ChinaTeacher

The Olympic Torch Relay…….bringing the Olympics to the people….OR NOT! The Olympic torch relay came to Hangzhou in May (just around the time of the Sichuan Earthquake). Hosting the Olympics is a huge deal here and, for 99.987% of the people, seeing the torch relay is the closest they’ll ever get to the Olympics.

Since the Sichuan earthquakes, the Torch Relay events have been expanded to include memorials and benefits for the earthquake victims, bringing patriotism to an incredible high. Before the relay arrived, there were vendors everywhere selling “I love China” t-shirts, Olympic t-shirts, and both Chinese and Olympic flags. The day before the relay here, local newspapers reported authorities were discouraging people from going to see the relay. A friend of mine who went anyway, hoping to see the opening ceremony and a part of the relay, said they blocked the park entrance to where it was being held, and only ‘pre-selected people’ were permitted inside to watch. They showed it on TV and the opening ceremony was quite an elaborate affair, with many minority groups dancing in traditional costumes. My friend told me many people had traveled into the city from surrounding areas hoping to see the show, but were also turned away. As you can imagine, most were pretty upset. On TV they give the appearance of it being ‘for the people’ but in reality it is so tightly controlled that most ‘people’ don’t have a chance to see it.  I have heard through others that such ‘controlling methods’ have been in use throughout most cities during China’s Olympic Torch Relay.

In other news……..China Invades America!  This week for the first time since the signing of the “Memorandum of Understanding” between China and USA, Chinese tour groups can now travel to the USA more easily.  The first group arrived last week and were treated like royalty upon their arrival. Their tour included NYC, DC, LA and Hawaii over a 10-day period.  It is now easier for Chinese tourists traveling with a tour group to get a visa to visit the U.S. although they are still required to go to a U.S. consulate or embassy for an interview before receiving their visa.The earthquakes and aftermath are still being reported here on a regular basis  – there are millions of people living in tents or in temporary housing.  The earthquake has proven to be a tremendous tragedy.  Including the “missing and presumed dead”, the death toll is almost 90,000 with hundreds of thousands injured.  There are many small villages that took rescuers a long time to reach – most had been cut off by aftershocks and rockslides.  In fact, hundreds of rescuers were also buried in rockslides and mudslides from these aftershocks.

There have been hundreds of aftershocks with at least four of them being 6.0 or more on the Richter scale, and more than twenty being 5.0 or more. 5.0 is a strong quake in and of itself. They announced on TV the other day a warning for another strong quake which created intense panic.  People in the affected area are so frightened and tired from all the quakes – many are still sleeping outside even if their homes  have not been damaged. China held a 3-day mourning period after the earthquake; all bars, movie theatres, internet cafes and all other forms of entertainment were closed.  They even found a way to block internet use to view movies and any ‘fun’ websites – only in China could such controls be put in place!  

It has been quite difficult to watch the news because it’s so sad to see so much suffering. Many parents have lost their only child, and so many children have become orphans. The media was relatively open about the conditions for several days and even talked about the corruption that undoubtedly resulted in shoddy construction at many of the schools where hundreds of children were killed.  I have read that the media is being reined in.  Most of the coverage now is about all the people that are being helped, and the amounts of money that have been donated. Some trains have been redirected and the government is using them to take supplies in, and injured people out of the area. Unfortunately they don’t have enough helicopters, so getting rescuers and supplies to some of the remote areas has been very slow in happening. The Chinese people have experienced so much adversity for so long that they mostly take it in stride and they are really pulling together to do everything possible to help the victims.

The latest news is about the use of funds for the earthquake relief.  As expected, some funds appear to have been ‘mishandled’.  The Government apparently is ‘right on it’ and is making dire threats against anyone who misuses such funds.  They are already taking action against such individuals/groups.  I hope they will continue to be successful in their efforts.  We’ll see.

Hangzhou’s urban development is proceeding at a dizzying pace.  Entire apartment blocks of 7-storey buildings are being torn down to make way for China’s beloved skyscrapers!  What’s amazing to me is the speed with which it is all happening.  Today I noticed yet another block of buildings being torn down – this particular neighbourhood was still inhabited by Chinese families as recently as last month!  I keep wondering -where is everyone relocating to, as a result of being ‘torn’ out of their homes!

The process of building demolition continues to astound me as well.  While bulldozers tear down the roofs, walls and foundations of the taller buildings, local labourers work on the shorter buildings manually.  It’s back-breaking work as they swing their pickaxes and attempt to blast through the brick walls and foundations.  Squatting nearby, others patiently chip away the old concrete off each brick with their trowels, placing the bricks one-by-one in piles once they are deemed ready for use again.  It’s slow, tedious work and for little reward (as far as I can see).  After the entire block has been cleared away, these same workers start erecting a huge ‘brick wall’ around the construction site, using those same bricks.  They finish off by plastering it over with concrete (in place of metal fences we use in the West).  Product Advertisements will be handpainted onto the walls by a couple of local artists who will be paid very little – labour is so cheap here that it’s cheaper for companies to do this than create some print advertisements – unbelievable!

Last year, I enjoyed visiting a neighbourhood located close to my university.  It’s a very poor community, primarily senior residents, but they were lucky, I thought, to have a nice independent life so close to downtown Hangzhou.  I particularly liked the architecture of their homes, which can usually only be found in small villages out in the countryside.

The sad news is that when I went back last Autumn, the entire neighbourhood was a huge pile of rubble, with bulldozers all over the site.  I was stunned – I had honestly expected Hangzhou to restore this area.  Unfortunately, the Chinese people prefer to tear down the old and put up ‘new’, or ‘newly restored’ buildings (they make them look old).  I have attached pictures of the old neighbourhood for you to see even though now it’s gone (I’m certainly glad I took those pictures when I did!).  I still wonder where those local people have gone.  I really can’t see them being happy, living in a skyscraper and losing the independence of living in their own homes next to the Grand Canal.

According to Chinese legend, Hangzhou is considered ‘Paradise on Earth’.  I must admit that by Chinese standards, Hangzhou really IS a wonderful place to live.  Hangzhou strives to be China’s cleanest city, most environmentally-friendly city, as well as its greenest city.  It’s definitely on track to being all these things.  I just wish that the Chinese would stop destroying so much of their history in their push to create a modern lifestyle for their people.  I fear they are losing their identity by adopting so much of the West.