SEMESTER AT SEA - CHINA

Email #8 - April 15, 2002

This is the eighth report on my experiences teaching in Semester at Sea, on a semester-long voyage around the world. I am emailing by satellite from the ship. This report discusses Finding the Real Forrester, Hong Kong, Misty Mountains and Neon Palm Trees in Guilin, More Neon in Shanghai, and Alleyway Housing.

FINDING THE REAL FORRESTER

One of the adult passengers on the ship is Sharon Forster. During her first year of teaching at Enterprise High School in Oregon, she had a student named Mike Rich. The first paper that Mike wrote deserved an F but she gave it a C-. He was so mad that we wouldn't talk to her for two weeks. But then he rewrote the paper and earned an A. He later became a successful journalist.

In the fall of 1999 a reporter called Sharon and asked her what she thought of Mike Rich. She asked why, and was told that he had just won an Academy Award for the best screenplay, and the screenplay was dedicated to her. It was subsequently made into the film Finding Forrester.

The film is about a high school student who is mentored by a crusty old novelist played by Sean Connery. In the screenplay, Mike changed the mentor from Sharon Forster to William Forrester (named in honor of Sharon's husband William), and the student from himself (a small town Caucasian boy) to an inner city African American boy. But the story was inspired by the first paper he wrote for Sharon.

HONG KONG

We sailed into Hong Kong harbor on April 7. It is one of the most beautiful harbors in the world, with many islands, small fishing boats, and then hundreds of high-rise apartments. The city includes not only Hong Kong Island, but also the Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories on the mainland.

In the treaty which ended the first Opium War in 1842, the British took ownership of Hong Kong Island "in perpetuity." In the second Opium War twenty years later, the British acquired Kowloon Peninsula. As the city grew and needed to expand, they negotiated a 99-year lease for the New Territories on the mainland. That lease expired five years ago. In preparation for that, the British decided that Hong Kong was not viable without the New Territories and negotiated to turn over all of the city to the government in Beijing which considered Hong Kong to be part of China.

A key part of the agreement was the principle of "One China, Two Systems." Hong Kong would be allowed to continue its free market economic system with a semi-autonomous government called a Special Administrative Region, at least for the next 50 years. Only recently did Hong Kong become democratic; for most of its history it was ruled by a British governor. And increasingly the rest of China is becoming free-market as well (in 1998 I learned that only 42% of the economy was state owned). So there have not been as many changes in Hong Kong as many had feared, although there have been some tensions between the governments of Hong Kong and Beijing [which increased in later years].

My wife, son, and I went on a city orientation tour. We visited the Museum of Tea, walked among the tall skyscrapers, and saw thousands of domestics on holiday. The domestics are young women, primarily from the Philippines, who work as maids and nannies. They live with their employers but cannot entertain friends, so on their day off (Sunday) they meet their friends downtown and have picnics on the sidewalk under a huge bank building and other skyscrapers. Nearby there was a small street fair in which kids were singing on a stage, and there were booths with community information and recruiting for the Boy Scouts.

We visited the Man Mo Daoist Temple where the burning incense made my eyes water and gave me a headache. People burn incense for the aroma and as a prayer offering to the gods, but it is a horrible air pollutant. We took a cable car up to Victoria Peak for a beautiful view of the city, and then took a bus to Aberdeen where we rode on a sampan boat to see the houseboats and fishing boats.

My wife, son, and I got off the tour bus downtown instead of returning to the ship. We walked around downtown, then took the subway up to Temple Street to see the night market, where there were many stalls selling clothing, souvenirs, and CDs. We then took a city bus back to the ship.

MISTY MOUNTAINS IN GUILIN

The next morning we relaxed, then took a ferry boat across the harbor from Kowloon (where the ship was docked) to Hong Kong Island. After walking around a while we took the ferry back. There wasn't time for a longer excursion because we had to go to the airport for our flight to Guilin.

I had wanted to go to Guilin when I was in China four years ago, but it didn't work out. So I was looking forward to going there on the fieldtrip for this voyage. Guilin is the location of the misty mountains that appear on cookbooks and in Chinese landscape paintings. I had one of these paintings in my apartment when I was an undergraduate!

When we arrived at the Guilin airport, I was surprised to see neon palm trees in the parking lot! When we rode a bus into the city we saw more neon palm trees by our hotel. Three years ago a new mayor described Guilin as a beautiful woman with drab garb. So he initiated projects to improve the city, including many huge hotels, modern shops, and neon signs. The city is clean and beautiful, even if it has some kitschy things like neon palm trees.

After dinner at the Guilin Fubo Hotel, we checked into the Guilin Universal Hotel. My wife's back was bothering her so she stayed at the hotel while my son and I went exploring. We found a pedestrian street with clothing and CD stores, and then a disco called "Dad." Most of the tourists in Guilin are Chinese, and most of those in the crowded disco were Chinese, but then on the dance floor I ran into 5 students from the ship that had traveled to Guilin on their own! They were excited to see me there.

The next day we took a four-hour boat trip on the Li River which winds through the misty mountains. The latter are made of limestone, from an ancient seabed 20 million years ago, which was thrust up and then eroded by wind and water. They are called Karst formations, which is named after limestone mountains in Yugoslavia.

The day was cloudy, and then rainy, so the mountains were especially misty. But they were beautiful, with layers of mountains peeking behind others. I shot four rolls of film! We docked in Yangshuo, a small town surrounded by mountains, which is popular with backpackers since housing is cheaper than in Guilin. We rode a tour bus out to see a 1200 year old Banyan tree, as well as Moon Hill, a natural hole in one of the mountains which looks like a crescent or half moon depending on the angle of viewing.

We took the tour bus back to Guilin, where some of us got off downtown at the Kikko Kikko Do department store. We had heard that they had jackets on sale. My son hadn't brought his on this fieldtrip, not realizing how cold it would be in Guilin. We found a nice insulated jacket for him for 49 Yuan, which is just over six dollars!

After dinner at the Guishan Hotel, some of us decided to go see the ethnic minority dances at the Guilin Spring Theatre. Although 93% of the Chinese population is Han, the other 7% is comprised of about 50 minority groups. Three local ethnic groups were represented in the costumes and dances we saw. (I had seen other minority groups when I was in Inner Mongolia four years ago). A drama professor with us said that the dances had been modernized, but we all enjoyed the performances very much.

The next morning we slept through the 6:30 AM Tai Chi lessons across from the hotel since we were tired and I had had Tai Chi lessons before. At 8 AM we went to the Guanxi Teachers University to interact with students who were studying English there. The Chinese students were so excited to meet us since they rarely were able to speak with native speakers of English.

We then went to the Reed Flute Cave, the largest of many limestone caves in the area. There were many chambers including a huge one the size of a football field. Neon highlighted some of the formations, bathing them in artificial colors. In spite of that, the geography professor with us said it was the most spectacular cave he had ever seen. We then went to the Art Department at Teachers'University where I bought a couple of water color paintings of the misty mountains!

After lunch at the Guilin Spring Theater (without a dance performance) we rode a ski-lift double chair for a 20-minute ride to the top of Yao Shan, the tallest mountain in the region. From there we had a spectacular view of all of the mountains in the region. I was glad I had bought my son a jacket, because it was 50 degrees Fahrenheit with a cold wind. My son's jacket didn't have a hood so I bought him a wool cap on the mountain top for the windy ride back down.

After dinner at the Park Hotel, we went back to our hotel to relax. I was waiting for some Chinese students that I had met that morning and had invited to see me after their evening class. I expected two or three, but a dozen came! I quickly knocked on doors at the hotel to find some of our students from the ship, and learned that they had gone to a local recreation center. I took the Chinese students there, where we talked and some played ping pong. When we walked back to the hotel and took photos, it was difficult to say goodbye. The next day one of them sent me an email saying he had been so excited he hadn't been able to sleep!

MORE NEON IN SHANGHAI

After breakfast the next morning we flew to Shanghai. On the way in from the airport, I was struck by how many more skyscrapers there were than there had been just four years ago. Previously, the city was full of cranes building skyscrapers, and now those had been completed and even more had been built. There also were many more town houses in the suburbs, reflecting increasing wealth in the city.

When we reached the ship, I could see many more skyscrapers in Pu Dong as well. Pu Dong means River East and refers to the area east of the river. Twelve years ago it was farmland, but now it is the industrial-commercial engine of China, designed to attract foreign investment. Among the largest investors in China are the U.S., Japan, and Taiwan. Although Taiwan and China are stalemated politically, they cooperate economically. You can't call directly from China to Taiwan, unless you tell the operator that it is a business call!

After dropping our luggage at the ship, my wife, son, and I took a taxi downtown to walk along Nanjing Road, the major commercial street in Shanghai. The street had even more fancy shops and neon signs than I had seen before.

I had been in Shanghai four years ago on a study tour funded by the Ford Foundation and sponsored by ASIANetwork, a consortium of small colleges to promote Asian studies. At that time 10 other professors and I had spent a week in Shanghai, a week in Inner Mongolia, and a week in Beijing. While in Shanghai, we had stayed at East China Normal University, and I had met several professors and students there.

I have been in email contact with one of the students over the years, and so arranged to meet him and his girlfriend. They and my wife, son, and I went out to dinner that night to celebrate my birthday. We took a taxi to old Shanghai and walked in the area around the Yu Garden, then ate a traditional Shanghai meal at one of the restaurants there. Afterward, we took a taxi to the House of Blues and Jazz and listened to some great music.

ALLEYWAY HOUSING

The next day my wife and I participated in an International Exchange with students from Jiao Tong University. They took us to the Shanghai Museum, which has one of the best collections of Chinese art in the world. I love the ancient bronzes and old coins. They also have sculptures and ethnic minority exhibits. The calligraphy and painting exhibits were closed for renovation but I had seen them before.

After lunch we went to the Jade Buddha Temple, and while the others were still there I made a quick side trip to see the alleyway housing that I had discovered four years before. At that time 40% of the 13 million residents of Shanghai still lived in housing in which each family was assigned a bedroom and they shared a kitchen in the alley and a bathroom down the street. Today there are 16 million residents and many still live in this housing even though more high rise apartments have been built. Many cannot afford the new apartments, which must be purchased. In the past, employers provided housing which was government owned. Now people rent their old housing from the government or buy new housing on the free market. This shift to home ownership was in order to make the state industries more competitive by providing fewer benefits.

While my wife and I were on that fieldtrip, my son visited a Peking Opera school with his music class. In the evening he went to a welcome reception at Jiao Tong University where he met some Chinese university students.

On our last day in Shanghai, I led a fieldtrip on Community Living. I had arranged to meet a professor at East China Normal University for a lecture on housing in Shanghai, followed by a tour of some alleyway housing. This housing was somewhat different than that near the Jade Buddha Temple. Instead of one story buildings, there were two-story buildings which had four bedrooms (each assigned to a family) and a kitchen which was shared by the four families. The bathroom was still down the street.

We also drove by the high-rise apartments in Pu Dong, and then most of us got off the tour bus at the Bund. The Bund is the area along the waterfront west of the river where the colonial powers had their trading offices. The Europeans and Americans had forced the Chinese to trade with them on terms unfavorable to the Chinese, and there were areas of the city which were controlled by the various western powers. In the old British section there was a park which used to have a sign which said "No Dogs or Chinese allowed." Later, during World War II, the Japanese bombed Shanghai and occupied China. Resentment of colonial powers gave impetus to leftist movements to rid the country of colonialists resulting in the Communist Revolution in 1949.

Today in China the top priority of the government is economic development, which is why Deng introduced free-market reforms after the death of Mao. Another priority is political stability, which is why they still do not tolerate political dissent. But when Clinton visited four years ago, China announced that village heads (including neighborhood heads in cities) would be elected democratically instead of appointed from above. This was done to fight corruption by making officials more accountable to those they serve. These village heads send representatives to the national level. So a process of democratization has begun, even though the government admits that political reforms have lagged behind economic reforms. The government still controls the media, but the Internet and pirated American movies bring new ideas along with a distorted view of the US!