That Damn Chinese Government

I suspect that the past month without blog updates has been most painful for all of you. It has likely also effected the loss of whatever small audience I previously had. The Chinese government seems to have problems with foreign websites, particularaly those that are editable (like wikipedia or blogsites). I haven't been able to access my site to update it for the past 4 weeks. But I'm back, if only for the moment, to provide a quick update and some pictures.

Two weeks ago, I departed for Tibet with a friend. Matt and I flew from Hangzhou to Chongqing, a town famous for its super-spicy hot-pot and its hilly landscape. The next day, we flew on to Lasa, Tibet, where the sky was bluer and the air was clearer than anyplace else on the planet. Our three days in Lasa found us touring monasteries and palaces, riding mountain bikes outside of the city, and buying traditional Tibetan handicrafts from street vendors. We watched as Chinese guards walked through the streets, making their occupation known. I ate yak meat every day. We drank yak butter tea (a Tibetan staple - hot melted butter - ugh). We had a blast.

On the morning of the fourth day, Matt and I boarded the Qinghai-Tibet railway to begin our journey back to the east coast. This is the highest railway in the world, reaching just over 5,000 meters above sea level. We rode the train for 28 hours, stopped in a Chinese town to rest for a night, and then continued another 21 hours to Shanghai. The sights were astonishing, and the sleeper cars were surprisingly relaxing.

Shanghai found us roaming the city, going to the acrobatic circus, and doing all those fun things that people do in cities. But we missed Lasa. I miss Lasa. I fell in love with that small town, and with the people there. The pilgrims from the mountains gave the place a sort of unrefined culture and simplicity that has been effectively eliminated from other cities around the world. We were in a capital city, but we weren't. We were in the middle of nowhere, in a valley protected by the mountains, in a city in the sky. We were at the Roof of the World.

I'll be going back to Tibet, not doubt. I want to experience Tibet outside of Lasa. Hell, I just want to experience Tibet again, and for a longer time. I may even take the train. There's something incredible about that place - something to its spiritual significance, its cultural richness, its streets and buildings and people.

Or maybe it's just the air.

More Tibet Pictures

Pumpkin Spice Latte... Published

Hangzhou Weekly, the local English-language newspaper, got its hands on an article that I wrote for this blog when I first came to China. "For Want of a Pumpkin Spice Latte..." was published in the October 30 edition of the paper.

As amused as I was to have the article published, I was even more amused to read the interesting rebuttal article that was printed immediately below it. This article was written by the Executive Editor of the paper.

I found it to be an insightful and well-targeted reflection, although I suspect that his Latin references are somewhat lost on most readers. Click here for a good explanation of ex oriente lux. Mr. Cameron's article is listed below.

Cheers,
Matt



GoTo: For Want of a Pumpkin Spice Latte...


Supersize My Americano – And His, Too

We very much enjoyed this thoughtful and well-written contribution. That does not diminish in the least our opinion – and it is a very much considered one – that the correspondent is fundamentally wrong.

The ‘Westernization’ of China – or to be more accurate, the Internationalization of China – is it’s [sic] salvation. And make no mistake about it: The development of this nation proceeds directly in proportion to the extent that it embraces international norms, and divests itself of stubbornness (masquerading as tradition) which often manifests itself in ways that run contrary to the (imperfectly hobbling and crutching-forward) Zeitgeist of sincere multiculturalism.

Oh, yes, there was once a day when we too lamented the presence of a Starbucks in that sacred spot on The Motherland’s capital. And of course, we still do. But the fault (if there is one) lies in those who preferred profits to the aesthetically very disconcerning presence of Occidental Modernity in the inner sanctum of Peking’s homage to imperial decadence. The West – the spirit of Internationalism – is not to be blamed for domestic businessmen choosing to defile their own national relics, if that is indeed what is happening.

The myth – we should say ‘Myth’ – of a treasure of morally laudable folkways, rooted in venerable and noble concepts of human nature, being assaulted – being corrupted – by Western commercial imperatives is one of the most pernicious and all-around troublesome stumbling blocks to understanding what is actually going on here in the trenches. Lux may well oriente ex, but lux without lex is like guo’tie without su. Last time we checked, lex was still one of occidente’s better exports. And this holds for lex moralis as well as lex civis. Not that you want to trust our Latin.

Mr Franklin was indeed really smart, and we will concede one point to our correspondent: The Kingdom is in want of many nails. Let us all pray that they are imported.

Or at least OEM.

Jack Cameron
Executive Editor-in-Chief
Hanzhou Weekly