassette. I remember the 'piracy' technique of recording from the radio onto the cassettes... and getting barely acceptable quality audio! Cassettes, may they be forever dead...

.

But they're not! China has them?! Not everywhere... in fact, in only one place that I've seen: textbooks. The Chinese textbooks come with cassette tapes. Textbooks published in 2005 and printed in 2008 come with cassette tapes! Why?!?!?!?!!??!!?

.

.

On the one hand, the fact that China has cassette tapes is consistent with the theory of the catch-up effect. China's development really took off in the 80s--the cassette tape heyday. So we can expect there to be some remnants of the technology. But CHina should have--like the U.S. phased them out more completely. And I must reinforce that in most ways China has. You'll never find Chinese people to listening to music on cassette. And you'll be hard-pressed to find them listening to music on CDs. They all listen to digital music. So again, China's experience is mostly what we expect. The textbook w/cassette anomaly is just one small, but puzzling variation from the trend.

.

So why do the textbooks come with cassettes? They were printed and released in 2008! CDs would have been cheaper, lighter, less bulky, and more convenient to transfer to digital format for increased used. Do the students even have cassette players?

.

I'm going to let my mind wander over some possible explanations:

(1) cassette tapes are less easy to pirate?... and the textbook companies are concerned about piracy of their intellectual property rights? (but who would pirate textbook audio?! most of the students would be happiest if they never had to listen to the robotic voice of that British woman... I estimate less than 1% listen to the audio outside of class... no market for piracy!)

(2) the textbook company is concerned that some poor students don't have CD or mp3 players? (but I'd be concerned about the rich and middle-income students who don't have cassette players)

(3) the textbook company is concerned about poor, rural classrooms that don't have and can't afford CD players? (but CD players can't be more expensive than cassette players... when the cassette player breaks, the school will likely have to pay even more money to find and purchase this defunct technology. CD players are cheap!)

(4) the textbook writers are a bunch of dinosaurs who still live in 1987? (but how then do these dinosaurs manage to have 'hip' topics like "Book 7, Unit 3: Safe Sex"... yeah, the students learned English words about how to have sex safely)

(5) textbooks have always come with cassette tapes, and so they always must?

(6) the textbook company wants to give me something to blog about

.

Seriously, I really want to know... why do the Shaanxi Senior High School English textbooks published in 2005 and printed in 2008 come with cassettes? Is there an explanation that I am missing?

China has no scientists

CHINA HAS NO SCIENTISTS

I've heard it 100 times, so now I have to blog [rant] about it

.

.

man: "So, what do you think of China?"

me : "Oh, I like China very much."

man: "Oh no, China is not very good. China is 30 years behind the U.S."

me : "Ummm... I don't think so..."

man: "Oh yes it's true, in the U.S. people don't ride trains. In China we still do."

me : "Ummmm..."

man: "China has no famous scientists."

.

.

I've encountered variations of this conversation too many times to count. I'd love to debate these people and knock some sense into their skulls, but I don't speak Chinese well enough to do this. All I can do is say "no," "not true," "I don't agree" and "I'm leaving." So since I can't explain my responses to them, you get to listen to them.

.

'30 Years behind'

30 years. That's the magic number they've all settled on. China is 30 years behind the U.S., I guess. Where did this number come from? It's been 30 years since U.S. and China re-established relations and China began to reform, so China will always be 30 years behind? Who knows where 30 years comes from. There's absolutely no standard for it.

.

It's true; Americans don't take the train from Chicago to New York like Chinese people take the train from Chengdu to Shanghai. But the answer has as much to do with population, geography, economies of scale, and culture as it does with development (certainly development and standard of living does play some role).

.

There are millions of people between Chengdu and Shanghai... great opportunities to sell out all the seats and beds. And culturally, Chinese people don't seem to mind the cramped spaces that come with the effort of fitting them all in. This drives the cost of the fare down significantly. Also, China's population is clustered, which puts many cities within roughly 15 hours distance of each other. So China's rail system can afford to have night trips whereby people board in the evening, sleep on the train, and arrive at their destination in the morning. It's called 'free' hotel room with the price of transportation. In other words, it seems trains are more convenient and cheap comparatively speaking in China. And it's not uncommon to see well-to-do businessmen--people who could certainly afford airfare--travelling trains. This suggests they cannot ignore the low prices and covenience. And finally, the cultural associations with riding trains are bound to be different between China and the U.S. I'm not sure that we Americans look down on riding trains, but our tolerance of mass transportation versus private commute is certainly different. Chinese don't seem to mind being crammed up against millions of people... that's how they live their daily lives.

.

So because Chinese people ride trains and Americans don't reveals little about differences in development. It's a poor standard. By other standards, we could argue vastly different conclusions. China and the U.S. both have cell phones. So they are equal? In fact, China gets the newer, better cell phones earlier than the U.S. does. So China is more developed than the U.S.? Ridiculous!

.

What they don't know is that China and the U.S. are more comparable than they think. There are no famines in either culture. Both cultures have overwhelming access to cell phones (I even saw a Chinese beggar person on a cell phone one day, no lie!). Both cultures have ready access to computers and Internet, especially in the cities but even more and more in the countryside. Both countries can produce spectacular movies... the U.S makes 'I am Legend' and China makes 'ChiBi.' Both countries have news shows, sitcoms, documentaries, and sleazy reality TV. Living in my home in China and living in other Chinese homes, I never feel materially deprived of anything. I'm hard-pressed to note the differences. Certainly not 30 years behind like I'm living in America's 1970s!

.

Having said that, I know China and U.S. are not equal. No doubt. I want to tell these people that a much better way to judge differences in development is GDP and GDP per capita. Other standards... such as doctors per person or hospital beds per person are also revealing. But we certainly don't measure differences in standard of living in years! Anyways, I don't know how to say GDP or GDP per capita in Chinese.

.

I also want to tell them a more important lesson. Happiness is the purpose of life. If Chinese and Americans both have enough food, water, and shelter from extreme temperatures... if we both have opportunities to laugh and smile... if we both can live comfortably... what's the difference? Are people chatting up laughs via wireless Internet access in 2009 better off than Li Bai laughing over a cup of wine with Du Fu 1,000 years ago?

.

'China has no famous scientists'

Um... I don't know what to say... again, where do they get this? And I've heard it so many times. Is there a book out there somewhere with this 'fact' in it that the Chinese people all read? Or did they hear in a speech? "China has no famous scientists."

.

First, we can get rid of the word 'famous.' It's an irrelevant adjective, even if Chinese people think it's critically important. The truth is, the unfamous scientists are as important as the famous ones. Did Einstein work alone in a vaccuum? Come on now! Discoveries, inventions, and developments in standards of living come by the hard work of millions of scientists. And 99.9% of them are not famous.

.

In addition, MANY of them are Chinese! The U.S. has many Chinese scientists. China has many Chinese scientists. They produce results every year.

.

Finally, it's true. The U.S. does have a special claim to the advancements in science of the 20th and 21st century. Here's the lesson: education, culture, investment capital, and the protection of intellectual property rights produce more great scientists. If Chinese people really wants to have a 21st Century science revolution of their own, they will need to target these things. It's a simple recipe. The protection of intellecutal property rights might be a hurdle for a Chinese scientific revolution.

.

.

Why these conversations worry me:

.

NATIONALISM: Flowing from their 'woe is China' speeches are the dangerous currents of nationalism. They feel shame. (Why?!) And shame is just the dark shadow of pride. I think nationalism is stronger in China than in the U.S. The Chinese people take on China's successes, failures, accomplishments, and embarrassments as their own. "China has no scientists... China is bad... I am bad." I don't know, it's just the way it seems when they speak about it. Or a more telling example from 2008. "The French diss China... the French diss me... I'm going to go throw rocks through the storefront window of that French-owned department store."

.

I wish all people all over the world would remove their own personal identity from their national identity. Bush was a pretty bad president. But I'm still an okay guy! The U.S went to war with Iraq, but I didn't! I genuinely think China is a great country. The Olympics were wonderful. That doesn't mean all Chinese people are wonderful! Some work hard, some are lazy. Some are honest, some would steal from their mother. I am not the U.S., you are not China. But you can do your own personal best to make yourself, China, and the world better. Re-align yourself!

.

But, as I said, I worry that China has some issues with nationalism. And that's why it is imperative that Western loud-mouths be careful. When Nancy Pelosi and Lou Dobs flap thier gums about how bad the Chinese government is... you know who is really upset about it? Not the CCP (they already know Nancy Pelosi and Lou Dobs are a pair of dim wits). The ones who are really upset are the 1.3 billion Chinese whom these two dolts thought they were defending. That's nationalism, and it's a potent cocktail. Be careful.

.

.

DEVELOPMENT: Their concern about development is also troubling. Is it development for development's sake? Just to catch up? Just to be better or best? That is unhealthy and unsustainable.

.

These people are upset because Chinese people still ride trains and Americans don't. Or if they take my advice and track GDP, they'd be upset about the numbers. Yet neither of these things amount to a hill of beans against the 'happiness' measure that should be the primary concern. If there's anything to be upset about, it's pollution and environmental degradation. These things can seriously affect happiness, and unfortunately further development is only likely to intensify these problems. If they must find something to complain about, I suggest they stop worrying about how many Chinese people ride trains and worry about the purity of the air and water!

.

Finally, they should make efforts to appreciate what China does have already... what they and their family have gained and accomplished in their lifetimes. After all evelopment is worth nothing if you can't stop to smell the roses.

.

.

CONCLUSION

Okay, so this is rant is over, but I feel uneasy. The entry contains a strange mix of China praising and China bashing, so let me set the record straight and neutralize the rhetoric. I like China. I like Chinese people. I like living here. I think China has done amazing things, and prospects for the future only look brighter. Some Chinese people feel shame that I don't understand. Chinese people have nothing to feel ashamed about. I hope all people can abandon pride, shame, and nationalism in favor of individual identities based on individual lives. And I hope all people seek development that makes the lives of the individuals in society better.

Tangyu (汤峪)

It's freezing in Tangyu

Introduction: A Tsunami of Cold has arrived. Triggered somewhere in the remote icy hells of Siberia, the tidal wave of frigid air ripples across northern and central Asia until it comes crashing against the mountain range barriers that stand in its way. If only we were on the other side of the Qinling wall... instead we lie in its shadow... where it deposits the remnants of its frost--all cold and ice with no snow.

So it's chilly in HuaiYa. But it's freezing in the town of Tangyu (汤峪) just 15 minutes to the south of me.

In HuaiYa when it's cold, our noses run a marathon through ten thousand tissues. In HuaiYa when it's cold, we wear our entire wardrobe. In HuaiYa when it's cold, we snuggle up with boiling water at night. These are the minor adaptations of our daily life in response to the temperature change. In nearby Tangyu, the people do the same things. But it's colder there. It's colder in a way that does not involve temperature. In Tangyu when it's cold, it's colder. When it's cold, the people's lives change drastically. That's because Tangyu is a special place. Tangyu is a one-season tourist town.

Twenty years ago, Tangyu was the same as HuaiYa. It was another very small town where people made their living through a combination of farming and small-time commerce. Then in the late 80s one visionary man from another nearby town realized that Tangyu was something of a diamond in the rough. With a little polishing, Tangyu could become everyone's fortune.

Tangyu lies at the base of TaiBaiShan (太白山)--a mountain with fame for its height, beauty, and significance in the cultural history of China. Wouldn't people from China and perhaps one day even people from all over the world want to come to see TaiBaiShan? And wouldn't they have to go through the town of Tangyu?

This man--unfortunately I forgot his name--had faith in the promise of Tangyu... enough faith that he began to turn the wheels of investment. And soon others followed. Better roads were built. Hotels and restaurants appeared. Tourist goods (and tourist junk) swelled in the streets of Tangyu. Farmers switched from labor-intensive staple agriculture to time-freeing fruit agriculture... from full-time corn and wheat farmers to part-time apples N kiwis, part-time tourist trapper! Like blossoms in the desert, entrepreneurship emerged in Tangyu.

And the investments didn't stop there. The people realized that TaiBai Mountain was just one thing tourists would come to see. Why not give them an excuse to stay longer? So they built other attractions in Tangyu. Have a look:

Here is a temple dedicated to the God of TaiBai. According to lengend TaiBai God has been here for eons and people's respect and interest in him have been in Tangyu for hundreds of years, but how long has this temple been here? Less than twenty years! They built a temple in honor of TaiBai God only after the tourists starting coming! ... give them a place to go ;-)

Also in this picture is Miracle Stone. It's the large and oddly place boulder at the bottom center of the picture. It would seem the rules of gravity should claim this large stone for the creek below, but somehow it manages to stay. A miralce?

This is a temple that the esteemed Laozi once rested at. Another place to visit!

Nine Dragon Stone... there are 9 dragons in this rock. Can you find all 9? Of course you can't, some of them are on the other side.... but how many can you find? This attraction doesn't have an admission price.

And here is the "Great Wall of Tangyu." I'm not kidding, they built a replica of the Great Wall on one of the smaller mountains of Tangyu. So if you can't get enough of the Great Wall, come to Tangyu to get your fix! Or if you haven't the money or time to go to Beijing or any of the other Great Wall sites, you can come to Tangyu, snap a picture here, and tell everyone that you've been there.

In the background, you also see a waterslide as part of the small Tangyu waterpark.... another attraction. You board the slide at the top of the mountain and ride the slide all the way to the bottom. Money in the bank, right!... except I've been told that Chinese people think the slide is "too exciting" and can't stomach the thrill, so this attraction is a dud. Pity!

From the "Great Wall of Tangyu," you can see far and wide, high and low. It doesn't have to be the Great Wall to be a great wall!

"The great wall" rises into the heavens, where the December mist becomes icy shrapnel!

These picture are only a small fraction of what Tangyu offers... my glove-cloaked hands clung to the pits of my overcoat pockets and could only be persuaded to come out if 1) the picture was absolutely essential 2) the air-to-skin exposure time would be brief. A few good pictures for no frostbite; that was the bargain. Anyways, there's more in Tangyu that I can't show for lack of pictures. But take my word for it... in addition, Tangyu has many more temples and pavilions... more parks... It has also developed a hot spring spa industry. Tai Bai Mountain, in addition to being beautiful, is a center of intense geothermal activity that heats a seemingly limitless volume of underground water, which tourists can exploit for the luxury of a hot bath or shower. So Tangyu has all this.

Twenty years ago? There were mountains; there was TaiBai Mountain. And there was a small town. There were visitors, not tourists. There was one hotel. There was one hot spring spa joint. There were restaurants for locals. There was no junk merchandise peddled on the street. There was no fleet of taxis and busses. There were dirt roads. One idea... a little investment... Tangyu was on fire!

Truly, in twenty years, the lives of Tangyu people have changed considerably. It's worth noting that fortune has trickled to nearly everywhere in China in the last 30 years. Rising standards of living are the trend. But in Tangyu, the trend has been a little accelerated. One of my colleagues is a Tangyu native--born, raised, and still residing. He told me about how in 1996 he dreamed about one day owning a video machine of his own to play movies. In 1999 he bought his first DVD player (come to think of it, our family didn't even have a DVD player in 1999!). So he set a new objective--"I want my own personal computer." In 2006 he bought his own computer. Think of all the other standard of living changes that must have accompanied these benchmarks?!

Tangyu's East Street boom

But this is not a Disney story with an ending of perpetual bliss and happiness. For about 10 years, the growth was exponential and phenomenal. And then came the problems.

1) The first problem... environmental degradation in Tangyu. Environmental degradation is the yin to economic growth's yang. It happens every time, but somehow humans never expect it. When you build hotels, billboards, signs posts, and water slides on mountains, expect landslides! In twenty years, there have been a few... some large and costly. Here is a picture of a small, unthreatening one.

2) The second problem is a more serious one. The COLD. That is Tangyu's chief problem. People come to Tangyu to see TaiBai Mountain... in the summer.... because only in the summer when the June sun melts metal is it warm enough to survive at TaiBai's peak wearing your down feather jacket and thermal underwear...I guess it's that cold up there. And summer is a natural time to travel anyways. They have built a skiing park and advertise the spas as a perfect winter counterpart to TaiBai's summer fun, but the response has been minimal. In the summer, Tangyu is hopping mad with Chinese tourists. From October to April.. a silence colder than ice.

empty cable cars hang like dead spiders

Not a problem, right? Just wait for the summer, right? Well, I guess. But there's so much locked capital... and locked for so long. In addition, there are difficult decisions to make. Stay opened to compete for the small trickle of straggling tourists or close? People are employed to stay at the ticket window of TaiBai Park, for example, because someone has to be there in the event that someone does come. But no one ever does. When we climbed the great wall of Tangyu, there was a man sitting on that mountain side waiting for us... how long between his last customer? And restaurants--they all refuse to close--and so they all compete for the few visitors. When I walk the streets of Tangyu, a wave of women stretching all the way down the street rush outdoors beckoning me in to eat their noodles... desperate to sell something. This doesn't happen in HuaiYa. And they endure the desolation in the bitter cold... the bitter cold that chases their customers away also tries to chase them indoors.... the cold bites twice in Tangyu.

More seriously, the cold snap is transcending the season and barking into summer. Climate change of a different kind. You see, in the last few years, for some reason there have been fewer and fewer tourists coming to Tangyu even during the peak season of summer. No one is sure why. This worrisome trend began before the current global economic "crisis" and so is unlikely related, but almost certainly won't be assisted by it. One devastating policy--China's decision to cut the May "Golden Week" holiday short--can be blamed for a significant loss of numbers. But not everything. Why is this happening?

I don't know. But I can predict the outcome. The growth will slow and times will be hard. The pendulum of change may swing in the other direction. And for some it may be devastating. The man who just built a restaurant? The farmer who just cut down his apple trees?

In this picture, you can a ghostly complex of buildings in the center. The finest hotel in Tangyu... half financed by a wealthy operation from Guangdong. There are billboards all over town advertising it... from the pictures, it is incredibly beautiful and luxurious... and the billboards all advertise its grand opening in 2007. Well, it's 2009 and here it is. A skeleton of a building that was going to be. The financers ran out of capital, and ran out of a reason to find capital to finish it... so it is empty, unfinished, and sad. Even sadder is the impact on the investors, especially the small-scale investors.

The course of economic growth can be treacherous at times. Tangyu may be experiencing some of this. With TaiBai, their standards of living have risen as high as the mountain. But landslides have also brought pieces of their mountain raining down on them. And now forces known and unknown will stall the overall growth and may even cause economic disaster to certain individuals. Life is a cycle of give-n-take that will keep spinning. The same ingenuity and entrepreneurship that created this boom can revive it. I place heavy confidence in that.

the ice will thaw

End note and side story: I first went to Tangyu alone in November. I thought the place was boring and not worth returning. When I returned just recently, I did so in the company of a fellow teacher. He took me around and showed me things that I saw but had not seen.. told me things that I would have never known. Tangyu has become one of the most fascinating places I have yet seen. Thus coupled with the experience in Chengdu the week before, I have stumbled on a LIFE LESSON: being a good host makes all the difference in the world. I've learned this lesson from China where everyone seems to have mastered the art of being a good host. I aim to apply the lesson and return the favors when I return to the US.

Kiwi Stories

Warning: This entry attempts to blend personal experience with social analysis of a complicated historical revolution that is still unfolding. The resulting commentary is certainly oversimplified and perhaps awkward, confusing, and/or boring. Read at your own risk!

Kiwis: the answer to all questions

Story 1: China Rising
Where is the China our parents had always told us about? Where are the starving children who would be thrilled to eat the ungodly brusselsprouts we left cold on our plates? I have not yet met a person here in China who appeared starving... and certainly none so desperate to brave brusselsprouts! Famine seems impossible in China. Everywhere I have been, there is more than enough food. Everywhere I have been, I witness how prosperity and modernity are trickling into all corners of Chinese society. China likes to imagine itself as a dragon, but I see a different metaphor... China is the Phooenix that has in three decades emerged from the ashes of economic poverty rising quickly and flying higher-ever-higher. How did this happen?



The kiwi. The kiwi delivered it all. For all the skyscrapers, the new cars, the computers in farmers' homes, and certainly the generation without famine... the kiwi... we can credit it all to the kiwi.



Story 2: the reoccuring kiwi conversation
In all the combined moments of my entire life, I have never thought about the kiwi as much as I have this week. And it was certainly not by my choice. In fact, I hate kiwis. They are ugly on the outside... mushy to chew... and the little back seeds are disturbing (they remind me of larval knats suspended in green goo). If I had any control over the matter, I would never put myself in a corner to have to think so much about this quirky fruit. [Enter fate...]



Monday: I was eating lunch with some students in the student dining hall. Inevitably, our conversation began with the question, "Do you like Chinese food?" Twistedly, it turned to the mystery fruit.

Student: "Do you like that fruit... mmm... what's it called?... nihoutao... do you know it?"
Me:Blank stare.
Student: "Uhhhh, it has green meat."
Me: Green eggs and ham? No... that's can't be it...
Student: "It has hair."
Me: Fruit with green meat and hair.... ooooh... KIWI!
Student: "YES! Kiwi! Do you like it?"
Me: No, not really. Let's change the conversation.



Wednesday: I was chatting with a Chinese teacher on the school track. Again, as is always the circumstance, we were talking about food. Started talking about Sichuan hotpot... next pineapple... and then, "Do you know the fruit that is small, green, and has hair?" Oh yeah, that would be the kiwi. The guessing game cut down to an impressive 5 seconds... nice! We then continued to have a five-minute discussion about how expensive and nutritious kiwis are. Ultimately, it didn't sway me from my dislike of the fuzzy fruit, but it did make me wonder... why so much talk about kiwis all of a sudden?!


Saturday: I went to visit a student's family in Changxing Town over the weekend. On Saturday morning, she invited me to visit her family's field to see the "special vegetable that only grows in Mei County." Sounds interesting... let's go see this mystery vegetable!

entrance to the Liu family plot

We arrive and there it is again... the kiwi!!!!!!!


corrections:
*the kiwi is not a vegetable
*kiwis do not only grow in Mei County




I have learned an important lesson: "kiwi" is the answer to all questions! In all seriousness, though, what is the kiwi trying to tell me?


The Kiwi Connection


Story 2 (cont'd)
Long before the surprise that the mystery "vegetable" was the kiwi, I was initially surprised that my student's family had a field. My assumptions had clouded my judgement. I knew that her father was a truck driver. I knew that her mother was a street vendor. I also knew that her family was relatively poor. How could they afford the land? How could they afford the time to plant anything? How do they live in town if they own land and cultivate crops?

Well, a few clarifications were in order.

1)The land is not far away... not in the distant fields... their plot of land is in the town! Not more than five minutes away from their home. Little plots of land sprawl in a variety of places in Changxing Town.

2)My student informed me that the land was in fact FREE. "All people are given free land by the government," she told me. All people? All people in China? All people in Changxing Town? I never did get a clear answer. Who knows.

3) They do not own the land. There are no property rights (I should have known better). They only own whatever they produce from the land. In addition, they own the right to rent or sell their land for cultivation by others. The land is provided free, but they do not own it. The government may come at any time to grant the land to other enterprises for housing, commerce, roads, mining, larger-scale agriculture, etc. In such a case, the people will be compensated by whoever has successfully petitioned to use the land for any of the above designated purposes.

4) The family dabbles in such a wide variety of economic activities BECAUSE OF this situation. In other words, because their plot of land is so small and because it can be taken away at any time, they are prudent to dive into other industries. And this is why you will see people who not only harvest corn but also sell coca cola... people who not only harvest cabbage and red peppers but also sell noodles and operate a laundry 7 days a week... people who not only harvest kiwis but also drive trucks and sell food at night. Venture capitalists by circumstance.

Little plots of land all over Changxing Town... offered FREE by the government to the people of the town... they own the right to anything harvested from the land... you can see a variety of crops planted. You can also see the path to the Liu Family plot to the right of the photo.

The Liu Family plot and it's kiwis... do you see all the kiwis in the trees? do you see all the crates already filled to the brim? There 8,000 kiwis ripe to juice the Chinese economy!

On this one small plot of land, there were 8,000 kiwis. Recalling my conversation with the teacher about how expensive kiwis are, I realized that this small plot of land was certainly worth something. No wonder this humble family had a computer, a cell phone, and enough jiaozi to stuff my stomach to its limits!


And everywhere I looked, I saw this plot of land and its kiwi fruits prompting more commerce. The family could not harvest the 8,000 kiwis alone. There were a half-dozen helpers... labor paid in paper or personal currency, but currency nevertheless. And then there was a man sitting in the shade of the kiwi grove scribbling notes into his little book. This man was watching the harvest because he had arranged to purchase it... a middleman... more money flowing. We followed the kiwis back to the middleman's warehouse. More laborers helping transport, unload, and pack the kiwis.... more money flowing. We were standing there for no more than 10 minutes--no lie--and two young men approached the warehouse looking for the boss. They were strolling about Changxing Town on a mission from somewhere in Sichuan Province... they were interested in buying the kiwis... for sale in Sichuan or perhaps for sale all over Chna. Was the entire economy of China flowing through Changxing Town? .... was the entire economy of China springing from this small plot of kiwis cultivated by the Liu Family?



Story 1 (cont'd)
I don't care what my many Chinese friends say; Mao Zedong devastated China. He rescued China from a condition of anguish perpetuated by his predecessors only to drag it through the mud for a few more decades under his own regime. His successor Deng Xiaoping, however, brought China a genuine Great Leap Forward. China is still leaping... many thanks to Comrade Xiaoping!


Deng Xiaoping initiated a series of critical reforms to Mao's brand of socialism. And the first of his "Four Modernizations" concentrated on agriculture. No longer would people plant, cultivate, and harvest only what they were told... no longer would they surrender the yields of their labor to the community. With Deng Xiaoping's reforms, although property rights still belonged to the state, farmers everywhere began again to own the consequences of their economic decisions. They did not own the land, but they did own what they could do with the land. Inevitably, some farmers abandoned rice, wheat, corn, and other staples... perhaps they planted cash crops... like kiwis, for example...


What happened? All kiwis and no rice? A famine? Not at all! There was more food than before. And farmers' incomes began to rise. How is this possible? Well, in fact, farmers continued to plant and harvest the staples. But they worked extra to plant the cash crops. They made decisions based on comparative advantage (after all, some plots of land, soils, climates, and local cultures of expertise are best suited to cultivate kiwis, for example) and had personal-profit incentives to work extra (listen to the economic engines roar!). The result was so predictable... more food... more money.


As a cash crop, Kiwis are an excellent symbol of the decisions that farmers made... and of the solid and far-reaching success of those decisions. And then the dominoes of Mao's ideological fortress of socialism began to fall... if the first of Deng Xiaoping's "Four Modernizations" could be this successful, why not give the other three a try? If market forces in agriculture eliminated hunger and put money in the pocket, perhaps market forces in other industries could deliver the same promise?


Indeed they did. The kiwi has awakened the sleeping dragon. They kiwi has nourished the rising phoenix.


(And I have discovered a new appreciation for the "green meat," "hairy" fruit... but I still won't eat the things!)

Supplementary commentary: This entry exhibits a strong confidence in the market system... and this confidence is unshaken even by the wave of events currently smashing economies all over the world. The relevant conversation now focuses on the vulnerabilities of the market system and the need for more regulation. This is a useful and necessary conversation. Yet in my own contribution to the dialogue, I continue to advocate for the market system.

Regulation is a short-term fix. If regulations are appropriate and minimal, they can work quite well. If they are excessive or over-burdensome, however, they do more damage than the unbridled wild markets could ever dream to do. There is a fine line that separates these two categories of regulation... and in many cases "unintended consequences" come with crossing that line. Shall we take the risk?

In response to the housing and credit market crises, policymakers are understandably getting involved. As I said, a little involvement can be beneficial, but too much can be devastating. U.S. policies should remember the lesson of the kiwi... ultimately, let people own the consequences of their economic decisions. In the long run, they will make the best decisions. If you regulate the finance and/or housing markets too much, you limit their future potential or set them on a track to make alternative mistakes in the future. If you bail out the banks and the homeowners, you strip them of the consequences that would inform future decisions... you set up these people to repeat the mistakes.

Don't force people to plant kiwis, let them plant kiwis themselves. And let people reap what they sow! The harvests will be much better, I guarantee you!