Dr Wilding's "Office" - there ain't much space between the bed and the desk.
None of my contacts has been in touch since Monday, and phoning from my hotel room has not been successful up to now. I always get the same signal after dialling: several short beeps followed by complete silence. I've had no replies to any of the emails I sent them either. I did wonder at first whether they might have a problem receiving Gmails, but when I saw the hotel staff at breakfast just now, it was clear they had received - and had enjoyed - the pictures I sent them.
I decided I might as well go out for a long walk. I'd spotted an area of green on the map which I hadn't visited before, and which seemed to be within striking distance. These are some scenes en route.
Above: I'm almost certain this is the place to which I was taken and banquetted on arriving in Zhengzhou. Of course then I had no idea of the lie of the land, and I just chanced upon it today.
The name of the park is "Bishagang", and it is yet one more memorial to the great people's revolution. Here is how the sign inside the entrance puts it, in its quaint-sounding English translation. You'll need to click on the image to make it big enough to read:
Notice they have no compunctions about breaking word
s at any point, without so much as a hyphen. I'd seen this in most of the exhibit-descriptions at the museum, too.
Bishagang Park is a haven of tranquility in a busy working city. "Tranquil" but by no means "silent". It was certainly bustling; full of ordinary people, some of them doing what to us might appear to be exrtraordinary things, but to them just part of everyday life: such as Chinese Opera (one assumes - I may be wrong on that point). The park had several medium-sized band-stands, most of which were occupied by good people like those in the following clip. (By the way - do watch out for the look of utmost contempt on the face of the gentleman seated right, when he sees and appraises the cameraman!).
A variety of instruments was in evidence, but the one I've mainly seen is the two-stringed fiddle. The performances are quite theatrical - choreographed even. Take, for example, the man on the left, singing, in the clip above - observe his very deliberate stance. Interestingly, until I arrived on the scene they had no audience. These displays are, principally, for their own pleasure. Of course they are very happy when they are appreciated, and at some of the bandstands, like this one, a little knot of attentive spectators gathers:
And people will just join in wherever they happen to be:
Now this is a curious one. These ladies line themselves up in ranks, with each rank setting off a few seconds ahead of the next one. They walk slowly, in time with the music, to the end of the area. Then they all march back again. It's hardly strenuous exercise nor - I would have thought - particularly interesting for them. I'm guessing it's some kind of re-enactment of "The Long March", although I've no way of knowing.
Then there are those who just like to sit on the benches and play their instruments ...
... or form a little choral ensemble, perhaps with sax-accompaniment:
Today is Wednesday and, as far as I know, nothing special. It's clear that scenes like these are commonplace - to be found every day in every suitable piece of green space across China. I've often heard it said that China is a land of contradictions. How incongruous these performances seem, when considered alongside the economic revolution taking place. But it is obvious to even me that the performers are retirees - of my, or even my parents', generation. Will such simple pleasures be as popular with the next generation? I doubt it, but to lose this - possibly one of the last vestiges of the old traditional China - would surely be a tradgedy. Not that I would say I found the singing "enjoyable" exactly, but that is hardly the point.
I will have to pause here: a short while ago I had two phone-calls. The first was from Shuai apologising for not having been in touch, but she's had a bad cold. I seem to remember she was suffering a bit when we were at the Shaolin Temple. Anyway, she'd just been invigilating my test and informed me that Jennifer was on her way to my hotel with the scripts. That was the second call. So now they are sitting by my elbow waiting for my attention.
Shuai also said she's located an electronic Mandarin-English dictionary and we can go and collect it from the shop on Friday (I intend to keep up the lessons!). We'll also be meeting up with Jennifer, Judith, Yang Le and the others for a trip to see the Yellow River. I'm looking forward to that as a treat after I (hopefully) finish my marking.
8.20 pm: I've finished marking all the answers to Question 1! There were 17 of them. That just leaves Questions 2-6. I think I'll start on those in the morning when I will hopefully be feeling more like it.
Meanwhile, to continue the earlier discussion: another thing that is most striking (to my eyes) is the total absence of antisocial behaviour - the sort of thing that we in the UK have become accustomed to, and that requires special laws to curb - which don't work. I'm sure I haven't seen a single example of really bad behaviour since I first set foot in this country. True, many folk do have some rather unsavoury habits (such as spitting in what we would consider inappropriate situations), but that is not the same thing at all. Everyone seems to be endowed with an unshakable honesty and respect for others. And when, as very occasionally happens, you pass someone in the street and they look at you and shout "hello" or even "waiguoren" ("foreigner") it is not in any sense of mocking; it is purely what it sounds - a desire to communicate, mixed with curiosity. You can argue the "educational programme" has made them the way they are. That may be so; and I do realise I am making sweeping generalisations to which I am not entitled: I've been here less than two weeks, after all, and I certainly haven't visited the very poorest areas, even of this city. But to compare (no - "contrast") the main thoroughfares of Zhengzhou at 11.00 pm any night of the week with their equivalent in, say, Manchester or Liverpool, Nottingham or London, Paris or New York ..... is to give you the picture. (In fact, by 11.00 pm lights are all-but out here)
And what British mother these days would allow a complete stranger to photograph her child?
I'd probably be hauled before a child-protection tribunal.
We've lost so much in our culture that they still have - for now. In their headlong dash towards capitalism (though strangely not away from communism - another contradiction) there is a definite danger of throwing this "baby" out with the bath-water, so to speak. I sincerely hope not. The world would be a happier and nobler place - global warming and all the other problems accepted - if the rest of us were to adopt their social principles rather than the other way about.
Still, is it for us to deny them their new-found freedom - especially freedom of thought, which we take for granted (or at least we did, until New Labour happened along)?
You can tell I'm being profoundly affected by this place, warts and all. I've heard others from the west say similar things. Until you experience it yourself, though, you are naturally sceptical; you don't quite believe it. But it's true. Ask anyone else who's been here.
Enough pontificating - let's just enjoy a few more photos.
Above: that orange mass in the water is one of several teeming shoals of carp.
Back on the road again ...
This seems to be a government building of some sort. There are lots of them in the city, usually with real guards (unarmed, as far as I can tell) standing to attention on podia either side of the gates. They are also quite massive (the buildings, not the guards!).
Life in and around the central bus depot:
And, closer to home, some of the many stree-vendors. These ones are selling roasted yams.
That's something else that sets China apart from many other countries I've visited: these street-merchants are definitely there for the benefit, primarily, of the customer. They don't hassle you as they might elsewhere in the world; but they're there if you need them. How they make a living defeats me. I only hope it doesn't defeat them.
Finally, for those who are interested in such things, here's the route I walked (clockwise, if it makes any odds).
Unfortunately there is no scale marked on my map, so I had a go at guessing, based on the little street plan in my guide book. Also notice that - apart from my own annotations - there's no Roman script: it's entirely in Chinese characters. You need to be prepared for this if you intend visiting!
Bye for now
Mike
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