GIANTS AND DRAGONS
Mavis Taole gets a glimpse into the grim past and great rise of China
MY uninformed perception of the People’s Republic of China before I went there was one sourced from social media and pro-democracy sites about a communist country where everything is cheap, everyone does kung-fu and workers are exploited. I also thought restaurants served dog-and cat-meat as a fancy cuisine.
With all these misconceptions, I landed at Beijing Capital International Airport early in April, where I met the tour operator and my fellow travellers. Our team was mainly retired folk, with a dabble of nine-to-fivers. A sizeable chunk was made up of business owners. We were Australians, South Africans and Americans. Us South Africans made the larger chunk of 38 out of 43 tourists.
The objective of our tour was to get a glimpse of China, the culture, lifestyle, history and the steady progress of its economy. Who wouldn’t want to see a giant rising? I didn’t see a giant but everywhere I went I saw dragons.
Our first night was spent at the Sheraton Hotel in Beijing, which is a globally fancy brand with expensive Chinese cuisine. I couldn’t believe one has to pay R400 for a basic dinner of chicken, chips and Coke for two. I could have had a four-course meal at any fancy Joburg restaurant for that. There was no internet in the rooms and I had to access it in the lobby. Also, paying R60 for a can of Coke in the lounge was a pain.
The following day, we had an early start and, after breakfast, headed for historic Tiananmen Square. Some tourists call it the Chinese Red Square. Now, I have read plenty about this square, where 1989 demonstrations by students for democratic reform were brutally oppressed by the Communist government. That history is still treated like a freshly inflicted wound, which no one dares open. Mao Zedong’s body lies here, amid imperial glitz, with the founders of this age-old civilisation.
The septic square did not offer much inspiration but I found my kick in the Forbidden City, where our guide told us how this shadily named part of Beijing used to be a spot for men to meet their potential concubines.
We moved on to Dui Xiu Shan, which in English means Hill of Accumulated Elegance. This is a 10m-high man-made stone hill, which was previously known as the Hill of Accumulated Embroidery. It commemorates emperors, empresses and the concubine culture of old China.
At lunch, we had boiling water in the centre of the table, with pork and indigenous vegetables served raw — we were supposed to dip them in the water to cook for five seconds. Here, the only food served cooked was rice mixed with eggs and shrimps. I suddenly remembered author Barry Gilder’s experience with Chinese cuisine in
Songs and Secrets.
We saw historic sites such as the imposing Beijing Capital Museum, the Great Wall of China and the famous Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium, where we thought it quite ironic that we were mesmerised by this architectural masterpiece while its creator, Ai Weiwei, remains under house arrest.
Of course, one doesn’t discuss such things in a country that has blocked Facebook and Twitter, either for political reasons or to stop cultural imperialism.
Over the following days, we explored further afield, touring the majestic Dongshuiguan Park, the Temple of Confucius, Dr Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum, Liyuan Park and the 1 100-year-old Shangtang Street, with its alleys and impressive architecture.
My tour of Beijing, Nanjing, Wuxi, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai revealed a nation that has a deep-rooted belief in traditional healing. The Chinese believe in happiness and, to them, smiling is therapeutic. After nine days on tour, I knew why these people are going to overtake the US in the next few years — if they haven’t done so already.
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